In this installment of maritime history events, we travel all around the world. If you’ve got an event that you think should be included, let us know in a comment below, or in an email to comments@shipindex.org.
March 9-10: The submarine USS Kete (Wikipedia, ShipIndex) engaged with three Japanese vessels while gathering weather data in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa, in 1945. Kete was built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and entered service in 1944. Kete was lost later in the month, but no information is known around what caused her loss. In 1995, deep-sea divers may have spotted Kete, but they were unable to confirm the identity of the submarine they found, and after their Remotely Operated Vessel was lost in 1997, they were unable to return to the site.
March 11: On board Balclutha (Wikipedia, ShipIndex, now at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park), in 1899, the Captain’s wife, Alice Durkee, gave birth to their daughter while at sea. The child was named Inda Frances, because she was born on the Indian Ocean, while headed for San Francisco. (source)
March 13: In 1808, HMS Emerald, a 36-gun frigate (Wikipedia, ShipIndex) with a long history in the British navy, took a large French schooner, Apropos (ShipIndex) in Viveiro harbor (on the coast in the northwest corner of Spain, in Galicia). The crew on Apropos had run their ship on shore to escape the British, but they were unable to do so, and eventually set the ship on fire, after having run off her crew. Emerald lost nine men, plus had 16 wounded, in the action.
March 14: On this day in 1790, William Bligh returned to Great Britain, after the mutiny against him on board HMS Bounty (Wikipedia, ShipIndex), the year before. Fletcher Christian, Bligh’s good friend and a master’s mate on Bounty, put Bligh and several other crew in a small boat, which Bligh successfully navigated on a 6700km open ocean voyage to Coupang, in Timor. Bligh eventually returned to Great Britain, and continued his naval career for another 25 years. Below is a photo I took of Capt Bligh’s grave and memorial, in what is now London’s Garden Museum, on Lambeth Palace Road, on a visit in 2023.
For more about these ships, check out ShipIndex.org. And let us know if you have events that you think we should include!