This Day in History (1974): New launches readied for Ju'aymah Service

Two specialized craft have recently been added to Aramco's versatile fleet of 42 working vessels. "Khurais I" and "Janah I" are the first of a fleet of mooring launches to be used for single-line mooring of tankers at Ju'aymah.

The launches will work as a team, securing the tanker to a single buoy and attaching floating hoses to her manifolds. The new procedure will enable tankers to be loaded offshore in deep water.

"Khurais I" and "Janah I" were built at the Damen shipyard in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Holland. They arrived in the Port of Dammam on Aug. 7 after a six-week voyage around the Cape of Good Hope as deadweight cargo on the deck of a freighter.

The vessels have been stationed since that time in Ras Tanura for a training period with their all-Saudi crews. They will be placed on station in Ju'aymah in mid-September.

Caption for top photo: "Khurais I" trains with her all-Saudi crew in the waters off Ras Tanura for the specialized task of preparing tankers for offshore loading at Ju'aymah.

Also on this date

2011 — A dedication ceremony is held at the United States National September 11 Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City, and the memorial opens to family members

2007 — Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs

1997— After a nationwide referendum, Scotland votes to establish a devolved parliament within the United Kingdom

1989 — Hungary announces that the East German refugees who had been housed in temporary camps were free to leave for West Germany

1972 — The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system begins passenger service

1961 — Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second-strongest storm ever to hit the state

1953 — Tommy Shaw of the band Styx is born in Montgomery, Alabama

1941 — Construction begins on the Pentagon

1937 — Queen Paola of Belgium is born as Donna Paola Margherita Maria-Antonia Consiglia Ruffo di Calabria in Villa Claudia, Italy

1922 — The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia

1914 — The teaching of the Russian language and Russian history in Finnish schools is ordered to be considerably increased as part of the forced Russification program in Finland run by Tsar Nicholas II

1903 — The first Milwaukee Mile race is held in West Allis, Wisconsin, one of the oldest major speedways in the world

1852 — The State of Buenos Aires declares independence as a Republic

1830 — The Anti-Masonic Party convention is held, one of the first American political party conventions

1826 — Captain William Morgan, an ex-freemason, is arrested in Batavia, New York, for debt after declaring that he would publish "The Mysteries of Free Masonry," a book against Freemasonry. This sets into motion the events that led to his mysterious disappearance.

1792 — The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored

1609 — Henry Hudson arrives on Manhattan Island and meets the indigenous people living there