Ship Trivia Quiz

I'll stay with the 'firsts' theme;

This warship was the first of her type specifically designed, naval ships were never to look the same again, a new age had dawned.

Who is she and what made her special?

You got it! But I did think it would run for longer than a quarter of an hour!

Over to you,  George.

Hello Rick,

Would that be HMS Inflexible of 1881.

Thanks Bryan - and don't worry about the search function. I may well be confusing forums! Old age does that to you!

Now for another question....

Unbelievably, this ship was lit by electricity at 800V dc, so it is not suprising that among its many "firsts" was the first death by electrocution in the Royal Navy! Which ship?

Rick

You've got it Rick; the Le Napoléon was the first purpose-build steam battleship ever. She was the first screw propelled battleship as well (paddle wheels obviously wouldn't be functional on this kind of ship). Alan was very close with HMS Agamemnon; she was however build by Britain as a response to the French effort.

Rick, you're up!

PS There might be something wrong with the search function of this site. Before posting this question I used it with Napoleon and Napoléon and it didn't came up, at least not in Ship Trivia Quiz. After Rick had guessed it, I tried again; still nothing....strange!

I seem to remember this coming up before. Isn't it the French battleship Le Napoléon, built by Dupuy de Lôme in 1850.

Rick

I know there are many definitions for the word battleship. With your permission I would like to stick to the definition by 'The Oxford English Dictionary':

The word battleship was coined around 1794 and is a shortened form of line-of-battle ship, the dominant wooden warship during the Age of Sail.

In that case Demologos doesn't comply with the above description.

Neither does HMS Sans Pareil since she was, as you said, converted after keel laying while the question states purpose-build.

Unfortunately HMS Agamemnon is not correct either.

Depends on your definition of "battleship".

If it means "warship" I'm gonna guess that is was the US Navy's first steam warship, the Demologos, launched in 1815.  She was armed with 26 X 32 pders.

If it means "ship of the line", I think that the Royal Navy's first conversion of a sailing two decker to steam, before her launch as a sailing vessel, may have been the Sans Pareil, launched in March, 1851. The first SOL designed as a steam two decker to be launched was Agamemnon, launched in May, 1852.

@ Mike, sorry, not correct.

@ George, well, it certainly wasn't easy .

Well you wouldn't want me to make it too easy, Bryan.

 When I was in Portsmouth last December I picked up a book by Nicholas Tracy - Who's who in Nelson's Navy, published by Chatham. d' Auvergne is one of the 200 Naval heroes covered in the book.

I do have an inkling about your new question, but perhaps I had better take a back seat!

Would the vessel in question be France's Le Gloire, launched on Nov. 24, 1859. she had two sisterships Invincible and Normandie. HMS Warrior was built in response to this ship's production.

Mike T.

Wow, that was a tough question! I couldn't have solved it without the additional clues and even then. Where the did you learn about this man . Interesting story though. BTW Bouillon isn't Dutch anymore; it became part of Belgium in 1839.

Next QUESTION:

What was the very first purpose-built steam battleship in the world?

That is he Bryan,

Philip Dauvergne, a Channel Island man who became heir to the ducal lands of Bouillon, a sovereign territory  18 miles long by 15 miles broad.

Nevertheless his inheritance proved a poisoned chalice, which consumed his later life and it all came to naught.

After the Congress of Vienna Boullion lost its independence and was annexed to the Netherlands.

Philp d'Avergne died a lonely and broken man in 1816, suicide was suspected.

However, he seems to have led a naval career in the Hornblower style, and his exploits would be worthy of an adventure film.

Over to you.

Hi George,

I'm fine, how are you? I'm still working on HMS Prince, slowly!

I think I have the answer to your question. Is it Philip Dauvergne?

Hello Bryan, how are you, did you ever progress that navy board style conversion you were doing?

Additional clues.

He was born in 1754

His name sounds French

He took a stroll to Concord with the British Army on the day of the fight at Lexington, and also served at Bunker Hill.

He had to burn his first command on the Seaconnet river and walk back to New York.

He lost his second command following a fire fight with A French Frigate, and was taken prisoner.

He was court-martialled for wrecking his third command off the coast of Brazil.

Your home country eventually received the benefit of his inheritance.

Finally here's a picture of him.

Can we have some hints please?

Following John's theme;

 I too was court martialled  in 1781 for losing my ship, something I seem to make a habit of.

I sound an unlikely member of the Royal Navy, being not quite English, but my loyalty is not in question, and I rose to the rank of Vice Admiral.

