CSN Brooke, John Mercer - Commander

John Mercer Brooke
​

Born: December 18, 1826

Birthplace: Tampa, Florida

Father: General George Mercer Brooke 1785 – 1851

Mother: Lucy Thomas

1st​ Wife: Mary Elizabeth Selden Garnett 1826 -

2nd​ Wife: Catherine Carter "Kate" Corbin Pendleton 1839 – 1919

(Buried: Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia)​

Children:

Anna Maria Brooke 1856 – 1885​

​

George Mercer Brooks II 1875 – 1945​

​

Rosa Johnston Brooke 1876 -​

​

Richard Corbin Brooke 1878 – 1879​

Education:

Graduated from United States Naval Academy in 1847​

Occupation before War:

Served in the United States Navy rising to the rank of Lieutenant in 1855​

​

Helped chart the Stars​

​

Helped take sounds of the Ocean's Bottom Floor​

​

Perfected a deep sea Sounding Device​

​

Charted the Underwater Mountain Ridge​

​

Served in Exploratory missions in the Pacific Ocean​

​

Helped with Instruction for the Japanese Navy​

​

1861: In April, Mercer resigned his commission from United States Navy​

Civil War Career:

1861 - In June, Mercer began to study and experiment with artillery projectiles and rifled guns, including armor-piercing bolts for the Confederate Navy.​

​

Helped Convert the USS Merrimac, into the CSS Virginia ironclad​

​

Helped with development of a new rifled gun for Confederate Navy​

​

Commander in the Confederate States Navy

​

Chief of the Confederate Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, & Hydrography​

​

Helped organize and Establish the Confederate States Naval Academy​

Occupation after War:

1865 – 1899: Professor at Virginia Military Institute​

Died: December 14, 1906

Place of Death: Lexington, Virginia

Age at time of Death: 79 years old

Burial Place: Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia

 

[Pollaco]

Among other things he did in the old navy was helped plot a route to China.

 

[Pollaco]

After being named a lieutenant in the CS navy he briefly became an acting aide on the staff of Robert E. Lee. It was his design of a submerged bow that was used on the Virginia. His suggestions about converting the scuttled Merrimac into the ironclad Virginia were made to fellow Floridian Stephen Mallory.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Obit:

 

[Pollaco]

His birthplace is listed as Tampa, Florida but he was actually born in Fort Brooke near Tampa.This fort was named after his father Col. George Mercer Brooke.