History of the United States Navy the Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914. The Great White Fleet required almost 50 coaling ships, and during the cruise most of the fleet's coal was purchased from the British, who could deny access to fuel during a military crisis as they did with Russia during the Russo-Japanese War. When United States agents discovered that the German merchant ship "Ypiranga" was carrying illegal arms to Mexico, President Wilson ordered the Navy to stop the ship from docking at the port of Veracruz. On 21 April 1914, a naval brigade of marines and sailors occupied Veracruz. A total of 55
German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz (F209) was intercepted by the German frigate and seized by German marines, who captured nine suspects. The German boarding party found a cache of one rocket launcher, three AK-47 rifles, a Tokarev pistol, a carbine and an automatic rifle. This was the first time that the German Navy seized a hostile vessel and her crew at sea since the Second World War. Early in the morning of 30 March 2009, a group of Somali pirates approached the German naval replenishment tanker "Spessart", opened fire upon her and attempted to board the vessel. The attack was averted by the on-board security detachment,