The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Yangtze River Patrol (1854 - 1942) - June 9th, 2004

library.nps.navy.mil ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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Yangtze River Patrol
Introduction

The Yangtze River Patrol of the United States Navy existed under various names between 1854 and 1941. This squadron-sized unit of the Asiatic Fleet patrolled the waters of the Yangtze river as far inland as Chungking, more than 1,300 miles from the sea, and occasionally far beyond. The patrol was necessary to protect U.S.citizens and their interests against pirates and warlords who would attack commercial ships on the river. In the early part of the 1900's China experienced turbulent times accompanied by many acts of violence against foreigners. The Yangtze Patrol was called upon to defend American lives, property, and commerce along the river and to support American foreign policy in the Far East.

History

Late 1800's

As a result of several so-called "unequal treaties" imposed on China by Great Britain after the Opium Wars, China was opened to foreign trade at a number of locations known as "treaty ports" where foreigners were permitted to live and conduct business. Also created by the treaties was the doctrine of extraterritoriality, a system whereby citizens of foreign countries living in China were subject to the laws of their home country, not those of China. Most favored nation treatment under the treaties assured other countries of the privileges afforded Great Britain, and soon many nations, including the United States, operated merchant ships and navy gunboats on the waterways of China.




USS Elcano

During the 1860's and 1870's American merchant ships were prominent on the lower Yangtze, operating up to the deepwater port of Hankow 300 miles inland. The added mission of anti-piracy patrols required naval and marine landing parties be put ashore several times to protect American interests. U.S. ships also visited ports along the Yangtze. In 1874 the USS ACHUELOT reached as far as Ichang, at the foot of the Yangtze gorges, 975 miles from the sea. During this period most found a tour in the Yangtze to be uneventful, as a major American shipping company sold its interests to a Chinese firm leaving the patrol with little to protect. However, as the stability of China began to deteriorate after 1890, the U.S. Naval presence began to increase along the Yangtze.

1900's


USS Villalobos

In 1901 American-flag merchant vessels returned to the Yangtze when Standard Oil Company placed a steam tanker in service on the lower river. Within the decade several small motorships began hauling kerosene, the principle petroleum product used in China for that company. At the same time the Navy acquired several ex-Spanish gunboats which were seized in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. These vessels became the core of the Yangtze River patrol for the first dozen years of the twentieth century, but they lacked the power to go beyond Ichang onto the more difficult stretches of the river.


USS Monocacy

In 1913 the first American gunboats were built specifically for service on the Yangtze river. These ships the USS PALOS and the USS MONOCACY, were built at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. They were then disassembled and shipped to China aboard the American steamer MONGOLIA. In Shanghai they were reassembled at the Kiangnan Shipyard, and put into service in 1914. That year both vessels demonstrated their ability to handle the rapids of the upper river when they reached Chungking more than 1,300 miles from the sea, and went beyond to Kiating on the Min River. In 1917 the United States entered World War I and the guns of the PALOS and the MONOCACY were rendered inoperable. After China entered the war on the side of the allies the gunboats were re-armed.

In 1917 the first Standard Oil tanker reached Chungking, and a pattern of American commerce on the river began to emerge. Passenger and cargo service by American-flag ships began in 1920 with the Dollar Line and the American West China Company, followed in 1923 by the Yangtze River Steamship Company which stayed on the river until 1935, long after the other American passenger-cargo ships were gone.


USS Elcano
gunnery practice

To accommodate its increased responsibilities on the river, the Navy constructed six new gunboats in Shanghai between 1926-1927. These vessels were of three sizes, all capable of reaching Chungking at high water. The LUZON and MINDANAO were the largest, the OAHU and PANAY next in size, and the GUAM and TUTUILA the smallest. These vessels gave the navy the capability it needed at a time when operational requirements were growing rapidly.

Naval reaction to hostilities along the river peaked in the early 1920's and 1930's. In the early 1920's the patrol found itself fighting the forces of deadly warlords and ruthless bandits, then, in the late 1920's, Chiang Kai Shek and the Northern Expedition, created a volatile military situation for the patrol along the Yangtze. During the early 1930's communist armies took control of much of the north bank of the middle river and the patrol was there to protect U.S. lives and property. The climax of hostilities occured in 1937 with the "Rape of Nanking" and the sinking of the USS PANAY by the Japanese. These acts created an international incident which has often been regarded as the beginning of World War Two in the Pacific.


