Pre-Dreadnought Battleships Part II Trivia Quiz | World

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The second class of pre-dreadnoughts built by the British Empire were smaller and more lightly armed than the "Royal Sovereign" class of 1889. What was the purpose of this change?

Answer: They were designed for service abroad.

The "Centurion" class of 1890 mounted four 10-inch guns and ten 4.7-inch guns on a displacement of 10,800 tons. These ships were designed to serve on foreign stations, and not to be part of the main battle line. "Centurion" and "Barfleur" were both scrapped in 1910.

2. The next British pre-dreadnought, HMS "Renown", was a single ship designed to lead cruiser squadrons on foreign stations. What was her main armament?

Answer: Four 10-inch guns

Laid down in 1893, "Renown" was not designed to be part of the battle line, but as a cruiser leader. She carried four 10-inch and ten 6-inch guns on a displacement of 13,100 tons. In 1905, she served as a royal yacht and took the Prince and Princess of Wales on a tour of India. She was scrapped in 1914.

3. The next French pre-dreadnoughts were the "Charlemagne" class of 1894. Like the previous six French battleships, the "Charlemagnes" only had a two-gun main armament. How many ships were in this class?

Answer: Three

The "Charlemagne" class was the first French pre-dreadnought class of ships, her previous six vessels being single ships built to a similar design. "Gaulois"
was sunk by a German U-boat in 1916,
"St. Louis" was hulked in 1920 and scrapped in 1933, and "Charlemagne" was scrapped in 1923.

4. The next French pre-dreadnought was another single-ship design. This ship was the first French vessel to adopt the standard armament layout of four main guns in two twin turrets. What was this ship's name?

Answer: Iena

The "Iena" of 1897 was the first French pre-dreadnought to adopt the same main gun layout that had become standard on the ships of foreign navies.
"Iena" carried 4 12-inch and eight 6.5-inch guns on a displacement of 11,700 tons. She was wrecked by a magazine explosion in 1907 and sunk as a target in 1909.

5. The second class of German pre-dreadnoughts were the "Kaiser Friedrich III" class of 1895. These ships were armed with a smaller calibre main gun than the previous "Brandenburg" class, but for what reason?

Answer: The higher rate of fire of the smaller gun

The German "Kaiser Friedrich III" class of four ships reverted to the 9.4-inch gun because the German high command believed that the higher rate of fire of the smaller calibre weapon would be an advantage in battle. All four ships in the class were scrapped by 1920.

6. The German "Wittelsbach" class of 1899 were also armed with the 9.4-inch main gun. How many ships were in this class?

Answer: Five

The "Wittelsbach" class consisted of the nameship, the "Wettin", "Zahringen",
"Schwaben", and "Mecklenburg". The "Zahringen" was converted into a target ship in 1920 and was sunk in 1944. All of the others were scrapped in 1922.

7. The 9.4-inch gun was also used as main armament on another country's pre-dreadnought battleships. Which European empire built the "Erzherzog Karl" class of ships in 1902?

Answer: Austria-Hungary

The "Erzherzog Karl" class of three ships were the second pre-dreadnought class built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The "Erzherzog Karl", "Erzherzog Friedrich", and "Erzherzog Ferdinand Max" carried four 9.4-inch and 12 7.5- inch guns on a displacement of 10,650 tons. All three units were scrapped in 1921.

8. What was the name-ship of the second class of pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Italian Navy?

Answer: Regina Margherita

The "Regina Margherita" and her sister ship "Benedetto Brin" were laid down in 1898. They carried a main armament of four 12-inch guns and a secondary battery of four 8-inch guns. The "Benedetto Brin" was destroyed by a magazine explosion in 1915, while the "Regina Margherita" was mined and sunk in 1916.

9. Of the three Russian pre-dreadnoughts completed after the "Apostolov", the "Navarin", "Tri Sviatitelia", and "Sissoi Veliky", two were sunk at the 1905 Battle of Tsushima with the Japanese. Which ship did not participate in the battle?

Answer: Tri Sviatitelia

The "Tri Sviatitelia" was assigned to the Black Sea fleet, which did not participate in the Battle of Tsushima. Both the "Navarin" and the "Sissoi Veliky" were lost in the battle.

10. The Russian "Petropavlosk" class, consisting of the name-ship, the "Poltava", and the "Sevastopol", were all sunk during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Which ship was salvaged by the Japanese and served in their fleet?

Answer: Poltava

The "Petropavlosk" class of 1892 weighed 12,000 tons and carried four 12-inch guns and twelve 6-inch guns. The "Poltava" was sunk at the 1904 siege of Port Arthur. She was salvaged by the Japanese and renamed "Tango". The ship was then sold back to Russia in 1916 and renamed "Tchesma". She was scrapped in 1924.

11. What was the main armament of the second class of Japanese pre-dreadnoughts, the "Shikishima" class?

Answer: Four 12-inch guns

The "Shikishima" and "Hatsuse" of 1898 displaced 15,200 tons and carried four 12-Inch and fourteen 6-inch guns. Both ships were built in the U.K. "Hatsuse" was mined and sunk off Port Arthur in 1904, "Shikishima" was hulked in 1923 and broken up in 1948.

12. This American pre-dreadnought was the only "one-off" (single ship) design built for the United States Navy. What was her name?

Answer: USS Iowa

The USS "Iowa" of 1893 displaced 12,850 tons and carried four 12-inch and eight 8-inch guns. She had a higher freeboard than the three "Indianas" that preceded her, making her much more seaworthy. Only one "Iowa" was built due to the reluctance of the U.S. Congress to fund a large navy. "Iowa" was sunk as a target ship in 1923.

13. The lead ship of the next class of US pre-dreadnoughts had the distinction of being the only American battleship ever built that was not named for a US state. What was she named?

Answer: USS Kearsarge

The "Kearsarge" and her sister ship the "Kentucky" were laid down in 1896. They carried four 13-inch and four 8-inch guns in a unique turret design, where the smaller gun was superimposed on the larger. The "Kearsarge" was named after a famous Union vessel from the US Civil War.

14. The Ottoman navy, after a failed attempt to build a pre-dreadnought in their own shipyards, purchased two ships from another country. Which country sold them the ships?

Answer: Germany

The Ottoman Empire laid down the "Abdul Kadir" in 1890. Designed to carry four 11-inch and six 5.9-inch guns, she was never finished and was scrapped in 1909. The Turks then purchased the German "Kurfurst Friedrich Wilhelm" and the "Weissenburg" in 1910, renaming them the "Barbaros Hayreddin" and the "Turgut Reis".

15. The Greek navy, anxious to keep up with their Aegean rivals in the Ottoman Empire, also purchased two pre-dreadnought battleships from a foreign power. From which country did the Greek ships originate?

Answer: United States

The Greek navy had ordered two Dreadnought battleships from Germany and France respectively, but both went unfinished due to the outbreak of World War I. The Greeks then purchased the "Mississippi" and the "Idaho" from the USA in 1914, renaming them the "Kilkis" and "Lemnos". Both units became training ships in 1932 and they were both sunk in World War II.

Source: Author Reamar42

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Pre-Dreadnought Battleships Part II Quiz

From the late 1880s until the early 1900s, the pre-dreadnought battleship was the most powerful unit of the world's leading navies. How much more do you know about this important class of warships?

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