Naval History and Heritage Command

During the Battle of Lake Champlain, Commodore Thomas Macdonough anchors his ships in a position that the British squadron attacks head on, using only a few guns at a time. The British squadron is defeated, ending the final invasion of the British in the northern states. USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), a guided missile cruiser, is named after the famous battle.

Pharmacists Mate First Class Wheeler B. Lipes performs an emergency appendectomy on Seaman 1st Class Darrell D. Rector on board USS Seadragon (SS 194) on patrol in the South China Sea.

During the Salerno, Italy operations, USS Savannah (CL 42) is hit by a German guided bomb. The explosion kills nearly 200 of her crew, but she remains under her own power to return to the U.S. for repairs.

USS Albacore (SS 218) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser (Cha 165) off Kyushu, Japan, while USS Finback (SS 230) sinks Japanese army cargo ship, Hassho Maru, and merchant cargo ship, No. 2, Hakuun Maru, north of Chichi Jima. Also on this date, USS Pargo (SS 264) sinks Japanese auxiliary netlayer, Hinoki Maru, in Java Sea.

USS Michigan (SSGN 727) is commissioned at Groton, Conn. The second Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine, it is the third Navy vessel to honor the State of Michigan. 

American Airlines Flight 77 is hijacked by terrorists and hits the Pentagon, causing 184 fatalities. Specific to DON, the fatalities are: 33 military personnel, six civilians, and three contractors. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 hit the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, New York City. United Airlines Flight 93 goes down in Shanksville, Pa., after passengers engage the hijackers.

USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) is christened and launched and now operated by the Military Sealift Command. The dry cargo/ammunition ship provides ammunition, food, repair parts, stores and small quantities of fuel for the U.S. Marine Corps. The ship is named for Capt. Washington Chambers, a pioneer in US naval aviation.