 Welcome to All Hands Update. This is your weekly update on Navy history. October 19th, 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army of 8,000 men to General George Washington at Yorktown. It was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. The U.S. Navy lands four divisions from the 6th Army ashore on Lete Philippines on October 20th, 1944. If Lete were to come back under the control of American forces, the rest of the Philippines would soon follow. To drive the Americans off the island, Japan sends five strong naval forces. This leads to the largest sea battle of World War II, the Battle of Lete Gulf. America's oldest commissioned warship, USS Constitution, is launched on October 21st, 1797 from Edmund Hart's shipyard in Boston. October 23rd, 1983, a suicide truck bomb explodes at the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 American service members. If you would like to learn more about these facts and the Navy's history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website.