Time line in Space Exploration: On this Date: January 13 1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto 4th satellite of Jupiter 1971 - Apollo 14 launched 1993 – Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center. STS-54 was a Space Transportation System (NASA Space Shuttle) mission using orbiter Endeavour. This was the third flight for Endeavour. Today in Naval History: January 13 1813 – Captain Oliver Hazard Perry arrives in Presque Isle (Michigan) where he will supervise the construction of a flotilla. Two brigs, a schooner, and three gunboats will be constructed from materials transported overland and by inland waterway from Philadelphia, by way of Pittsburgh, in preparation for the naval battle for Lake Erie. 1862 – The Federal army fitted out a steamer with five guns and made a descent upon the Cedar Keys. The attack was not expected, and so only a 23 man Confederate force on the Island. It was too small to do more than burn the cotton and turpentine in the face of an attack from an overwhelming Union force. Confederate Brigadier General J. H. Trapier, CS army, had transferred the bulk of his forces (two Florida companies) to meet an expected attack at Fernandina on Amelia Island. While some Confederate soldiers were taken prisoner, were all returned. The 80 to 100 civilians on the island, according to Trapier’s report “were required to sign an oath not to take up arms against the Government of the (so-called) United States during the present war.” None of the three old rebel cannon were saved as they weren’t worth the effort. The Union assault was a successful one. 1865 - Amphibious attack on Fort Fisher, NC 1942 – German U-Boats begin operations of the US East Coast. The move is called operation Paukenschlag (Drum Roll). Admiral Doenitz has faced arguments from his superiors in the German Navy who do not favor the operation, and he has had the difficulty that only the larger 740-ton U-Boats are really suitable for such long range patrols. When Doenitz gives the order for the attack to begin there are 11 U-Boats in position and 10 more en route. Together they sink more than 150,000 tons during the first month. Intelligence sources have given reasonable warning of the attack but the U-Boats find virtually peace-time conditions in operation. Ship sail with lights on at night; lighthouses and bouys are still lit; there is no radio discipline – merchant ships often give their positions in plain text; there are destroyer patrols (not convoys with escorts) but these are regular and predictable and their crews are naturally inexperienced. 1964 - USS Manley evacuates 54 American and 36 allied nationals after Zanzibar government is overthrown Today in Coast Guard History: January 13 1853-The ship Cornelius Grinnell grounded in a heavy surf off Squan Beach New Jersey. A surf car was used to rescue safely all 234 persons on board. 1925-Congress authorized the Coast Guard to assist in the enforcement of the Alaskan Game Law. 1918-Surfmen from the Humboldt Bay Lifesaving Station rescued the 430-man crew of the Navy cruiser USS Milwaukee safely after the cruiser ran aground. Milwaukee had been attempting to pull a grounded submarine off of Samoa Beach, near Eureka, California, when she too ran aground and was a total loss. 1982-Air Florida Flight 90 crashed onto the 14th Street Bridge and then into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., during a heavy snow storm. Coast Guard units, including cutters Capstan and Madrona, divers from the Atlantic Strike Team, a helicopter from AIRSTA Elizabeth City, personnel from Curtis Bay, and reservists from Station Washington assisted in the rescue of the five surviving passengers and the recovery of the aircrafts wreckage. The plane crushed several cars and killed five people on the bridge. All told seventy-four persons lost their lives. Today in Aviation History: On This Date: January 13 1951: Far East Forces flew the first effective Tarzon mission against a bridge at Kanggye, Korea. The six-ton radio-guided bomb destroyed 58 feet of the enemy-held structure. (Air Force Association) 1952 – Ten Okinawa-based Superfortresses dropped 396 high explosive 500-pound bombs on the railroad bridge east of Sinanju across the Chongchong River, rendering the bridge unserviceable. 1953 – Some twelve enemy fighters shot down a B-29 on a psychological warfare, leaflet-drop mission over North Korea. The crew included Col. John K. Arnold, Jr., USAF, Commander, 581st ARCW. 1962 – In the first Farm Gate combat missions, T-28 fighter-bombers are flown in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack. By the end of the month, U.S. Air Force pilots had flown 229 Farm Gate sorties. Operation Farm Gate was initially designed to provide advisory support to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force in increasing its capability. The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron arrived at Bien Hoa Airfield in November 1961 and began training South Vietnamese Air Force personnel with older, propeller-driven aircraft. In December, President John F. Kennedy expanded Farm Gate to include limited combat missions by the U.S. Air Force pilots in support of South Vietnamese ground forces. By late 1962, communist activity and combat intensity had increased so much that President Kennedy ordered a further expansion of Farm Gate. In early 1963, additional aircraft arrived and new detachments were established at Pleiku and Soc Trang. In early 1964, Farm Gate was upgraded again with the arrival of more modern aircraft. In October 1965, another squadron of A-1E aircraft was established at Bien Hoa. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the replacement of South Vietnamese markings on Farm Gate aircraft with regular U.S. Air Force markings. By this point in the war, the Farm Gate squadrons were flying 80 percent of all missions in support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). With the build up of U.S. combat forces in South Vietnam and the increase in U.S. Air Force presence there, the role of the Farm Gate program gradually decreased in significance. The Farm Gate squadrons were moved to Thailand in 1967, and from there they launched missions against the North Vietnamese in Laos. 1965 – Two U.S. planes were shot down in Laos while on a combat mission. 1970: A Pan American Airline Boeing 747, the worlds largest passenger plane (at the time), flew 361 people from John F. Kennedy IAP, N.Y., to London Airport in 6 hours, 30 minutes on its first transatlantic trip. 1993 – American and allied warplanes raided southern Iraq. 1999 – A KC-135 refueling tanker crashed while landing near Geilenkirchen, Germany, and 4 US airmen were killed. They were attached to an Air National Guard unit based in Spokane. 2003 – US warplanes struck an anti-ship missile launcher in southern Iraq. US planes also dropped leaflets over An Najaf, about 85 miles southeast of Baghdad. It was the 14th drop in 3 months.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:47:25 +0000
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