mhansen2
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20 November
1820 – ESSEX was an American whaler from Nantucket, Massachusetts. The ship, captained by George Pollard, was widely known for being attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean on this date. The incident served as inspiration for Herman Melville's 1851 novel, Moby-Dick.
After the ESSEX was sunk, 3 boats (aka Chase boat, aka Hendrick boat and aka Pollard boat) reached Henderson Island on December 20th. Having largely exhausted the island's resources, they concluded that they would starve if they remained much longer. On Christmas 26th, the crew sailed for Easter Island, save 3, who remained on land. The Chase boat, with only 3 survivors left, was rescued by the British whaleship INDIAN, on February 18th. Hendricks's boat, last seen on January 28th with only 3 surviving crew, was never seen again. Pollard's boat, with only 2 survivors, was rescued by whaleship DAUPHIN, on February 23rd. All men resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. On Pollard's boat, his 17-year old cousin, still alive, was lotted to be sacrificed for the others to survive. In total, the corpses of seven fellow sailors had been consumed.
1862 - EMMA TUTTLE was a schooner that was burned by wooden screw steamer USS MOUNT VERNON, 7 miles southeast of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. She was carrying a cargo of rosin.
1862 - PEARL was a schooner that was en route from Wilmington to Nassau, Bahamas with a cargo of turpentine, rosin, and shingles that was captured by gunboat USS CHOCURA at latitude 33°38'N 78°19'W, some 19 miles off present day Ocean Isle Beach, NC on November 19th, 1862. She was abandoned the next day due to taking on water. Wooden screw steamer USS MOUNT VERNON later found the floating PEARL, tried to tow her, but she capsized and sank.
1931 – Former USS O-12 (SS-73) was towed three miles down the Byfjorden (a Norwegian fjord just outside Bergen) and scuttled in 1,138 feet (347 m) of water. In 1981 Norwegian divers found her wreck. Another source sets the date as 30 November.
1940 - Prototype North American NA-73X Mustang, NX19998, c/n 73-3097, first flown 26 October 1940 by test pilot Vance Breese, crashes this date, on its fifth flight. According to P-51 designer Edgar Schmued, the NA-73 was lost because test pilot Paul Balfour refused, before a high-speed test run, to go through the takeoff and flight test procedure with Schmued while the aircraft was on the ground, claiming "one airplane was like another." After making two high speed passes over Mines Field (now LAX), he forgot to put the fuel valve on "reserve" and during third pass ran out of fuel. Emergency landing in a freshly plowed field caused wheels to dig in, aircraft flipped over, airframe was not rebuilt, the second aircraft being used for subsequent testing.
1963 - Tenth Lockheed U-2A, Article 350, 56–6683, delivered to the CIA on 24 April 1956, converted to U-2F by spring 1963; loaned to SAC for Cuba overflight missions, crashes into the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles (64 km) NW of Key West, Florida, killing pilot Capt. Joe Hyde, Jr. Pilot was returning from a Brass Knob mission and was hand-flying the aircraft back to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, at 69,000 feet (21,000 m) after failure of autopilot when it entered a flat spin and impacted in the Gulf. Wreckage retrieved from shallow water near Florida coast but ejection seat, seat pack and parachute missing – pilot never found.
2011 - Two people were taken to Pensacola Naval Hospital for evaluation after landing a USAF Beechcraft T-6 Texan II with the landing gear up. The names of the two crew members were not released after the 1300 hrs. incident, Pensacola Naval Air Station Public Affairs Officer Harry White said. Both people safely exited the plane, which landed at Forrest Sherman Field at the air station, White said. The aircraft and crew are assigned to the U.S. Air Force's 455th Flying Training Squadron at NAS Pensacola.
1820 – ESSEX was an American whaler from Nantucket, Massachusetts. The ship, captained by George Pollard, was widely known for being attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean on this date. The incident served as inspiration for Herman Melville's 1851 novel, Moby-Dick.
After the ESSEX was sunk, 3 boats (aka Chase boat, aka Hendrick boat and aka Pollard boat) reached Henderson Island on December 20th. Having largely exhausted the island's resources, they concluded that they would starve if they remained much longer. On Christmas 26th, the crew sailed for Easter Island, save 3, who remained on land. The Chase boat, with only 3 survivors left, was rescued by the British whaleship INDIAN, on February 18th. Hendricks's boat, last seen on January 28th with only 3 surviving crew, was never seen again. Pollard's boat, with only 2 survivors, was rescued by whaleship DAUPHIN, on February 23rd. All men resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. On Pollard's boat, his 17-year old cousin, still alive, was lotted to be sacrificed for the others to survive. In total, the corpses of seven fellow sailors had been consumed.
1862 - EMMA TUTTLE was a schooner that was burned by wooden screw steamer USS MOUNT VERNON, 7 miles southeast of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. She was carrying a cargo of rosin.
1862 - PEARL was a schooner that was en route from Wilmington to Nassau, Bahamas with a cargo of turpentine, rosin, and shingles that was captured by gunboat USS CHOCURA at latitude 33°38'N 78°19'W, some 19 miles off present day Ocean Isle Beach, NC on November 19th, 1862. She was abandoned the next day due to taking on water. Wooden screw steamer USS MOUNT VERNON later found the floating PEARL, tried to tow her, but she capsized and sank.
1931 – Former USS O-12 (SS-73) was towed three miles down the Byfjorden (a Norwegian fjord just outside Bergen) and scuttled in 1,138 feet (347 m) of water. In 1981 Norwegian divers found her wreck. Another source sets the date as 30 November.
1940 - Prototype North American NA-73X Mustang, NX19998, c/n 73-3097, first flown 26 October 1940 by test pilot Vance Breese, crashes this date, on its fifth flight. According to P-51 designer Edgar Schmued, the NA-73 was lost because test pilot Paul Balfour refused, before a high-speed test run, to go through the takeoff and flight test procedure with Schmued while the aircraft was on the ground, claiming "one airplane was like another." After making two high speed passes over Mines Field (now LAX), he forgot to put the fuel valve on "reserve" and during third pass ran out of fuel. Emergency landing in a freshly plowed field caused wheels to dig in, aircraft flipped over, airframe was not rebuilt, the second aircraft being used for subsequent testing.
1963 - Tenth Lockheed U-2A, Article 350, 56–6683, delivered to the CIA on 24 April 1956, converted to U-2F by spring 1963; loaned to SAC for Cuba overflight missions, crashes into the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles (64 km) NW of Key West, Florida, killing pilot Capt. Joe Hyde, Jr. Pilot was returning from a Brass Knob mission and was hand-flying the aircraft back to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, at 69,000 feet (21,000 m) after failure of autopilot when it entered a flat spin and impacted in the Gulf. Wreckage retrieved from shallow water near Florida coast but ejection seat, seat pack and parachute missing – pilot never found.
2011 - Two people were taken to Pensacola Naval Hospital for evaluation after landing a USAF Beechcraft T-6 Texan II with the landing gear up. The names of the two crew members were not released after the 1300 hrs. incident, Pensacola Naval Air Station Public Affairs Officer Harry White said. Both people safely exited the plane, which landed at Forrest Sherman Field at the air station, White said. The aircraft and crew are assigned to the U.S. Air Force's 455th Flying Training Squadron at NAS Pensacola.