JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Oct. 16, 1943 - The Navy accepted its first helicopter, a Sikorsky YR-4B (HNS-1) at Bridgeport, Conn.
Oct. 17, 1922 - Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Griffin, in a Vought VE-7SF, made the first takeoff from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1) anchored in the York River, Virginia.
Oct. 18, 1944 - 3rd Fleet Carrier aircraft attacked Japanese ships in the harbor and land forces around Manila.
Oct. 19, 1944 - The Secretary of the Navy ordered African American women to be accepted into the Naval Reserve.
Oct. 20, 1983 - Due to political strife, USS Independence (CV-59 ) was ordered to Grenada.
Oct. 21, 1797 - The USS Constitution was launched at the Hartts Boston shipyard in Boston, Mass. The ship is now the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy.
Oct. 22, 1962 - President John Kennedy ordered a surface blockade (quarantine) of Cuba to prevent Soviet offensive weapons from reaching Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.