Maritime Trivia

1. According to "Shipping and Freight Resource", what is the most common way for shipping containers to get lost?

From Quiz Shipping Fee Not Included in This Container

Answer: falling off the ship

"Container loss" as it is called, has been a phenomenon since the 1950s, and although all of those causes contribute to container loss, falling off the ship is the most common, which they consider falling under the umbrella of going down with the ship if it sinks. Another cause of "container loss" is getting blown up in an act of war. There are 6,000 container ships on the ocean at any given moment, some of them with up to 20,000 containers. About 250 million containers are transported yearly. Given the number of equipment and human errors, hurricanes, rogue waves, shallow reefs, squalls and swells, it's no wonder that a number of these containers will go overboard. I wonder if a container ship carrying vegetables sinks, was it because of the leeks?

From Quiz Sinkings, Shipwrecks and Strange Occurrences

Answer: Henry I

In November 1120, King Henry I and his retinue, which included his son and heir William Ætheling, were returning to England following a visit to Normandy, the territory in France that formed the other major part of the king's dominions. The king was offered the use of the White Ship, one of the fastest and most modern vessels in England at the time, for the journey back to England by its captain, Thomas FitzStephen. Although the king had made other arrangements, he allowed his son William Ætheling, plus a number of his other (illegitimate) children, and other members of his household, to use the White Ship to return to England. At the request of the crew, William Ætheling supplied copious amounts of wine before the ship sailed. As the ship put to sea, the crew was encouraged to overtake the king's ship, which had already sailed. However, the White Ship set off in the dark and, just after sailing, struck a submerged rock, which was a known hazard in the area. The ship quickly capsized, although William Ætheling was able to reach the one lifeboat. However, he heard the cries of his half-sister and tried returning to save her. The boat ended up being swamped by others trying to save themselves, and led to William Ætheling being drowned. William Ætheling was one of an estimated 300 deaths on the White Ship, with the sole survivor being a man named Berold, a butcher from the city of Rouen.

From Quiz The Great Ocean Liners 1

Answer: United States

The United States captured the Blue Riband on her first attempt in July 1952. The new ship made the Eastbound crossing from the timed points off New York and Cornwall, England, in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes, at an average speed of 35.59kn. This record has never been eclipsed. Today (2021) the great ship lies forlorn in Philadelphia.

From Quiz Dive! Dive! Dive!: The Submarines Quiz

Answer: Yellow

Altogether now: "We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine We all live in a yellow submarine Yellow submarine, yellow submarine..." "Yellow Submarine" was largely the work of Paul McCartney, with lead vocals sung by Ringo Starr. "It's a fun song, a children's song..." McCartney later said. The song was on the album "Revolver" in 1966. Backed by "Eleanor Rigby", the record spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles charts. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

From Quiz MV Ross Revenge

Answer: MS Freyr

These ships were all built as 'sister' ships with very similar specifications. They were built by SeeBeckWerft (shipyard), Rudolf Schultze GmbH (electrical switchgear), Deutz AG (DC power generation), and Werkspoor NV (Werkspoor main engine). Her design included many features including a stronger bow for ice-breaking, and trawling setups for both port and starboard.

From Quiz The Cunard Line on the Atlantic

Answer: The British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company

Canadian businessman (Sir) Samuel Cunard (1787-1865) prospered in timber, banking and of course merchant shipping. In 1839, he won the lucrative British government contract to carry mail via steamship between Liverpool and Halifax. Steam engineer Robert Napier was a key original investor. Welcome, porthole-counters: Napier did very well from the Cunard connection. In the early steam era, a ship's engines were often more costly than the rest of the vessel - and Napier got the engine contracts.

From Quiz Famous Ships Through History

Answer: RMS Aquitania

RMS Aquitania held the record for the longest service career (30 years) until 2004 when the QEII became the longest serving vessel. Aquitania held the nickname "Ship Beautiful" as she was one of the most luxurious liners of her day. The decorators of the ship also designed the Ritz hotels of London and Paris.

