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Quiz about The US Navy in the 19th Century

The U.S. Navy in the 19th Century Quiz

During the 19th century, the U.S. Congress saw a growing country and the need to defend two long coastlines. The Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War all indicated the need for effective naval forces.

A multiple-choice quiz by ncterp. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Author
ncterp

Time
3 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
412,145

Updated
Apr 21 23

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
141

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. During the War of 1812, who gave the iconic order, "Tell the men to fire faster. Don't give up the ship"? Hint

John Paul Jones

James Lawrence

Stephen Decatur

Oliver Hazard Perry

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Question 2 of 10

2. The first Commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy, Commander Franklin Buchanan, later became an admiral in the Confederate Navy. True or false?

True

False

3. In February 1844, a naval gun aboard the newly-designed USS Princeton exploded, killing or wounding 20 people and almost killing President John Tyler and his fianc�e, Julia Gardiner. What was the name given to this long 225-pound gun? Hint

The Oregon

The Red Coat

The New Orleans

The Peacemaker

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which US president urged Congress to establish a naval academy "for the formation of scientific and accomplished officers"? Hint

Andrew Jackson

James Monroe

Martin Van Buren

John Quincy Adams

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Question 5 of 10

5. Prior to the establishment of the Naval Academy in 1845, the U.S. Navy thought it best to train young midshipmen by placing them all aboard one ship, rather than spreading them out among several. in 1842, this decision may have been a proximate cause of the only mutiny aboard a U.S. Naval ship at sea. What was the name of the ship in question? Hint

USS Somers

USS Charleston

USS Saratoga

USS Trenton

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Question 6 of 10

6. One of the heroes of the Barbary Wars, the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812 was a young naval officer whose father had served in the Continental Navy. Who was this officer, who at age 25 became the youngest officer promoted to Captain in Naval history? Hint

John Paul Jones

Stephen Decatur

William Bainbridge

James Barron

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Question 7 of 10

7. On January 30, 1862 the U.S. Navy launched its first ironclad warship, the USS Monitor. Within a month she found herself in a battle with which Confederate ironclad? Hint

CSS Merrimack

CSS Richmond

CSS General Lee

CSS Virginia

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Question 8 of 10

8. O, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every thread-bare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,-
The lightning and the gale!
Who wrote this poem as a tribute to USS Constitution when it was rumored she was about to be decommissioned? Hint

John Greenleaf Whittier

Walt Whitman

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Question 9 of 10

9. Who was the first African-American (also an escaped slave) to actually receive the US Medal of Honor? Hint

James Thurlow

William Thompson

Robert Blake

Robert Seymour

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Question 10 of 10

10. Which was the only Confederate Navy warship to circumnavigate the globe? Hint

CSS Virginia

CSS Cape Fear

CSS Charleston

CSS Shenandoah

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. During the War of 1812, who gave the iconic order, "Tell the men to fire faster. Don't give up the ship"?

Answer: James Lawrence

During a battle with a British frigate, Captain Lawrence was mortally wounded by an enemy sharpshooter, but while he was being carried below deck, he was heard to say these famous words.

2. The first Commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy, Commander Franklin Buchanan, later became an admiral in the Confederate Navy. True or false?

Answer: True

Buchanan had served in the U.S. Navy for 46 years by the time the Civil War began. He was from Maryland and thought his home state would join the Confederacy, so he resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Navy.

Answer: The Peacemaker

The USS Princeton was a steam-powered warship, the first of its kind in the U.S. Navy. The "Peacemaker" was a long smooth-bored gun along with sister gun "Oregon" and 12 42-pound carronades made up the gunnery aboard.

Ex-first lady, 76 year old Dolley Madison was among the celebrities on board. Among those killed were the Secretary of State Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Gilmer.

4. Which US president urged Congress to establish a naval academy "for the formation of scientific and accomplished officers"?

Answer: John Quincy Adams

President Adams' request was not acted upon until twenty years later in 1841. The naval academy was established without congressional funding in 1845.

Answer: USS Somers

The USS Somers was a 10-gun brig commanded by Commander Alexander Mackenzie, a strict disciplinarian. A hard-drinking young midshipman, Philip Spencer, whose father was Secretary of War was charged along with two others by Mackenzie with conspiring to commit a mutiny. Despite minimal evidence, a questionable legal proceeding and being only a day and a half from port, the three men were hanged.

The "Somers Incident", as it was called, caused the public to label it as a "tyrannical act by a paranoid captain and a lesson in the pitfalls of rushed judgement", although the Navy cleared Mackenzie of any wrongdoing. In 1846 Somers was caught in a severe storm and sunk with the loss of more than 30 of her crew.

Answer: Stephen Decatur

Decatur sailed his squadron to the Mediterranean in May 1815 and, in an early example of "gunboat diplomacy", persuaded Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli to sign treaties of peace.

He was mortally wounded in a duel on March 22, 1820 by Commodore James Barron.

7. On January 30, 1862 the U.S. Navy launched its first ironclad warship, the USS Monitor. Within a month she found herself in a battle with which Confederate ironclad?

Answer: CSS Virginia

The battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia was the first battle of ironclad warships. The two ships fought to a draw in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. This historic battle signalled the beginning of steam-powered ironclad warships. The CSS Virginia was originally the USS Merrimack until captured by the Confederates.

8. O, better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave; Nail to the mast her holy flag, Set every thread-bare sail, And give her to the god of storms,- The lightning and the gale! Who wrote this poem as a tribute to USS Constitution when it was rumored she was about to be decommissioned?

Answer: Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oliver Wendell Holmes was only 21 when he wrote this poem in 1830. The USS Constitution was the first ship to enter the new Navy Yard in Boston to be refitted, and somehow a rumor started that she was to be decommissioned. The poem is entitled "Old Ironsides".

9. Who was the first African-American (also an escaped slave) to actually receive the US Medal of Honor?

Answer: Robert Blake

Robert Blake was the first escaped slave to actually receive the Medal of Honor for his actions while manning the rifle gun aboard the USS Marblehead in the Stono River on Christmas Day 1863. Another escaped slave, William Harvey Carney, was the first to be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in July 1863 during the Second Battle of Fort Wagner (remember the movie Glory), but he did not receive the medal until 1900 - which was in fact quite common at the time.

10. Which was the only Confederate Navy warship to circumnavigate the globe?

Answer: CSS Shenandoah

On August 2, 1865, the CSS Shenandoah, while in process of circumnavigating the globe, learned that the Civil War had ended and the Confederacy had lost. The ship continued its mission and surrendered to the British Royal Navy at Liverpool, England.

Source: Author ncterp

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