Sorry Bob, I'm looking for the first combat damage to a USN aircraft, not to a USN aircraft carrier. Hint: We were not at war with the country that shot at our aircraft, but our politicians were being jerks.
Lt. P. N. L. Bellinger returns from an observation flight over Mexican positions near Vera Cruz with bullet holes in his aircraft.
My turn. She started the ball First Rate, but was sadly Screw'd before her first dance. Picking herself up and playing the wallflower for a while, she found herself stripped to the waist and “Coles’d” over. Even with all the indignities of her life, she was still the first belle of this particular ball.
That didn't take long. HMS Royal Sovereign 1857, first laid down as a 120 gun first rate, converted to 130 gun "Screw" ship during construction. Later modified to be the Brits first turreted ship using the patented Coles turret.
There's no faking it, I'm not a BLT or toasted cheese, but some fool of a frenchman painted me into Trafalgar and though I became a hulk, it was not there. Who am I?
I am a city but not planted. I have been seen in Virginia, Saint Kitts, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and…. France. Washington is a friend. Who am I?
Yep. Ville de Paris was the flagship of the FRENCH fleet that greatly assisted the fledgling USA in defeating the British in the war of independence. Honestly, I don't get all the French bashing I see from time to time.
They're just jealous! This ship probably had the worst start to her career than any other US ship. Including tearing apart her sister, accidentally dropping a depth charge that put the accompanying ships on submarine alert, and almost sinking the ship right out from under the president! Who was this ship?
