Courtesy U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command The Gemini 8 capsule is hauled aboard USS Leonard F. Mason (DD 852). Mason recovered astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott in the North Pacific near Okinawa after the mission was cut short and had to splash down at the secondary landing site.

1935 - The Naval Security Group is born when OP-20G becomes the Communications Security Group.

1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act.

1942 - In a Motor Patrol (PT) boat, Lt. Cmdr. John Bulkeley leaves the Philippines to take Gen. Douglas MacArthur to Australia.

1945 - The first Navy landing craft crosses the Rhine River at Bad Neuenahr.

1965 - Market Time patrols begin off the South Vietnam coast.

March 12

1917 - All American merchant ships to be armed in war zones.

1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt designates Adm. Ernest J. King to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations, and commander in chief, U.S. Fleet, to which he was appointed Dec. 30, 1941.

1956 - In the first overseas deployment of a Navy missile squadron, Attack Squadron 83 left aboard USS Intrepid (CVS 11).

March 13

1895 - The first submarine building contract is awarded to John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Co.

1917 - Armed merchant ships are authorized to take action against U-boats.

1959 - The Naval Research Laboratory takes the first ultraviolet pictures of the sun.

1963 - USS Albany (CG 10) and aircraft from Navy Airborne Early Warning Squadron 4 from Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, aid five ill crew members of Norwegian freighter Jotunfjell.

March 14

1863 - Rear Adm. Farragut's squadron of seven ships forces its way up the Mississippi River to support Union troops at Vicksburg, Miss., and Baton Rouge, La.

1929 - Naval Air Station Pensacola aircraft make 113 flights for flood rescue and relief.

1970 - Navy hospital ship USS Repose (AH 16) leaves South Vietnam after four years of service there.

March 15

1865 - In the largest amphibious operation of the war, Union forces capture Fort Fisher, N.C.

1943 - The numbered fleet system is established.

1957 - Airship ZPG-2 lands at Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., after an 11-day non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

1966 - River Squadron 5 is established in Vietnam.

March 16

1911 - The hulk of battleship USS Maine is sunk at sea with full military honors.

1945 - The island of Iwo Jima is declared secure.

1966 - Gemini 8 is launched. Former naval aviator Neil Armstrong flew on this mission, which completed seven orbits in 10 hours, 41 minutes at an altitude of 161.3 nautical miles. Recovery was by USS Leonard F. Mason (DD 852).

March 17

1898 - Holland, the first practical submarine, is launched.

1942 - U.S. Naval Forces Europe is established to plan joint operations with the British.

1958 - A Navy Vanguard rocket launches a 3.25 pound sphere from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

1959 - USS Skate (SSN 578) surfaces at the North Pole.