On March 9, 1862, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) fought in the first battle between two ironclad warships. The battle changed naval warfare around the world, as major navies halted construction of wooden ships to build iron monitors.
On February 19, 1945, the Battle of Iwo Jima began. It was one of the bloodiest of the whole war, with over 44,000 combined casualties.
James Albert Michener is believed to have been born on February 3, 1907, in New York City. He was a bestselling author of more than 40 books, selling an estimated 75 million copies worldwide.
The fourth USS Yorktown was launched on January 21, 1943. During its more than 25 years of service, the Yorktown participated World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
On January 13, 1865, Union forces launched the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. The fort, dubbed the “Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” was the largest in the South and key to Confederate international trade.
Stephen Decatur Jr. was born on January 5, 1779, in Sinepuxent, Maryland. The youngest man in the navy to reach the rank of captain, Decatur was a hero of the War of 1812 and the Barbary Wars.
George Dewey was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on December 26, 1837. A hero of the Civil War and Spanish-American War, he was the first, and to date only, person promoted to Admiral of the Navy.
On December 17, 1925, the seven-week court-martial of World War I aviation pioneer Billy Mitchell came to an end. He was charged for his public criticism of the military in its rejection of the importance of air power.
US sailor Dorie Miller died on November 24, 1943, during the Battle of Makin. He had previously survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, for which he’d earned a Navy Cross.