This Day In Naval History: June 1

1813 - HMS Shannon, commanded by Capt. Philip Broke, captures USS Chesapeake, commanded by Capt. James Lawrence off the coast of Boston, Mass. During the battle, Capt. Lawrence is mortally wounded, but as he is carried below deck, he orders the iconic phrase: "Tell the men to fire faster! Dont give up the ship!"

1871 - Two ships under the squadron command of Commodore John Rodgers, on USS Colorado, are attacked from Korean forts and batteries. The squadron is carrying Frederick Low, U.S. foreign minister to China, who was sent to negotiate trade with Korea. A Marine Corps expedition destroys the forts and inflicts heavy casualties on the Koreans on June 10-11.

1939 - Capt. Hollis M. Cooley, director of the Naval Research Laboratory, proposes research in atomic energy for future use in nuclear powered submarine.

1943 - USS Trigger (SS 237) sinks Japanese merchant collier Noborikawa Maru off Kominato, southern Honshu.

1944 - Blimp Squadron Fourteen (ZP 14) Airships, (K 123) and (K 130), complete the first crossing of the Atlantic by non-rigid, lighter-than-air aircraft. The journey takes 50 hours after leaving Naval Air Station, South Weymouth, Mass., and arriving at Gibraltar.

1991 - USS Rushmore (LSD 47) is commissioned at River Walk in New Orleans, La., the seventh of eight Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships. Its homeport is Naval Base San Diego.


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