 The burning of Washington D.C., the launch of USS Jupiter. These and much more happened this week in Navy history. August 24th, 1814, British forces invaded Maryland and Washington D.C. during the war of 1812. They set fire to the nation's capital, destroying the White House and the Capitol Building. August 24th, 1912, the transport ship USS Jupiter was launched. Jupiter was the Navy's first electrically-propelled ship, but more importantly, after undergoing a conversion in 1920, Jupiter was renamed USS Langley and became the Navy's first aircraft carrier. And finally, on August 27th, 1942, the battleship USS Iowa was launched at the New York Navy Yard. Iowa would go on to serve in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of World War II. She now serves as a museum ship in Los Angeles. To learn more about these stories and our history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command's website.