This day in military history..

Dec 4
1110 Seige of Sidon ends
1676 Battle of Lund
1864 Battle of Waynesboro
1893 Shangani Patrol
1939 U-36 sunk by HMS Salmon off Stavanger. KN Aux. Sub Chaser UJ-117 sunk by mine in The Belt, raised, repaired, returned to service
1942 Italian Cruiser Muzio Attendolo bombed/sunk by B-24s in Naples harbor. Guadalcanal: Carlson's Patrol ends. aux. Gunboat Daido Maru sunk by sub USS Apogon north of Ponape
1943 Carrier Chuyo sunk by USS Sailfish off Hachijima. Aux Sub Chaser Takunan Maru No. 7 and Guard Ship Mikuni Maru No. 5 bombed/sunk at Kwagelein. Italian Socialist Republic MTB MAS 557 sunk by British aircraft off Morisini
1944 Destroyer Kishinami sunk by USS Flasher north west of Palawan.
1952 1st flight Grumman S-2 tracker
 
Dec 5
1757 Battle of Leuthen
1934 Battle of Walwal begins
1940 Destroyer HMS Cameron bombed in drydock at Plymouth, capsized when the dock filled with water. Repaired and used as hull stress test ship. Trawler HMS Calverton sunk by mine at the mouth of the mouth of the Humber off Spurn Head. Italian Torpedo Boat Calypso sunk by mine east of Tripoli
1941 UK declares War on Finland, Hungary, and Romania. 1st flight Kawanishi E15K float plane. Armed Boarding Vessel HMS Chakdina bombed/sunk in eastern Med.
1942 Trawlers HMS Bengali, Canna, and Spaniard burned/sunk when a benzene spill ignites at Lagos. Gunboat USS Erie, torpedoed on Nov. 12, capsizes at Willemstad, Curacao.
1944 R.N. LCT 321 sunk by mine of the west coast of Greece. US LCM-20 sunk by Kamakaze off Leyte. US LSM-149 wrecked off Sansapor or The Philippines. Soviet Sub Chaser BO-230 sunk by U-365 in the Barents Sea. Gunboat Hozu ran aground in the Yangtze near Anking and then was bombed/sunk by Chinese aircraft
 
Dec 6
1704 Battle of Chamkaur
1863 Monitor USS Weehawken floods/sinks due to improper trim while receiving ammo off Charleston. Union captures Brownsville, Tx.
1916 Central Powers capture Bucharest
1917 Destroyer USS Jacob Jones sunk by U-53. Halifax Munitions Disaster
1939 Trawler HMS Washington sunk by mine off Caister
1940 Sub HMS Regulus sunk off Taranto
1941 Sub HMS Perseus sunk by mine off Greece. Soviet sub ShCh-204 sunk off Varna, Bulgaria by Bulgarian aircraft. UK declares War on Finland
1942 Italian sub Porfido sunk by sub HMS Tigris north east of Bone, Algeria. Tug USS Grebe runs aground in Fiji. KM Patrol Ships V-6116 and V-6117 sunk by mines in Porsangerfjord.
1944 1st flight He-162 fighter. Frigate HMS Bullen sunk by U-775 off Cape Wrath. U-297 sunk by RAF Sunderland west of the Orkneys
 
Dec 7
1240 Siege of Kiev ends
1862 Battle of Prarie Grove
1917 US declares War on Austria-Hungary
1940 1st flight Fairy Barracuda. Trawler HMS Capricornus sunk by mine in the Thames Estuary. Trawler HMS Cortina and Guardship HMS Lormont sink each other in a collision at the mouth of the Humber.
1941 HMS Chantala sunk by mine at Tobruk. Corvette HMCS Windflower sunk in a collision with SS Zypenberg on the Grand Banks. U-205 sunk by Destroyers HMS Hesperus and Harvester west of Gibraltar. Pearl Harbor Air Raid.
1944 Destroyers USS Mahan and Ward damaged/scuttled, and LSM-318 sunk, by Kamakazes off Leyte. KM Patrol Ship V-1606 bombed/sunk by Soviet aircraft. Soviet Sub Chaser BO-229 sunk by U-997 in the Barents Sea. High Speed Transport T-11 sunk by USMC and US Army aircraft at San Isidro, Leyte
1975 Indonesia invades East Timor
 