USS Sacramento

After the Japanese took control of much of the middle and lower Yangtze, American gunboats entered into a period of frustrating inactivity and impotence. Just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor most of the ships on the Yangtze River Patrol were brought out of China, with only the smallest gunboats, GUAM which had been renamed the WAKE and the TUTUILA remaining behind. The WAKE at Shanghai was subsequently over-run and captured by the Japanese. TUTUILA at Chungking was turned over to the Chinese. When the other gunboats reached Manila the Yangtze River Patrol was formally disestablished. Subsequently, the evacuated ships were all scuttled, sunk, or captured with their crews imprisoned by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor. The LUZON was later salvaged and used by the Japanese.



Thus, the end for the Yangtze Patrol, like the end for the entire Asiatic Fleet, came ingloriously. However, it is more befitting to remember the halcyon years of the Patrol when its gunboats proudly carried the American flag deep into China.

[SAMWolf]

USS Tutuila I (PR-4)

PR-4/PG-44
Displacement: 396 tons
Length: 169'6"
Beam: 27'1"
Draw: 6'6"
Speed 14.37 knots
Complement: 61
Armament: 2 3", 10 30-cal mg

Tutuila (PG-44) was laid down on 17 October 1926 at Shanghai, China, by the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works; launched on 14 June 1927; sponsored by Miss Beverly Pollard; and commissioned on 2 March 1928, Lt. Comdr. Frederick Baltzly in command.

Tutuila bulling up Yangtze rapids - 1928

Assigned to the Yangtze Patrol (YangPat) and redesignated a river gunboat (PR-4) on 16 June 1928, Tutuila cruised on shakedown up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to I'Chang, where she joined sister ship Guam (PR-3) in mid-July. Convoying river steamers through the upper reaches of the Yangtze on her first passage through the scenic gorges, she flew the flag of Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, Jr., Commander, Yangtze Patrol (ComYangPat). Tutuila 's shallow draft enabled her to traverse the treacherous rapids of the gorges with ease, so that the fluctuating water levels did not hinder her year-round access to the upper stretch of the Yangtze. Her duty with YangPat offered excitement and variety: conducting roving armed patrols; convoying merchantmen; providing armed guards for American flag steamers; and "showing the flag" to protect American lives and property in a land where civil strife and warfare had been a way of life for centuries.

Dealing with sniping by bandits or warlord troops in the 1920's and 1930's required both tact and (upon occasion) a few well-placed rounds of 3-inch or .30 caliber gunfire. One incident which called for a mixture of diplomacy and force came in 1929, when Lt. Comdr. S. D. Truesdell was in command of the gunboat.

Captain S.D. Truesdell

He called on the Chinese warlord from whose territory some rifle shots had come. During a discussion of the incident, the general explained that his men were merely "country boys, who meant no harm." Truesdell replied that he, too, had some "country boys" among his own crew. He noted that he had found them tinkering with the after 3-inch gun, pointing it at the general's conspicuous white headquarters, as they practiced their range-finding. Truesdell's rejoinder bore immediate fruit; the sniping ceased forthwith!

In 1937, the complexion of life for the Yangtze gunboats changed. The undeclared Sino-Japanese War began in July and spread to the Yangtze valley in August and September. Japanese river operations effectively bottled up the river for neutral gunboats, and their proximity to war zones produced incidents such as the sinking of the Panay (PR-6) by Japanese aircraft on 12 December 1937. On 3 August 1938, Tutuila followed Luzon (PR-7) up the river to Chungking, as the YangPat flagship carried the American Ambassador, Nelson T. Johnson, to that river port.

USS Tutuila at anchor at Chunking

Tutuila remained at Chungking as station ship with little hope of relief. Further Japanese operations resulted in the capture of Hankow in October 1938, making river travel below the former Chinese capital city subject to harassment and obstruction by the Japanese Navy. Such conditions resulted in the stranding of Tutuila at Chungking, where she remained through 1941.

