• LZ XRAY- la Drang Valley Nov. 1965…the defining moment for mounted air calvary in my opinion.
• May I add for Iwo Jima after the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi, Secretary Forrestal said…”this guarantees a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.” This is a defining moment for the Corps with due respect to what came before and after in my opinion. BZ MARINES!

392 – 390

• Operation Black Buck. Vulcan bomber attack on Port Stanley Airport 1982
• Operation Squabble. Bristol Beaufighter from 236 Squadron’s raid on Paris on 12th June 1942 when they dropped tricolour on Arc de Triomphe.
• Operation Gunnerside. Norwegian and SOE raid on Norsk Hydro’s Vemork hydroelectric plant to sabotage heavy water production. 1943

388. Add ‘Operation Vengance’ the P-38 mission over previously unimagined distances, precision timing and security to kill Adm Yamamoto. Complete success and most importantly kept the secret of Japanese code breaking.

387. Napoleon’s escape from Elba and the 100 days.

386. Nimitz’s decision to rely on the deductions and assumptions of one man, himself something of a pariah in his community, and that man’s talented group, to develop the concept of operations that led to the victory at Midway: Joe Rochefort. Audacious, indeed.

385.

The attempt by the CIA, with Howard Hughes’ assistance, to raise an entire Soviet missile-armed submarine from the depths of the ocean.

Operation Jennifer, the plan to raise the K-129 off the bottom of the Pacific.

My wife suggests one the most audacious ops of all time – Project Azorian, the recovery of the K-129.

384. In 1940, North American Aviation approached the RAF to sell B-25 Mitchell bombers. RAF asked NAA to build licensed copies of the Curtiss P-40. NAA refused but committed to plan and build an entirely new fighter for the RAF. One hundred and two days after the contract was signed, the first P-51 Mustang rolled out.

383 – 380. (Only four count, but preserving the list)

• The Sicilian expediton by the Athenians. (Total disaster but still audacious.) (Doesn’t count > 500 years)
• William the Conquerer’s invasion of England in 1066.(Doesn’t count > 500 years)
• Stonewall Jackson’s Valley campaign.
• Battle of Port Arthur in 1904: The Pearl Harbor of the Russian Japanese War.
• MacArthur’s Inchon Landing, July 22nd 1950 (mentioned above)
• The launch of Operation Barbarossa: June 22nd 1941. In terms of sheer size this has got to be at the top of the list.
• Smedly Butler’s capture of Cacos in Haiti, in 1915. He led a handful of Marines through a well into the fort. The well was so small they could only bring knifes and handguns. They had one injured but captured or killed 200 enemy and the fort.
• Li Shimin’s victory at Hulao Pass in 621 AD. David Graff called this the Thermoplaye of Chinese history. (Doesn’t count > 500 years)
• The siege of Xiangyang by Kublai Khan in 1273. An epic and decisive battle that broke the back of the Southern Song Dynasty. (Doesn’t count > 500 years)
• Hannibal crossing the Alps in the Second Punic War.(Doesn’t count > 500 years)
• Subotai’s campaign against ther Persians.(Doesn’t count > 500 years)
• Pizarro’s conquest of the Incas.(Doesn’t count > 500 years)

379-378.

To your list I want to add the following:

The capture of Emilio Aguinaldo: In March 1901 General Frederick Funston captured guerrila leader Emilio Aguinaldo in his headquarters several hundred miles away from US forces with 83 Philippine Scouts, a Spaniard and five Americans all disguised as guerrillas. Aguinaldos capture nearly ended the Philippine insurrection.

Operation Longcloth: In February 1943 General Orde Wingate lead the 77 Indian Infantry Brigade, the Chindits, on a land raid into the Burmese jungle. The 3.000 men, divided into seven flying columns, operated three months behind Japanese lines cutting important railway lines, relying on air supply and living off the jungle. In April only 2.182 men reached India or China in small groups after severe losses. Of these another 600 remained permanently unfit for service for medical reasons. While strategically of doubtful results the operation raised morale with the Army of India.

