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Ships that Never Really Were Trivia Quiz

"They that go down to the sea in ships" have figured in literature since before the Psalms of David were written. Test your knowledge of fictional ships with this quiz.

A multiple-choice quiz by FatherSteve. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
FatherSteve

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
271,151

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
1834

Awards
Top 10% Quiz

Question 1 of 15

1. In Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby Dick," what is the name of the whaling ship on which the characters sail? Hint

The Pequod

The Nantucket

The Ishmael

The Algonquian

NEXT>

Question 2 of 15

2. In the CBS television series (1964-67) "Gilligan's Island," what was the name of the charter boat which stranded the cast on a desert island? Hint

The Ginger

The Love Boat

The Mary Ann

The SS Minnow

3. There is a ghost ship, doomed to sail the seas until Judgment Day. Richard Wagner wrote an opera about her. Washington Irving wrote a story about her. She also appears in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series. Hint

The Mary Celeste

The Flying Dutchman

The Albatross

The Antonia Graza

NEXT>

Question 4 of 15

4. In a children's story by Hardie Gramatky, which tug boat wanted only to play in the river but then saved an ocean liner from a storm which had stranded it on the rocks? Hint

The Little Tug Boat that Could

Tootle

Scuffy the Tugboat

Little Toot

NEXT>

Question 5 of 15

5. In the Bram Stoker novel "Dracula" (1897), a ship carrying the vampire runs aground in England. The crew is missing and the dead captain is lashed to the wheel. What is the name of this ill-fated ship? Hint

The Wollstonecraft

The Mina

The Demeter

The Orlock

NEXT>

Question 6 of 15

6. In which of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels does the ship "Disco Volante" figure prominently? Hint

"Icebreaker"

"Live and Let Die"

"Thunderball"

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service"

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Question 7 of 15

7. There is a ship named The Poseidon which features in the 1969 novel "The Poseidon Adventure" by Paul Gallico and the several movies based (more of less) on that book. After who or what was the ship named? Hint

A species of dolphin

The ancient Greek god of the sea

A three-pronged fish spear

Poseidonius of Rhodes

NEXT>

Question 8 of 15

8. In C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia," Caspian X builds a fantastic dragon-headed ship on which to sail beyond the Lone Islands. What is her name? Hint

The Lucy Pevensie

The Lord Drinian

The Dawn Treader

The Reepicheep

NEXT>

Question 9 of 15

9. According to Gilbert and Sullivan, who was the commander of H.M.S. Pinafore at the beginning of the operetta (1878)? Hint

Captain Corcoran

Ralph Rackstraw

Dick Deadeye

Sir Joseph Porter

NEXT>

Question 10 of 15

10. In Rudyard Kipling's 1897 novel "Captains Courageous," what was the name of the ship on which the rescued Harvey Cheyne Jr. works until reunited with his parents? Hint

Disko Troop

We're Here

Carrie Pitman

The Blue M

NEXT>

Question 11 of 15

11. In the televised cartoon series which aired on US television from 1962 to 1967, what was the name of the ship on which Beany and Captain Horatio Huffenpuff sailed, accompanied by a Sea-Sick Sea Serpent? Hint

The Leakin' Lena

The Bilious Beetle

The Cecil

The Maggie

NEXT>

Question 12 of 15

12. In Norse mythology, at Ragnarok (the end of the world), a ship made of dead men's fingernails will appear, carrying giants to battle the gods. What is the name of that ship? Hint

Skidbladnir

Naglfar

Ringhorn

Lisdkjalf

NEXT>

Question 13 of 15

13. Based on Neil Munro's short stories about a Clyde puffer (a small steam-powered cargo ship) and her captain, Para Handy, a 1954 British comedy was based on the conflict between an American businessman and a clever Scottish puffer captain named Mactaggart. What was the name of both the ship and the film? Hint

The Geordie

The Vital Spark

The Maggie

The Calvin B. Marshall

NEXT>

Question 14 of 15

14. In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts sailed aboard a ship named The Argo. How did that ship get its name? Hint

From Argon, the Greek god of work.

From Argus, the shipwright who built it.

From Argos, an ancient Greek city.

From Argostoli, where its timbers were grown.

NEXT>

Question 15 of 15

15. Inspired by the Great Blizzards of 1839, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about the loss of a ship and the death of the captain's daughter. What was this famous poem titled? Hint

The Wreck of the Favorite

The Wreck of the Hesperus

The Wreck of Norman's Woe

The Wreck of the Paul Revere

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby Dick," what is the name of the whaling ship on which the characters sail?

Answer: The Pequod

Ishmael is a seaman on the crew who is also the narrator of the novel, Nantucket was the harbour out of which the Pequod sailed. Algonquian is the language from which the name "Pequod", a tribe of Native Americans, is derived.

2. In the CBS television series (1964-67) "Gilligan's Island," what was the name of the charter boat which stranded the cast on a desert island?