After the fall of Hankow, the Chinese moved their capital up river to Tutuila's station, Chungking. Japanese forces thus stepped up the intensity of their attacks on that city, and air raids were common occurrences during the spring, summer, and fall. Only winter bad weather prevented the Japanese from year-round heavy raids. Moored at Lungmenhao lagoon, Tutuila bore a charmed life until 31 July 1941, when Japanese bombs landed close aboard, holing the ship at her waterline and destroying the ship's motor skimmer with its outboard motor.

Yangtze Gorges

By late 1941, as the situation in the Far East worsened, four gunboats remained with YangPat and one in the South China Patrol. Admiral Hart's reduction of naval forces in Chinese waters cut this number to two. Luzon (with Rear Admiral William A. Glassford, ComYangPat, embarked) departed from Shanghai for Manila on 28 November 1941 in company with Oahu (PR-6). Wake remained at Shanghai as station ship; Tutuila, beyond hope of escape, remained marooned at Chungking. Mindanao departed Hong Kong at approximately the same time and arrived in the Philippines shortly after hostilities commenced.

Shortly after his arrival in Manila, Rear Admiral Glassford deactivated the Yangtze Patrol on 6 December 1941. Within a few days, Japanese air attacks had devastated Pearl Harbor; and hostilities were underway with a rapidity which caught Wake unawares at Shanghai, where she was captured. For Tutuila , however, this news only heightened the anxiety.

Her residual complement of two officers and 22 enlisted men was ordered to depart from Chungking without their ship. She was then taken under the jurisdiction of the Naval Attache attached to the American Embassy, Chungking. She was decommissioned on 18 January 1942, the same day Tutuila's crew flew out of the city. The attache delivered the ship to an authorized representative of the Republic of China on 16 February 1942. Then, under terms of lend-lease, the United States leased the gunboat to China on 19 March 1942, her name becoming Mei Yuan which can be translated as "of American origin." The name Tutuila was struck from the United States Navy list on 26 March 1942.

The ship was permanently transferred to the Chinese government on 17 February 1948. She served the Nationalist Navy until near the end of the Civil War which ravaged China after World War II. As Communist forces advanced upon Shanghai, the Nationalists abandoned and scuttled Mei Yuan to prevent her capture. Her subsequent fate is unknown.

[SAMWolf]

The Sinking of the USS Panay
12 December 1937


USS Panay in 1928

U.S.S. Panay was one of five small, shoal-draft river gunboats that had been built about ten years earlier, primarily for patrolling the Yangtze in order to protect American commerce and American nationals during the Chinese civil war. They were used to being fired upon (and seldom hit) by irresponsible guerrilla bands of Chinese, but what happened to Panay was deliberately planned by responsible Japanese officers.


A bomb exploding between the Panay and the Mei Ping.

On 21 November 1937, when Japanese forces were approaching Nanking, Chiang Kai-shek's foreign office notified the American Embassy that it must prepare to evacuate. The Ambassador and most of the personnel left next day in U.S.S. Luzon; the rest stuck it out for another week, when they decided to depart in Panay. Ambassador Grew so notified the Japanese government on 1 December. On the 11th the gunboat embarked the American officials together with a number of civilians, and started upriver, escorting three Standard Oil barges that also wished to escape. Two British gunboats and a few other British craft followed the same course.


The Panay's crew returning fire

For two miles this little flotilla was fired upon repeatedly by a shore battery commanded by Colonel Hashimoto, one of the ringleaders in the assassinations and a prominent Kodo man. His object was to provoke the United States into a declaration of war, which would eliminate civilian influence from the Japanese government and complete the "Showa Restoration." The shooting was so wild that Panay and her convoy, making slow speed against the current, pulled out of range without suffering a hit. An advanced Army unit notified naval authorities that Chinese troops were fleeing the capital in ten ships.


Severely damaged and taking water, the order to abandon ship is given. Wood gratings are thrown overboard for use as floatation devices.

At 1100 next morning (12 December 1937) Panay and the three tankers anchored near Hoshien, upstream from Nanking. American flags were hoisted on their masts and painted on the awnings and topsides. The day was clear, sunny and still. Panay's ate their Sunday dinner and secured. No guns were manned or even uncovered. Shortly after 1330, three Japanese Navy bombing planes flew overhead and released eighteen bombs, one of which disabled Panay's forward 3-inch gun, wrecked the pilothouse, sick bay and fire room, wounded the captain (Lieutenant Commander J.J. Hughes) and several others. Immediately after, twelve more planes dive-bombed and nine fighters strafed, making several runs over a space of twenty minutes. She fought back with her .30-cal. machine guns.


