Naval History and Heritage Command

The brig, USS Dolphin, captures the slave ship, Echo, with 300 Africans on board off the north coast of Cuba. She is taken to Charleston, S.C., and those saved from slavery are later sent back to Africa.

The installation of the first electric lighting on board a U.S. Navy ship is completed on board USS Trenton.

During World War I, while piloting a Navy seaplane near Pola, Ensign Charles H. Hammann lands on the Adriatic Sea to rescue Ensign George H. Ludlow, whose aircraft is shot down by Austro-Hungarian forces. Though Hammann's plane is not designed for two persons, and despite the risk of enemy attack, he successfully completes the rescue and returns to the base at Porto Corsini, Italy. For Hamman's actions on this occasion, he is awarded the Medal of Honor. USS Hammann (DD 412) and USS Hammann (DE 131) are named in his honor.

Gemini V is launched. Astronauts are Gordon Cooper, Jr., USAF, (Command Pilot) and Lt. Cmdr. Charles Conrad Jr., USN, (Pilot). They complete 120 orbits in almost eight days at an altitude of 349.8 km. Recovery is by helicopter from USS Lake Champlain (CVS 39).

USS Truxtun (CGN 35) rescues 42 Vietnamese refugees and USS Merrill (DD 976) rescues 62 Vietnamese refugees, over 200 miles southeast of Saigon.

USS Tempest (PC 2) is commissioned at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va. The third Navy ship to be named Tempest, the Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship.

The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) is involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Ten Sailors lose their lives and the ship suffers significant damage to the hull resulting in flooding to nearby compartments, including crew berthing, machinery, and communications rooms.