Dec 8
395 Battle of Canne Slope
1432 Battle of Asmena
1914 naval Battle of the Falkland Islands
1941 Japan invades Malaya, Siam, Netherlands East Indies, The Philippines, and Hong Kong (Simultaneous to the Dec 7 Pearl Harbor Attack with the Int Date Line causing a technically different date). US, UK, Canada, China, Free French and The Netherlands declare War on Japan. Trawlers HMS Milford Earl and HMS Phineus Beard bombed/sunk off Scotland. Rescue Tug HMS St Dominic sunk by IJN surface ships south of Saddle Island. Patrol Ship HMIS Probhavati sunk by Cruiser HMS Glasgow in the Indian Ocean. Gunboat HMS Peterel sunk by Armored Cruiser Izumo, and River Gunboat USS Wake captured, at Shanghai. Minesweeper USS Penguin bombed/scuttled at Guam.
1942 Soviet Patrol Ship Smerch bombed/sunk at Murmansk. U-254 sunk in a collision with U-221 while manuevering to attack a Convoy in the Atlantic. U-611 sunk by RAF B-24 south east of Cape Farewell.
1943 Trawler HMS Rysa sunk by mine off La Maddelena.
1945 1st flight Bell 47
1971 Indian Navy attacks Pakistani Navy Base at Karachi
 
Dec 9
730 Battle of Marj Ardabil
1775 Battle of Great Bridge
1824 Battle of Ayacucho
1856 British capture Bushehr
1917 Allenby captures Jerusalem
1937 Battle of Nanking begins
1940 Troopship HMS Royal Scot sunk by mine in the Bristol Channel.
1941 Japanese occupy Tarawa and Makin. China declares War on Italy and Germany. Cuba, Guatamala and the Philippines declare War on Germany and Japan.
1942 Sub I-3 sunk by PT-59 off Guadalcanal. Corvette HMS Marigold torpedoed/sunk by Italian aircraft. Destroyer HMS Porcupine sunk by U-602 north east of Oran.
1943 KM Minesweeper R-56 sunk by Soviet aircraft north of Norway.
1944 U-387 sunk by Corvette HMS Bamborough Castle near Murmansk.
 
Dec 10
1510 Potrugal captures Goa
1665 Royal Netherlands Marine Corps. Est.
1938 1st flight Lockheed Hudson
1939 Trawler HMS Ray of Hope sunk by mine off Ramsgate
1941 Battle of the Philippines begins: Minesweepers W-10 bombed/sunk and W-19 bombed/beached at Aparri, Philippines by US aircraft. Battle of Guam ends. Battlecruiser HMS Repulse and Battleship HMS Prince of Wales sunk by Japanese aircraft off Malaya. Minesweeper HMS Banka sunk by mine off Tioman Island, Philippines. Minesweeper USS Bittern bombed/scuttled at Cavite. USS Sealion bombed/damaged, scuttled on the 25th. Sub I-70 bombed/sunk by aircraft from USS Enterprise
1942 KM Sub Chaser UJ-1704 wrecked near the Geitungen Lighthouse, Norway.
1944 US LCT-1075 sunk when Liberty Ship SS Marcus Daly is hit by a Kamakaze. PT-323 hit by Kamakaze and beached/abandond, both off Leyte
 