377. Colonel Paul L. Freeman and the 23rd Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Chipyong-ni, Korea, 1951

376. Jeb Stuart’s ride around the Union army.

375-373 I offer the following:

• Mosby’s audacious raid of 8-9 March 1863, on Fairfax CH, Virginia, capturing BG Edwin Stoughton, two captains, 30 other prisoners, 58 horses…all without firing a shot.
• 1st Lt. Bennett Henderson Young’s raid on St. Albans, Vermont, 19 October 1864 and their successful withdrawal into Canada.
• Sgt. Alvin C. York, 8 October 1918, singlehandedly killed 25 and captured 132 Germans.

372. The 1st Marine Division’s breakout from the Chosin reservoir during the Korean war. This yielded 2 great quotes. The first was from MG Oliver P. Smith, the division commander: “We aren’t retreating. We’re attacking in another direction.” The second was from the 7th Marine Regiment’s Co, Chesty Puller: :We were looking for the enemy. We are surrounded. That simplifies the problem.”

371. Calcutta Light Horse Calvary (civilian vounteers) sinking of German communication ships in Goa during WWII, ending U-boat threat in Indian Ocean. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcutta_Light_Horse

370. The breaking of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager and the team behind him

369. The Second Infantry Division’ seizure of Blanc Mont on 4 October 1918…a battle plan so audacious and daring that, when that day was over, both Foch and Petain both said it was the most astounding victory of the war.

368. Cromwell’s outflanking of the Scots in July 1651 by launching a seaborne invasion of Fife at North Queensferry. The defeat at Inverkeithing forced Leslie to march south into England and into Cromwell’s prepared trap.

367. Capture of Ludendorff Bridge (Bridge at Remagen) last intact bridge across Rhine into Germany

366. Operation Mincemeat aka The man who never was. Deception plan from 1943 to hide plans for invasion of Sicily from Germans

365. Merrill’s Marauders in WWII China-Burma-India.

364. Claire Chennault’s Flying Tigers. From the standpoint of logistics, flying supplies to China over the Himalayas (hell hath no fury like flying the hump).

363. Henry Kaiser’s building of the Liberty Ships in WWII.

362. The development of the landing craft by Higgins, with an assist from a then-obscure Marine Lt. Col. named Victor Krulak.

361. Semmes and the CSS Alabama’s voyage of commerce raiding. “Upon the completion of her seven expeditionary raids, Alabama had been at sea for 534 days out of 657, never visiting a single Confederate port. She boarded nearly 450 vessels, captured or burned 65 Union merchant ships, and took more than 2,000 prisoners without a single loss of life from either prisoners or her own crew.”

360. Dakota L. Meyer (born June 26, 1988) is a United States Marine Corps veteran and recipient of the Medal of Honor for acts during the Battle of Ganjgal

359. Operation Matador and Brian Stann.

358. The USAAF raid on the oil facilities at Ploesti.

357 – 350. What is the space program, if not audacious? I would count as separate examples each of the following:

6 manned Project Mercury missions

2 X-15 flights by test pilot Joseph Walker that reached space

10 manned Project Gemini missions

11 manned Apollo missions

6 manned Vostok missions

2 manned Voskhod missions

66 manned Soyuz missions

135 manned Space Shuttle missions

349. 1718 – Lieutenant Robert Maynard, RN took the sloop Ranger south from Hampton, Virginia on the commission of the Governor in search of the infamous Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard the Pirate. He had only small arms on Ranger and no cannon, and ran aground in the shallows near Ocracoke Island. He never gave up and still managed to lure the pirates into trying to board his ship. His crew sprung a trap from where they hid in the Ranger’s hold and boarded Teach’s ship. Maynard personally engaged the pirate in hand to hand combat with cutlass and pistol, killing him and taking his severed head back to Hampton for the Governor.

348 & 347. 1772 – February, 1898 – Audacious planning from Washington D.C. After the USS Maine exploded in Havana harbor Secretary of the Navy Long takes the day off to deal with all the stress of the situation. He leaves the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in charge…Theodore Roosevelt. ASECNAV Roosevelt immediately puts the service on a war footing: purchasing coal, moving ammunition, accelerating repair schedules, and asking Congress to move to start general enlistment. He called on Admiral Dewey and consulted and gave him his objectives. Secretary Long came back to work with the U.S. Navy (and therefore the country) ready to go to war. A war that would introduce the United States as a world power, sent to enforce the King’s tax policies on the Colonies, onto a sand bar off Namquid Point, Rhode Island. Abraham Whipple leads eight longboats full of Colonial Patriots against the British warship and takes the ship, moving her crew ashore and burning her to the waterline. The success of the mission helped to swing public sentiment toward the idea of Colonial independence.

