What a great question!!! I think I have a candidate. Any other takers?

Tom

No takers?? OK, not sure if this is the guy you were looking for, but how about Commodore William Bainbridge. Here's a quote from the Navy History site:

Bainbridge was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy in August 1798. Though his first command, the schooner Retaliation, was captured by two much more powerful French frigates in November, Lieutenant Bainbridge was subsequently promoted to the rank of Master Commandant and then to Captain. During 1800-1803 he commanded the U.S. warships George Washington, Essex and Philadelphia during operations in the Mediterranean, but was taken prisoner with his entire crew when Philadelphia ran aground off Tripoli on 31 October 1803.



I guess I wasn't aware of the "undeclared war" we had with France from 1798 through 1800, but a "war" I guess it was. The action against the Barbary pirates is perhaps forgotten today, but was crucial in setting the tone for how our new nation would choose to act on the world stage. It is recalled in the words of the Marine Corps song when they refer to "the shores of Tripoli".

And I guess losing two ships didn't hurt Bainbridge too much because he went on to be given command of perhaps the most famous ship in US History, The USS Constitution.

Is he the guy you were thinking about?

Tom

Ding! Ding! Ding!
We have a winner.
Hard to believe you could hose things up that bad and be given another chance at Command. Different Navy, different world I guess. His surrender of the Philadelphia after grounding should have got him shot (IMHO) the crew suffered terribly in prison for years before being released.

OK Tom...you're up!

OK, here's a real puffball. You've probably said it yourself before, "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."

But what's the nautical (and not naughty!) origin of this expression?

Tom

Oooo, Mr. Hathaway, I know!

A brass monkey is a brass tray used in naval ships during the Napoleonic Wars, used for the storage of cannonballs, piled up in a pyramid on the tray, which would contract in cold weather, causing the balls to fall off.

Later...Gator

And you are CORRECT, sir!!!

You're up, Gator!

Tom

Alrighty. Keeping with the phrase theme...

Where did the phrase "son of a gun" originate and what was its meaning?

Later...Gator

Nice swing of questioning, mates, I'll step up to the podium. . .

"Son Of A Gun"

This term dates back to when men of certain ratings, including gunners and gunners mates, were allowed to take their wives along to sea with them. If a boy was born on the voyage, he was half-humorously, half-contemptuously referred to as a "son of a gun."

Correct Gunny! The floor is yours (can you please remember to sweep and mop when your finished...lol).

Later...Gator

I love the one about the brass balls. How fascinating.

OK mates, Here we go~

"Submarine launched missiles are perhaps the strongest pillar of the "nuclear triad" that made the United States the dominant superpower at the start of the 21st Century. A mobile underwater launch platform requires vast resources to build and operate but it is difficult to detect, and a fleet of them ensures that the enemy mainland is within quick striking distance at all times.

The submarine launched missile, which played such an important role in the Cold War, can be traced to which Navy, and what year, first tested?


Lets roll. . .
~Gunny

I’ll take a guess.

The Soviet Union in 1955.

Good guess, Jacob, but sorry!
Someone beat the Soviets to the punch!
~Gunny

In May/June of 1942, the Germans launched an artillery rocket from the deck of a uboat. They even successfully launched one from the depth of 15 meters. Wow!

He's a link... Link

later...Gator

Precisely, Gator!
Good Show, mate!!
Batter up!!!

Sorry for the delay, I had to find a good one. :-)

What is the orgin of the phrase "Balls Out"?

later...Gator (get your mind out of the gutter )

I can't resist this one. . .

"Balls Out – Refers to an early design of engine governor, in which a pair of masses (balls) spun at an increasing rate as engine speed increased. Centrifugal acceleration threw the masses outward, so "balls out" refers to maximum possible engine speed."

Also, closely related too ; "Balls to the wall – Full speed, or maximum effort."

Very good Gunny. You get a cookie and gold star.

And your question would be?

Gator

Both? Woohoo!!! :-)

But seriously, back on track, mates. . .

Allright, thinking caps on;
What is the name of the 120-gun ship launched at Plymouth, on the 25th of June 1808?"

BONUS!
"Name the vessels designer, and the year she was laid down."

The Caledonia man of war

She was designed by Sir William Rule and laid down in 1796

Excellent work, Jacob!

Yer up!

Thanks. I googled it.

Probably an easy one but here it goes
What Ship became Americas first “aircraft carrier” and what war was it used in.

During the Civil War, "a coal barge, the George Washington Parke Custis, was cleared of all deck rigging to accommodate the gas generators and apparatus of balloons. From the GWP Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps, made his first ascents over the Potomac River and telegraphed claims of the success of the first aerial venture ever made from a water-borne vessel." (Wikipedia)

For heavier than air craft, "...Eugene Ely was the first pilot to launch from a stationary ship in November 1910. He took off from a structure fixed over the forecastle of the US armored cruiser USS Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia and landed nearby on Willoughby Spit after some five minutes in the air." (Wikipedia)

The first US seaplane carrier was the USS Mississippi, designated BB-23, pre-dreadnought battleship outfitted to act as a seaplane tender at Pensacola, FL, and to assist in the establishment of a permanent seaplane base at that location.

Which one would you like?

You got it.

I was thinking of the George Washington Parke Custis when I posted this.

Here's a pretty easy one!

What was the ship that replaced the HMCS Magnificent in the RCN?