Brooke, John Mercer (1826–1906)

US naval officer and inventor. He invented the deep-sea sounding apparatus 1851–53 and the ‘Brooke’ cast-iron rifle 1863–65. He joined the Confederate States Navy in 1861 and was largely responsible for the fitting-out of the CSS ironclad Virginia.

Born in Tampa Bay, Florida, he served in the US Navy 1841–61 and was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography 1863–65.