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Naval History and Heritage Command
Today in Naval History
July 21
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Year at a Glance
1905 - USS Bennington (Gunboat #4) is wrecked by a boiler explosion at San Diego, Calif. One officer and 65 enlisted men die in the explosion.
On This Day

1905

USS Bennington (Gunboat #4) is wrecked by a boiler explosion at San Diego, Calif. One officer and 65 enlisted men die in the explosion, along with numerous crew injuries.

1918

During World War I, German submarine (U 156) surfaces and fires on U.S. tugboat, Perth Amboy, and four barges, three miles off Nauset Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.

1943

PBY aircraft (VP 94) sinks German submarine (U 662) off the mouth of Amazon River, Brazil.

1944

Task Force 53, (commanded by Rear Adm. Richard L. Connolly) lands the Third Marine Division and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, along with the U.S. Army 77th Infantry Division on Guam. The island is declared secure on Aug. 9 though bands of enemy Japanese are long encountered after VJ Day.

1946

In the first U.S. test of adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations, an XFD 1 Phantom piloted by Lt. Cmdr. James Davidson makes landings and takeoffs without catapults from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB 42).