Dec 11
630 Mohammed captures Mecca
1282 Battle of Orewin Bridge
1602 Battle of Geneva
1868 Battle of Avay
1941 Germany and Italy declares War on the US, and the US on them. Poland declares War on Japan. Italian Torpedo Boat Alcione sunk by sub HMS Truant off Suda Bay. Sub Ammiraglio Coraccilo sunk by HMS Farndale in the Med. Trawler HMS Lady Shirley and Armed Yacht HMS Rosabelle sunk by U-374 in the Straits of Gibraltar. Battle of Wake Island begins: Destroyer Hayate sunk by 5" shore guns and Destroyer Kisaragi bombed/sunk by an USMC F4F Wildcat.
1942 Destroyer HMS Blean sunk by U-443 north west of Oran.
1943 Frigate HMS Cuckmere damaged beyond repair by U-223 off Algeria, scrapped post War.
1944 Destroyer USS Reid sunk by Kamakaze off Leyte. US Sub Chaser SC-1059 ran aground/sank in the Bahamas, raised, repaired, returned to service. R.N. Motor Minesweeper MMS 257 sunk by mine off the Schelde River. Italian Socialist Republic MAS 531 sunk by Free French Sabre off southern France.
1994 1st Chechen War begins
 
Dec 12
627 Battle of Nineveh
1098 Siege of Ma'arra ends
1602 battle of Geneva ends.
1798 2nd Battle of Ushant
1862 Ironclad USS Cairo sunk by command detonated torpedo in the Yazoo River
1937 Gunboat USS Panay bombed/sunk by Japanese in the Yangtze River.
1938 1st flight Fairey Albacore
1939 Battle of Tolvajarvi. Destroyer Duchess sunk in a collision with Battleship HMS Barham off the Mull of Kintire.
1941 UK declares War on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare War on the US. India declares War on Japan. Anti-Submarine vessel HMS Kampar bombed/sunk at Penang. Gunboat HMS Moth scuttled at Hong Kong, raised, repaired, put in IJN service as "Suma" Recieving ship HMS Tamar also wscuttled at H.K. KM Flackship V-5101 sunk.
1942 KM Sperrbrecher Beijerland sunk by HMS Albrieghton and Eskdale north west of Dieppe. PT-44 sunk by Destroyers Kawakaze and Suzukaze, and Teruzuki sunk by PT-37 and PT-40, off Savo Island. Sub HMS P-222 sunk by Italian Torpedo Boat Fortunale off Capri
1943 Destroyers HMS Holcombe and Tynedale sunk by U-593 off Algeria
1944 E Boat S-198 bombed/sunk by RAF off Ijmuiden. U-416 sunk in collision with Minesweeper M-203 north west of Pillau. KM Destroyers Z 35 and Z 36 sunk by mines in the Gulf of Finland. High Speed Transport T-12 and Landing Ship T-104 sunk by sub USS Pintado in the Luzon Channel. Landing ship T-159 sunk by Destroyer USS Coghlan and US Army field artillery, mortars and Tank Destroyers in Ormoc Bay. Destroyer Yuzuki bombed/sunk by USMC aircraft north west of Cebu. Destroyer Uzuki sunk by PT-490 and PT-492 in Ormoc Bay. Norwegian Corvette Tunsberg Castle sunk by mine in the Barents Sea. US Sub Chaser SC-1059 ran aground and sank in the Bahamas, raised, repaired, returned to service.
 
Dec 14
1751 Theresian Military Academy est.
1814 Battle of Lake Bourgne
1862 Battle of Kinston
1863 Battle of Bean's Station
1939 KM Corvette F-9 sunk by sub HMS Ursula off Heligoland. Trawler HMS James Ludford sunk by mine.
1940 Italian Sub Capitano Torantini sunk by sub HMS Thunderbolt off France. Sub Niade sunk by destroyers HMS Hyperion and Hereward off Bardia. Torpedo Boat HMS Branlebas sank in a storm off Eddystone Rocks
1941 Motor Anti-Submarine Boat 30 sank after hitting the Humber boom. MTB 68 sunk in a collision with MTB 215 off Tobruk. Aux. Gunboat Zuiko Maru drags anchor in a storm at Matsura shima and is wrecked. Cruiser HMS Galatea is torpedoed by U-577 just before Midnight, sinking just after Midnight on the 15th.
1942 Italian sub Uarciek captured by Destroyers HMS Petard and Greek Vasilissa Olga, sinks under tow the next day
1943 PT-239 burns at Vella Lavella due to an explosion and fire in an Ammo and fuel dump.
1944 HMS Aldenham sunk by mine off Pola, Italy. Frigate CD-28 sunk by sub USS Blenny north west of Manila.
 
