TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
14 December
◆1751 The Theresian Military Academy opens at Wiener Neustadt, the oldest formal officer training school in the world.
◆1763 Pennsylvania vigilantes massacre Conestoga Indians near Lancaster.
◆1782 Charleston, SC, was evacuated by British.
◆1799 George Washington, the American revolutionary leader and first president of the United States, dies of acute laryngitis at his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia.
◆1807 Capt. Charles Johnston of HMS 'Cornwallis' discovers Johnston Island, southwest of Hawaii.
◆1814 The steamboat Enterprise, designed by keelboat captain Henry Miller Shreve, arrived in New Orleans with guns and ammunition for Gen. Jackson. It was immediately commandeered for military service.
◆1814 British squadron captures U.S. gunboats in Battle of Lake Borgne, LA.
◆1854 Congress authorized appointment of first lifeboat station keepers at $200 per year each and superintendents for Long Island and New Jersey serving under Secretary of Treasury who "may also establish such stations at such lighthouses, as, in his judgment, he shall deem best."
◆1863 General Beauregard ordered Lieutenant Dixon, CSA, to proceed with submarine H. L. Hunley to the mouth of Charleston harbor and "sink and destroy any vessel of the enemy with which he can come in conflict." The General directed that "such assistance- as may he practicable" he rendered to Lieutenant Dixon.
◆1863 Gen. James Longstreet attacked Union troops at Bean’s Station, Tenn. Confederates repulse Union troops.
◆1864 Union gunboats supporting General Sherman aided in the capture of Forts Beaulieu and Rosedew in Ossabaw Sound, Georgia, the outer defenses of Savannah. Wooden steamer U.S.S. Winona, Lieutenant Commander Dana, U.S.S. Sonoma, Lieutenant Commander Scott, and mortar gunboats shelled the forts until they were abandoned by the defenders on 21 December. Winona's log recorded on that date: "At 10:05 saw the American Ensign flying on Fort Beaulieu. Ships cheered; captain left in the gig and proceeded up to the fort."
◆1896 James H. Doolittle, American Air Force general, was born. He commanded the first bombing mission over Japan. His Tokyo raid was a great boost for American war morale. ★
◆1916 People of Denmark voted to sell Danish West Indies to United States for $25 million.
◆1939 The German liner Columbus (33,000 t) leaves Vera Cruz in an attempt to run home. The American cruiser Tuscaloosa shadows the ship, while on neutrality patrol, and broadcast its location on open radio.
◆1941 U.S. Marines made a stand in battle for Wake Island. Wake Island defenders were left with one aircraft surviving Japanese attacks.
◆1942 Japanese reinforcement land about 30 miles west of Gona and begin marching toward the Australian flank. In Buna, the American's take the village, but the Japanese still hold the well fortified Government Station.
◆1944 Congress established the rank of General of Army, the 5-star General.
◆1944 Rank of Fleet Admiral, U.S. Navy (five star admiral) is established. It is interesting to note that each of these officers followed a differently patterned naval career. Only eight years of seniority separated them. They served as younger officers when the Navy was making its expansion in aviation and submarine development. One of these officers was essentially a destroyer officer and aviator with only one short tour ashore in Washington. One was a submariner with European training in diesel propulsion, a big ship sailor with shore cruises in Washington including Chief of Naval Personnel. One had almost all his sea duty in big ships and with the exception of one tour, all shore duty in Washington, including being chief of two bureaus. Only one had a seagoing career in the surface, submarine and aviation branches of the service with shore tours including the head of the Postgraduate School and the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. Three served as Chiefs of Naval Operations. The Navy's Fleet Admirals were: William Daniel Leahy, Ernest Joseph King, Chester William Nimitz, and William Frederick Halsey, Jr.
◆1944 The former NYK liner Oryoku Maru left Manila with 1619 American POWs packed in the holds. U.S. Navy planes from the "Hornet" attacked, causing the Hell Ship to sink the following day. Only 200 of the men survived.
◆1944 US 3rd Army continues advancing east of Sarreguemines while US 9st Army reaches the Roer River bank.
◆1944 US Task Force 38 (Admiral McCain) launches air strikes on airfields throughout Luzon. TF38 includes 13 carriers, 8 battleships and numerous cruisers and destroyers. The attacks are in support of the American landing on Mindoro.
◆1945 Captain Sue S. Dauser receives the first Distinguished Service Medal awarded to a nurse.
◆1946 The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish the U.N. headquarters in New York City. The UN adopted a disarmament resolution prohibiting the A-Bomb.
◆1950 The Navy announced the successful withdrawal of U.N. forces from Chinnampo. Approximately 7,000 soldiers and civilian refugees were evacuated from the Pyongyang area.
◆1952 President-elect Eisenhower announced a new policy of firmness in dealing with the communists on his return from Korea.
◆1958 The United States, Britain and France rejected Soviet demands that they withdraw their troops from West Berlin and agreed to liquidate the Allied occupation in West Berlin.
◆1960 A U.S. B-52 bomber set a 10,000 mile non-stop record without refueling.
◆1964 Operation Barrel Roll, the name given to the first phase of the bombing plan approved by President Lyndon B. Johnson on December 1, begins with U.S. planes attacking "targets of opportunity" in northern Laos.★
◆1965 Navy announces completion of 1,272 ft. radio tower at North West Cape, Australia, highest manmade structure in the Southern Hemisphere at that time, as a link in fleet communications.
◆1980 CIA report claims that the Soviet Union delivered nearly $7 billion worth of military assistance to Third World nations in 1979, and made over $8 billion in arms sales during that same year.★
◆1999 In Panama former US Pres. Jimmy Carter symbolically turned over the Panama Canal. The official ownership transfer date was Dec 31.
◆2001 American and British commandos behind a screen of local Afghan fighters contained the last remnants of al Qaeda forces in the White Mountains of Tora Bora. American Marines occupied Kandahar airport.