This Day In Naval History: May 16

1811 - The frigate President, commanded by John Rodgers, exchanges several shots with HMS Little Belt during the night. Each captain claims the other fired first, increasing tensions between the two countries prior to the War of 1812.

1820 - The frigate Congress becomes the first U.S. warship to visit China when she visits Guanhzhou (now Canton).

1919 - Three Curtiss NC seaplanes leave from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, Canada for the first trans-atlantic flight. Only NC 4 makes the flight successfully reaching the Azores on May 17.

1943 - USS MacKenzie (DD 614) sinks the German submarine (U 182) west of Madeira. Before being sunk, (U 182) sinks five Allied merchant vessels, including the American steam merchant Richard D. Spaight on March 10, 1943.

1944 - USS Franks (DD 554), USS Haggard (DD 555) and USS Johnston (DD 557) sink the Japanese submarine (I 176), 150 miles north of Cape Alexander, Solomon Islands, forcing Japanese to shift the position of their subs in the New-Guinea-Carolines area.

1965 - The first US naval gunfire support in Vietnam is performed by USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875) as she fires upon the Viet Cong coastal concentrations southeast of Saigon.

1981 - USS Jacksonville (SSN 699), is commissioned at Naval Submarine Base, New London, Groton, Conn. Her first homeport is Norfolk, Va.

1992 - Military Sealift Commands USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199) is christened and launched at New Orleans, La.

2015 - Armed Forces Day is celebrated the third Saturday of May. Authorized by President Harry S. Truman in 1950, the single-day event replaces three separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days.


(Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division)