The British and Spanish met at the battle of Cape St Vincent on February 14, 1797. The British fleet which was slightly outnumbered was commanded by Sir John Jervis. The Spanish force which was on its way to the port of Cadiz to join the French and Dutch fleets, was commanded by Admiral Don Jose de Cordova.
As the battle opened the Spanish fleet was divided into two groups. Jervis attacked the windward group first, and soon had the upper hand. The head of the Spanish line then tried to escape. Commodore Nelson commanding the Captain a 74 ton ship, disobeyed orders and attempted to cut off the nine Spanish ships trying to escape. Nelson saw the 80 ton San Nicholas and the 112 ton San Josef becoming a foul of each other. He then brought his ship alongside the San Nicholas and boarded her . His men then boarded the San Josef taking control of both. By the end of the day the British had captured two more Spanish ships, and damaged much of the rest of the Spanish fleet.
February 9th 1799
USS
Constellation vs L'Insurgente
The USS Constellation commanded by Captain Thomas Truxtun encountered the French Insurgent off the shores of Nevis in the West Indies. The Constellation was victorious.
February 1st 1800
The USS Constellation encounters the French Vengeance . In the ensuing battle the
Constellation sustains 39 casualties while the Vengeance suffers 160 casulaties including 60 dead, before the battle is called off.
February 1814 - The only US warship in the pacific the USS Essex is destroyed by the British ships the Phoebe and Cherub.
February 2 1942 - The USS Submarine Seadragon sinks the Japanese vessle the Tamagaw Maru off Luzon.
February 27 1942
A series of battles make up what is called the Battle of Java Sea. In the first engagement, on February the US cruiser Marblehead was attacked from the air repeatedly. Though damaged the Marblehead managed to limp back to the United States. The cruiser Houston was also hit and had its aft 8 inch guns knocked out.
On February 27th, an allied task force led by Dutch Rear Admiral KWF Doorman sailed to attack the enemy east of Baewen. The force included the Dutch flagship the De Ruyter, the British cruiser the Exeter, the USS Houston, the Australian Cruiser the Perth and the Dutch cruiser Java.
The battle began at 1616 with Japanese heavy cruiser under the command of Admiral Takagi Takeo , Nachi and Haguro,, when they opened fire on the Houston and the Exeter. Following this the light cruiser Jintsu, led a group of destroyers in an attack on British destroyers. Three British destroyers went down.
A general engagement then ensued between the Allied and Japanese cruisers. When it was over the Dutch cruisers De Rutyer and Java were sunk as the Perth and Houston were forced to withdraw.
The USS Langley which had been the first US carrier had been converted to a seaplane tender. It sailed with the freighter Seawitch for Java, its cargo, planes and pilots. Unfortunately on February 27th they were spotted by Japanese reconnaissance planes. Land based Japanese planes then attacked, and the Langley was so damaged it had to be abandoned. The next day the Houston and the Perth attempted to attack Japanese ships unloading at Banten Bay, They sunk four of them, but were then caught by a large force of Japanese warships. Both went down. The same day the last cruiser of the allied forces in the area the Exeter was sunk by Japanese forces in the Sunda straits.
February 11th 1943 The Japanese submarine RO-102 is sunk in the Coral Sea by the Cruiser Helena and the Destroyer Fletcher.
February 19th 1943- the USS Albacore - SS-218 sinks the Destroyer Oshio near the Manus.
February 21sst 1943 The USS Spencer PG-36 sinks the German U-606
February 1st 1944 The Guardfish SS-217 sinks the Japanese Destroyer Umikaze
The USS Walker DD-517 destroyed the Japanese destroyer RO-39
February 5th The USS Fair DE-35 and the USS Charrettee DD-581 sind the Japanese I-21 off the Marshalls
February 15th USS Aspro SS-309 sinks the Japanese Submarine I-43 in the Central Pacific
February 17th The Japanese Cruisers Naka and Katori, and three destroyers Maikaze Oite and Tachiaze are sunk by US Task Force 58 near the Caroline Islands
The Japanese submairne I-11 is sunk by the USS Nicholas (DD-449)
February 7th 1945 The Japanese destroyer RO-55 is sunk by the Destroyer Escort DE 203- Thomason
February 19th 1945 The Escort Carrier Bismark Sea is sunk by a Kamikaze attack off Iwo Jima.