From Quiz The Blue Riband of the Atlantic

Answer: It's against the Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream sets eastbound, adding a bit to a ship's speed. The Blue Riband (and the eastbound record) were measured by average speed, because ships followed different routes and sometimes used different ports.

From Quiz Oh, Ships!

Answer: Monkey Business

The appropriately named yacht "Monkey Business" was used by Senator Gary Hart during his campaign for the presidency of the United States. When the married Mr. Hart was spotted with model Donna Rice, photos of the two of them aboard the boat were all over the media. Consequently, Senator Hart from Colorado, who had run and lost in 1984, would no longer be a viable contender in the election of 1988.

From Quiz In Ship Shape

Answer: Three rows of oars

The name was derived from the Latin word 'triremis' meaning three rows of oars. The strength of the ancient Greek navy is attributed, at least in part, to its large fleet of triremes. These warships were lightweight and had a bronze-covered ram on the prow. The battering rams were usually carved to resemble the heads of different animals.

From Quiz All Aboard the S.S. Trivia!

Answer: Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Cruise Lines was founded in 1972. Their ships are known as "Fun Ships" and their mascot is called "Fun Ship Freddy".

From Quiz Dive! Dive! by Perry Scope

Answer: Red October

"The Hunt for Red October" was written by Tom Clancy and published in 1984. It was made into a film with the same name in 1990. The game-changing technology was a new propulsion unit undetectable by sonar and Marko Ramius was the Soviet submarine captain wanting to defect. The story is said to have been inspired by a failed mutiny on a Soviet frigate (the Storozhevoy) with the sinking and partial recovery of the Soviet submarine K-129 also contributing. The K-129's story is itself interesting: the Soviets losing touch with their vessel in 1968 and the CIA (America's Central Intelligence Agency) mounting a secret deep recovery operation six years later to acquire Soviet technology.

From Quiz Welcome Aboard the Norwegian Epic!

Answer: Nassau, Bahamas

Her maiden voyage was on June 21, 2010. The only Norwegian Cruise Line ship to be registered in the United States is "Pride of America", which is registered in Honolulu, Hawaii. The ship's size was impressive to me when I first entered. The Epic sails from Miami, Florida and visits Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, and Nassau in the Bahamas.

From Quiz Let's Rent a Boat!

Answer: It is in a museum

Believed by many scholars to be the world's oldest boat, the Pesse canoe can be found in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands. Discovered in 1955 and made from scotch pine, this dugout canoe was built sometime between 8040 BCE and 7510 BCE. It was found during the excavation of a peat bog for the construction of a major motorway. Markings inside the boat indicate that it was crafted using antler and flint tools.

From Quiz Pacific Shipwrecks

Answer: Essex

An horrific tale of a whale attack and being cast adrift thousands of miles from land, "In the Heart of the Sea; The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathanial Philbrick is an amazing read!

From Quiz Nautical Nonsense

Answer: A Whip

A cat is short for a cat-o'-nine-tails. A cat is a type of whip that has 9 whips attached (thus the name, a "cat [whip] with nine tails"). Floggings were shown to all the crew; and sometimes the ship got crowded, and the flogger did not have enough room to swing his cat at the victim. Thus, the phrase. The "captain's daughter" is also a cat, but is only issued and used by the captain.

From Quiz Name That Ship

Answer: RMS Titanic

Of the Titanic's 2,223 passengers and crew, only 706 survived (less than a third). Contrary to popular belief, the ship had never been referred to as 'unsinkable' until after it sank, but it did have too few lifeboats to save all those on board (the Titanic's lifeboats had a capacity of 1,178 whilst the ship was designed to carry about 3,600).