Dec 15
533 Battle of tricamrum
1467 Battle of Baia
1778 naval Battle of st. Lucia
1864 Battle of Nashville begins
1914 Serbs recapture Belgrade
1917 Bolshivik Govt of Russia signs armistice with the Central Powers
1940 Free French Sub Narval sunk by mine off Sfax, Tunesia
1941 Dutch sub O-16 sunk by mine in Gulf of Siam. PT-33 ran aground/sank off Santiago, Luzon. U-127 sunk by HMAS Nestor off Cape St. Vincent
1942 U-626 sunk by USCG Ingham with a single depth charge. Cruiser HMS Galatea sunk by U-boat in the Med. Battles of Mount Austen, The Galloping Horse and The Sea Horse begins on Guadalcanal.
1943 Battle of Arawe begins
1944 Battle of Mindoro begins. US LST-472 and 738 damaged by Kamakazes/scuttled off Mindoro. Destroyer Momo sunk by USS Hawkbill south west of Cape Bolinao, Luzon. Frigate CD-54 and Army Landing Ship SS-120 sunk by carrier aircraft in the Luzon Channel. E Boat S-198 sunk by aircraft.
2006 1st flight F-35
 
Dec 16
1598 naval Battle of Noryang
1750 Norwegian Military Academy Est.
1761 Siege of Kolberg ends
1838 Battle of Blood River
1864 Battle of Nashville ends
1907 US Great White Fleet sets sail on its around the world voyage.
1912 naval Battle of Elli
1939 Trawlers HMS Evelina and Sedgefly sunk with all hands by mines near Newcastle
1941 Japan invades British Borneo. R.N. LCT 11 sank off Sollum. MTB 8 bombed/sunk, and Destroyer HMS Thracian scuttled, both at Hong Kong. Thracian raised, repaired, entered IJN service as Patrol Boat PB-101. U-557 rammed/sunk by Italian Torpedo Boat Orione off Crete.
1943 U-73 sunk by 3 USN Destroyers off Algeria. Minesweeper R-54 sunk by aircraft north west of Anhold. USN Patrol Boat YP-426 runs aground and sinks off Tybee Island, Ga.
1944 Battle of the Bulge begins
1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, and Indo-Pakistani War, ends
1998 Operation Desert Fox bombing campaign of Iraq begins
 
Dec 17
546 Siege of Rome ends
1399 1st Battle of Panapat
1583 Siege of Godesberg ends
1812 Battle of the Mississinewa
1903 Wright Bros 1st flight
1935 1st flight DC-3
1937 1st flight Consolidated PB2Y Coronado
1939 KM Armored Ship Adm. Graf Spee scuttled at Montevideo
1940 Destroyer HMS Acheron sunk by mine off Isle of Wight. Boom Defence Vessel HMS Thomas Connolly sunk by mine north of Sheerness
1941 Sub RO-62 sunk in a collision with RO-66 off Wake Island. Destroyer Shinonami bombed/sunk by a Dutch Do-24 flying boat. U-131 damaged by Corvette HMS Pentstemon and scuttled. 1st Battle of Sirte.
1942 Italian Destroyer Aviere sunk by Sub HMS Splendid north east of Bizerte. Destroyer HMS Firedrake sunk by U-211.
1944 U-772 sunk by Corvette HMS Nyasaland south of Ireland.
1947 1st flight B-47
 
