On February 4, 1859 a “ Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation, between the United States of America and the Republic of Paraguay” was signed. But the two nations had a rather rocky path to friendship, involving an up to then unprecedented deployment of the United States Navy.
On February 27, 1942 a three decades old US Navy ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft and sunk. It was a difficult time for the allies, many ships were lost that day. But the sinking of USS Langley represented the end of one of the most consequential ships is the Navy's history.