Having evaded capture by both Americans and French in the Americas, I was taken following a sea fight off Ushant, but was offered position in the French service which I declined.

An erstwhile enemy later pursued me with offers of a fortune, which was given, then taken away. I tried to recover my inheritance during the peace of Amiens but was unceremoniously thrown out of France.

In 1815 I again pursued my claim without success, and spent all my savings on litigation.

After a long and active career I died in sad circumstances in a London Hotel.

Who am I?

GeorgeW got it.

Captain Thomas Graves, commanding the frigate Sheerness, declined to do battle with what he thought was a French warship of superior strength (but turned out to be an East Indiaman).  The court-martial only gave him a relatively gentle rap on the knuckles, and his career continued with some success - until, as George noted, he had the misfortune to be, largely by chance, the senior British officer at the Battle of the Chesapeake (aka Battle of the Virginia Capes) in September, 1781.  The failure of the British to defeat the French on that occasion was a serious setback for Graves (and several other people), but his promotions came on schedule during the long peace after 1783.  He had attained the rank of Admiral of the Blue when he served as Lord Howe's second in command at the Glorious First of June, in 1794.  His reward was a baroney, but he had received a severe wound in his right arm that ended his career.

I thought that one would take a little longer.  Next question's yours, George.

On second thoughts Billy Blue would have been too young to be court martialled in 1757.

I now believe it to be Admiral Thomas Graves who was court martialled in 1757 for refusing to take on a French ship of superior power.

His indecisive action at Chesapeake Bay in 1781, resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and ultimately led to the end of British rule in America.

There is a tenuous link to my first thought, Billy Blue - Admiral  William Cornwallis was the brother of General Cornwallis of Yorktown.

Graves took part in the Glorious First of June in 1794 under Howe, and was promoted Admiral, but received wounds which effectively ended his sea career.

whoops... I guess it pays to read the entire post.  Actually George was an American Admiral of sorts. Had his own navy of schooners.

Jumped to a conclusion! One of Washington's biographies of his early life is titled "An Error in Judgement", and covers the affairs in western Pennsylvania.

George Washington was an Admiral of the Blue in the British Navy, blimey I never knew that, you learn something new every day

I was thinking it may be Billy Blue, one of two brothers who both had an involvement with American affairs.

I believe that the gentleman in question may be George Washington, and his "error in judgement" was signing a confession that he assassinated a French diplomat!

Well, this one's going to be real trivia.  It's inspired by the recent appearance in this thread of the unfortunate Admiral John Byng.

Byng was court-martialed and executed in 1757 for "failing to do his utmost" to defeat the French in the Battle of Minorca.  His fate was, and remains, controversial.  (The French poet and satirist Voltaire commented famously that "in England it is thought wise to shoot an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others.") 

On the same day as Byng's conviction, another court-martial found another British officer builty of an "error of judgment" for an incident involving combat with the French.  In this case the punishment consisted only of a written reprimand.  It turned out to be a minor setback to that officer's career; he eventually rose to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.  On the way, he played a prominent role in American history. 

The question is:  who was that officer?   

You are correct professor Tilley! We had the same source.

Up until the invention of the bobstay only the bowsprit gammoning provided any resistance against the pull of the stays of the foremast. But it (or they when two were fitted) was located too close to the bow to have much leverage.

Anyone who has ever build a model of a ship dating before 1690 sooner or later desperately wants to add a bobstay because the bowsprit gets pulled upwards by the tension of all the lines attached to it. I guess this happened in real life too although much less since the bowsprit was of course quite a heavy spar. But still....

You're next professor!

Thanks Rick! Interesting man, this Percy Scott!

New QUESTION:

This piece of standing rigging appeared around 1690. It was eagerly adopted by the leading naval powers of that time like the English and the Dutch. That such a simple, but rather essential, piece of rigging hadn't been invented fifty or maybe even seventy-five years earlier is kind of a mystery.

What is it and what nation is presumed to be its inventor?

You are correct - Admiral Sir Percy Scott (1853-1924), probably the most important figure in modern naval gunnery and, as I said, a personal hero. Read all about him here

The floor is yours, Bryan.

Rick

Was it Percy Moreton Scott? He was in command of HMS Excellent between 1903 and 1905. He was also known for his clashes with authority; especially Lord Beresford.

Hi Don - no probs. I'd forgotten that the old gunboat Hardy had been, at one time, one of the many HMS Excellents. It doesn't give too many clues, since we're not asking a question about the ship - which, in fact, is totally irrelevant, as the answer will reveal.

Rick