O Captain, My Captain Trivia Quiz

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Whitman wrote 'O Captain! My Captain!' in 1865, as a tribute to the recently-assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. It was published in a New York newspaper and became an instant hit. Ever afterwards, Whitman was obliged to include the poem in readings and lectures, and by the 1880s he was heard to say that he wished he had never written it!

Answer: James Cook

It isn't his cartographic abilities that have made this captain famous, although they were useful on his exploratory expeditions in the south Pacific. Cook started his sea-going career after life as an apprentice in the grocery/haberdashery trade palled.

He rose quickly through the ranks in the Royal Navy, largely because of his cartographic and surveying skills and his capable leadership qualities. In 1760, he produced the first accurate charts of Newfoundland and the surrounding waters. Eventually, the Admiralty entrusted him with expeditions of exploration in the Pacific, with the rank of Commander (actually that's Master and Commander - what, you thought Russell Crowe was the only Master and Commander?). Cook made three voyages, and charted much of the Pacific Northwest, and Australia and New Zealand, along with the Philippine archipelago and what is now the Hawaiian archipelago (he named the latter the Sandwich Islands).

It was in Hawaii that Cook was killed. Interesting sidebar: both the infamous Captain Bligh and the intrepid Captain George Vancouver served under Cook. Bligh was Cook's shipmaster and Vancouver was one of Cook's midshipmen early in his career.

Answer: James Kirk

The French ship was 'L'Entreprise', which became 'The Enterprise' when she was captured by the British. Captain James Tiberius Kirk boldly went where no man had gone before as captain of the star ship 'Enterprise'. The series ran for only three seasons in the late 1960s but achieved cult status and eventually spawned three follow-up series ('Star Trek: The Next Generation', 'Deep Space Nine', and 'Star Trek: Voyager'), a multitude of movies, and even a Klingon dictionary. Leonard Nimoy had difficulty shaking his Spock persona and titled his biography 'I Am Not Spock'.

Answer: George Vancouver

As a midshipman, Vancouver served under Captain James Cook on his third Pacific expedition. It was from Cook that he learned cartography skills, which he later put to good use in his explorations of the Pacific Northwest. His great success was not proof against political shenanigans, however, and his career ended in obscurity after he ran afoul of his superiors at the Admiralty over a disciplinary action taken against a junior officer who had some highly-placed connections in British society (even then, it seems, it isn't what you know but who that will get you places!) His name lives on in Vancouver Island, Vancouver, B.C., and Vancouver, Washington.

Interesting sidebar: The name Vancouver is derived from either van Coevorden or from van Couwen. Both are of Dutch origin, the former meaning 'of Coevorden', which is a village in the Netherlands from which a group of businessmen emigrated to England in the early 18th century. Van Coewen, on the other hand, is a common Dutch surname. Either way, Vancouver's family was evidently of Dutch origin.

Answer: The Captain's Paradise

While Sir Alec Guinness is better known for his stage career, particularly excelling in Shakespearean roles, and for straight roles in films ('The Bridge on the River Kwai', 'Tunes of Glory', 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'The Horse's Mouth', among others), the Oscar-winning actor's early film career included such comedic gems as 'The Lavender Hill Mob', 'The Ladykillers' (so much better than the recent remake with Tom Hanks), and 'The Man in the White Suit'.

While 'The Captain's Paradise', which had him playing a sea captain with a wife in both ports at either end of his Mediterranean ferry run, was not a great film, Guinness' understated comedic skill shines nonetheless. Younger filmgoers discovered Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi in the first 'Star Wars' movie, a part which he thoroughly disliked.

He even insisted that Obi Wan be killed off so that he would never have to play him again! Guinness served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and at one time was seriously considering entering the Anglican priesthood.

He later converted to Roman Catholicism and was a devout Christian.

Answer: Martin Frobisher

Martin Frobisher was just one of the brilliant sailors (Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Gilbert et al) who expanded England's dominance on the high seas during the reign of Elizabeth I. A captain by the time he was 30, Frobisher commanded several voyages in the vain hope of finding the elusive Northwest Passage from the northern Atlantic to the northern Pacific, undergoing severe trials of weather and native hostility along the way. Frobisher was vice-admiral under Drake, sailing against the mighty Spanish Armada in 1588.