346. July 4th 1776 patriotic men sign the Declaration of Independence because it is the right thing to do. Put thier very lives at risk and making them the number 1 enemies of the then most powerful goverment in the world. God bless America!

345. 1772 – The merchant sloop Hannah lures the HMS Gaspee, sent to enforce the King’s tax policies on the Colonies, onto a sand bar off Namquid Point, Rhode Island. Abraham Whipple leads eight longboats full of Colonial Patriots against the British warship and takes the ship, moving her crew ashore and burning her to the waterline. The success of the mission helped to swing public sentiment toward the idea of Colonial independence.

344. The other USS PARCHE (SSN-683) Nuff said

343. A horrible event, and one for the bad guys, but the 1972 PLO attack on the Munich Olympics.

342. T.E. Lawrence leads the Arab Revolt across the Nefu Desert to take Aqaba by land. As Claude Rains said, “Before he did it, sir, I’d have said it couldn’t be done.”

341. The capture of Nazi submarine U-505 by a boarding party as the sub was sinking.

340. Isreals invasion of Eygpt in 1967, the Six Day War.

339. 1942, LT Butch O’Hare single-handedly takes on and destroys 5 Japanese Betty Bombers in defense of the USS Lexington. With limited ammunition, LT O’Hare takes out the bombers with only 60 rounds each. An unheard of feat in accuracy that saves the USS Lexington, and for which LT O’Hare is awarded the Medal of Honor.

338. Taffy 3 in the Battle of SAMAR October 25, 1944. Seven Tin Cans and six carrier escorts took on Adm. Takae Kurita on the great Yamato and twenty-two other ships in defense of 11,400 US Marines on the beach.

337. Digging of the Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans? Sounds pretty audacious to me.

336. Prince Charles Edward Stuart landed in Scotland in July 1745 with only seven men to reclaim his father’s throne. Within 2 months he had raised the Jacobite Highland army, routed the British army at Prestonpans and occupied Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh. Within another three months he was 150 miles from London. It was all downhill for Bonnie Prince Charlie after that. The planning may not have been great but the sheer audacity of trying to capture an empire with seven men must take some beating.

335. During the War of the First Coalition the French cavalry charge across the ice to capture the Dutch Fleet.

334. Battle of Chapultepec

333. How about Operation Compass, the attack by the British Western Desert Force on the Italians from Dec 1940 to Feb 1941. 36,000 British and Commonwealth troops taking on 150,000 Italian troops, and beating the Italians soundly. The final tally was approximately 2000 killed, missing and wounded for the British vs. 120,000 killed, wounded and missing for the Italians, and an 800 mile advance in ten weeks from the British starting positions in Egypt.

332. The Defense of the Mission Station at Rorke’s Drift, Natal Colony, January 22nd to the 23rd, 1879. Just over 150 British (largely from B Co., 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot) and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The massive, but piecemeal, Zulu attacks on Rorke’s Drift came very close to defeating the tiny garrison but were ultimately repelled. In the 156 years since the Victoria Cross was first awarded for gallantry and extreme courage in the face of the enemy, only 1,356 have been awarded. Eleven of these were awarded to the defenders of the mission station at Rorke’s Drift, along with a number of other decorations and honours.

331. USS Pomfret (SS391) on 17 Feb 45 under command of LCDR John B. Hess, penetrated deep into Tokyo Bay to rescue a downed pilot from USS Cabot. This prompted Ernie Pyle to write a column titled EVEN IF YOU WERE SHOT DOWN IN TOKYO HARBOR THE NAVY WOULD BE IN TO GET YOU OUT!

330. Operation POCKET MONEY (8 May 1972): At precisely 09:00 (local time) on 8 May 1972 six Navy A-7 Corsair IIs and three A-6 Intruders from CORAL SEA’s Carrier Airwing FIFTEEN entered Haiphong harbor and dropped 36 1,000-pound Mark-52 and Mark-55 mines into the water. They were protected from attack by North Vietnamese MiG fighters by the guided-missile cruisers CHICAGO and LONG BEACH and by flights of F-4 Phantoms. The reason for the precise timing of the strike became apparent when President Nixon simultaneously delivered a televised speech explaining the escalation to the American people: “the only way to stop the killing is to take the weapons of war out of the hands of the international outlaws of North Vietnam.” The mines were activated five days after their delivery in order to allow any vessels then in port to escape without damage. Over the next three days other carrier aircraft laid 11,000 more mines into North Vietnamese secondary harbors, effectively blockading all maritime commerce.

