U.S. Navy

Answer: Six ships were planned

Designated CC-1 through CC-6, the ships were to be the Lexington, Constellation, Saratoga, Ranger, Constitution, and United States.

Answer: BB-59 USS Massachusetts

BB-59, USS Massachusetts was built in the Fore River Shipyard of the Bethlehem Steel Company/Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts. According to the National Park Service's Maritime History of Massachusetts (the site is on the maritime history of the state, not the ship specifically) page on her, at a displacement of 35,000 tons the Massachusetts was the heaviest ship to be launched at Quincy at the time she was launched, which lead to her being called Big Mamie.

Massachusetts would conduct her shakedown cruise in Maine's Casco Bay before she departed in late October to take part in the Torch landings. She would serve as the flagship of Admiral Robert C. Giffen's Covering Group during the landings. On November 8, 1942 Massachusetts and the heavy cruiser CA-37 USS Tuscaloosa would get into a largely one sided gun duel with the unfinished Jean Bart. Construction on the French battleship, much like Massachusetts, had begun in the '30s but she was unfinished when the war began. When it became clear the Germans were going to win the Battle of France, the French sent Jean Bart to Casablanca to keep her out of German hands. But as the Vichy government effectively became a puppet of Germany, the Jean Bart would be used to try to prevent Allied forces from taking Casablanca. However, in the battle of November 8th, Jean Bart only managed to fire seven rounds from her four 15-inch guns. In comparison, Massachusetts' nine 16-inch guns fired five volleys, each volley being made up of six to nine rounds PER gun. One of Massachusetts' rounds disabled Jean Bart's rotational equipment on her turret, taking it out of action for a 48 hour period.

BB-2 USS Massachusetts was an Indiana-class battleship and the second U.S. battleship to officially be designated Battleship (BB). She saw service during the Spanish-American War and as a gunnery training ship during WWI. BB-54 USS Massachusetts was a member of the planned South Dakota-class of the '20s. Because of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, construction on this class was halted and all six ships were scrapped. The six were to have been BB-49 USS South Dakota, BB-50 USS Indiana, BB-51 USS Montana, BB-52 USS North Carolina, BB-53 USS Iowa, and the Massachusetts. North Carolina, South Dakota, Iowa, and Montana would become the names of the intended four fast battleship classes respectively (though the Montana-class would be canceled before any of the ships in the class could be laid down) and five of the six names would be built as fast battleships. The North Carolina-class battleship BB-55 USS North Carolina; the South Dakota-class battleships BB-57 USS South Dakota, BB-58 USS Indiana, BB-59 USS Massachusetts; the Iowa-class battleship BB-61 USS Iowa. BB-20 was actually the Connecticut-class battleship USS Vermont.

Answer: USS Yorktown

The USS Yorktown was severely damaged, but was able to limp back to Pearl Harbor for repairs.

Answer: 2000

This unfortunate incident occurred on Thursday, October 12, 2000, at 11:18 A.M. Other events that took place this same month include the Hatfield rail crash, a large coal sludge spill in Kentucky, and the release of the PlayStation 2.

Answer: USS Long Beach CGN-9

USS Long Beach was not only the first nuclear powered surface warship in the world it was the first large combat vessel the U.S. Navy had constructed whose primary armament was NOT large caliber deck guns, only guided missiles launchers.

Answer: Fouled Anchor

It is an anchor with a length of chain wrapped around it.

Answer: 2

Only the US Navy and Iran have flown the Tomcat. Iran still flies the F-14 but the numbers and operational capability of their jets is questionable.

Answer: Alligator

In November, 1861 the United States Navy ordered a submersible vessel built using the designs of a French engineer named Brutus de Villeroi. It was to be used against Confederate ironclads. The boat acquired the nickname of "Alligator." In many ways it was very advanced; in particular, it had an air-purifying system and a means of ventilation. Unfortunately, Alligator did not perform well when it was tested, and was never commissioned in the fleet or used in combat. It sank during a storm on April 2, 1863 while being towed to Port Royal, South Carolina.

Answer: USS South Dakota (BB-57)

Her nickname came about from the tight media security regarding operations after Pearl Harbor, the media referred to her as "Battleship X".

Answer: aviation ordnance personnel

Aviation Ordnance personnel are responsible for the maintaining and the final placement and arming of weapons, missiles, and bombs on the aircraft just prior to them being launched from the supercarrier.

Ordnance is stored in munition magazines located below the flight deck. As they are needed, ordnance personnel will bring the required munitions to the flight deck, using specially designated elevators.
Once on the flight deck, the munitions are loaded and activated by the "red shirts".

Color coded shirt worn by crew members on the flight deck will identify the specific task of each person on the flight deck.

The color coded shirts includes:

* Red Shirts - worn by Ordnance personnel.

* Yellow Shirts - worn by Aircraft Directors, who are responsible for the movement of planes from the hanger deck to the flight deck, and around the ship.

* Green Shirts - worn by catapult and arresting gear personnel, who are responsible for securing the front landing gear of an aircraft into the catapult shuttles prior to launch, and securing the arresting wires following the landing of an aircraft on the flight deck.

