This Day In Naval History: August 12
1898 - USS Mohican and USS Philadelphia (C 4) crew members take part in official ceremonies marking the assumption of sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States.
1918 - The Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels approves the acceptance of women in the Marine Corps. The following day, Aug. 13, Opha M. Johnson becomes the first woman Marine.
1942 - USS Cleveland (CL-55) demonstrates the effectiveness of radio-proximity fuze (VT-fuze) against aircraft by successfully destroying three drones with proximity bursts fired by her five inch guns.
1944 - USS Pompon (SS 267) and USS Puffer (SS 268) attack Japanese convoys and damage and sink Japanese destroyers.
1957 - The first test of the Automatic Carrier Landing System is completed by Lt. Cmdr. Don Walker when he lands a F3D Skynight on board USS Antietam (CV 36).
1988 - USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) is commissioned at New York City. The cruiser is the third ship named after naval battle in a New York lake where Commodore Thomas McDonough defeated a larger and more heavily armed British squadron Sept. 11, 1814.
(Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division)