Nov. 12: 1912 - Lt. Theodore Ellyson makes first successful launching of an airplane (A-3) by catapult at the Washington Navy Yard.
1940 - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Harold R. Stark submits memorandum to Secretary of the Navy on four plans if U.S. enters war. He favors the fourth one, Plan Dog, calling for strong offensive in the Atlantic and defense in the Pacific.
1942 - First day of the three days of fighting in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on USS Iowa (BB 61) to go to the Allied conferences at Teheran, Iran, and Cairo, Egypt. [Source: http://www.news.navy.mil]