Some of the crew being ferried to shore as the Panay begins to list.

By 1406 all power and propulsion were lost, the main deck was awash and, as Captain Hughes saw that his ship was going down, he ordered her to be abandoned. Japanese planes strafed the boats on their way to shore, and even combed the reeds along the riverbank for survivors. Two of the three oil barges were also bombed and destroyed. The Panay survivors, kindly treated by the Chinese, managed to get word through to Admiral Yarnell and were taken on board U.S.S. Oahu and H.M.S. Ladybird two days later. Two bluejackets and one civilian passenger died of their wounds; eleven officers and men were seriously wounded.


The Panay with her main deck disappearing below the waterline. Note the damage to her upper decks.

Mr. Grew, who remembered the Maine, at first expected his country to declare war. But the promptness and apparent sincerity with which the Japanese government and people apologized and expressed their readiness to make what reparation they could, turned away wrath. The Japanese official inquiry resulted in the face-saving explanation that the attack was all a mistake; ships emblazoned with American flags had been mistaken for Chinese at 600 yards' range; it was just to bad. A United States naval Court of Inquiry at Shanghai brought out unmistakable evidence that the sinking was deliberate. But the United States government was so anxious to avoid war that it accepted the "mistake" theory, together with an indemnity. When it did so, a sigh of relief passed over the length and breadth of America. In a Gallup poll conducted during the second week of January 1937, 70 per cent of the American voters who were interviewed and had an opinion on the subject favored a policy of complete withdrawal from China -- Asiatic Fleet, Marines, missionaries, medical missions, and all.


USS Panay's final moments as she flooded and rolled beneath the water.

Apparently no American except Mr. Grew remembered the Maine.

excerpted from
"History of United States Naval Operations in World War II"
Volume 3: "The Rising Sun in the Pacific" (pages 16-18)
by Samuel Eliot Morison

Additional Sources:

library.nps.navy.mil
www.geocities.com/Vienna/5047
www.ibiblio.org
www.exnet.narod.ru
www.dgtraining.net
www.netdialogue.com

[SAMWolf]

'Wanhsien showed that the present type of gunboat used in China is becoming obsolete. A little tin gunboat on a narrow river is no match in a fight with a Chinese army equipped with modern heavy artillery. Unless the foreigners build heavier and better protected gunboats, a difficult thing to do in view of the shallowness of the rivers - the Chinese are shortly [if they are not ready now] going to drive the gunboats off the river.'

China Weekly Review, November 13, 1926. Quoted in Kemp Tolley, Yangtze Patrol The U.S. Navy in China (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1971) page 144.

'If today’s naval officers were asked to name the longest uninterrupted naval operations in almost 200 years of military history, few would be able to give the correct answer. It is not well known that for three quarters of a century, through wars, revolutions, and “times of trouble” a flotilla of odd looking ships sailed China’s principle river with a unique singleness of purpose-to protect American lives and property.
This was YangPat, the legendary Yangtze Patrol.'

Kemp Tolley, Rear Admiral , U.S. Navy (Ret.), 1963

The Yangtze Service Medal

The Yangtze Service Medal was established on April 28, 1930 for members of the Marine Corps and Navy who served on shore at Shanghai or in the Yangtze Valley with the landing forces between September 3, 1926 and October 21, 1927 and between March 1, 1930 and December 31, 1932, as well as to members attached to certain vessels during these same periods.



The medal’s obverse was designed by John R. Sinnock and depicts a Chinese junk with sails at half-mast. At the top of the medal is the inscription “Yangtze Service” curved to follow the edge of the medal.



The reverse was designed by A. A. Weinman. It depicts an eagle perched on an anchor with sprigs of laurel. The eagle sits between he words “For Service.” At the top of the reverse in a semicircle are the words “United States Navy.” (This same design is found on the Dominican Campaign Medal, 1916).

The ribbon's wide center stripe is deep blue and is flanked on both sides by a narrow stripe of red, a narrow stripe of yellow and a narrow stripe of blue at the edges.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

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PDN members and fans. We hope you will consider this simple act of patriotism worth passing on or taking up as a project in your own back yard. In summary:

Who They Are: Operation: Stitches Of Love was started by the Mothers of two United States Marines stationed in Iraq.

