| 1862: | USS Monitor founders in a storm off Cape Hatteras, NC. |
| 1941: | Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assumes command of U.S. Pacific Fleet. |
| 1942: | Commissioning of USS Essex (CV-9), first of new class of aircraft carriers, at Norfolk, VA |
| 1948: | Last annual report by a Secretary of the Navy to Congress and the President filed by SECNAV John L. Sullivan. Thereafter the Secretary of Defense would report annually to Congress. |