3 February 1943
DORCHESTER SUNK:
The U.S. transport ship
"Dorchester," which was carrying
troops to Greenland, sank after
being hit by a torpedo. Four Army
chaplains gave their life belts to
four other men, and went down
with the ship. The torpedoing of
the transport Dorchester off the
coast of Greenland saw CGC
Comanche and Escanaba respond.
The crew of Escanaba used a new
rescue technique when pulling
survivors from the water. This
"retriever" technique used
swimmers clad in wet suits to swim to victims in the water and secure a line to them so they could be hauled onto the ship. Although Escanaba saved 133 men (one died later) and Comanche saved 97, over 600 men were lost, including the famous "Four Chaplains".
3 February 1811
Horace Greeley, abolitionist newspaper editor, was born in
Amherst, New Hampshire. He popularized the phrase "Go west,
young man." Greeley, who began his journalism career at The New
Yorker, founded The New York Tribune in 1841 with support from
powerful political friends. Under Greeley's direction, The Tribune
took a strong stand against slavery, the South and slave owners in
the years leading up to the Civil War. The Tribune and Greeley also
crusaded against liquor, gambling, prostitution and capital
punishment. One of the founders of the Republican Party, Greeley
was also an eccentric who dabbled in many of the fads of his day.
The phrase was spoken to Josiah Grinell, who went west to Iowa,
became a Congregational minister and founded Grinell College.
3 February 1944
US FORCES INVADE THE MARSHALL ISLANDS: American forces invade and take control of the Marshall Islands, long occupied by the Japanese and used by them as a base for military operations. The Marshalls, east of the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, had been in Japanese hands since World War I. Occupied by the Japanese in 1914, they were made part of the "Japanese Mandated Islands" as determined by the League of Nations.
The Treaty of Versailles, which concluded the First World War, stipulated certain islands formerly controlled by Germany--including the Marshalls, the Carolines, and the Marianas (except Guam)--had to be ceded to the Japanese, though "overseen" by the League. But the Japanese withdrew from the League in 1933 and began transforming the Mandated Islands into military bases. Non-Japanese, including Christian missionaries, were kept from the islands as naval and air bases--meant to threaten shipping lanes between Australia and Hawaii--were constructed.
During the Second World War, these islands, as well as others in the vicinity, became targets of Allied attacks. The U.S. Central Pacific Campaign began with the Gilbert Islands, south of the Mandated Islands; U.S. forces conquered the Gilberts in November 1943. Next on the agenda was Operation Flintlock, a plan to capture the Marshall Islands. Adm. Raymond Spruance led the 5th Fleet from Pearl Harbor on January 22, 1944, to the Marshalls, with the goal of getting 53,000 assault troops ashore two islets: Roi and Namur.
Meanwhile, using the Gilberts as an air base, American planes bombed the Japanese administrative and communications center for the Marshalls, which was located on Kwajalein, an atoll that was part of the Marshall cluster of atolls, islets, and reefs. By January 31, Kwajalein was devastated. Repeated carrier- and land-based air raids destroyed every Japanese airplane on the Marshalls. By February 3, U.S. infantry overran Roi and Namur atolls. The Marshalls were then effectively in American hands--with the loss of only 400 American lives. [photo: SBD Dauntless flies anti-submarine patrol past the Washington, with Lexington in the background]
3 February 1944
THE PLIGHT OF THE INFANTRYMAN:
General George C. Marshall, in a memorandum to
President Roosevelt dated February 3, 1944, wrote:
'The fact that the ground troops, Infantry in particular,
lead miserable lives of extreme discomfort and are
the ones who must close in personal combat with the
enemy, makes the maintenance of their morale of
great importance. The award of the Air Medal have
had an adverse reaction on the ground troops, particularly the Infantry Riflemen who are now suffering the heaviest losses, air or ground, in the Army, and enduring the greatest hardships.'
TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
3 February
◆1238 The Mongols capture Vladimir, Russia.
◆1488 Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz sights the Cape of Good Hope.
◆1509 Battle of Diu: the Portuguese defeat the Ottoman fleet, securing control of Indian Ocean commerce.
◆1706 Battle of Fraustadt: The Swedes defeat a much larger Saxon-Polish-Russian army.
◆1779 Colonial forces lead by General William Moultrie successfully defend Port Royal, South Carolina, against a British attack.
◆1781 British capture St. Eustatia, Dutch West Indies.
◆1783 Spain recognizes the independence of the United States. Sweden and Denmark will follow before the end ot the month and Russia will recognize the new nation in July.
◆1797 Battle of Imola: the French rout the Papal Army.
◆1801 Treaty of peace with France ratified ending Quasi-War with France, in which Revenue Marine had rendered outstanding service.
◆1807 The British capture Montevideo.
◆1811 Horace Greeley, abolitionist newspaper editor, was born in Amherst, New Hampshire. He popularized the phrase "Go west, young man."
◆1813 Battle of Niquitas: Bolivar's Colombians defeat the Spanish Royalists.
◆1852 Marines landed at Buenos Aires, Argentina, to protect American lives.
◆1861 Confederate States of America formed in Montgomery, AL.
◆1904 Colombian troops clashed with U.S. Marines in Panama.
◆1917 The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. A German submarine sank the U.S. liner Housatonic off coast of Sicily.
◆1919 League of Nations held its 1st meeting in Paris.
◆1920 The Allies demanded that 890 German military leaders stand trial for war crimes.
◆1924 Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, dies in Washington, D.C., at the age of 67.
◆1943 On Guadalcanal the Americans consolidate their front running inland from Tassafaronga. US patrols penetrate much closer to Cape Esperance.
◆1944 At the Anzio beachhead, German forces commanded by General Mackensen begin limited attacks against the British 1st Division salient around Campoleone. To the south, the New Zealand Corps (General Freyberg) joins the US 5th Army order of battle. It is being deployed near Cassino.
◆1944 American forces invade and take control of the Marshall Islands, long occupied by the Japanese and used by them as a base for military operations.★
◆1945 French and American units complete the capture of Colmar. All formations of French 1st Army are now making good progress in this sector. The other Allied armies keep up the pressure on the Germans all along the front.
◆1945 On Luzon in the Tagaytay Ridge area, the uncommitted regiment of the US 11th Airborne Division is dropped to help the advance of the other regiments. The fighting north of Manila also continues.
◆1945 American USAAF B-24 and B-29 bombers raid Iwo Jima in preparation for the landings later in the month. They drop a daily average of 450 tons of bombs over the course of 15 days (6800 tons).
◆1953 Carrier aircraft blasted western Korea from Chinnampo to Haeju while the cruisers USS Toledo and Rochester and the destroyers USS Kidd and Chevalier engaged targets in the Kosong area.
◆1988 The Air Force Aerial Achievement Medal, was established by the Secretary of the Air Force.It is awarded by the Department of the Air Force to U.S. military and civilian personnel for sustained meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. The achievements must be accomplished with distinction above and beyond that normally expected of professional airmen.
◆1994 The space shuttle Discovery lifted off, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft.
◆1995 The space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, in the pilot's seat for the first time in NASA history.