What They Are Doing: We are gathering 12.5"x12.5" quilt squares from across the country and assembling the largest quilt ever produced. When completed we will take the quilt from state to state and gather even more squares.

Why They Are Doing This: We are building this quilt to rally support for the Coalition Forces in Iraq and to show the service members that they are not forgotten. We want the world to know Nothing will ever break the stitches that bind us together as a country.

Ideas to start a local project:

Obtain enough Red, White and Blue material (cloth) for a 12.5 x 12.5 quilt square.
If you have someone in your family that sews, make it a weekend project and invite neighbors to join you.

Consider this tribute as a project for your civic group, scouts, church or townhall group.

Locate an elementary school with an after school program in your neighborhood or locate an after school program in your neighborhood not attached to a school and ask if you could volunteer one or two afternoons and create some squares with the kids.

Invite some VFW posts to share your project in honor of their post.

Send us webmaster@patriotwatch.com for digital photos of in progress and finished project for various websites, OIFII.com and the media.

PDN is making this appeal in support of Operation: Stitches Of Love
Media Contact: Deborah Johns (916) 716-2749
Volunteers & Alternate Media: PDN (916) 448-1636

Your friends at PDN

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

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[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.


If you would like to be added to our ping list, let us know.

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam. Sweet dreams.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and eveyrone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[GATOR NAVY]

Great movie but the book is even better. Read it if you haven't.

[U S Army EOD]

But what about the Sand Pebbles and Steve McQueen???

[WaterDragon]

Good morning, SAM and snippy!

I love this from the article.....

He called on the Chinese warlord from whose territory some rifle shots had come. During a discussion of the incident, the [Chinese] general explained that his men were merely "country boys, who meant no harm." Truesdell replied that he, too, had some "country boys" among his own crew. He noted that he had found them tinkering with the after 3-inch gun, pointing it at the general's conspicuous white headquarters, as they practiced their range-finding. Truesdell's rejoinder bore immediate fruit; the sniping ceased forthwith!

I had no idea the American Navy patrolled the Yangtze for so long!

[The Mayor]

I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. —John 15:15

When you spend time with God, you invest in a forever friendship.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on June 09:
1640 Leopold I Emperor of Holy Roman Empire
1672 Peter I Aleksejevitsj, the Great, Russian tsar/Emperor
1781 George Stephenson inventor (principal RR locomotive)
1791 John Howard Payne US, author/actor/diplomat (Home Sweet Home)
1893 Cole Porter Indiana, composer/lyricist (Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate)
1900 Fred Waring Tyrone Penn, musician/conductor/inventor (Waring Blender)
1908 Robert Cummings Joplin Mo, actor (Love that Bob, Dial M For Murder)
1915 Les Paul Waukesha Wi, guitarist/inventor (Les Paul guitar) Chester & Lester [w/Chet Atkins - 1976], Trustees Award [1982]; w/Mary Ford: Vaya Con Dios, How High the Moon, Hummingbird, Sittin' on Top of the World; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [1988])
1916 Robert S McNamara US Sec of Defense (1961-68)/head of World Bank
1930 Jackie Mason(Yacov Moshe Maza) comedian (The World According to Me, Chicken Soup)
1930 Marvin Kalb NYC, educator/newscaster (CBS/NBC)
1934 Donald Duck famous fowl
1934 Jackie Wilson Detroit, singer (Lonely Teardrops)
1934 Joe Santos Bkln NY, actor (Rockford Files, Shamus)
1947 Mitch Mitchell drummer (Jimi Hendrix Experience-Purple Haze)
1951 Bonnie Tyler [Gaynor Hopkins], rocker (Total Eclipse of the Heart)
1958 Donald Michael Santini Mass, murderer (FBI Most Wanted List)
1961 Michael J Fox, actor (Family Ties, Back to the Future, Teen Wolf)
1963 Johnny Depp Queensboro Ky, actor (Donnie Brasco)

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Deaths which occurred on June 09:
68 Nero Roman Emperor commits suicide
1870 Charles Dickens author, dies in England
1897 Alvin Graham Clark dies 3 weeks after 1st use of Yerkes 40" lens
1911 Carry Amelia Moore Nation, American temperance leader, dies
1964 W Maxwell Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Engl Min of Info, dies at 85
1981 Allen Ludden game show host (Password), dies at 63
1982 Hank Ladd TV host (Arrow Show, Waiting for the Break), dies at 74

