July 19 in Military History

The English Tudor warship Mary Rose, flagship of King Henry VIII, capsizes and sinks in the Solent during an engagement with a French invasion fleet, taking roughly 500 crew and archaeological evidence of Tudor naval warfare with her.

The first women's rights convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York, producing the Declaration of Sentiments. The movement it launched would eventually open all military roles to women, transforming the armed forces.

Union forces intercept Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan's cavalry at Buffington Island, Ohio, during Morgan's Raid, the northernmost Confederate military operation of the Civil War. Most of Morgan's command was captured.

Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, having threatened Washington earlier in the month, skirmishes with Union cavalry near Snicker's Gap, Virginia as it withdraws back into the Shenandoah Valley with captured Union stores.

France declares war on the Kingdom of Prussia, beginning the conflict that would lead to the fall of the French Second Empire, the unification of Germany, and the territorial grievances that fueled both World Wars.

President Roosevelt signs the Two-Ocean Navy Act, the largest naval procurement bill in American history, authorizing a 70% increase in fleet size, including 18 fleet carriers, 7 battleships, and 200 submarines, creating the force that dominated World War II.

Admiral Karl Doenitz orders the remaining Type VII U-boats out of the U.S. Eastern Sea Frontier after Allied convoy escorts, air patrols, and coastal blackouts cut merchant ship losses from 182 in June to manageable levels.

Over 500 American B-17 and B-24 bombers strike Rome's San Lorenzo and Littorio railroad marshaling yards, marking the first Allied bombing of the Eternal City. The raid killed approximately 1,500 civilians and damaged the ancient Basilica of San Lorenzo.

U.S. Twelfth Air Force B-17 and B-24 bombers strike the San Lorenzo rail yards and other rail infrastructure in Rome, hitting the logistical backbone of Axis forces in Italy for the first time and accelerating the political crisis that would topple Mussolini.

The Geneva Accords are signed, dividing Vietnam at the 17th parallel into communist North and non-communist South. The temporary partition was intended to last until elections in 1956, but those elections never took place, setting the stage for the Vietnam War.

The Apollo 11 spacecraft fires its Service Propulsion System engine to enter lunar orbit, placing military veterans Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins on final approach to the first crewed Moon landing.