"Don't shoot, we're Republicans!" That was the private greeting by naval harbormasters and other ships extended to the ill-fated destroyer USS William D. Porter (DD-579). Assigned as one of three escorts to the battleship Iowa for President Roosevelt's trip to meet with Stalin and Churchill in 1943, the Porter backed away from her moorings and scraped the railings, a life raft, and the captain's gig off the ship beside her. One day out, a depth charge was accidentally dropped overboard, to the captain's embarrassment. A wave washed over her decks, taking a man and miscellaneous equipment, and then one of the boilers failed. On this day in 1943, during a demonstration, the Porter fired three torpedoes at the Iowa, leaving the fuse intact on one and was forced to break radio silence to warn the battleship. Banished to patrol duty in the upper Aleutians, the Porter accidentally, but precisely, dropped a five-inch shell into the front yard of the base commandant. In duty near Okinawa the Porter was effective in shooting down Japanese aircraft, but it is believed that she bagged three US planes as well. On 10 June 1945 a wood and canvas "Val" kamikaze bomber headed for a ship near the Porter, suddenly veering off and hit the water beside the ill-starred destroyer. As the crew sighed in relief, the kamikaze exploded beneath the water and Porter slipped, stern first, into the Pacific. All hands were saved, but no careers were spared.
Most of the rest of today's items are also nautical. The novel Moby Dick was released, and a pioneering woman reporter set out to duplicate the trip around the world from another novel. The first flight of an airplane from a naval vessel took place on this day, although it was more of a stunt than an actual military advance, and even the holiday listed today is the birthday of a naval officer: the Prince of Wales left active service in the Royal Navy in 1976 but still holds the rank of Read-Admiral. Today's quotes are from the US Navy, two admirals and Reagan's navy secretary.
In our token "dry land" item, Wall Street arbitrageur Ivan Boesky, son of a Russian-immigrant delicatessen operator, agreed to a settlement on criminal charges of insider trading with what was then the largest-ever fine in the US - but he got a lot better deal than the SEC thought at the time.
Sorry for the long gap between issues, I've been down with the flu. I hope to be back to full strength by next week.
1851 - The first complete edition of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" was published at New York City by Harper & Brothers, it had been published in a bowdlerized edition at London under the name "The Whale" a month before. The novel was based on many stories of "Mocha Dick," a light-colored sperm whale often sighted near the island of Mocha off the Chilean coast, known for attacking boats - Mocha was blamed for wrecking seven ships and 20 boats, he had twenty harpoons in his body when taken in 1846.
1889 - Nellie Bly set sail on the Augusta Victoria from Hoboken Pier at New York City, bound for ... New York City. Inspired by Jules Verne's fictional Phileas Fogg who made it around the world in 80 days, Bly returned to New York in 72 days. Verne invited her to stop at his home in Paris to discuss her itinerary, and sales of the original book took off. It had taken over a year to convince her employer, the New York World, to send her on the trip.
1910 - Naval aviation began with the first takeoff from a ship at Hampton Roads, Virginia. A sloping wooden platform had been built above the deck of the cruiser USS Birmingham, and Curtiss Exhibition Team member Eugene Ely piloted a Curtiss biplane from that deck to Willoughby Spit, Norfolk, Virginia. His wheels and propeller tips actually struck the water, his goggles were so covered with spray he could barely see the beach.
1943 - While escorting the battleship Iowa to the "Big Three" conferences in Cairo and Teheran with President Franklin Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull aboard, the USS William D. Porter fired three torpedoes at the Iowa, one of which was live. The Iowa was able to evade the torpedo which exploded in the wake of the battleship. The "Willie Dee," her captain Wilfred A. Walter, and the entire crew were arrested, the only US Navy ship to be court martialed.
1986 - Ivan Boesky pled guilty to one criminal count of insider trading, accepting a fine of $50 millions, disgorging another $50 millions in illegal trading profits, agreed to cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and later served 26 months of a three-year prison sentence. His revelations brought down Michael Millken and Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. He paid the fine with $50 million in shares which had dropped in value to about one fourth of that, and successfully claimed that the other $50 million was tax-deductible.
Prince of Wales' Birthday, British Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu - Celebrates 1948 birth at Buckingham Palace, London of Charles Philip Arthur George, heir to the British crown, who was created Prince of Wales at age nine in 1958.
If you're going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will
forgive you, but the bureaucracy won't.
- Hyman G. Rickover
I am now going to make you a gift that will stay with you the rest of
your life. For the rest of your life, every time you say we've always
done it that way, my ghost will appear and haunt you for twenty-four hours.
- Grace Murray Hopper
Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.
- John Lehman, Secretary of
US Navy, 1981-1987
It is necessary for us to learn from others' mistakes. You will not live
long enough to make them all yourself.
- Hyman G. Rickover
If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologize
than it is to get permission.
- Grace Murray Hopper
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Copyright 2000 G. Armour Van Horn, all rights reserved. This document may be distributed freely. Please forward the complete message including this copyright notice.