Navyhistory.com

May

Battle of Barfeur- May 1692-In May of 1692 the French once again attempted to attack the combine British and Dutch naval fleets. This time at the Battle of Barfleur, they were heavily outnumbered and outgunned The French mounted only 3,240 guns against an enemies force of nearly 7,000. The French fought gallantly but were unable to overcome the superior forces.

May 9th 1776- The USS Wasp seizes the British war vessel HMS Betsy off the Deleware coast

May 21st 1776 The USS Andrea Dorea captures two British brigantines and one sloop off the coast of Rhode Island

May 3 1777 the USS Surprize captures the HMS Prince of Orange in the English Channel

May 29th 1781 The USS Aliance under the command of Captain John Barry captures the British ships the Trespassy and Atlanta off the coast of Nova Scotia

May 11th 1800- The USS Constitution captures the French privateer the Sandwich in the West Indies.

May 1st 1898- US Fleet destroys Spanish Fleet in Manila Bay- The Battle of Manila Bay which occured on May 1, 1898 took place soon after war was declared against Spain after the sinking ( no doubt by accident) of the Maine in Havana harbor. American forces in the Far East were led by Admiral Dewey who commanded a squadron of six ships, including modern cruisers. The Spanish had a force of 10 old ships which were no match for the American ships. The Spanish commander Admiral Patricio Montojo decided to fight the battle anchored in Manila Bay hoping, to gain some advantage from shore batteries. Dewey acted aggressively, entering Manila Bay at night, thus providing the Spanish very little time to prepare for battle. Leading the American force was the Olympia with Dewey aboard. At 515 in the morning of the first, the Spanish battery at Cavite opened fire on the American force. The American fleet continued and at 541 at a distance of 4000 yards Dewey gave the order to open fire.The American squadron steamed up and down the Spanish line five times, laying devastating fire on the Spanish ships. At 7:35 Dewey temporarily withdrew believing mistakenly that his ships had only 15% of their ammunition left. After it was ascertained that only 15% had been used, Dewey resumed his attacks at 11 against a rapidly sinking Spanish force. At 12:30 the battle ended, with the entire Spanish fleet sunk.

May 27- 1941- Bismark sunk- The Bismarck was the most powerful German Battleship. It displaced 53,546 tons. It had a top speed of over 30 knots, and had four turrets of dual 15 inch guns. On May 19, 1940 the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen departed for the Atlantic to attack British shipping. The British were aware of the Bismarck departure and sortied all available warships to intercept the Bismarck. Due to a fueling accident the Bismarck did not have a full complement of fuel, this would have disastrous consequences. On the evening of May 23, 1941 the patrolling British cruiser Suffolk spotted the Bismarck, she immediately radio the position. The first British ships to engage the Bismarck were the Battleships Hood and Prince of Wales. The Hood was a WWI battleship that had symbolized British power in the interwar years, but had not been modernized. The Prince of Wales was a brand new King George Class battleship that still had its yard workers on board. The two forces closed on each other and on the morning of May 24th when the range between the forces had fallen to under 14 miles the British force commanded by Rear Admiral Holland opened fire. The two forces were soon on parallel courses and could bear all of their guns. The eighth shell of the fifth salvo from the Bismarck plunged into the antiaircraft magazine of the Hood. The ensuing explosion broke the Hood in two. In a few moments she sunk with 1,400 men, including Admiral Holland. The Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen then turned their attention to the Prince of Wales. Within moments the bridge was destroyed and the ship battered. At that moment the German commander Luetjens inexplicably broke off contact. The Bismarck however, had sustained damage. The Bismarck had taken on water and contaminated part of its fuel supply, leaving it desperately short of fuel. The Bismarck set course for Brest. It succeeded in losing its trailing British forces. The Bismarck however, broke radio silence and informed the German naval command of its destination. Thus the British could concentrate on the Bismarks expected course.
At 3 Am on the morning of May 26th a British patrol plane spotted the Bismarck. With its location known the British fleet began to converge. The only hope for stopping the Bismarck in time was an air attack. After a mistaken attack on the British Sheffield, the British carrier Ark Royal launched 15 swordfish. Two torpedoes hit, one of them in the Bismarck's stern, jamming the Bismarck rudders. The end was near, with the Bismarck no longer able to steer, the bulk of the British fleet now approached. The lead British ship was the Rodney with nine 16 inch guns. The King George V and two heavy cruisers were also present. They began bombarding the Bismarck. All together the Rodney fired 380 16 inch shells the King George fired 339 14 -inchers Over 2,000 other shells had been fired. Finally after additional torpedoes were fired at the Bismarck at close range she sunk at 10:46 on the morning of the 27th the Bismarck sunk.

May 3- 8 1942- Battle of Coral Sea- The Japanese planned an attack on Port Moresby. The United States thanks to having broken the Japanese code was aware of the attack in advance. Admiral Nimitz despatched two carriers, the Yorktown and the Lexington as well as a series of cruisers and destroyers.
The opening salvo in the battle occurred when the Japanese landed unopposed on Tulgai. The Yorktown sent 95 planes against the Tulgai task force. They succeeded in sinking the destroyer Kikuzuki and three minesweepers. On May 7th 1942 the Japanese carriers launched a strike against what they thought was the main US fleet, but instead found the destroyer Henely, which they sunk and the oiler Neosho which was left adrift. At 11 AM bombers from the Lexington found the Japanese carrier Shoho. One of the first bomb disabled her steering. Within minutes further attacks left it a burning hulk that sunk with 700 men on at 11:36, the first lose of a Japanese capital ship. The next morning the Japanese and the Americans launched strikes against each other.
The American aircraft found the Japanese force and managed to attack the Shokaku. The Shokaku was disabled but managed to limp home. Meanwhile the Japanese planes found the American task forces and launched an attack on the Lexington. The Lexington was mortally wounded. Captain Frederick Sherman ordered an abandon ship, and finally an American destroyer the Phelps was ordered to fire additional torpedos to sink her.
So ended the first sea battle in history to take place between opposing aircraft carriers. While the battle could be considered a draw, both sides losing a carrier( the Lexington was larger), it was a strategic defeat for the Japanese- there attack on Port Moresby was called off.

May 10 1942- The USS Silversides sinks two Japnese patrol boats off the coast of Japan

May 17th 1942- the USS Tautog SS-199 sinks the Japanese submarine I-28

May 21, 1943- The USS Nield (DD-616) sinks the Italian submarine the Gorgo

May 14, 1944- The USS Bonefish sinks the Japanese destroyer Inasuma in the Celebes Sea

May 16, 1944 The Destroyers Franks (DD-554) and the Destroyer Haggard DD-555 sink the Japanese destroyer I-176 norht of the Philipiens

May 24th 1944- The USS England sinks the Japanese destroyer RO-116 off the Bismarks

The USS Taon (SS_270) sinks the Japese Frigate Iki near New Guinea

May 26th The USS England sinks the Japanese Submarine