Raising the U.S. flag over Wake Island on 4 September 1945, as a U.S. Marine Corps bugler plays “Colors“. This was the first time the Stars and Stripes had flown over Wake since its capture by the Japanese on 23 December 1941. The officer saluting in the right foreground is Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese commander on Wake. Colors carried by the U.S. party, right background, include the U.S. Marine Corps flag.

1918 - Navy ships and crews assist earthquake victims of Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan

1940 - Destroyer-for-Bases agreement between U.S. and United Kingdom

1944 - USS Finback (SS-230) rescues Lieutenant (jg) George Bush, USNR (VT-51), shot down while attacking Chichi Jima

1945 - Japan signs surrender documents on board USS Missouri (BB-63) at anchor in Tokyo Bay. FADM Chester W. Nimitz, USN, signs for the U.S. In different ceremonies, Japanese forces on Palau Islands, Truk, and on Pagan Island and Rota in the Marianas surrender.

September 3

1782 - As a token of gratitude for French aid during American Revolution, the U.S. gives America (first ship-of-the-line built by U.S.) to France to replace a French ship lost in Boston.

1783 - Signing of Treaty of Paris ends American Revolution

1885 - First classes at U.S. Naval War College begin

1925 - Crash of rigid airship Shenandoah near Byesville, OH

1943 - American landings on Lae and Salamaua

1944 - First combat employment of a missile guided by radio and television takes place when Navy drone Liberator, controlled by Ensign James M. Simpson in a PV, flew to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island.

1945 - Japanese surrender Wake Island in ceremony on board USS Levy (DE-162)

September 4

1804 - USS Intrepid (LT Richard Somers) blew up in failed attack on Tripoli

1941 - German submarine, U-652, attacks USS Greer, which was tracking the submarine southeast of Iceland. Greer is not damaged, but drops depth charges, damaging U-652.

1954 - Icebreakers, USS Burton Island (AGB-1) and USCG Northwind, complete first transit of Northwest passage through McClure Strait.

1954 - P2V from VP-19 shot down by Soviet aircraft near Swatow, China

1960 - USS Bushnell and Penguin begin relief operations in Marathon, FL, after Hurricane Donna.

September 5

1776 - Adoption of first uniforms for Navy officers

1813- USS Enterprise captures HM brig Boxer off Portland, ME

1918 - USS Mount Vernon torpedoed by German submarine off France

1923 - U.S. Asiatic Fleet arrives at Yokohama, Japan, to provide medical assistance and supplies after Kondo Plain earthquake.

1939 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders Navy to form a Neutrality Patrol to report the presence of foreign warships within 300 miles of eastern United States.

1946 - USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt (CVB-42) and 4 escorts visit Greece to underscore U.S. support for the Greek Government which faced a Communist insurgency.

1990 - USS Acadia (AD-42) departs San Diego for first war-time deployment of male-female crew on combat vessel

September 6

1918 - Sailors fire first of the 5 railroad batteries at Tergnier, a German rail head in the Comeigne Forest. These 14“-50 caliber guns were originally designed for battleships.

1939 - Navy begins formation of Neutrality Patrol for Atlantic Ocean

1940 - First destroyers transferred to Great Britain at Halifax, Nova Scotia, under “Destroyers-for- Bases agreement.

1944 - USS Independence (CVL-22) begins use of specially trained air group for night work. First time that a fully equipped night carrier operates with fast carrier task force.

1945 - U.S. troops begin returning to U.S. when Task Force 11 left Tokyo Bay for U.S.

1953 - Exchange of prisoners of war from Korean War (Operations Big Switch) ends

September 7

1776 - David Bushnell attempts to destroy a British Ship of the Line, HMS Asia, in New York harbor with his submarine Turtle.

1814 - USS Wasp captures HMS Avon

1864 - USS Wachusett captures CSS Florida at Bahia, Brazil

1942 - First air evacuation of casualties to hospital ships off shore occurs at Guadalcanal.

September 8

1923 - In disaster at Point Honda, California, 7 destroyers run aground through faulty navigation

1939 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims limited national emergency and increases enlisted strength in the Navy and Marine Corps; also authorizes the recall to active duty of officer, men and nurses on the retired lists of the Navy and Marine Corps

1954 - U.S. signs Manila Treaty forming SEATO

1958 - LT R. H. Tabor, wearing a Navy developed pressure suit, completes 72-hour simulated flight at altitudes as high a 139,000 feet. It was another step in the development of the Navy spacesuit, which NASA accepted in 1959 for use by Mercury astronauts.