A Tomahawk cruise missile launched from the USS Philippine Sea in a strike against al Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
1864 - USS Wachusett rams the Confederate raider CSS Florida in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil. The collision brings down Floridas mast, then Wachusett opens fire. After Floridas surrender, both vessels are fired upon by Brazilian coastal forts as Wachusett tows her prize out to sea.
1944 - USS Hawkbill (SS 366) and USS Baya (SS 318) attack a Japanese convoy and sink the Japanese cargo ship Kinugasa Maru about 400 miles west of Manila, while USS Cabrilla (SS 288) sinks Japanese transport No.8 Shinyo Maru off Vigan, Luzon.
1944 - USS Greenling (SS 213) sinks the Japanese transport No 8 Kiri Maru and the merchant tanker Kotai Maru.
1955 - USS X-1, the Navys only midget submarine, is placed into service and conducts numerous scientific tests for the Naval Research Laboratory.
1975 - President Gerald Ford signs Public Law 94-106, allowing admission of women into service academies.
1993 - USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60) is christened and launched at Halter Marine Inc., Moss Point, Miss. The oceanographic survey ship performs acoustical, biological, physical and geophysical surveys and is one of seven survey ships of Military Sealift Commands Special Mission Ships Program.
1995 - USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) is commissioned at Penns Landing, Philadelphia, Penn. Thunderbolt is the 12th Cyclone-class patrol coastal ship that provides coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance, one of the littoral operations outlined in the Navys strategy. Thunderbolt is originally homeported at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va., but currently is based out of Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
2001 - In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US launches Operation Enduring Freedom with carrier air strikes and ship and submarine Tomahawk strikes in Afghanistan. First ground troops in are the SEALs.