* Blue Shirts - worn by members of the flight deck crew. Their responsibilities includes physically pushing aircraft in position, the chocking and chaining of aircraft, and the maintenance of the flight deck.

* Brown Shirts - worn by plane captains, who are responsible for supervising maintenance and preparation of their assigned aircraft.

* Purple Shirts - worn by crew members (sometimes referred to as "Grapes") are assigned to handle fuel and the refueling duties for the aircraft and vehicles aboard the supercarrier.

* White Shirts - worn by the Landing Signaling Officer (LSO), who are aviators charged with controlling safe landings aboard the supercarriers.
White shirts are also worn by both safety and medical personnel.

* Black and White Checkered Shirts - worn by the inspectors who conduct the final quality control and safety checks on aircraft just prior to their actual launch.

The design pattern of the trousers worn by flight deck personnel also indicates their respective ranks:

* "Woodland Camouflage" pants are worn by Junior sailors and Petty Officers.

* "Desert Camouflage" pants are worn by Chief Petty Officers, Warrant Officers, and Commissioned Officers.

Supercarrier Tidbit:
Each supercarrier is powered by two A4W Nuclear Reactors with four shafts.
A supercarrier can cruise at over 30 knots, and has an unlimited range.

Nuclear powered supercarriers can operate continuously for 20 to 25 years before refueling is required.

Answer: USS Missouri

The USS Missouri was decommissioned in 1993 and now is permanently berthed in Pearl Harbor, HI, standing silent vigil over the USS Arizona Memorial.

Answer: Very well.

The standard command is common throughout the Navy to minimize confusion in shiphandling. The four parts of a standard command are the command, the reply, the report, and the acknowledgement. For example.

1. Command: "Right standard rudder, steady on course 250."

2. Reply: A verbatim restatement of command. "Right standard rudder, steady on course 250, aye."

3. Report: The report is given when the command has been carried out completely. "Sir, my rudder is right standard, coming to course 250."

4. Acknowledgment: "Very well."

Answer: Post-Dreadnought

The USS North Carolina is most definitely a Post-Dreadnought battleship. So much so that many historians do not even refer to her in relation to the first "all big gun" battleship. She is one of the first truly modern battleships that was designed and built for the U.S. Navy with technologies only dreamed of circa WWI.

Answer: A period of duty between 1600 and 2000.

A watch period is four hours. The dog watch is split into two two-hour watches, the first and second dog watch, in order for the crew to rotate through all the watches instead of one team being forced to stand the mid-watch every night.

Answer: Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific.

USS TEXAS started her service in World War II attached to the Northern Attack Group for Operation Torch and the invasion of North Africa and was in the Mediterranean. Later on she was involved in the Normandy Landings in the Atlantic and towards the end of the war she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet where she participated in two major island campaigns.

Answer: Prior to World War I, 1914

USS TEXAS (BB-35) was delivered to the Navy in March 1914 by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. in Virginia, as events in Europe were spiraling towards the first global war. She actually joined the fleet at sea in May 1914. Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated in June 1914, triggering the events that lead to World War in July 1914.

Answer: Rates

You wouldn't get rich, but you might as well have known how to refer to your pay scale.

Answer: Captain James Lawrence

After being mortally wounded onboard the U.S. frigate Chesapeake during a fight with the HMS Shannon, Captain Lawrence was carried below. He ordered his men, "Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship!" Later the Chesapeake was forced to surrender.

Answer: Ford Motor Company

Within five months of being awarded the contract to build the Eagle class, Henry Ford had the assembly plant ready to open, and the keel for the first of these craft was laid less than a year after the decision was made to build the class. Ford adapted the mass production techniques that had enabled him to build the Model T so inexpensively, and completed all 59 ships in just over one year.

Answer: The day after the offense occured

The NGCM is the Navy's 3rd oldest medal, and its requirements have changed several time since it was first awarded in 1869. The most recent change was in 1996 when the length of good conduct was lowered from 4 years to 3 years.

Answer: Hoover

The large by-pass turbofans installed in the Viking do, indeed, sound like a vacuum cleaner especially when heard from below decks when the throttles are advanced during taxiing. When sitting in a Ready Room directly below the flightdeck, it sounds like a large vacuum cleaner being run over the flightdeck. Many S-3 aviators wear a Hoover vacuum cleaner patch on their flight jackets in recognition of this affectionate nickname.

Answer: Hannah, Hancock, and Franklin

Answer: Break Transmission

Used when typing a message on a TTY circuit or on a message telling this is the text of the message, and the end of the message.

Answer: A Yeoman

Most naval ratings have nicknames; Yeomen perform clerical and secretarial duties, both onboard ships and ashore. As most people know, Waves are female sailors. Yeoman was one of the few ratings open to women, hence the rather disparaging appellation given to male Yeomen. Nowadays, of course, all ratings are open to women, a fact upon which I shall refrain from commenting.

Answer: Curtis and Ely

They used strands of rope with the ends tied to sandbags stretched across the flight deck. They used 22 ropes for each attempted landing. They had a hook attached to the tail of the aircraft to grab one of the ropes and eventually slow the plane down. Although the technology used today has changed greatly, the basic concept is still the same today as it was back in 1910.