Dec 18
1118 Siege of Zaragoza ends
1622 Battle of Mbumbi
1793 Siege of Toulon ends, French Royalists give 16 Navy ships to the R.N. to keep them out of Republican hands
1916 Battle of Verdun ends
1940 1st flight Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. KM patrol ship V-403 sunk by mine in the Westerschelde. Trawler HMS Refundo sunk by mine off Harwich.
1941 Japanese invade Hong Kong Island. Battle of Guam ends. Dutch and Australian troops occupy Portugese Timor to set up defences. U-434 sunk by HMS Blankney and Stanley north of Madeira
1942 MTB 30 sunk by mine in the North Sea. Destroyer HMS Partridge sunk by U-565 west of Oran. Cruiser Tenryu sunk by USS Albacore off Madang.
1943 Minesweeper HMS Felixstowe sunk by mine off Sardinia. Destroyer Numakaze sunk by sub USS Grayback east of Okinawa
1944 Destroyers USS Hull, Spencer and Monaghan sank in a Typhoon in the Philippine Sea. PT-300 sunk by Kamikaze. KM Torpedo Boat T-10, Training Ship Schleswig-Holstein, and Target Ship Zahrinsen bombed/sunk at Gotenhafen. Sub Tender Waldermar Kophamel bombed/sunk off the German coast. U-1209 runs into rocks off the Isles of Scilly and is scuttled.
1972 Operation Linebacker II begins
 
Dec. 19
1562 Battle of Dreux
1975 The Great Swamp Fight
1796 naval Battle off Cartegena
1940 Vichy French sub Sfax and Navy Tanker Rhone sunk by U-37 off Cape Juby, Morocco. Trawler HMS Proficient wrecked at Whitby
1941 At Hong Kong: Boom Vessels HMS Watergate, Barlight & Aldgate, Tugs Alliance & Poet Chaucer, River Gunboat Tern & Minesweeper Redstart all scuttled to prevent capture while Sloop Cornflower was bombed/sunk and MTB 12 and 26 were sunk in a fight with IJN landing craft. Dutch sub 0-20 sunk by Destroyer Uranami. Destroyer HMS Stanley sunk by U-574, and U-574 by HMS Stork in the Barents Sea. Cruiser Neptune sunk and Destroyer Kandahar damaged off Sirte. Battleships Valiant & Queen Elizebeth sunk at Alexandria by Italian Frogmen with Limpet mines. The Frogmen were awarded Medals & were presented to them after Italy changed sides. They were presented to the men by the Admiral who's Battleships they had sunk!
1942 Corvette HMS Snapdragon bombed/sunk north west of Benghazi
1944 Carrier Unryu sunk by USS Redfish in the East China Sea. U-737 sunk in collision with KM MRS 25 in Vestfjorden. Sub Chaser UJ-1116 sunk by mine off Feiestein.
1946 French-Vietnamese War begins
 
Dec 20
1522 Siege of Rhodes ends
1808 Siege of Saragossa begins
1864 CS Army evacuates Savannah
1939 Tug HMS Napia sunk by a mine in The Downs
1941 Patrol Ship HMCS Adversus wrecked on McNutt's Island. Japanese invade Mindanao
1942 Sub I-4 sunk by USS Sea Dragon in St. George's Channel off New Ireland.
1943 U-850 sunk by aircraft from USS Bogue west of Madeira. Destroyer Fuyo sunk by USS Puffer off Subic Bay. USCGC Bodega wrecked off Cristobal, Panama
1944 IJN Food Supply Ship Mamiya damaged by USS Sea Lion, sunk by Sea Lion on the 21st. US LST-359 sunk by U-870 north east of the Azores
1989 US invades Panama
1998 Operation Desert Fox ends
 
Dec 21
1140 Siege of Weinsburg ends
1361 Battle of Linuesa
1598 Battle of Curalaba
1708 Battle of St. John's
1832 Battle of Konya
1864 Union Army occupies Savannah, Ironclad CSS Savannah scuttled.
1866 Fetterman Massacre
1883 1st units of the Canadian army Est.
1936 1st flight JU-88
1939 Boom Defence Vessel HMS Bayonet sunk by mine in the Firth of Forth
1940 Tug HMS Sun IX sank off Sheerness
1941 Siam signs alliance with Japan & declares War on the US and UK, UK on Siam. Escort Carrier HMS Audacity sunk by U-751 west of Cape Finisterre. Gunboat HMS Cicala sunk by aircraft at Hong Kong. Dutch sub K-XVII sunk by mine in the Gulf of Siam. U-451 sunk by Swordfish from Gibraltar off Tangiers. U-567 sunk by Corvette HMS Samphire and Sloop HMS Deptford north east of The Azores
1943 U-284 scuttled at sea after storm damage
1944 USN LSTs 460 and 749 sunk by Kamakazes off Mindoro. KM Aux. Sub chasers UJ-1113 and UJ-1702 sunk by mines off Norway.
1988 Lockerbie Airliner Bombing
 
