1941 - USS Niblack (DD 424) picks up three boatloads of survivors from Dutch freighter Saleier, which was sunk the previous day by a German U-boat. The destroyer detects a submarine preparing to attack and drives it off with a depth charge attack. It is the first action between American and German forces in World War II.
1942 - USS Thresher (SS 200) torpedoes and sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Maru six miles north of Oshima, near the entrance to Tokyo Bay, Honshu, Japan.
1944 - TBM bombers and FM-2s aircraft (VC 58) from USS Guadalcanal (CVE 60) sink German submarine U 68 off Madeira Island.
1963 - During diving tests, USS Thresher (SSN 593) is lost with all hands east of Cape Cod, Mass., including commanding officer and 17 civilian technicians.
1966 - During the Vietnam War, the river patrol boats (PBRs) of River Patrol Force commence operations on inland waters of South Vietnam.
