U.S. Navy Trivia Questions

Answer: Captain John Paul Jones

Jones said this during the famous engagement between the US ship Bonhomme Richard and British ship Serapis on Sept. 23 1779. Things weren't going well for Jones's ship and the captain of Serapis, Richard Pearson, asked if Jones would surrender. And so, Jones responded ...

Answer: PE-57: patrol craft do not have names

My father-in-law and I both served in the Navy, he during World War II and I from the latter end of the Vietnam era to just past the Iran hostage crisis. His first ship was the "Pickle Boat", which was originally called "USS Eagle Boat No. 57" but later just PE-57. Like PT-109, a more famous and different type of patrol craft, PE-57 had no name, just a hull number.

Answer: Medal of Honor

The Navy and Marine Corps' Medal of Honor is our country's oldest continuously awarded decoration. It was created for enlisted men by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on 16 December 1861.

Answer: "Rate" indicates pay grade, "Rating" indicates technical specialty

"Rate" in the Navy is the same thing as "Rank" in any other branch of the military, which is pay grade. The term "Rating" takes it a step farther to designate a sailor's technical specialty. However, the term "rate" has become a collective term meaning both pay grade and specialty.

Answer: Turkey

The movement of the various control surfaces (especially the large horizontal stabilators*) make the Tomcat look like a turkey trying to fly as they move in seemingly uncoordinated fashion.

*Note: the horizontal "stabs" are as large as the main wing of an A-4 Skyhawk and move in tandem and opposed in response to the pilot's control inputs.

Answer: Don't tread on me

It was a yellow flag with a black snake above the words. The purpose of the Navy at this time was to harass British shipping and capture its cargo. The fleet consisted of former merchant vessels converted into warships.

Answer: California

There are several compounds for Navy SEALs operations in America, but there is only one main complex for the Navy SEALs program.

Answer: Guided Missile Cruiser (Nuclear-powered)

The letters CGN stand for Cruiser, Guided missile, Nuclear. All these classes of ships have been decommissioned. Only nine were ever built, with three of them (USS Bainbridge, USS Long Beach and USS Truxtun) essentially unique vessels, each an entirely new class of ship. The rest belonged to the California class (2 ships) and Virginia class (4 ships).

Answer: Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station

This is the name of the Area communication station that controls communications for the 4 AOR for the Navy. They are 3 in todays world, Norfolk Va, Naples Itlay, and Hawaii.

Answer: USS Langley

Converted from a Cyclops-class fleet collier. Since it was not as fast as the ships in the fleet the Langley could not conduct operations at sea. But it was invaluable for the information gained and experience in handling aircraft at sea.

Answer: Throw it away

Originally, 'deep six' was the call of the leadsman signifying that the water is more than 6 fathoms deep, but less than seven. Now, it's a euphemism for throwing something overboard or away.

Answer: NAS Jacksonville, FL

The first show was flown on June 15, 1946 at Craig field NAS Jacksonville Florida

Answer: Tacoma

Unlike later pre-war carriers, Lexington (along with her sister Saratoga), was not equipped with a standard steam turbine propulsion system, but was instead fitted with what was described as a "turbo-electric" system - steam from the boilers was used to provide power to four generators that generated electricity. This was then used to power a pair of electric motors located on each of the ship's four propeller shafts, making the propulsion system ostensibly a massive electric generating station.

In late 1929, a drought in the west of Washington led to Lake Cushman receding. The lake provided water for Cushman Dam No. 1, a hydro-electric plant that was the primary source of power for the city of Tacoma. Once the water level receded below the dam's intakes, the city's electrical supply was significantly reduced, which led to the city requesting help from the federal government. The government's response was to send Lexington, which had been at the nearby Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, to Tacoma, and rig up lines from the ship's electrical generating system into the city power grid. Lexington remained hooked up from 17 December 1929 to 16 January 1930, by which time rain and snow-melt had raised the water levels in Lake Cushman.