329. 18th October 1977: Mogadishu, GSG-9 frees the LH181 “Landshut”

328 -324.

Taffy 3 would rank higher on my list. The weapons of the US destroyers were effective at five miles, the Japanese weapons were good for 15 miles. If memory serves, the fleets were 20 miles apart when Commander Emmons ordered the Johnston to attack.

A couple others:

The Marines on Guam and Wake Island.

Middle aged and arthritic Gen. T. Roosevelt Jr. going ashore in the first wave at Normany and immediately taking control of a landing that had become hopelessly snarled.

Bill Slim’s defense of Imphal in India, followed by his punishing pursuit of the Japanese and encirclement of Mandalay, which can only be described as the work of a military genius.

Truman firing McArthur.

323. “Charge of The Light Brigade” … nuff said!!

321. 10 Oct 1985: CVW-17 F-14s from VF-103 and VF-74, under the control of a VAW-125 E-2C, intercept the Egypt Air 737 bearing the hijackers of the Achille Lauro enroute to safe haven in Tunisia and re-direct it to NAS Sigonella.

320. Pizzaro in Peru is 1533/1534, so it IS inside (just) the 500 year cut off.

319. The Battle of Taranto Raid by the British in 1940, that became the precursor to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

318. The Magellan Star: Pirate Takedown, Force Recon Style https://blog.usni.org/2010/09/10/the-magellan-star/

317. Operation Rock Avalanche

316. SEALS takedown: Maersk Alabama

315. POW: U.S. Navy Lt. Dieter Dengler

314. William H. Dabney (0-80399), Colonel [then Captain], U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as Commanding Officer of two heavily reinforced rifle companies of the Third Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam from 21 January to 14 April 1968. During the entire period, Colonel Dabney’s force stubbornly defended Hill 881S, a regional outpost vital to the defense of the Khe Sanh Combat Base.

313. The November, 2004 offensive into the city of Fallujah, Iraq—dubbed “Operation Phantom Fury”—placed the individuals involved into the renowned annals of Marine Corps narration. The young men that meticulously stormed into the city will forever have their own unique moniker: Fallujah Marines—a name that has involuntarily set them apart from other Iraq War veterans.

312. The defeat of the British frigate, HMS Guerriere, by her American counterpart, USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides” – on 19 August 1812, perhaps the most famous naval encounter of the War of 1812.

311. Coast Guard FV Alaska Ranger Rescue, Easter 2008. The Alaska Ranger goes under in 32 degree F water with 20′ swells. In blinding snowstorm conditions, Coast Guard helicopters and a nearby ship rescue 42 of the 47 crew members from the water

310. OCT 1812 – Just 4 months after the US Congress declared war on Great Britain, Lieutenant Jesse Elliot led a team of Sailors, Marines, and Regular Army in a pair of small boats to attack and take the HMS Detroit and Caledonia as they sat at anchor under the British controlled guns at Fort Erie…a shocking surprise to the Royal Navy and the first American victory on the Great Lakes.

309. Capt David Porter led the USS ESSEX around Cape Horn and into the Pacific during the War of 1812, opening a new maritime theater in the war as he attacked British whalers and merchants. Far from home and resupply he remained in the Pacific for a year, refitting and remanning captured whalers to increase his force, and using islands in the South Pacific for water, timber, food, and refit.

308. Dec.13, 1942 Admiral Callaghan attacks a Japanese force far larger than his own. The plan was not articulated, but I am convinced he held fire for as long as he did in an attempt to get in close enough so that his 8″ shells could penetrate the side armor of the Japanese battleships. (He would have know that they were built as Battle-cruisers and their side armor was relatively week.) the Hiei was lost because an 8″ shell penetrated side armor and destroyed her steering gear.

307. Operation Pedestal, August 1942. “The epic attempt to run some 80 ships past bombers, minefields and u-boats,” saved Malta, and was “one of the most important British victories of the Second World War.”http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2289714.stm

306. The Cologne Power Stations Raid, August 12, 1941. 54 Bristol Blenheim Bombers flew 250 miles during daylight to attack power stations near Cologne. 12 of the 54 aircraft were lost. It was described in the Daily Telegraph as the, “RAF’s most audacious and dangerous low-level bombing raid.”

