U.S. Navy

Answer: Broken up

Although they were in various stages of completion, the Constellation, Ranger, United States, and Constitution were all broken up in 1923.

Answer: USS North Carolina

There are two versions of the story behind BB-55 USS North Carolina's nickname of Showboat. The first is that during her shakedown period she was in and out of the New York Navy Yard so often that New Yorkers and Walter Winchell took to calling her the Showboat after the Broadway musical "Show Boat". "Show Boat" was a 1927 musical written by Oscar Hammerstein, of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame, and Jerome Kern based on the 1926 book of the same name by Edna Ferber. Ferber had actually gathered research material for her book on a trip to Bath, North Carolina, so it seems more fitting that USS North Carolina should be nicknamed Showboat. The musical, which featured such well known and controversial songs as "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", ran on Broadway until 1929 then enjoyed a Broadway revival in 1932. It also had a run in London's West End that began in 1928. In 1929 a film partially based more on the novel than the musical would be released as the first movie version of "Show Boat". This would be followed in 1936 by a film version based on the musical which would have its premier in NYC. Since WWII there have been a number of revivals of the musical as well as the 1951 film based on the musical. But North Carolina earned her nickname before these post war revivals and film.

Then there is the BB-56 USS Washington version of the story. The North Carolina-class is made up of two ships, USS North Carolina and USS Washington, both ships were commissioned within a little over a month of each other. However, the lead ship of the class received more attention than Washington which the crew of the Washington felt was unfair. One Sunday in the fall of 1941 the Washington's chaplain instructed the ship's band to play "Here Comes the Showboat" (or "Here Comes that Showboat"), a jazz tune, as North Carolina passed by. The incident ended up in Washington's weekly newspaper which the ship's captain ordered all copies rounded up and the article removed before the paper was reprinted. Despite this, word of the article got out and earned North Carolina the nickname "Showboat".

The crew of Washington may have also given North Carolina the nickname USO North Carolina on account of the fact that North Carolina received more press coverage than many other ships in the fleet.

Answer: USS San Jacinto

Lieutenant (O-2) Bush (whose nickname was "skin" because of his slender build) flew with two crew members,Lieutenant (O-2) White and Radioman Delaney, in a Grumman TBF Avenger from the San Jacinto for an attack on a Japanese controlled island. During the attack his TBF was hit by ground fire, but completed the mission and was able fly away from the island; when the plane was no longer flyable he and another crew member bailed out but the other crewman's parachute didn't open. Lt Bush was later picked up by the submarine USS Finback.

Answer: 17 dead; 39 injured

Injured sailors were taken to a medical center in Germany until they could be returned back to the United States. The names of those who lost their lives are as follows:

-Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow (Morrisville, Pennsylvania)
-Signalman Seaman Recruit Cheron Luis Gunn (Rex, Georgia)
-Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels (Norfolk, Virginia)
-Seaman Recruit Lakiba Nicole Palmer (San Diego, California)
-Operations Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders (Ringgold, Virginia)
-Ensign Andrew Triplett (Macon, Mississippi)
-Seaman Apprentice Craig Bryan Wibberley (Williamsport, Maryland)
-Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter (Mechanicsville, Virginia)
-Mess Management Specialist Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis (Woodleaf, North Carolina)
-Information Systems Technician Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna (Rice, Texas)
-Engineman 2nd Class Mark Ian Nieto (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin)
-Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class Ronald Scott Owens (Vero Beach, Florida)
-Engineman Fireman Joshua Langdon Parlett (Churchville, Maryland)
-Fireman Apprentice Patrick Howard Roy (Cornwall on Hudson, New York)
-Electronics Warfare Technician 2nd Class Kevin Shawn Rux (Portland, North Dakota)
-Mess Management Specialist 3rd Class Ronchester Mananga Santiago (Kingsville, Texas)
-Fireman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr. (Rockport, Texas)

Answer: brace

I have no idea where this came about or what its purpose is. It just makes plebes look like they have four or more chins, thus demonstrating just how nasty and subhuman they are.

Answer: USS Vincennes CG-49

The U.S. Navy Cruiser, USS Vincennes shot down the Iran Air passenger jet over the Strait of Hormuz resulting in the death of all 290 passengers. The Vincennes' crew, not trusting in their ship's weapons system, misidentified the Iranian Airbus as an attacking F-14 Tomcat. An investigation would eventually show that the airliner had recently taken off and was climbing. The ship Aegis weapons system did not identify the plane as a threat since it was climbing as its flight path tracked over the ship and was not diving towards the ship in an attack run.

Answer: Baseball

He pitched for the Cleveland Indians. When WWII broke out, he put his career on hold and joined the Navy. After the war, he resumed his career in baseball.

Answer: Intercepted an airliner carrying the terrorists and forced it to land at a NATO base.

After killing two passengers, which was unknown to Egyptian officials, the terrorists were given safe passage from Egypt for the release of the remaining passengers. US forces were able to identify the airliner carrying the terrorist and Tomcats intercepted and convinced the pilot to land at a NATO air base on Crete where the terrorists were taken into custody.

