1909 - The Great White Fleet returns to Hampton Roads, Va., following its 14-month round-the-world cruise.
1943 - USS Iowa (BB-61), the lead ship of the last class of American fast battleships, is commissioned.
1944 - U.S. Navy Task Group (TG) 39.4, commanded by Capt. Arleigh Burke, bombards Japanese airstrips, pier area, and anchorages at Kavieng, New Ireland Island, while DESRON 12 shells Rabaul.
1945 - USS Becuna (SS 319) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Nichiyoku Maru off Cape Padaran Bay despite the presence of two escort vessels.
1974 - Lt. j.g. Barbara Allen Rainey becomes the first Navy-designated female aviator.
Barbara Allen Rainey was the first female pilot in the US Armed Forces.