Answer: John Paul Jones

Born in 1747, John Paul Jones was actually surnamed MacDuff (now, there's a lost opportunity - he could have heard his men shout "Lay on, MacDuff!") and was apprenticed to a merchant seaman when he was young. By the time he was 21 his extraordinary seamanship had earned him a captaincy.

He left Scotland after being acquitted of a charge of murder (evidently one of his crew had been so severely flogged at Jones' command that he later died) and was thereafter engaged in the slave trade and dabbled in piracy in the Caribbean.

He left the West Indies after being accused yet again of murder (Jones had something of a short fuse). He changed his name to Jones, and headed for Virginia. He arrived as the American Revolution was about to erupt, and he placed his considerable skills at the disposal of the Americans.

It was not only his seagoing mastery, but also his organizational skills that earned him the soubriquet of 'Father of the American Navy'. He died of pneumonia in Paris in 1792, shortly after dictating his will to Gouverneur Morris, the American Ambassador to France, and was buried in an alcohol filled coffin in an unmarked grave in a cemetery set aside for foreign Protestants.

In 1905, his grave was discovered after a long search initiated by Theodore Roosevelt, and taken to Annapolis, Maryland, where he was buried in 1913 with great pomp and ceremony in the crypt of the Naval Academy chapel. His ornate tomb is a replica of that of Napoleon.

Answer: Carlo Piazza

Carlo Piazza was a captain in the Italian army during the Turko-Italian campaign in Libya. On October 22, 1911, he flew a Bleriot monoplane from Tripoli to Azzia, bombing Turkish targets on the way. In March, 1912, Piazza became the first person to undertake a photo reconnaisance flight. And who taught Piazza to fly, you ask? Why, none other than Orville Wright, who had been hired by the Italian army to teach aviation skills to several of their hand-picked officers.

Answer: Billy Bishop

Billy Bishop was a student at Canada's Royal Military College, and when war broke out in 1914, he left the college and joined the Mississauga Horse Regiment. Pneumonia prevented him from shipping out with his regiment, and when he recovered he transferred to the 7th Canadian Mounted Regiment and sailed with them for England in 1915.

In England, he fell in love with aviation and transferred yet again, this time to the Royal Flying Corps, as an observer. He later trained as a pilot and was shipped over to France. Bishop was subsequently credited with 72 'kills' between March 1917 and the end of the war. During World War II, he was an honorary Air Marshal with the RCAF and was responsible for recruitment.

At the start of the Korean war, he again offered his services, but since he was in ill health, the RCAF politely declined.

He died in 1956. The musical "Billy Bishop Goes to War" introduced this Canadian hero to a new generation and cemented his iconic status in Canada.

Answer: Horatio Nelson

There was more to Horatio Nelson than just his scandalous liaison with Lady Hamilton. Born in 1758, the son of an English clergyman, Nelson joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman, rising rapidly through the ranks and achieving his captaincy at the tender age of 20. Unlike many of his contemporories, Nelson was a humane and considerate officer and was greatly loved by all who served under him.

His victories during the Napoleonic Wars made him a hero to the British public. His death at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805 caused a great outpouring of grief in Britain, and monuments in his memory have been erected not only in England (chief of which is Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London), but throughout the world.

When the BBC conducted a poll in 2002 to determine the Top 100 Greatest Britons, Nelson placed in the top ten (well ahead of the Duke of Wellington who was rewarded with a dukedom for his efforts in the Napoleonic Wars, while Nelson acquired the lesser title of Viscount, which he felt was unfair and due to his humble birth and lack of political connections). To this day, the British observe Trafalgar Day on October 21, and Nelson's flagship 'Victory' is still commissioned by the Royal Navy (it's the oldest commissioned warship in the world). 'Victory' lies in dry dock in Portsmouth, and is still manned by officers and ratings of the Royal Navy.