Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, right, and his PT-109 crew are shown somewhere in the South Pacific, July 1943.
On August 1, 1943, a Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol
torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive
other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two
crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt. John F.
Kennedy. His actions made him a war hero.
The launching of USS Nautilus.
The USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine, was commissioned
by the U.S. Navy on September 30, 1954.
The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain
Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S.
atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine. Regarded as
a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering
the world’s first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the
Nautilus‘ keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21,
1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its
bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power
on the morning of January 17, 1955.
Hyman G. Rickover
(January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986)
Rickover is known as the "Father of the
Nuclear Navy," and his influence on the
Navy and its warships was of such scope
that he "may well go down in history as
one of the Navy’s most important officers."
Harry S. Truman
(May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972)
LTJG Kennedy (standing at far right) with his crew on PT-109 in 1943.
On this day in 1943, future President John F. Kennedy was serving as the
commander of a torpedo boat in the Solomon Islands when his ship was
fired upon by the Japanese navy.
As a young man, Kennedy had desperately wanted to go into the Navy but
was originally rejected because of chronic health problems, particularly a
back injury he had sustained playing football while attending Harvard
University. In 1941, though, his politically connected father used his
influence to get Jack, as he was called, into the Navy. In 1942,
Kennedy volunteered for PT (motorized torpedo) boat duty in the
Pacific.
A 1935 aerial photo shows Navy ships arriving at the Portland waterfront for the Rose Festival. (From Vintage Portland)
“Fleet Week” is the perfect time to thank the men and women who dedicate
their lives to protecting our city, state, and country.
Taken during Portland’s first "Fleet Week", this picture shows the destroyer Reuben James and other Navy ships in front of the
City’s downtown business district. A total of 18 Naval ships a
attended for what has become a key part of the annual Rose
Festival.
SANDY KOZEL
On this day in 1968, North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, charging it had intruded into the nation’s territorial waters on a
spying mission. The crew was released 11 months later.
The Pueblo’s mission began in early January, 1968, when the crew
set off from the U.S. Navy base on Yokosuka, Japan with orders to conduct surveillance on Soviet Navy and North Korean signal and electronic intelligence activity.
Pueblo, is still being held by North Korea today, officially remains
a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy. Since early 2013,
the ship has been moored along the Potong River in Pyongyang, and
used there as a museum ship at the Pyongyang Victorious War
Museum.
The captured crew (above) were beaten and nearly starved in the
incident that almost led to another war.
Pueblo on display in North Korea, 2012.
North Koreans raise their fists during a rally in 2010 in front of the
U.S. Navy spy ship Pueblo.
On this day in 1977, the TV mini-series "Roots," began airing on ABC. The show was based on the Alex Haley novel. Roots received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a
Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented
Nielsen ratings for the finale, which still holds a record as the third-highest-rated episode for any type of television series, and the
second-most watched overall series finale in U.S. television
history.
LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, a warrior of the Mandinka people
in Gambia who is captured by slavers and taken to Annapolis,
Md.
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005)
Television host, comedian, writer, and producer Johnny Carson was
best known as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(1962–1992) on NBC. Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Television
Academy‘s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was
inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987 awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center
Honor in 1993.