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 DALE CHARLES A. PHOENIX AZ.
[DISAPPEARED OVER VINH BIHN]
1965 DEMMON DAVID S. VENICE CA.
[DISAPPEARED OVER VINH BIHN]
1966 BUSH ROBERT IRA RACINE WI.
1966 SHORACK THEODORE JAMES JR SALEM OR.
1968 HOLDEN ELMER LARRY OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG]
1968 LOCKER JAMES DOUGLAS SIDNEY OH.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG]
1968 RITTICHIER JACK C. BARBERTON OH.
1968 SCHMIDT WALTER R. JR. NASSAU NY.
["LANDED ALIVE, NVA APPROACHING"]
1968 YEEND RICHARD C. MOBILE AL.
[RADIO CONTCT LST SAR NEG]
1970 ELLIOTT ANDREW J. OAKLAND CA.
1970 HILBRICH BARRY W. CORPUS CHRISTI TX.
1970 RYDER JOHN L. CHISHOLM MN.


POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
1456 23rd recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1534 Jacques Cartier 1st sails into mouth of St Lawrence River
1628 1st deportation from what is now US, Thomas Morton from Mass
1732 Royal charter for Georgia granted to James Oglethorpe
1772 1st Protestant church west of Penn (in Ohio) holds communion
1784 John Carroll appointed supervisor of US Catholic Missions
1789 Spanish capture British schooner Northwest America near Vancouver I
1790 1st book copyrighted under the constitution, Philadelphia Spelling Bk
1822 Charles Graham receives 1st patent for false teeth
1851 San Francisco Committee of Vigilance forms (1st time)
1862 Battle of Port Republic, last of 5 battles in Jacksons Valley camp
1863 Battle of Brandy Station, Va
1868 1st meeting of the Board of Regents, University of California
1869 Charles Elmer Hires sells his 1st root beer (Phila)
1883 1st commercial electric railway line begins operation (Chicago El)
1898 China leases Hong Kong's new territories to Britain for 99 years
1899 Jim Jeffries KOs Bob Fitzsimmons for the Heavyweight boxxing crown
1901 NY Giants get record 31 hits to beat Cin Reds 25-13
1907 K Lohnert discovers asteroid #635 Vundtia
1914 Honus Wagner becomes the 1st baseball player to get 3,000 hits
1928 1st aerial cross of the Pacific lands in Brisbane Australia
1931 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1197 Rhodesia
1931 Goddard patents rocket-fueled aircraft design
1934 1st Donald Duck cartoon, The Wise Little Hen, released
1940 Norway surrenders to Germany during WW II
1943 Congress passes "pay-as-you-go" income tax
1944 23 puppies (record litter) born to Lena, a foxhound, Ambler, Penn
1946 19 guests at Canfield Hotel die in fire. (Dubuque Iowa)
1946 66,545 fans help Yanks break million attendance mark, the earliest
1946 NY Giant Mel Ott becomes the 1st manager to be ejected from both games of a doubleheader
1949 Mrs Georgia Neese Clark of Kansas becomes 1st woman treasurer of US
1953 Tornado strikes Worcester Mass destroying Assumption College (100 die)
1954 Joseph Welch asks Sen Joseph McCarthy "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" during Senate-Army hearings
1955 100ø F-Hottest day in Seattle Washington
1957 Anthony Eden resigns as British PM
1959 1st ballistic missile sub launched (George Washington-Groton, Ct)
1960 ABC & AFL sign a 5 year contract
1963 Barbra Striesand appears on "The Ed Sullivan Show"
1963 Movie "Cleopatra" opens in NY
1966 5 Minn Twins (Rich Rollins, Zolio Versailes, Tony Oliva, Don Michner,& Harmon Killebrew) all homer in the 7th inning to beat Athletics 9-4
1967 The Monkees appear at the Hollywood Bowl
1969 Brian Jones quits the Rolling Stones
1969 Warren Burger confirmed as US Chief Justice
1970 Harry A Blackmun becomes a Supreme Court Justice
1972 14" of rain in 6 hrs burst Rapid City SD dam, drowns 200
1972 Bruce Springsteen signs a record deal with Columbia
1973 Secretariat wins Belmont Stakes & Triple Crown
1974 Supergroup Blind Faith's (Clapton, Windwood, Baker) 1st concert
1975 E Roemer discovers asteroid #1983 Bok
1977 Silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth celebrated with fireworks
1978 Gutenberg Bible (1 of 21) sells for $2.4 million, London
1978 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) strikes down 148 year policy of excluding black men from priesthood
1979 Coastal wins the Belmont Stakes
1979 Michael Cairney topples a record row of 169,713 dominoes
1979 Phillies wear burgundy uniforms for 1st & last time
1980 Comedian Richard Pryor suffers burns from free basing cocaine
1980 Phillies & SF Giants end their game at 3:11 AM
1980 Soyuz T-2 returns to Earth
1982 Israel wipes out Syrian SAM missiles in Bekaa Valley
1985 American Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped & held hostage in Lebanon
1985 USSR's Vega 1 deposits lander on surface of Venus
1986 Angel Don Sutton (298 wins) beats White Sox Tom Seaver (306 wins) 3-0
1986 Rogers Comm report on Challenger disaster blames Morton Thiokol
1988 Attorney General Meese orders Joseph Doherty deported to the UK
1989 "Star Trek V" premiers
1989 Barry Switzer resigns as head coach of Oklahoma's football
1989 Rare tornado in Philadelphia kills 1
1990 Kerry Kennedy (daughter of Robert) & Andrew Coumo (Mario's son) wed
1994 The U.S. House of Representatives voted to require the Clinton administration to stop participating in the U.N.-sponsored arms embargo against the Bosnian government.
1995 Colombian police arrested Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, believed to be a leader of the Cali drug cartel.
1997 British lease on New Territories in Hong Kong expires
1999 President Clinton instructed federal law agencies to collect race and gender data on people they stop or arrest, in a move to end racial profiling by police.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Oklahoma : Senior Citizens Day
Massachusett : Children's Day (Sunday)
Shelby, Mich : National Asparagus Festival (Thursday)
Great Britain : Queen's official birthday (National Day)(Saturday)
National Humor Week (Day 4)
National Fragrance Week (Day 4)
National Bathroom Reading Week (Day 3)
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month

