Famous Ships and Their Captains Quiz

Answer: Disko Troop

The "We're Here" is a fishing boat that rescues a spoiled rich kid, Harvey Cheyne, after he falls off a cruise ship in the novel "Captain's Courageous" by Rudyard Kipling. He is befriended by a Portuguese fisherman named Manuel and learns to overcome his cavalier attitude towards others.

It was dramatized in a 1937 movie starring Spencer Tracy as Manuel, Freddie Barthlomew as Harvey, and Lionel Barrymore as Capt. Disko.

Answer: Sam Quint

In the novel "Jaws" by Peter Benchley, Sam Quint is hired by the seaside resort town of Amity to hunt and kill a shark that has been attacking swimmers. In the end, the shark manages to sink Quint's boat, Orca, and ingest the intrepid captain before being blown up by Police Chief Brody.

It was made into a blockbuster movie in 1975 starring Robert Shaw as Quint and Roy Scheider as Brody. The movie also spawned two sequels.

Answer: Horatio Hornblower

Horatio Hornblower appeared in a series of adventure novels by C. S. Forester. In the novel "The Happy Return", the HMS Lydia was made Hornblower's first command. In it, he is assigned to bring arms and ammunition to Don Julian Alvarado, in Nicaragua, who is revolting against the Spanish. This novel was the basis of a 1951 movie starring Gregory Peck as the straight-laced captain.

Answer: Alexander Smollett

Smollett is the captain of the schooner Hispaniola in the adventure novel "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the story, he is instrumental in helping a lad, Jim Hawkins, who has a treasure map in his possession. Jim asks Smollett for help, but they are betrayed by the pirate Long John Silver.

This novel has been dramatized dozens of times, but perhaps the most memorable was the 1950 Walt Disney production that starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim, Robert Newton as Long John and Basil Sydney as Smollett.

Answer: Wolf Larsen

In Jack London's novel "The Sea Wolf", Captain Larsen is of Danish and Norwegian descent. He is described as "a perfect specimen of masculinity"; muscular, physically strong and with a symmetrical build. Added to this is a fine mind and he has educated himself in many intellectual fields including literature, science and philosophy.

However, he is a user and manipulates people to his own ends. In the 1941 movie based on the novel, Larsen is portrayed by Edward G. Robinson.

Answer: Captain Flint

Another character from R.L. Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island", Flint is a pirate and has amassed a vast fortune in treasure which he and his crew bury on an island. A map of the treasure is given to Billy Bones, which eventually comes into the possession of young Jim Hawkins, who sets out to find it with the help of Capt. Smollett.

Answer: Ahab

Captain Ahab is a man with an agenda. Since losing a leg to the whale Moby-Dick, Ahab has been in relentless pursuit of this adversary. He will go any length to find and kill the creature. His latest venture is on the ship Pequod. Aboard are a crew consisting of Ishmael (the narrator), expert harpooners including the Polynesian, Queequeg, and other assorted seamen.

This Herman Melville novel was first published in 1851 and dramatized in 1956 with Gregory Peck portraying the brooding Ahab and Richard Basehart as Ishmael.

Answer: Jack Aubrey

Aubrey is a central character in a series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. Sophie was Aubrey's first command. He is well-respected by the seamen under him and they sometimes follow him from ship to ship. His nickname is "Lucky Jack" and he is quite a ladies man having had numerous affairs.

In 2003, a movie was made based on the first novel, "Master and Commander", starring Russell Crowe in the title role.

Answer: Elias Hoseason

In the Robert Louis Stevenson novel "Kidnapped", young David Balfour is shanghaied by Hoseason, who had been hired by David's avaricious uncle to prevent David from inheriting the family estate. The intent is to take David to the British colonies in America and sell him as a slave.

However, the ship is wrecked and David escapes, and is befriended by the Jacobite, Alan Breck. After many adventures with Breck, David manages to return to claim his inheritance. The novel has been dramatized dozens of times.

Answer: Charlie Allnut

C. S. Forester published "The African Queen" in 1935. It depicts the difficulties an English missionary, strong-willed Rose Sayer, has working in Africa. She is there with her clergyman brother, but when he dies, the rough-and-tumble Allnutt befriends her and tries to get her to safety amidst the turmoil of World War I, jungle dangers and natural perils.

At first they are at odds, but gradually come to respect each other while sharing mutual hazards. When the novel was made into a movie in 1951, Humphrey Bogart played Allnut to Katherine Hepburn's Rose.