Answer: 3505

During WWII 374 officers and 3131 enlisted men of the submarine service made the supreme sacrifice in defense of their country. Although submariners represented only 1.6% of Naval personnel, they accounted for over 55% of enemy ship losses. The Silent Service had the highest casualty rate of any branch of the U.S. military in WWII. Over 23%, or almost one in every four, of WWII submariners were killed in action. A submariner who has died is said to be on "eternal patrol."

Answer: USS Iowa (BB-61)

Iowa is currently moored in Suisun Bay, near San Francisco, CA. You can take a water tour of the Ghost Fleet there, the boats take you within 50 ft. of this proud lady.

Answer: A large cask for holding fresh drinking water.

The scuttle butt was connected to larger water tanks in the ship's hold, and a pump in the scuttle butt provided the fresh water -- a far cry from the refrigerated drinking fountains aboard ship today.

It was around the scuttle butt that the men would pass unconfirmed information.

Answer: The Invasion of Guadalcanal

The fighting at sea in support of the Guadalcanal Landings, was intense and nonstop for months. Two weeks after the initial landings, in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons was the USS North Carolina's baptism of fire. In defense of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise the North Carolina proved that the new fast battleships would be a formidable defender of the important aircraft carriers. In her first engagement of the war, the North Carolina was credited with seven confirmed Japanese aircraft destroyed. The smoke from her batteries was so dense that she was called on the radio to inquire if she had been hit. She was too late for Coral Sea, and Midway and Leyte Gulf took place later on.

Answer: Tripod Masts replacing her "cages".

Oddly enough, USS Utah and her sister were never given the Modern Tripod Masts that were fitted on all other U.S. battleships during the fleet modernizations of the 20's and 30's. They got tubular masts to replace (partly) the heavier "cages" of WWI but not the more modern Tripod design. All the other modifications were made in spite of the fact that her days as a battleship were numbered.

Answer: Built over the sunken hull amidships

One of the most impressive aspects of the Arizona Memorial is that you can stand on the floor and look directly down on the sunken hull atop which it was built. Approved by President Eisenhower, the memorial building is open on both sides so that you can look, bow to stern, at what remains of the hull beneath the water, and one exposed turret barbette (#3). The flagpole bearing the Stars and Stripes is attached to the remains of the main mast of the ship. It is truly a solemn and sacred place. I was fortunate to visit in 1976 and am humbled by the memory to this day.

Answer: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

USS TEXAS was turned over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1983, after 55 years of neglect, for the purpose of maintaining and administering the ship as a memorial and museum. Much of the funding for the maintenance and restoration of the TEXAS comes from the funding of the department although significant private funding is contributed.

Answer: Mount and launch an airplane

Even before WWI, navies had experimented with flying airplanes off ships. They were generally cruisers or auxiliaries and always as a temporary experiment. However, in March 1919 USS TEXAS (BB-35) became the first US battleship equipped with an airplane when US Navy Lt. Comdr. Ed McDonnell flew a Sopwith Camel bi-plane off the her deck.

Answer: President Theodore Roosevelt

So true. Sometimes the greatest military asset is to have strategic deterance (having a powerful force that's at the ready at all times to make potentially hostile groups stand down).

Answer: First In Defense, the ship's motto.

Although Forrestal did have frequent fires, was a very powerful fighting machine, and did, at least when I was on her, hold general quarters drills during meal times quite frequently (or so it seemed to hungry sailors), her nickname "FID" is for that proud ship's motto, "First In Defense".

Answer: Navy Blue with 2 thin Green lines

An unadorned ribbon signifies "Marksman". The same ribbon with a bronze "S" signifies "Sharpshooter". After completely qualifying as an "Expert", a silver "E" is attached to the ribbon.

Answer: Trap

A Carrier Arrested landing is referred to as a "trap". Accumulating traps is a fervent competition and aviators sport patches on their flight jackets denoting 100 trap increments. A typical six month deployment may or may not garner 100 traps, although the war on terror has escalated operational tempo so that 100 traps or more per cruise is not uncommon. The Tailhook Association and National Naval Aviation Museum both recognize and honor those who achieve 1,000 traps in their careers. The all-time leader is actually a Brit who did carrier qualification trials during World War II and amassed over 2,000 traps in a relatively short period (I'll leave his identity for the next quiz). It is unlikely that any US Naval Aviator will come close.

Answer: Philadelphia

Answer: Hell Week

No explanation here, I'll let the name speak for itself.

Answer: Hull number for administrative purposes

It is commonly believed that the number indicates the sequence in which the ships are commissioned. It may work out like that most of the time, but it isn't actually true. For example, USS Thomas Gates (CG-51) was commissioned on 22 AUG 1987... more than a year AFTER the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52)! The number after the ship type designator is simply an administrative method for tracking and recording anything having to do with the ship. The numbers are selected and determined when the ship is ordered, long before the keel is even laid.

Answer: 3

This is tricky. There are 3; Hawaii, Atlantic, and the Med. Guam used to have a NCTAMS but due to down-sizing, it was changed to a NAVCOMTELSTA in the late 90's. So there are 3 NCTAMS covering the 4 AOR's.

Answer: Britain

Built by Britain who then graciously shared that technology with the United States. The workings of the catapult is still today classified equipment.