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Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Vestalia (honors goddess Vesta); a d v Id Juni‘
Christian : Feast of St Pelagia
RC : Memorial of Ephraem, deacon & doctor (opt)
RC : Commemoration of SS Primus & Felician, martyrs
Ang, Luth, RC : Commemoration of Columba, Abbot of Iona
Luth : Commemoration of Aidan, confessors
Luth : Commemoration of Bede, confessors

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Religious History
0597 Death of St. Columba (born 521), pioneer missionary to Scotland. From the Isle of Iona, Columba evangelized the mainland of Scotland and Northumbria.
1549 In England, Parliament established a uniformity of religious services and the first Book of Common Prayer, as Anglicanism became the newly established national faith.
1732 Englishman James Oglethorpe received a royal charter to form the American colony of Georgia. It was to be a place of refuge for sectarian Protestant believers, persecuted in England.
1784 In the first step toward formal organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S., Father John Carroll was appointed superior of the American missions by Pius VI.
1834 English Baptist missionary pioneer William Carey died at 73. Having translated portions of Scripture into as many as 25 languages, he is known by some today as the 'father of modern missions.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Music is the only sensual pleasure without vice."

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Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
Have ventilation ducts too small to crawl through.

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Why did the Chicken cross the Road...
Jerry Seinfeld:
Why does anyone cross a road? I mean, why doesn't anyone ever think to ask, "What the heck was this chicken doing walking around all over the place anyway?"

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Dumb Laws...
Sweden:
It is illegal to repaint a house without a painting license and the government's permission.

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A Cowboy's Guide to Life...
Never miss a good chance to shut up

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

Berlin Wall art

[Professional Engineer]

ARRRRGGGHH! I did it again. My apologies ladies.

[Soaring Feather]

LOL

Good morning PE!! No problem!! You have a lot on your mind these days. :-)

[alfa6]

Ya beat me to it No. 4

Agreed GATOR the book was pretty good if a bit longish


Waking up Bump for the Foxhole, coolthread on the gunboats SAM

Regards to all

alfa6 ;>}