Answer: Richard Peary

Commander Peary dropped a note in a glass bottle into a crevice in the ice that read: "I have this day hoisted the national ensign of the United States of America at this place, which my observations indicate to be the North Polar axis of the earth, and have formally taken possession of the entire region, and adjacent, for and in the name of the President of the United States of America."

Answer: Hannah

Hannah was outfitted with four guns and a crew under the command of Nicholas Broughton. After seeing action in September 1775, she was run aground by a British ship in October and eventually decommissioned.

Answer: To counter large German and Japanese ships

The launch of the German Deutschland and Scharnhorst class ships, which could outrun U.S. battleships and outgun U.S. cruisers, and rumors of the planned large Japanese B-65 cruisers, inspired U.S. designers to create the Alaskas.

Answer: The laying down of the Japanese Kongo class battlecruisers.

Though the British and German fleets had battlecruisers from 1910, the U.S. Navy only felt threatened by the laying down of the four Japanese Kongo class ships in 1911.

Answer: USS Wyoming

When the US declared war on Germany in April 1917, BB-32 USS Wyoming was in the Chesapeake Bay off of Yorktown Virginia. She would spend seven months training engine room personnel for the expanding American fleet before joining BB-34 USS New York, BB-28 USS Delaware, and BB-30 USS Florida to form Battleship Division 9 (BatDiv 9). BatDiv 9 would then join the British fleet at Scapa Flow. Eventually BB-35 USS Texas would join BatDiv 9 and BB-33 USS Arkansas would replace Delaware in the division.

Wyoming would be decommissioned in 1930 and then recommissioned and reclassified as the gunnery training ship AG-17 USS Wyoming. At the start of WWII she was primarily operating out of the Chesapeake Bay area where she was frequently sighted leading to her nickname Chesapeake Raider. Thousands of men would train in the operation of everything from the 5" guns to the .50-calibers during this period.

In early 1944 Wyoming would undergo a refit that would remove the last of her 12" guns, replacing these with additional 5" mounts in both single and duo configuration. She would see further alterations in July 1945 not long after her career as the Chesapeake Raider came to an end. Her final role in WWII came in Maine's Casco Bay where she would be used to study tactics dealing with kamikaze.

Following the war cadet Jimmy Carter graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, becoming Ensign Jimmy Carter. Although the future 39th President would be best known for his service as a submariner, Ensign Carter's first assignment following graduation in 1946 was to the Wyoming. By that time the former battleship was serving as a floating laboratory for the testing of electronics and gunnery equipment. He would remain a member of Wyoming's crew until she was decommissioned for the final time in 1947, at which time he and the rest of Wyoming's crew transferred to AG-128 USS Mississippi, the former battleship BB-41 USS Mississippi which had been reclassified as a gunnery training ship months prior to his graduation from the Naval Academy. After two years aboard surface ships Carter would transfer to what his naval service is best known for, submarine duty.

Answer: USS Lexington

The Lexington was hit several times by Japanese aircraft, but stayed in the fight until hit again and abandoned; the Lexington was finally sunk with gunfire from an American destroyer to keep her from falling into Japanese hands.

Answer: Darrell S. Cole

Darrell S. Cole, originally assigned to be a bugle player, was a machine-gunner at Iwo Jima. After a successful lone attack on two enemy gun emplacements, Cole was killed by a grenade at age 24. To commemorate his bravery, the USS Cole was named in his honor.

Answer: USS Samuel B. Roberts FFG-58

The mine made a 25 foot hole in the engine room and injured 10 Sailors. Even though USS Samuel B. Roberts was severely damaged, she was saved by the aggressive efforts of her professional crew. Ironically, during World War II another ship bearing the same name, USS Samuel B. Roberts DE-413, was sunk in action at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Answer: Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

The first was GMCM Delbert Black in 1967.

Answer: Montana

While the US was building battleships, they were named for states. Montana is the only state that has not had a commissioned battleship carry its name, all having been cancelled before being completed or commissioned for one reason or another.

Answer: VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters

The F-14 entered operational service with the US Navy in September 1974 aboard USS Enterprise with the Wolfpack and Bounty Hunters. With the Tomcat, both squadrons participated in the final US withdrawal from Saigon.