Anchors Aweigh! Trivia Quiz

Answer: USS Nevada

The heavily damaged USS Nevada managed to steam out and head into the harbor. However, the ship was hit by numerous bombs and a torpedo during this time and the captain, fearing the Nevada might sink and block the harbor entrance, beached the ship. The other three choices all were sunk during the battle. On a side note, the Oklahoma was the sister ship of the Nevada.

Answer: USS Monitor

The battle of Hampton Roads, while technically a draw, was a watershed moment in history. It ushered in the era of iron and steel ships, basically making the traditional wooden ships obsolete. Not long after the battle, the Monitor sank while under tow in the Atlantic near Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862.

She was lost to history until the wreck was discovered in 1973. The wreck was to deteriorated to be raised but between 1998 and 2002, pieces were brought to the surface, including the gun turret. Of the other possible answers, the Cumberland and Congress were two Union ships that were destroyed by the CSS Virginia.

The Virginia was orginally the Merrimack, which had been captured and converted into an ironclad by the Confederacy.

Answer: "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight"

After telling the British captain "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight," Jones, whose ship was in danger of sinking, managed to lash his ship to the Serapis, eventually overpowering its crew and forcing their surrender. Jones took over the Serapis and moved his crew over.

Despite attempts to save the Bonhomme Richard, the vessel sank a day and a half later. Jones' spectacular victory was instrumental in convincing the French to back the United States in their war with England for independence.

Answer: Maine

The USS Maine, the Navy's second commissioned battle ship, was completely destroyed in the explosion. Many possible explanations were raised for the cause including a mine, sabotage, a fire in the coal bunkers or even that it was sunk intentionally to start a war. The official cause remains "unknown."

Answer: USS Yorktown

The Yorktown's resilience tormented the Japanese. She had been heavily damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 and presumed sunk. Her sister ship, the Lexington, was sunk during that battle. The Battle of Midway took place in early June and involved the Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise. The Yorktown was hit by three bombs from dive bomber planes. The ship's boilers were flooded and all engines stopped.

Despite the heavy damage, the crew was able to put out the fires and restore power after less than two hours. A little over an hour later, after getting all of her aircraft off the decks and on the way to finish off the Japanese carriers, the Yorktown was hit by two torpedoes launched from aircraft. Again in danger of sinking, the ship managed to stay afloat until the next day. However, a Japanese submarine managed to put two more torpedoes into the Yorktown. Amazingly, the ship still managed to stay afloat until the next morning before finally rolling over and sinking. The ship, nicknamed the Fighting Lady, certainly lived up to her name.

Answer: USS Constitution

The USS Constitution is the only remaining ship of the original six frigates commissioned by the Naval Act of 1794. The other three possible answers were also part of those six along with the Chesapeake and the President. The Constitution achieved fame by defeating five English battleships during the War of 1812.

It was during her battle with the HMS Guerriere that she acquired her nickname "Old Ironsides." The ship served in active duty until the 1850s. She has undergone many restorations and still sails every year for an annual "turnaround cruise" during which her guns are fired and drills are carried out. Most recently in August 2012, she sailed around Boston Harbor on the 200th anniversary of her victory over the HMS Guerriere.

Answer: North Pole

During a record two year, 62,562 mile underwater voyage, the Nautilus passed under the North Pole on August 3rd, 1958. The submarine was retired in 1980 and now is a tourist attraction at the Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton, Connecticut.

Answer: USS Indianapolis

Of the 880 stuck in the water, only 316 survived. Though it is long, the quote of Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) in "Jaws" is the most appropriate and moving description: "Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte... just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail fin. What we didn't know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin', so we formed ourselves into tight groups.

You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named "The Battle of Waterloo" and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark will go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us... he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb."

Answer: USS Missouri

The USS Missouri, nicknamed "Mighty Mo," was commissioned in June of 1944 and saw her first real action in providing artillery support at Iwo Jima. On September 2, 1945, the ship was anchored in Tokyo Bay. The formal surrender of the Japanese forces was signed on its deck. By 1950 and the beginning of the Korean War, the Missouri was the only commissioned battleship left serving the U.S. Navy.

In 1955, the ship was put in reserve and wasn't recommissioned until 1986. After serving in the Gulf War, the Missouri was decommissioned again in 1992.

The USS Missouri is now permanently station at a berth on Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor, facing the USS Arizona memorial.

Answer: Enterprise

The USS Enterprise, the "Big E," was commissioned in 1938 and decommissioned in 1947. In between, the ship was a mainstay of the U.S. Naval fleet, earning a record twenty battle stars during World War II. She was involved in virtually every major sea battle in the Pacific and was reported sunk three times by the Japanese military only to reappear. That led to a nickname of "The Grey Ghost." Not long after the end of the war, the mighty ship was mothballed.

The Enterprise was finally scrapped in 1960.