This Day In Naval History: May 23

Posted by Eric Haun May 23, 2016

Members from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) tow a disabled skiff carrying 52 Somali migrants. (U.S. Navy photo by Daniel Barker)

1850 - USS Advance and USS Rescue sail from New York in a failed attempt to rescue Sir John Franklins Expedition, lost in the Arctic since 1847. Caught in the ice and after tremendous hardship, USS Advance returns on Aug. 20, 1851. Rescue returns Sept. 7.

1939 - USS Squalus (SS 192) suffers a catastrophic main induction valve failure during a test dive off the New Hampshire coast and is partially flooded, killing 26 crew members.

1944 - USS England (DE 635) sinks a Japanese submarine near New Ireland, sinking five submarines in a week.

1944 - USS Brooklyn (CL 40), USS Kearny (DD 432) and USS Ericsson (DD 440) shell enemy positions in vicinity of Ardea, Italy, with good results. The three ships repeat bombardment of troop concentrations and supply dumps on May 24 and 26 with equal success.

2009 - USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) responds to a vessel in distress in the Gulf of Aden and rescues 52 men, women and children who are adrift in a small skiff for approximately seven days.

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