Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Today in Naval History
April 24
Javascript required!
Please enable javascript
in your browser to use
this feature.

1906 - Reburial Commemoration Ceremony for Capt. John Paul Jones is held at the Naval Academy.
On This Day

1778

During the American Revolution, the Continental Navy sloop-of-war Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones, captures the British sloop HMS Drake after an hours battle off Carrickfergus, Ireland.

1805

During the First Barbary War, the frigate Congress, commanded by John Rodgers, captures a Tripolitan gunboat, along with two prizes taken earlier by pirate ships off Tripoli.

1884

USS Bear leaves New York Naval Shipyard on its way to the Arctic as part of the Greely Relief Expedition. USS Thetis and USS Alert join USS Bear on the mission. On June 22, the relief ships rescue the remaining seven members of the 27-man Greely Expedition at Cape Sabine.

1906

Reburial Commemoration Ceremony for Capt. John Paul Jones is held at the Naval Academy. At the ceremony, President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a speech in honor of the legendary Revolutionary War naval captain.

1945

USS Frederick C. Davis (DE 136) is sunk by German submarine U 546, 570 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland. In a combined effort, USS Pillsbury (DE 133), USS Flaherty (DE 135), USS Chatelain (DE 19), USS Neunzer (DE 150), USS Hubbard (DE 211), USS Keith (DE 241), USS Janssen (DE 396) and USS Varian (DE 798) sink U 546.

1981

USS San Francisco (SSN 711) is commissioned at Norfolk Naval Station, Va.

1999

USS Higgins (DDG 76) is commissioned at Port Everglades, Fla. A Flight I Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, she is named after Marine Col. William R. Higgins. He was part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon when he was captured in Feb. 1988 by a pro-Iranian group, held hostage and eventually killed in captivity by July 1990. USS Higgins home port is Naval Base San Diego.