Naval History and Heritage Command

The Civil War begins with Confederates firing on Fort Sumter, S.C. The Union Navy plays an integral part blockading Confederates, keeping them diplomatically and economically contained from other nations.

Lt. Theodore Ellyson completes his aviator training at the Glenn Curtiss Aviation Camp at North Island, San Diego, Calif., and becomes Naval Aviator No. 1.

USS Halibut (SS 232) sinks Japanese army passenger/cargo ship Taichu Maru despite the presence of at least three escort vessels.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies at Warm Springs, Ga. Besides being the nation's longest-serving president, he also was an assistant secretary of the Navy.

U.S. Navy demonstrates new landing craft with retractable hydrofoils, LCVP (H), which are named Highlanders. The Navy eventually rejects the craft because it cant keep a straight path like a standard LCVP.

The first re-useable Space Shuttle, Columbia (STS-1) is launched with an all-US Navy crew: Capt. John W. Young (Ret.) is the shuttles commander and Lt. Cmdr. Robert L. Crippen is the pilot.

USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) is commissioned at Bath, Maine.

Aircraft from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and NATO forces begin enforcing the no-fly zone over the Bosnia in Operation Deny Flight.

USS Mason (DDG 87) is commissioned at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is the 37th in the class and the ninth of the Flight IIA variant.