On Oct. 18, 1915, the US Navy submarines G-1, G-2, G-4 and the tender USS Ozark arrive at Naval Base New London on the Thames River in Groton, Conn., followed by the boats E-1, D-1 and D-3 and the tender USS Tonopah. The growing force was joined on Nov. 1 by the tender USS Fulton (AS-1), the first ship built to support submarines.

Cdr. Yates Stirling, Jr., became the commander of the new submarine base — the first submarine base in the Navy — as well as New London Submarine Flotilla, and the Submarine School.

On Oct. 18, 1775, about 750 American troops commanded by Col. John Glover held off 4,000 British and Hessian troops commanded by Gen. Sir William Howe, allowing Gen. George Washington to withdraw his forces from Manhattan to White Plains. The British were trying to trap Washington and his troops in New York. Eight Americans were killed and 13 wounded, while three British were killed and 20 wounded. Hessian casualties were not recorded by estimates range from 200 to 1,000. The battle was one of the most important actions of the Revolutionary War.

Today on Oct. 3, 1942 — The space age is born. After three unsuccessful tests,…

On Sept. 26, 1931 – First Lady Lou Hoover lays the keel of the US Navy’s first purpose-built aircraft carrier, the USS Ranger, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va. At the time, the Navy had three aircraft carriers, one a converted collier, the USS Langley (CV-1), and two converted battlecruisers, the USS Lexington (CV-2) and the USS Saratoga (CV-3).

Today on Sept. 25, 1942 — President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Calif., to train Marines during World War II. The base, which was Rancho Santa Margarita y Los Flores, is named for Maj. Gen. Joseph Pendleton who long advocated Marine base on the nation’s west coast. Pendleton served in the marines for more than 40 years and saw action in the Philippines, Cuba and Nicaragua and had died in February 1942.

On Sept. 18, 1947 — The National Security Act of 1947, signed by President Harry Truman…

On Sept. 17, 1959 – North American test pilot A. Scott Crossfield conducted the first powered flight of the company’s X-15 rocket plane after it was dropped from a highly modified Boeing B-52 bomber designated the NB-52A. The X-15 was the world’s first operational spaceplane and designed to allow the US Air Force and NASA to gather data on hypersonic, high-altitude flight. The aircraft was equipped with aerodynamic controls for atmospheric flight and a reaction control system for use at higher altitudes.

On Sept. 11, 1941, construction of the US military’s headquarters — The Pentagon — begins with a ground-breaking ceremony on the site of the Hoover Field in Arlington, Va., that closed in June. The building came be be five-sided because it was initially to be located on a nearby plot of land that was an irregular pentagon. When the site was moved, the building — designed by architect George Bergstrom — was made symmetrical with five sides, five floor, five rings and two basements. It was finished on Jan. 15, 1943.

Today in Military History: On Sept. 10, 1813, in the Battle of Lake Erie, a nine-ship US Navy squadron commanded by Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry defeats a six-ship Royal Navy squadron commanded by Cmdr. Robert Herlot Barclay, who was gravely wounded in the action.