CSN Brooke, John Mercer - Commander

John Mercer Brooke
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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
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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

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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.
 
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