Dec 22
1790 Russia captures Izmail Fortress
1930 1st flight Tupolev TB-3 Bomber
1939 Trawler HMS Dromio sunk in a collision with Italian freighter Valentino off Whitby
1940 Sub HMS H 31 flooded/sank at Campbeltown, raised, repaired, returned to service. Destroyer HMS Hyperion damaged by a mine off Pantelleria, scuttled next day. Motor Attendance Craft HMS MAC 7 sank at Portsmouth, raised but then burned in January, 1941.
1943 Boom Vessel HMS BV 42 sunk by an explosion at Edinburgh. KM Cruiser Niobe sunk by R.N. MTBs after running aground on the 19th off Silba, Yugoslavia
1944 Torpedo boat Chidori sunk by USS Tilefish south west of Yokosuka. US LST-563 wrecked on Clipperton Island, Cal. KM Minesweeper R-402 sunk by mine off Feiestein.
1964 1st flight SR-71
 
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Dec 23
1793 Battle of Savenay
1864 1st Battle of Ft. Fisher begins
1916 Battle of Magdhaba
1939 Trawlers HMS Glen Albyn and Promotive sunk by mines in the Firth of Forth. Decommissioned Repair Ship HMS Dolphin sunk by mine near Blyth.
1940 Destroyer HMS Warwick damaged by mine/beached at Liverpool, refloated, repaired, returned to service. Trawler HMS Pelton sunk by E Boat S-29 north of Aldeburgh. Italian Torpedo Boat Fratelli Cairoli sunk by mine off Misrata.
1941 Battle of Wake Island ends: Patrol Boats PB-32 and 33 grounded on Wake Island to land troops, destroyed by shore batteries. U-79 sunk by Destroyers HMS Hasty and Hotspur off Bardia
1943 Gunboat Nanyo bombed/sunk at Matsu Island by B-25s
1944 KM Minesweeper M-489 sunk by Norwegian MTB 712 off Norway. R.N. MTB 357 shelled by KM surface ships, sinks next day. E boats S-185 and 192 sunk by 3 R.N. frigates. 50 I.J. Army Explosive Motor Boats destroyed in their cave base on Corrigidor when one catches fire and blows up.
1968 N. Korea releases crew of USS Pueblo.
1974 1st flight B-1 Bomber
1979 Soviets occupy Kabul
 
Dec 24
1144 Siege of Edessa ends
1914 Unofficial Christmas Truce begins
1939 Repair Ship HMS Dolphin sunk by mine off Hartley
1940 Minesweeper HMS Mercury sunk by mine off of Ireland. Trawler HMS Pelton sunk by E Boat S-28 off Great Yarmouth.
1941 Japan captures Kuching. Destroyer Saguri sunk by Dutch sub K XVI with all hands, K XVI is sunk later that day by sub I-66. Corvette HMS Salvia sunk with all hands by U-568 west of Alexandria. The hulk of the discarded cruiser USS Rochester is sunk as a blockship at Subic Bay.
1943 British Seaplane Tender Duman is sunk by U-515 off Sassandra, Ivory Coast. Destroyer HMS Hurricane is torpedoed by U-415, scuttled the next day. Destroyer USS Leary sunk by U-275. U-645 sunk by Destroyer USS Schenk north east of The Azores. R.N. MTB 357, damaged by KM surface ships the day before, sinks in the North Sea. I-39 sunk by destroyer escort USS Griswold
1944 Minesweeper HMCS Clayoquet is sunk by U-806 off Halifax. Soviet Patrol Craft MO-594 sunk by U-637 off Cape Pakri in the Baltic Sea. Fast Transport T-8 sunk by Destroyer USS Case off Chichi Jima. Landing ship T-157 sunk by a USN Destroyer off Iwo Jima
1950 Hungnam evacuation ends
 
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