Ship Trivia Quiz

Thanks....

Following a successful action off the southwesternmost tip of Portugal in command of a fleet of six ships, this British Admiral was elevated to the peerage with a title related to that place. Who was he?

Rick

  RickF, you are correct. Step forward to receive a standing ovation for your answer. Now, it is your turn to propose a question to the Forum viewers.

     Montani semper liberi !    Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                                 Crackers       

I think it might have been the original HMS Challenger expedition -1872-76 - which was promoted by the Royal Society.

The other Rick

Challenger Deep, as near as I can decode, is named after HMS Challenger II, and the Big Dive on January 23, 1960 by Trieste was authorized by the US Navy.

Rick

  Thank you searat12. Now, I'll propose a question. During the mid-1870s, this British research vessel charted the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by the tedious method of hand soundings. In the process, this vessel discovered the Marianas Trench with an astounding depth of over 5 miles. Further south on the Marianas Trench, is an even deeper trench of 7 miles deep that is named after this research vessel. What is the name of this vessel and who authorized this research ?

    Montani semper liberi !       Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                               Crackers     

    You can only describe the cruel and sadistic, Francis L'Ollonais, a French buccaneer from Brittany, who delighted in torturing his victims by the most hideous methods on the Spanish Main during the mid-17th century. He received his just punishment, when the Darien Indians tore him limb from limb and roasted his remains on the mouth of the River Nicaragua. 

   Montani semper liberi !  Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                       Crackers  

What, might I ask, is the next Question?

I agree with searat, Harbron's book is the best place to start... by the way searat, the floor is yours, Cisneros is a perfectly adequate answer.  Also, now I know that both searat's de Lazo question and my answer probably came from the same book... plates XIX and XX!

There are some Spanish language web sites that cover the Spanish perspective, but I haven't found much. I have been to the Greenwich and Paris Museums, so I'm loaded with a lot of material for England and France. I haven't been to Madrid yet, so I don't know what might be available in Spanish. 

John Millar's Early American Ships includes Spanish vessels from the late 18th century and an interesting summary of Spanish shibuilding in Havana.

Most of what I have comes from translations of Spanish journals and memiors, mostly about the west coast of America and Pacific exploration.  Flood Tide of Empire, The Manila Galleon and Spanish Pacific: from Magellan to Malaspina are good references for exploration and development with references to the Spanish Navy. The Hakluyt Society's two volume set The Malaspina Expedition gives some good info on ranks and organization. Herbert Beale's translations of voyage logs generally include good summaries of the differences in English - Spanish navigation conventions (they don't box the compass the same way).

I don't have much on the Spanish view of the Napoleanic Wars. Peter Goodwin's The Ships of Trafalgar includes Spanish ships and Robert Gardiner's three books on frigates (The First Frigates, The Heavy Frigate and Frigates of the Napoleanic Wars) include some drawings and assessments of Spanish frigates.

David Lyon's The Sailing Navy List includes data on captured Spanish ships taken into the Royal Navy.

Otto von Pivka's Navies of the Napoleanic Era gives brief, overall summaries for most participants.

The rest of my material has been accumulated through journal articles (Donald C. Cutter has done a lot of work on the Spanish Navy as it related to California and the Northwest Coast) in the California Historical Quarterly, Oregon Historical Quarterly, etc.

You also might try the San Diego Maritime Museum. There are articles on the Spanish Navy in the Pacific which occasionally shpw up in their magazine Mains'l Haul.

All of these books add up to a ton of money... so I'd establish a good relationship with your local librarian and learn about inter-library loans.

Not the exact answer I was looking for, but close enough.

Cisneros, in the San Pablo, was well to the south when the action at St. Vincent began, along with Captain Don Cayetano Valdez in Pelayo (both 74s).

By the time the two Spanish vessels reached the battle line, Santisima Trinidad was in bad shape, being pounded by Blenhiem (98), Irresistable (74) and Orion (74).

