This Day In Naval History: June 8
1830 - The sloop of war USS Vincennes becomes the first US Navy warship to circle the globe when she returns to New York. She departs on Sept. 3, 1826, rounds Cape Horn and cruises the Pacific protecting American merchantmen and whalers until June 1829.
1880 - Congress authorizes the Office of Judge Advocate General. Vice Adm. Nanette M. Derenzi currently serves as the 42nd Judge Advocate General of the Navy.
1937 - Capt. Julius F. Hellweg commands the Navy detachment that observes a total eclipse of the sun.
1943 - TBF aircraft from USS Bogue (ACV 9) damage German submarine (U 758) west by south of the Canary Islands
1943 - USS Finback (SS 230) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks auxiliary minelayer Kahoku Maru about 100 miles north of Palau.
1945 - Hospital Apprentice 1st Class Fred F. Lester serves with an assault rifle platoon attached to the First Battalion, Twenty-Second Marines, Sixth Marine Division, against the Japanese on Okinawa Shima. Spotting a wounded Marine beyond front lines, he crawls to him, despite being hit twice by enemy gun fire, and pulls him to safety. Refusing medical treatment for his fatal injuries, Lester guides squad members in providing medical treatment on the rescued Marine, and to others, before dying shortly thereafter. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
1959 - The Navy and the Post Office deliver the first official missile mail when USS Barbero (SS-317) fires a Regulus I missile with 3,000 letters 100 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., to Mayport, Fla.
1996 - USS Cole (DDG 67) is commissioned at Port Everglade, Fla. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is named after Medal of Honor recipient Marine Sgt. Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action during action on Iwo Jima Feb. 19, 1945. The destroyers first homeport is Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
1996 - USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) is commissioned. The Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship is homeported at Little Creek, Va. Oak Hill is the second named to honor the home of President James Monroe, where he penned the Monroe Doctrine.
(Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division)