305. The Battle of Cape St. Vincent, February 1797. Nelson singularly charges HMS Captain into seven Spanish ships, capturing two. Four Spanish ships are taken in total. Nelson is knighted and promoted to rear admiral.http://www.stvincent.ac.uk/Heritage/1797/

304. Antisubmarine task force TG 22.3 captures submarine U505, May 1944. It was “the US Navy’s first capture of an enemy warship at sea since the War of 1812.”http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari1/p/u505.htm

303. HMS Glowworm takes on the 14,000 ton Admiral Von Hipper, April 1940.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_HMSGlowworm.html

302. South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union, December 20, 1860…Carolina unionist James L. Petigru says that South Carolina is “too small to be a nation and too large to be an insane asylum.”http://www.tulane.edu/~sumter/Dilemmas/DDec20.html

301. John Brown raids Harper’s Ferry, October 1859.http://www.wvculture.org/history/jnobrown.html

300. The Battle of San Jacinto, April 1836.https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/san-jacinto.html

299. The PLO’s Black September hijacking of Sabena flight 571, followed by Operation Isotope (the first successful plane raid in history), May 9, 1972. http://www.thejc.com/news/on-day/48509/on-day-liberation-sabena-jet

298. The defense of Taffy 3 really did not include audacious planning, it was an act of desperation.

I would nominate Admiral Callaghan’s interception of a much larger Japanese force at the November 13, Battle of Guadalcanal. His plan was never articulated, but I believe he saw that he needed to get in very close so that his 8″ guns could penetrate the side armor of the Japanese battleships. (As an gunnery expert, he would have known that they were build to a British battlecruiser design and had relatively weak side armor) Consequently he delayed opening fire until the two formations virtually collided. In fact an 8″ shell that pentrated the Hiei’s side armor and wrecked its steering gear caused its ultimate loss https://blog.usni.org/2009/09/02/the-solomons-campaign-the-battle-of-guadalcanal-part-i/

297. The 1943, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

296. Operation Edelweiss, 1942-1943, the massive German Wehrmacht campaign to capture Baku’s oil fields.

295. Operation Urgent Fury, The Invasion of Grenada, 1983

294. June 26, 1944, Coast Guard Cdr Quentin R. Walsh, leading U.S. Navy Task Unit 127.2.8 consisting of fifty Navy Sea Bees entered the German held port of Cherbourg. On 27 June they accepted the surrender of 400 German troops at the City’s old Naval Arsenal. Then learning that American prisoners were being held Fort du Homet, he and one of his officers entered the fort under a flag of truce and by greatly exaggerating the numeric strength of his small force of Sea Bees, Walsh convinced the German officer to surrender the stronghold. With the surrender of Fort du Homet, Walsh and his men disarmed another 350 German troops and liberated over fifty American paratroopers captured by the enemy.

293 -291.

Corona

Gambit

Hexagon

(enough said)

290 – 284. For my Uncle John (JPL retiree):

–Project Ranger

–Project Surveyor

–Project Mariner

–Project Voyager

–Project Viking

–Project Galileo

–The Space Telescope

283. May I suggest the Fenit landings in the Irish Civil War as a means of outflanking the entrenched anti-Treaty forces and totally smashing their defensive line? Or the landing in Cork in the same conflict in order to capture one of their main points of control by suprise?

282. Patton’s breakout of hedgerow country and race across France.

281. – 278.

1683 relief of Vienna siege (from Vilnius and Warsaw down to Vienna in few weeks, thru Carpathia and lesser mountains, and decisive giant cavalry charge in the flank of besieging army

1605 battle of Kircholm – attacking enemy 3 times stronger numericallyand defeating him with casualty ratio 40-1 nayone?

Operation Jericho – daring precision bombing by RAF Mosquitoes that led to greates escape of Gestapo prisoners in occupied France?

Warsaw uprising 1944 – 2 months of urban warfare by underarmed resistance and abrely any outside support, including such gems like tank-jacking 2 Panthers!

273. – 271.

The Channel Dash of the German captial ships from the Atlantic through the English Channel. How would you liked to have been the weather frog to predict the fog and give the ok for that day. Well you would still be alive.

