Naval History and Heritage Command

Sloop of war USS Wasp informs crew on the Swedish brig Adonis that she is headed to the Caribbean but is never seen again, with all hands lost.

Lt. Charles Belknap calls a meeting of 15 officers at the U.S. Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the Navy.

While escorting the British transport ship HMS Aquitania, USS Shaw's (DD 68) rudder jams just as she is completing the right leg of a zigzag, leaving her headed directly toward the transport. Aquitania then strikes Shaw, cutting off 90 feet of the destroyer's bow, mangling her bridge and setting her on fire. Shaw's crew brings her under control, though 12 lives are lost.

Secretary of the Navy William F. Knox approves recommendation to equip 24 submarines with gasoline for delivery to seaplanes on the water. The move followed a demonstration in which submarine Nautilus (SS 168) refueled patrol planes and conducted successful test dive to 300 feet with aviation gasoline aboard.

The first three schools for enlisted WAVES open at Stillwater, Okla. (Yeoman), Bloomington, Ind. (Storekeepers), and Madison, Wis. (Radiomen).

USS Buck (DD 420) sinks after being torpedoed by German submarine U 616. Spotted by friendly aircraft the next morning, 97 survivors are rescued by USS Gleaves (DD 423) and the British LCT-170 the following evening.

USS Kingfish (SS 234) torpedoes and sinks Japanese oiler Hayamato in Sibitu Channel. Also on this date, USS Rasher (SS 269) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Kogane Maru 28 miles from Ambon, while USS Wahoo (SS 238) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hankow Maru off Oga Peninsula.

Typhoon Louise hits Okinawa, sinking 12 ships, grounding 222 and damaging 32 beyond the ability of ships companies to repair.

Carrier aircraft strike communist troops along the front lines in the Korean Peninsula. Naval aviators referred to these raids as "Cherokee strikes” in recognition of the Native American ancestry of Commander Seventh Fleet Vice Adm. Joseph J. Clark.