This Day In Naval History: June 7
1898 - During the Spanish-American War, USS Marblehead (C 11), along with auxiliary cruisers USS Yankee and USS St. Louis, engage the Spanish gunboat Sandoval and the shore batteries at Guantanamo, Cuba for 2 1/2 hours.
1917 - During World War I, U.S. submarine chasers arrive at Corfu, Greece, for anti-submarine patrols.
1942 - Just after dawn, USS Yorktown (CV 5) sinks after being torpedoed the previous day by Japanese submarine (I 168).
1944 - The construction of artificial harbors and sheltered anchorages, also known as Mulberries, begins off the Normandy coast.
1944 - USS Susan B. Anthony (AP 72) strikes a German mine while approaching "Omaha" Beach to land reinforcements. After an unsuccessful effort to contain flooding, she is abandoned and, within a few hours, sinks. No lives are lost in her sinking.
1944 - USS Mingo (SS 261) torpedoes and sinks Japanese destroyer Tamanami, 150 miles west-southwest of Manila while USS Skate (SS 305) attacks a Japanese convoy in the southern Sea of Okhotsk and sinks destroyer Usugumo, 160 miles north of Etorofu, Kuril Islands. Additionally, USS Sunfish (SS 281) attacks Japanese fishing boats en route from Matsuwa to Uruppu, Kuril Islands, shelling and sinking No.105 Hokuyo Maru, No.5 Kannon Maru, Ebisu Maru, and Kinei Maru while USS Flasher (SS 249) sinks Japanese transport No.2 Koto Maru off Cape Varella, French Indochina. Lastly, USS Bonefish (SS 223) shells and sinks Japanese guardboat Ryuei Maru at the mouth of Tarakan Harbor, Borneo.
1945 - During the Okinawa Campaign, while serving with the Third Marine Battalion, Twenty-Ninth Marines, Sixth Marine Division, Pvt. Robert M. McTureous's company suffers casualties after capturing a hill on Oroku Peninsula, and the wounded can't be evacuated due to heavy Japanese fire. Waging a one-man assault to redirect enemy fire away from the wounded, McTureous attacks numerous times and suffers severe wounds in the process. He crawls 200 yards back to safety before asking for aid. His actions confuse the enemy and enable his company to complete its mission. He dies on June 11 on board USS Relief. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, McTureous is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
(Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division)
