JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
May 15, 1972 - U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft mined Haiphong Harbor in North Vietnam.
May 15, 1969 - The nuclear powered attack submarine Guitarro (SSN-665) sank while tied up to the dock at Mare Island, San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard. The ship, under construction since August 1965, was due to be commissioned in January 1970. The sinking was caused by uncontrolled flooding within the forward part of the ship.
May 16, 1965 - USS Tucker conducted the first U.S. gunfire support in Vietnam.
May 17, 1987 - USS Stark (FFG-31) was struck by an Iraqi Exocet missile in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 Sailors and wounding 21.
May 18, 1798 - Benjamin Stoddert was appointed as the first Secretary of the Navy.
May 19, 1882 - Commodore Shufeldt (USS Swatara) landed in Korea to negotiate the first treaty between Korea and a western power.
May 20, 1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur sailed with 10 ships to suppress Mediterranean pirates' raids on U.S. shipping.
May 21, 1850 - Craftsmen at the Washington Navy Yard began work on the first castings for the Dahlgren guns.