Part 2 — Answer key

Compare your answers after you have finished Part 1.

1. In basic naval history, which term refers specifically to a country's organized military forces at sea?
   Navy
2. Which wider conflict is the Battle of Trafalgar most closely associated with in naval history?
   Napoleonic Wars
3. A museum guide tells visitors they are standing on the American battleship where Japan's formal surrender ceremony took place at the end of World War II. Which ship are they most likely touring?
   USS Missouri
4. In the 19th century, which innovation replaced side paddle wheels and made steam-powered warships faster and more efficient?
   Screw propeller
5. A student studying U.S. naval history wants to identify the surprise attack that brought the United States into World War II in the Pacific. Which event should they choose?
   Attack on Pearl Harbor
6. Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Tsushima.
   False
7. An analyst describes a British World War I strategy that used warships to prevent merchant shipping from reaching enemy ports, aiming to starve Germany of supplies. What strategy is being described?
   Naval blockade
8. The U.S. Naval Academy was originally founded on the West Coast of the United States and later moved to Annapolis.
   False
9. In a war game set in 1942, Japanese planners hope to draw out and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers near a remote Pacific atoll, but U.S. codebreaking lets American carriers ambush them instead. Which historical battle is this scenario modeling?
   Battle of Midway
10. In naval history, "command of the sea" refers to a navy's ability to control maritime communications and deny their use to the enemy over a period of time.
    True
11. A Cold War researcher wants to identify the type of vessel that made it possible for nuclear missiles to be launched from hidden positions at sea, ensuring a second-strike capability. Which platform are they focused on?
    Ballistic missile submarine
12. A biographer is profiling the U.S. admiral who took command of the Pacific Fleet after Pearl Harbor and later accepted Japan's formal surrender aboard a battleship. Who is this commander?
    Chester W. Nimitz
13. A naval war college case study reviews an 1805 battle where a smaller British fleet used superior gunnery and tactics to defeat a combined French and Spanish fleet off the Iberian coast, securing long-term sea control. Which battle fits this description?
    Battle of Trafalgar
14. A curator is designing an exhibit on technologies that transformed warships in the late 19th century. Which developments should be highlighted as key features of typical pre-dreadnought battleships? Select all that apply.
    Steam propulsion with coal-fired boilers; Steel hull construction; Mixed-caliber main batteries
15. A 1916 German staff study advocates using submarines mainly to sink merchant ships and undermine Britain's economy instead of seeking a decisive surface fleet battle. Which strategic concept best matches this approach?
    Commerce warfare
16. A researcher comparing long traditions of sea service wants to identify the navy that traces its institutional origins back to reforms under King Henry VIII and still exists today. Which navy are they studying?
    Royal Navy
17. A World War II historian wants to arrange these key Pacific naval actions in the order they occurred. Place the events in correct chronological sequence from earliest to latest.
    Correct order: Attack on Pearl Harbor → Battle of the Coral Sea → Battle of Midway → Battle of Leyte Gulf
18. A strategist studies a commander who repeatedly defeated larger Japanese fleets using innovative formations and "turtle ships" during invasions of Korea in the late 16th century. Which naval leader fits this profile?
    Yi Sun-sin
19. In naval theory, Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that maritime power was unimportant to a nation's prosperity and security.
    False
20. A 1950s naval architect is tasked with adapting World War II-era aircraft carriers so they can safely operate high-performance jet aircraft. Which design feature most directly addresses this challenge?
    Angled flight deck
21. A World War I seminar examines the largest clash of battleship fleets in history, an engagement in the North Sea that ended indecisively but confirmed British control of key sea routes. Which battle are they studying?
    Battle of Jutland
22. During the Guadalcanal campaign, control of the surrounding seas shifted repeatedly between Allied and Japanese forces, leading many historians to describe it as a drawn-out naval war of attrition in the Pacific.
    True
23. A smaller coastal state facing a much stronger blue-water navy decides not to contest open-ocean control. Instead it invests in submarines, mines, and missile-armed fast attack craft to make nearby waters too dangerous for the enemy to use freely. Which strategic approach best describes this plan?
    Sea denial
24. In naval history, a dreadnought was a type of battleship that set a new standard in gunnery and armor in the early 20th century.
    True