Answer: The SS Minnow

Tina Louise played the sexy movie star Ginger Grant. Mary Ann Summers was the "other" single female on the cast, played by Dawn Wells, a former Miss Nevada. "The Love Boat" was a popular television series which aired from 1977 until 1986.

Answer: The Flying Dutchman

The Mary Celeste is an actual ghost ship, found adrift off the coast of Spain in 1872 with neither crew nor passengers on board. An albatross figures in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798). In the 2002 horror film "Ghost Ship," the name of the deserted vessel is the Antonia Graza.

4. In a children's story by Hardie Gramatky, which tug boat wanted only to play in the river but then saved an ocean liner from a storm which had stranded it on the rocks?

Answer: Little Toot

"The Little Engine that Could" was a children's book about a pony engine that climbed a high mountain. Scuffy the Tugboat was a Little Golden Book by Gertrude Campton first published in 1946. Tootle was a small railroad engine featured in a children's book also by Gertrude Campton.

Answer: The Demeter

In the novel, Jonathan Harker, an English solicitor, is engaged to Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray. In the 1922 German film "Nosferatu," the vampire's name is Count Orlock. Wollstonecraft is the matronymic of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley (1797-1851), the author of "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus" and the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

6. In which of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels does the ship "Disco Volante" figure prominently?

Answer: "Thunderball"

The "Disco Volante" is a hydrofoil owned by the one the evil agents of SPECTRE. "Live and Let Die" was written by Fleming and published in 1954. It is set in Harlem, Florida and Jamaica. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service was written by Fleming and published in 1963. It is set mainly in the Swiss Alps. "Icebreaker" is a 1983 Bond novel written by John Gardner.

Answer: The ancient Greek god of the sea

Dolphins (and horses) are associated with Poseidon in Greek mythology. The spear, often depicted in Poseidon's hand, is called a trident. Poseidonius was a 1st Century Greek Stoic philosopher and polymath after whom Posidonius crater on the Moon is named (n.b. both spellings are acceptable).

8. In C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia," Caspian X builds a fantastic dragon-headed ship on which to sail beyond the Lone Islands. What is her name?

Answer: The Dawn Treader

Lord Drinian is the captain of this ship. Reepicheep is a talking mouse, armed with a rapier, who sails aboard the Dawn Treader. Lucy Pevensie is the youngest of the Pevensie children and the one to find the entrance to Narnia in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

9. According to Gilbert and Sullivan, who was the commander of H.M.S. Pinafore at the beginning of the operetta (1878)?

Answer: Captain Corcoran

Captain Corcoran apparently had no given name. Dick Deadeye was an able seaman of the crew. Ralph Rackstraw is another able seaman. Sir Joseph Porter was First Lord of the Admiralty.

10. In Rudyard Kipling's 1897 novel "Captains Courageous," what was the name of the ship on which the rescued Harvey Cheyne Jr. works until reunited with his parents?

Answer: We're Here

Disko Troop was the name of the captain of the We're Here who gave young master Cheyne a job on his ship. The Carrie Pitman was another of the vessels in which they fished together on the Grand Banks. The fleet of tea freighters owned by Harvey Cheyne Sr was called the Blue M Line.

Answer: The Leakin' Lena

Cecil was the name of the sea serpent, whose tail was never seen on the show. The Bilious Beetle was the alter-ego of Dishonest John, the show's antagonist. The Maggie was the old small ship in the British comedy film of the same name released in 1954.

12. In Norse mythology, at Ragnarok (the end of the world), a ship made of dead men's fingernails will appear, carrying giants to battle the gods. What is the name of that ship?

Answer: Naglfar

The Norse trimmed the nails of their dead in order to delay Ragnarok. Skidbladnir was the magical ship, crafted by the sons of the gnome Ivaldi, owned by Freyr (or Frey), which was capable of being folded and stuffed into a pouch. Ringhorn was the ship of Balder, whose body was burned on it when he was killed. Lisdkjalf was the throne on which Odin sat, from which he could see everything in the world.

Answer: The Maggie

The Vital Spark was the name of the puffer in the original Munro stories. Calvin B. Marshall was the American businessman whose furniture was transported (and lost) by The Maggie. At the end of the film, Mactaggart renames the Maggie after him. "Geordie" is the title of a 1955 British film about a young Scottish lad who represents Great Britain in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

The film was released in the United States as "High and Dry."

14. In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts sailed aboard a ship named The Argo. How did that ship get its name?

Answer: From Argus, the shipwright who built it.

Argon is the name of an element coined by its discoverers, Baron Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay. There is a small modern Greek town built over the remains of the ancient Argos. Argostoli is a city in modern Kefalonia.

15. Inspired by the Great Blizzards of 1839, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about the loss of a ship and the death of the captain's daughter. What was this famous poem titled?

Answer: The Wreck of the Hesperus

The Favorite was an actual brig, lost in these storms, on which loss this poem was partially based. Norman's Woe is the reef outside Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts. Longfellow also wrote the poem "The Ride of Paul Revere."

Source: Author FatherSteve

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LeoDaVinci before going online.
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