This Day in Naval History - April 12

Source: Navy News Service

1861 - The Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter, S.C.

1911 - Lt. Theodore Ellyson qualifies as the first naval aviator.

1962 - The Navy demonstrates a new landing craft, LCVP (H), with retractable hydrofoils.

1975 - Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation from Cambodia, takes place.

1981 - First launching of reusable Space Shuttle Columbia (STS 1) with an all-Navy crew. Capt. John W. Young commanded, while Lt. Cmdr. Robert L. Crippen was the pilot. Mission duration was two days, six hours and 20 minutes. Sixteen of the shuttle's heat-shielding silicon tiles were lost and 148 damaged during reentry.

1993 - Aircraft from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and NATO forces begin enforcing the no-fly zone over Bosnia in Operation Deny Flight.