JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
March 6, 1942 - U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers bombarded Vila and Munda, Solomon Islands, sinking two Japanese destroyers.
March 7, 1994 - The Navy issued the first orders to women assigning them aboard a combat ship, USS Eisenhower.
March 8, 1958 - The battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was decommissioned, leaving the Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1895.
March 9, 1862 - The first battle between ironclads occurred when USS Monitor and CSS Virginia exchanged fire.
March 10, 1948 - The first jets were assigned to an operational squadron (VF-5A) on board an aircraft carrier, USS Boxer.
March 11, 1942 - In a PT boat, Lt. Cmdr. John Bulkeley left the Philippines to take Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Australia.
March 12, 1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Adm. Ernest King to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations as well as Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, to which he was appointed Dec. 30, 1941.