Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
A St. Bernard named Bamse was a mascot of the Royal Norwegian Navy during WWII and was known for breaking up fights amongst his crewmates. He once saved a young lieutenant commander who was being attacked by a man wielding a knife by pushing the assailant into the sea.
The Navy’s stealth destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, can’t fire its guns because the ammo is too expensive.
A Chinese business man bought a non-functional aircraft carrier from Ukraine, allegedly to use it as a floating hotel/casino. It took more than 4 years to tow it to China. Later the Chinese government bought and modernized the carrier, making it its only aircraft carrier its navy owns today.
The term “groggy” comes from either the British or American Navy. These sailors drank Grog, which was a mix of rum, water, and citrus juice, which was used to fight scurvy. Someone who is dazed or sleepy might feel as if they have had too much grog, making them “groggy.”
The US Navy sends medics to the high-volume emergency rooms of LA and Chicago to prep them to be deployed. “It’s a shame that Los Angeles has so much violence,” surgeon John Newman told the Los Angeles Times in 2003, “but from a training standpoint — fantastic.”
A sailor who wishes to grow a beard in the Royal Navy has to submit a ‘permission to stop shaving’ form. He is then allowed two weeks to ‘grow a full set’ before he presents himself to the Master at Arms who will decide if his beard looks stupid or is respectably full enough to be permitted.
A 19 year old Navy recruit, who had a childhood fear of being underwater, was forced back into a pool after failing a training exercise, his instructors drowned him while other recruits were commanded to line up, turn their backs and sing the national anthem.
The Mongolian Navy consists of a single tugboat manned by seven men, only one of whom knows how to swim.
Royal Navy ships entering the Port of London are still required by law to give a barrel of rum to the Constable of the Tower.