April 10, 201412 yr Author 10 April 1972 Under Operation Freedom Train, US Air Force B-52s resume bombing operations over North Vietnam. This included a strike against petroleum facilities around Vinh, conducted by 12 B-52D bombers out of U-Tapao and more than 50 other strike aircraft.
April 11, 201412 yr Author 11 April 1990 British customs officers at Middlesbrough seize eight "pipes" aboard the ship Gur Mariner, bound for Iraq. Fitted together, the "pipes" are believed to form the barrel for a super gun 130 feet in length, with a range of about 600 miles. The incident aggravates already strained relations with Iraq.
April 14, 201412 yr Author 14 April 1988 Just before 5 pm, the US Navy Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) strikes a M-08 moored contact mine in the main eastbound channel of the Persian Gulf, ripping a 15 ft wide hole in the hull, flooding the engine room and breaking her keel. Miraculously, there are no fatalities and the ship survives, limping into Dubai with the aid of converted Kuwait Oil Tanker Co tugboat Hunter. It is determined that the mines had been laid by Iranian ship Iran Ajr, prompting Operation Praying Mantis.
April 15, 201412 yr Author 15 April 1986 During Operation El Dorado Canyon, US aircraft (including F-111F strike aircraft flying out of the UK, as well as aircraft flying from three aircraft carriers) carry out air strikes against targets in Libya in response to the bombing of the La Belle night club in Berlin ten days earlier.
April 16, 201412 yr Author 16 April 1947 The term "cold war" is used in a speech by Bernard Mannes Baruch to describe post war geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union (and its allies) and the USA (and its allies).
April 17, 201412 yr Author 17 April 1961 The failed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Cuba is launched by Brigade 2506.
April 22, 201412 yr Author 22 April 1944 Flying a Sikorsky YR-4B, US Army Lt Carter Harman of the 1st Air Commando Group conducts the first combat rescue by helicopter in the China-Burma-India theater.
April 23, 201412 yr Author 23 April 1947 The US Navy Essex class aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) is decommissioned for the first time, only to be returned to service in 1955 and then soldier on for another 36 years. Though operated in a training role for the bulk of her remaining years, she is the oldest remaining carrier in the world when finally decommissioned in November 1991.
April 24, 201412 yr Author 24 April 1918 Tanks meet each other on the battlefield for the first time, at Villers-Bretonneux in France, where three British Mark IVs fought against three German A7Vs. Two of the three Mark IVs were 'females', armed only with machine guns, and were damaged and forced to withdraw. The 'male' Mark IV, armed with 6-pounders, hit and disabled the lead A7V and forced the two remaining A7Vs to withdraw.
April 25, 201412 yr Author 25 April 1960 Under the auspices of Operation Sandblast, the nuclear powered submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586) completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe, covering 26,723 nm in 60 days and 21 hours at an average speed of 18 knots.
April 28, 201412 yr Author 28 April 1503 The Battle of Cerignola, fought between Spanish and French forces in southern Italy, marks the first major battle won largely through the use of firearms.
April 29, 201412 yr Author 29 April 1997 The Chemical Weapons Convention, signed in 1993 and outlawing the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors, enters into force.
April 30, 201412 yr Author 30 April 1943 At about 0430, acting under the auspices of Operation Mincemeat, the British S class submarine HMS Seraph (P219) surfaces about a mile off the coast of Spain, near the town of Huelva. The body of 34 year old Welshman Glyndwr Michael, disguised as Major William Martin, of the Royal Marines, is released into the sea and sets into motion a series of events that would change the course of WWII.
May 1, 201412 yr Author 1 May 1960 The U-2C (Article 360) flown by Captain Francis Gary Powers is shot down by Soviet S-75 Dvina (NATO SA-2 Guideline) surface to air missiles while conducting a reconnaissance mission of Soviet ICBM complexes.
May 2, 201412 yr Author 2 May 1982 The Argentine Navy's Brooklyn class cruiser ARA General Belgrano (ex USS Phoenix) is sunk by two of three Mk 8 Mod 4 straight running torpedoes launched from the Royal Navy's Churchill class nuclear powered attack submarine HMS Conqueror.
Create an account or sign in to comment