The first steam-powered icebreaker was the City Ice Boat No. 1, built by the city of Philadelphia in 1837. She was a wooden paddle steamer intended to break ice in the harbor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_breaker#History
You’re in the right century, but I was thinking of a true heavy duty arctic breaker. Quoting from the same article you cited, “At the beginning of the 20th century, several countries began to operate purpose-built icebreakers. Most were coastal icebreakers, but Russia, and later, the Soviet Union, also built several oceangoing icebreakers of around 10,000 ton displacement.”
I am looking for the first “purpose-built” breaker.
Quoting one source, she was “often referred to as the world’s first true icebreaker, with a strengthened hull shaped to ride over and crush pack ice”.
Quoting a second source, “She was 10,000 tons and 10,000 horsepower, with four screws: three aft and another forward. With 1 1/2 inch plating at the waterline, she became the prototype of icebreakers to come”.
We clearly have a situation here where we are just trying to hunt your reference source to find somebody’s definition. Finding the ship that you have listed as “often referred to” as anything can be a bit of a fool’s errand, but I’ve been called that, among other things…
Let’s give a stab at the Russian Yermak of 1898.
Didn’t think it wpuld be that hard. If you Google “first true icebraeker” the second reference has the ship’s name.
You are correct - Yermak.
It’s all yours.
Yermak, the next question is yours.
Surface Line correctly answered my question - the first true arctic-class ice breaker was the Russian Yermak. The next question is his.
Yeah - I know. I just haven’t been able to come up with a reasonable question that wouldn’t come up on a google search. I don’t believe the trivia question should be a measure of google technology and I certainly do not intend to use wikipedia for a reference source. [end of fuddy duddy rant]
You want trivia? Which major warship built in the last 60 years had a different propulsion plant from her sisters?
(“major warship” disqualifies the frigate Glover, different though she may be)
As ever, you may come up with a reasonable answer that I had not thought of.
I’ll start researching the new question, but, for the record…
My question was “Googleable” but I never used Wikipedia. I had done significant research on my own a few years ago while compiling a history of icebreakers to go along with my model of USCGC Eastwind. I almost invariably have a historical reference sheet displayed with any model I build. I gathered data from many sources (none of them Wikipedia) but the two sources I quoted were the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the US Coast Guard Historian’s website.
yup - agreed. I noticed that Wikipedia had not picked up on that particular quote. Just because I don’t approve of google and wiki doesn’t mean I don’t look at them for curiosity. I look at large scale airplane models, too, even though I don’t build them. 
OK, the USS Glenard P. Lipscomb SSN-685 was, with exception of her power plant, a Sturgeon class attack submarine (which is, as far as I can determine, a warship) and differed from her sister ships in having a turbo-electric drive. I am sure that this isn’t the ship you are looking for, Surface Line, but I wanted to throw her out there. The internet isn’t the only place to find information and that I know this bit of trivia because I worked on her. But it could be found on the internet if you looked in the right place. Are you saying that we should only ask questions that are only found in obscure publications? If so, we are going to limit the potential numbers of participants to this thread to those who have access to the pubs. Then the thread will probably die. Look how long it took you to find a suitable question, Maybe we could start a parallel “Ship Trivia Quiz Lite” to alow conventional web surfers to participate.
The Lipscombfish is a pretty good answer. I had always thought of her as a one-ship class, but today I found references to her as “generally similar to the Sturgeon class”, so I guess that gives her a multi-ship class, and lets her qualify as “different from her sisters”, and I’ve never yet met a submariner who wouldn’t insist that an SSN was a “major warship”, so it seems the question is answered.
I had the USS Forrestal in mind. Forrestal was the only one of her four-ship class to not have a 1200 psi steam plant. Forrestal had a plant of significantly older technology that ran at 600psi.
You’re up, subfixer.
Wow! That’s news to me about the Forrestal, I never would have found that by googling for sure. Good question, Surface Line.
I really didn’t want to derail your question as I pretty much figured that you weren’t thinking below the surface, but I guess fair is fair. It’s going to be hard to come up with a question of the same caliber (calibre, for you non-US English speakers) So I’ll take the easy way out and ask an easy one to get the thread rolling again.
What happened to the fifth Japanese minisub at Pearl Harbor?
Still no hard and fast answer, but recent evidence says she fired her torpedos at West Virginia and Oklahoma then proceeded to West Loch and was scuttled. An explosion in West Loch in 1944 sank a number of gators. The Navy scooped up the wreckage and dumped it outside the harbor. The mini went with it. University of Hawai’i (among others) located the wreckage and believe they have identified it as the missing sub. Some skeptics remain unconvinced saying it could be some other sub (presumably from some other attack on Pearl Harbor??). Is that the answer you had in mind?
That’s the answer oceano, the next one’s yours.
There was a fine documentary concernig this discovery on Nova, a PBS show. If your are interested, here is a link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/killersubs/about.html
I read the link - very interesting! Thanks for posting it.
Next question:
This Revenue Cutter (should give you a hint on the time frame) was honored for towing a crippled Navy vessel out of harm’s way during a battle. The President convinced Congress to authorize special medals specifically for the Cutter’s CO and her crew. The CO was awarded a Special Congressional Gold Medal, the XO a Special Silver Medal and each member of the crew a Special Bronze Medal. What was the name of this Revenue Cutter and who was her CO?
As an aside, an officer on the Navy ship had the dubious honor of becoming the only Navy officer killed in the war of which this battle was a part. Four ships were named for him, most recently a FFG. Bonus points (not needed to get the question right): Who was the Navy officer?
Revenue Cutter Hudson
Bingo
Her CO was First Lieutenant Frank Newcomb. She towed the torpedo boat Winslow from under Spanish guns in Cardenas Bay in the Spanish American war.
The Navy officer was Ensign Worth Bagley.
You’re up.
Kindly name the U. S. Navy warship which provided cannon fire to defend installations against attacking Indians.(Native Americans)
Any time period is fine although I have only found one instance of this occuring.
Is this the sloop Decatur at the Battle of Seattle on 26 January 1856?
Rick
Seattle, WA
Yes, that is it.