# Congratulations gift for a Navy ship captain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064 "2011-03-01T15:14:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/21 "2011-03-02T02:23:54Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’s a reference to the movie, _The Caine Muntiny_ … in which Humphrey Bogart plays Captain Queeg, in command of a WW2 minesweeper, who goes a bit “round the bend”, one symbol of which is his habit of rolling a couple of ball bearings in his hand. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/22 "2011-03-02T05:56:30Z")
A bottle of the best rum you can get: rum, sodomy and the lash and all that! [http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-8659.aspx](http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-8659.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/23 "2011-03-02T06:36:28Z")
Of course a critical thing is the question of budget. For really important things - like getting such a position, I tend to have a few rules that are irrespective of budget. Whatever it is should be durable not consumable, it should be the best of its kind, it should not be breakable. Clearly a nautical theme is good. Something that could be displayed in his cabin, or used in everyday life really good. There is much to be said for high end pens. POTUS gets a Parker pen. Parker make a big deal about that. This took my fancy on the shipslocker site linked to above: [Ranger](http://shipslocker.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=75_8&products_id=385&zenid=42699097f5ce75666561f11dce8000ea) Of the half hulls they have, this is the only US defender. The others are British challengers. Ranger of course saw off the challenges. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/24 "2011-03-02T06:46:20Z")
If you have a used bookstore in the area checkout some of the older books. I found my great grandfather, who was born in the 20s and a farmer all his life, a copy ofa USDA report from his birth year. It was this big thick book and hecka interesting. He really liked it. Maybe you could find him some nautical writings from a bygone era. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/25 "2011-03-02T08:13:35Z")
A signed photo of Captain Joseph Hazelwood. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/26 "2011-03-02T11:05:17Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > On the lighter side, a pair of ball bearings - to remind him how NOT to command? The first thing I thought of was a movie where the depised skipper of the navy ship is torrmented by a crew member who puts ball bearings in the over head light fixture in his cabin. This must have been a riff on the Caine Mutiny but I Google isn’t helping. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/27 "2011-03-02T11:22:14Z")
How about an antique copy of [Bowditch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowditch's_American_Practical_Navigator)? There are some nice sextants on Ebay at present. (Ignoring the obvious copies ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/28 "2011-03-02T13:36:09Z")
> [@longPath](#): > > The first thing I thought of was a movie where the depised skipper of the navy ship is torrmented by a crew member who puts ball bearings in the over head light fixture in his cabin. > This must have been a riff on the Caine Mutiny but I Google isn’t helping. > > Anyone? That’s _Mister Roberts_, with Jack Lemmon torturing James Cagney. ETA: and they were marbles. I can just hear Lemmon’s delight when he says _marbles!_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/29 "2011-03-02T15:05:01Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > If you go that route, don’t forget the parrot. And be sure the parrot is only “sleeping”🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064/30 "2011-03-02T16:24:34Z")
If his ship has a namesake you cannot go wrong with that. An example, one Captain of the USS Ranger had a model of John Paul Jones’ [USS Ranger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ranger_%281777%29). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-gift-for-a-navy-ship-captain/573064.md?page=1)