From Quiz Components of a Square Rigged Sailing Ship

Answer: The main (mast)

The three masts are (from the bow) the fore mast, the main mast and the mizzen mast. The mizzen mast is the third mast from the bow on a ship with three or more masts or the rear mast on a two masted ship. Strangely the word "mizzen" derives from the French "misaine" meaning "foresail" or "foremast"

From Quiz Name that Ship

Answer: Skate

The world's first nuclear submarine, the "Nautilus", was built in 1952. On its third try, it attained the North Pole, but did not surface. The "Skate", launched in 1957, was similar to the "Nautilus", but smaller. It was named after a type of ray fish.

From Quiz The Bluenose

Answer: Schooner

The Bluenose was a Canadian schooner from the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. She was a very grand racing ship as well as a very hard-working fishing ship. She was the symbol of the province of Nova Scotia. Her length was 49 meters (160 feet) and her beam measured 8 meters (26 feet).

From Quiz Wilhelm Gustloff-The Worst Maritime Disaster Ever

Answer: Germany

The Wilhelm Gustloff was a cruise ship that was built for the Kraft durch Fruede line. It was built at the Blohm & Voss Shipyards of Hamburg, Germany.

From Quiz Andrea Doria - Last of the Transatlantic Voyages

Answer: Italy

The Andrea Doria was an attempt to get Italy back to prosperity after the Second World War. It was named after the 16th century admiral Andrea Doria.

From Quiz HMHS Britannic-Gone But Not Forgotten

Answer: RMS Titanic

All of these ships sank. However, RMS Titanic is one of two sister ships of the HMHS Britannic. The RMS Olympic is the other sister ship of the HMHS Britannic.

From Quiz RMS Olympic-First Born of the Olympic Class Ships

Answer: December 16, 1908

When the plans for the three ships was in progress, Harland & Wolff had to convert three of the slipways to allow construction to start on these Olympic class vessels. Olympic's construction started on December 16, 1908.

From Quiz HMHS Britannic-Titanic's Younger Sister

Answer: Gigantic

When the three ships were advertised in the brochures, they were called Olympic, Titanic, & Gigantic. However, the White Star Line opted for the name Britannic after the Titanic's sinking because it was felt that passengers would be leary of a ship that was named for her size. It was a softer approach.

From Quiz The Yarmouth Castle Ship Fire

Answer: Philadelphia

The Yarmouth Castle and her sister ship were built by the William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Builders of Philadelphia, PA. Both ships were built simultaneously and her sister ship was launched shortly after the Castle was. However, the Castle was not the original name of the ship when it was launched. Ironically enough, her sister ship was called the Yarmouth. Both ships were 365 ft long and weighed 5002 tons. Small ships as compared to today's standards.

From Quiz Passenger Shipping Since 1945

Answer: Cruises had to be paid for in dollars -- no sterling, please.

Britain was short of foreign exchange after the war. Cunard's American clientele sustained the "Green Goddess" for a few years. (Britons resident in the U.K. were not allowed to obtain or own large amounts of hard currency, so this was a form of 'compulsory export', just as Wedgwood, the ceramics company, had to export 90%(!) of its output at the time).

From Quiz Mystery of the Mary Celeste

Answer: Amazon

She was built in Nova Scotia in 1861. By the time she was renamed Mary Celeste in 1869, she'd already been in several accidents. The Hermania was found abandoned in 1849 and that mystery remains unsolved. The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that is supposedly doomed to "sail the seven seas forever".

From Quiz The Final Voyage of the Morro Castle

Answer: Cuba and New York

The ship was built by the New York and Cuba Mail and Steamship Company. She and her sister ship, the SS Oriente, each weighed 11,520 gross tons, were 508 ft. long, and built to accomodate 489 passengers and 240 crew members and officiers. It took around 10 million dollars to build both ships.

From Quiz German Passenger Shipping

Answer: Bremen - Germany had two major commercial ports.

By the mid-19th century, the German states' role in seaborne trade had dwindled. Unification, steam and industrialization would see a reversal of fortune, for a few decades at least.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:49 AM

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