Spanish sources credit Valdez in Pelayo as Santisima Trinidad's savior. Arriving well ahead of Cisneros, Valdez, according to legend, found the giant vessel with her flag lowered, and threatened to fire into her if she did not resume the fight. Pelayo unsuccesfully attempted to take Santisima in tow, then Valdez placed Pelayo between Santisima and her three English tormentors, taking on all three. The arrival of San Pablo, Conde de Regla and Prinicipe de Asturias settled the matter and the British broke off the fight.

Valdez was one of the few Spanish Captains that saw the English predicament and pressed for a renewal of the fight. But lesser men prevailed in the junta and the Spanish held back. Valdez was one of the few Spaniards to retain his honor from the battle and was promoted and comanded Neptuno at Trafalgar, where he distinguished himself once again.

Valdez eventually became Governor of Cadiz and then Admiral of the Fleet in the post 1815 Spanish Navy.

Yes, Spain did have her heroes.  Our Anglicized versions of naval history seem to have filtered most of them out, though.

Lord Nelson became famous for his patent bridge at Saint Vincent, and it was a great victory, but there is a loose end in the story that English accounts gloss over.

What was the brightest moment for the Spaniards in the Battle of Saint Vincent and who was the most prominent Spanish hero from this moment? ...and what became of him?

I believe that this is an oil painting by Angel Cortellini of Blas de Lezo's stern rake of the British ship Stanhope in 1710.

Stanhope struck to the much smaller frigate, after losing her mizzen and main topmast.

Here's a fairly easy one.... This is one of my favorite paintings (not a hint!), and shows a fairly unusual scene; a Spanish ship soundly defeating a larger British ship!!  What is the name of the Spanish commander, and what was the name of the British ship he captured?

searat12 wrote:

How about this? In 1943, Richard James was a naval engineer trying to develop a meter designed to monitor horsepower on naval battleships. Richard was working with tension springs when one of the springs fell to the ground. He saw how the spring kept moving after it hit the ground and an idea for a toy was born.  The Slinky!

right you are!

How about this?

In 1943, Richard James was a naval engineer trying to develop a meter designed to monitor horsepower on naval battleships. Richard was working with tension springs when one of the springs fell to the ground. He saw how the spring kept moving after it hit the ground and an idea for a toy was born.  The Slinky!

ok, this one will probably be too easy...

One of the most famous toys in the world began as a naval invention.  Name the toy, the person responsible for it, and the intended application.  Bonus points if you can also tell what year this took place.  I will say that this took place in the 20th century, I dont want to make it too vague.  I will also say that I have heard two different accounts of this story, and the more common one is not entirely true.  You're looking for something along the lines of instrumentation.

searat12 wrote:

Here's the question again.... and THINK! If you were aboard a ship equipped with cannons, and someone pointed out a grunion to you, what would it be, and where would the ship likely be located? Here's a hint, there are TWO acceptable answers to the latter part of the question....

the grunion is a fish, found only in two places--off the coast of California and also off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.  So, you would be looking at a fish, and since the grunion come ashore on the sand to mate, you would also have to be close-in to the shore.  Grunion are small, sardine-size or so, and so you would have a mighty hard time seeing one at sea.  So, the ship would have to be alongside the pier(or otherwise quite close to land), either in California or along the Gulf of California(Mexico).  If you were ashore in California, it would have to be at night because that's when those grunion come ashore, but the Gulf Grunion spawn during the daytime, so if you were ashore along the Baja peninsula, it would be daytime.

Here's the question again.... and THINK!

If you were aboard a ship equipped with cannons, and someone pointed out a grunion to you, what would it be, and where would the ship likely be located?

Here's a hint, there are TWO acceptable answers to the latter part of the question....

Referring to the  monkey question, deriding the views of others does not make your opinion correct searat.

Your original question was What is a brass monkey and why is it necessarily made of Brass.

The question is a poor one because as can be seen there is not a definitive answer, and you have not provided any substantive information to confirm the use of the term Brass monkey in this context, or given evidence of the use of brass in the forming of the shot holders.

I do hope your following question is less ambiguous.