Q 01/05

The US Navy dates its birthday to the Continental Congress authorizing two armed vessels on which date?

A) October 13, 1775

B) July 4, 1776

C) June 14, 1775

D) March 27, 1794

Answer · why

A) October 13, 1775

The Navy only settled on that birthday in 1971; the Continental Navy itself was disbanded in 1785 after the war ended.

Q 02/05

Which captain fought HMS Serapis from the Bonhomme Richard in 1779 and is called 'Father of the American Navy'?

A) John Barry

B) John Paul Jones

C) Esek Hopkins

D) Stephen Decatur

Answer · why

B) John Paul Jones

Born plain John Paul in Scotland, he went to sea at 13 and later served as a rear admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy.

Q 03/05

USS Constitution became 'Old Ironsides' by capturing which British frigate in 1812?

A) HMS Java

B) HMS Shannon

C) HMS Guerriere

D) HMS Leopard

Answer · why

C) HMS Guerriere

She went on to take Java, Pictou, Cyane and Levant too, and public affection for the nickname repeatedly saved her from the scrapyard.

Q 04/05

USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat, is berthed in which city?

A) Philadelphia

B) Baltimore

C) Norfolk

D) Boston

Answer · why

D) Boston

She was launched there in 1797 and sailed under her own power in 2012 to mark the bicentennial of her War of 1812 victories.

Q 05/05

Who led the 1804 night raid that burned a captured American frigate in Tripoli harbor?

A) Edward Preble

B) Richard Dale

C) William Bainbridge

D) Stephen Decatur

Answer · why

D) Stephen Decatur

He sailed in on the captured ketch Intrepid, disguised as a local trader, and became a national hero at 25.