User:Navy Smart/07 08


 * 1777 - British frigate HMS Rainbow and brig HMS Flora chase the Continental frigates Boston and Hancock and the captured prize, British frigate HMS Fox, off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Boston escapes but Hancock is captured and renamed HMS Iris.
 * 1778 - The Allied French fleet under Adm. Comte dEstaing arrives in America with reinforcements for the American Revolution and participates in the Battle of Rhode Island and at the Siege of Savannah.
 * 1879 - USS Jeannette departs San Francisco to explore the Arctic, but becomes frozen in the ice pack by September. On June 13, 1881, the bark-rigged wooden steamship sinks after she is crushed in an Arctic ice pack during an attempt to reach the North Pole through the Bering Strait. Of the 33 who set off after the ship went down, only 13 of Jeannette's men survive their adventures and return to civilization.
 * 1944 - The cruisers and destroyers of Task Group 53.18, commanded by Rear Adm. Charles Turner Joy, begin daily bombardment of Japanese defenses on Guam. Battleships join the bombardment group on July 14.
 * 1944 - While serving as Tank Commander with Second Battalion, Sixth Marines, Second Marine Division during the Battle of Saipan, Sgt. Grant F. Timmermans tank is halted by the enemy when the Japanese hurl a grenade. Blocking the deadly missile, Timmerman holds the grenade to his chest and absorbs the blast, sacrificing his life to save his comrades. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Grant F. Timmerman is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
 * 1960 - USS Proteus (AS-19) is recommissioned and serves as a tender for the Polaris Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines.

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