23-27 MARCH 1986 OPERATION “PRAIRIE FIRE” After Muslim strongman COL Muammar al-Kadhafi overthrew the monarchy in Libya in 1969, he began agitating against two perceived enemies, the US and Israel. He defiantly and arbitrarily extended his territorial claims to include all Read More
18 JANUARY 1911 EARLY NAVAL AVIATION As early as 1898 such forward thinkers as Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt urged that the “flying machines” then under development be investigated. Indeed, in less than a decade civilian aircraft designers Glenn Read More
4 JANUARY 1989 NAVY 4, LIBYA 0 Since 1973 Libyan strongman COL Muammar Kaddafi had claimed territorial sovereignty over the international waters of the Gulf of Sidra–a claim the United States never recognized. In obvious rejection of Kaddafi’s claim, our warships Read More
19 JUNE 1968 CELEBRATED SAR MISSION Any search and rescue team member will tell you that no SAR mission is routine. Such was the case shortly after midnight on this date, as LTJG Clyde E. Lassen and the crew of Read More
5 JUNE 1942 CAPT FLEMING vs. MIKUMA Under ADM Isoroku Yamamoto’s complex plan to capture Midway the four cruisers of RADM Takeo Kurita’s Cruiser Division 7 were tasked with a pre-invasion bombardment of the island. On June 4th these warships closed Read More
27 MAY 2015 LAST NAVY EA-6B “PROWLER” On this day the last of the Navy’s premier electronics countermeasures (ECM) aircraft, the Northrop-Grumman EA-6B “Prowler,” was retired after a short flight from Squadron VAQ-134 at Whidbey Island to the Seattle Museum of Read More
20 MAY 1967 CAPT HOMER L. SMITH, USN The weather could have been better! The A4D Skyhawks of the VA-212 “Rampant Raiders” launched from USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) early this morning. CDR Homer Leroy Smith, the squadron CO, led from Read More