Audacious? Col Otto Skorzeny and his SpecOps troops snatching Mussolini from Gran Sasso Italy during WWII.

Audacious? Mine Danger Area TEN in Desert Storm where the US NAVY MCM Group planned and adroitly executed a clearance for the most dangerous and complex naval mine field in the history of Mine Warfare without losing a single ship or EOD tech. The Europeans did not assist because they believed it too dangerous to enter based on thier knowledge of the mine types there.

270. Operation Mincemeat – convinced the Germans that the allies were going to invade Greece when the actual target was Sicily. Detail at the minutiae level.

269. Respectfully submit the October 1962 Naval blockage of Cuba.

268. MacArthur’s plan at Inchon, using the Marines and Navy under his command, was indeed an audacious plan worthy of top billing. Notwithstanding the superb execution by the Marines, the plan (Isn’t the Plan what you were measuring?) itself was brilliant, and it completely surprised the commies and caused them great consternation as they were routed to the Northern hinterland.

267. Captain Witold Pilecki devises a mission to be purposely captured and sent to Auschwitz, to release information from the camp back to the Resistance, September 1940.

266. 1941 Stalin moving his Siberian Divisions to the Moscow Fronts, relying on intelligence from his spy, Richard Sorge, the Red Army had accumulated a 58-division reserve by early December. On 5 December 1941, the counteroffensive started on the Kalinin Front. After two days of little progress, Soviet armies retook Krasnaya Polyana and several other cities in the immediate vicinity of Moscow. The same day, Hitler signed his directive number 39, ordering the Wehrmacht to assume a defensive stance on the whole front.

265. The Andrews Raid or The Great Locomotive Chase, April 12, 1862.

264. Operation Deadstick June, 6, 1944. Six glider crews of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry take control of the bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal.

263. 1798 – Nelson at The Battle of the Nile. The French believed that they had established the perfect defensive position anchored in Aboukir Bay. Nelson divided his force (counter to all established fleet tactics) and sent one division across the head of the French line and another along the seaward side of the anchored ships. He attacked at night (generally frowned upon in naval tactics) and rigged spring lines on his ships to allow them to reverse their fire rapidly (an innovation adopted by Thomas Macdonough in 1814 at Plattsbugh just a few years later). His audacious planning and innovative tactics (well, and the HMS Audacious, which was in fact part of his fleet) placed the French fleet in a crossfire that decimated their ships and permanently changed the strategic balance in the Mediterranean.

262. – 256.

Operation Mikado 21 May 1982: Planned raid by the SAS on the Argentine Rio Grande airbase during the Falklands War. Plan was to fly 2 RAF C130 Hercules from Ascension Island 4000 miles into Argentine airspace, land and deliver 60 men of B Squadron, 22 SAS, right onto the Rio Grande runway to destroy Argentine Navy Super Etendards based there. Mikado remained a plan however, as the order to go was never received.

Glorious 1st June 1 Jun 1794: Channel Fleet under Admiral Lord Richard Howe intentionally breaks the French battleline off Ushant inflicting a heavy defeat.

Operation Trident 4 Dec 1971: Indian Navy Vidyut Class fast patrol boats attack the Pakistani Navy in Karachi harbour with Styx anti-ship missiles.

Operation Nimrod 5 May 1980: Storming of the Iranian Embassy. In a 17 minute raid the SAS end a 6 day hostage crisis in the Iranian Embassy in London after the terrorists execute one of their hostages, a key operation in the history of modern, western special forces.

Operation Anthropoid 27 May 1942: Czech SOE agents assassinate SS Obergruppenfuhrer and architect of the Holocaust Reinhard Heydrich in the middle of Prague.

Operation Agreement 13 Sept 1942: Series of raids by SAS, Commandos and Royal Marines against Tobruk that, although audacious in planning, end in tragic failure with the loss of the cruiser HMS Coventry, the destroyers HMS Sikh and HMS Zulu, and 300 Royal Marines.

Operation Roast1 Apr 1945: Royal Marines of 2 Commando Brigade take the Comacchio Lagoon, Italy.

255. The Andrews Raid or The Great Locomotive Chase, April 12, 1862.

254. Operation Frequent Wind: South Vietnam, April 30, 1975. “A massive assembly of aircraft and ships that became the largest helicopter evacuation in history.”