Ships and Sailors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Santa Maria

Probably everyone knows how, in 1492, 'Columbus sailed the ocean blue'.
He commanded the Santa Maria, which was a nao - what we might call a carrack. No-one really knows what she looked like but she was probably around 18m long by 12m wide, with a crew of 52. She was a slow cargo-type vessel which ran aground off Hispaniola on Christmas Day 1492. They had to abandon her and Columbus had her disassembled; he used the timbers to build the first Spanish settlement, La Navidad, where he had to leave 39 men, with supplies, to await his return.
The Nina and Pinta were caravels, commanded by brothers Vicente Anes Pinzon and Martin Alonzo Pinzon. They each carried 18 crew members.
Amazing to think of such tiny ships undertaking this epic voyage into the unknown.

Answer: Trinidad

Magellan was Portuguese, but had to ask Charles l of Spain for support in order to begin his voyage as the King of Portugal would not give his permission. Five ships set off in 1519 to find the Spice Islands by (they hoped) finding a passage to the Pacific.

The ships were the ones named above, plus the San Antonio. They sailed for Rio de Janeiro to begin the hunt for the passage. In 1520 the Santiago was lost in a storm and the San Antonio deserted the expedition, but the rest entered the area now named the Magellan Straits that year and in 1521 found the Philippines. Magellan was killed by the natives of Mactan, and with only 110 crew men left it was decided to abandon the Conception. Trinidad tried to turn back but was captured at the Spice Islands by the Portuguese. Victoria was the last ship left and and she finally arrived back in Spain in 1522 with just 18 survivors.

Answer: Discovery

Hudson made four voyages to search for the Northwest Passage. The first was in 1607 aboard the Hopewell, backed by the Muskovy Company. They reached Greenland in 1607 but failed to find a way through the ice and returned to England. In 1608 he tried again via Novaya Zemlya, failng again. His third voyage was financed by the Dutch United East India company aboard the Half Moon, and again he failed to find the passage but explored and charted the coastline of America.
His fourth voyage in 1610 was again financed by the Muskovy Company, this time aboard the Discovery. They reached the Hudson Strait which was blocked by huge icebergs, and sailed south to James Bay. They were iced in and became the first Europeans to spend a winter in the Canadian Arctic. Conditions were terrible but Hudson wanted to carry on once the ice had melted. The crew, however, had had enough and cast Hudson, his son John and eight other men adrift in an open boat. They were never seen again. The mutineers sailed back to London and were never brought to trial or punished.
The Speedwell was the ship meant to go with the Mayflower, taking the Pilgrim Fathers to America in 1620, but had to turn back because she was taking in water.

Answer: British Steel

In 1971 Sir Charles Blyth, better known as 'Chay', sailed British Steel on his epic voyage around the world, taking 292 days. He was awarded a CBE for this feat. Previously he had, in 1966, rowed across the Atlantic in a 20ft open dory with Captain John Ridgway.

Their boat was English Rose IV. Blyth got an MBE for this. Both of them were members of the Parachute Regiment. In 1997 Blyth was knighted for his services to sailing.

Answer: Revenge

The Golden Hind was Drake's most famous ship, the one in which he circumnavigated the globe in 1577 -80. It was originally called the Pelican. Judith was Drake's first command in 1566, when he was about 22 years old (nobody knows his exact date of birth, except that it was in the early 1540s.) Drake died of dysentery in 1595, in Nombre de Dios Bay off the coast of Panama, aboard the Defiance.

Answer: HMS Kelly

HMS Kelly was a K-class Destroyer, Pennant number F01. She was bombed and sunk off Crete in 1941 by German Stukas. She has been damaged previously by a mine in 1939 and torpedo in 1940. Inspired by the exploits of HMS Kelly and Lord Mountbatten, a film called 'In Which We Serve' was made in 1942 by Noel Coward. Coward wrote the screenplay and starred as captain of HMS Torrin.

The film is a classic of its kind.

Answer: Ark Royal

Ark Royal was originally built in 1581 for Sir Walter Raleigh and named the Ark Raleigh. The ship was seized in 1587 by the Queen (Elizabeth I) as repayment of Raleigh's debts and renamed Ark Royal. Lord Howard was the Lord High Admiral in overall charge of the English fleet that fought the Armada.

His vice-admirals were Francis Drake in the Revenge, John Hawkins in the Victory and Martin Frobisher In Aid.

Answer: HM Bark Endeavour

Cook was, in 1755, mate aboard HMS Eagle.
HMS Beagle was the ship that sailed to the Galapagos Islands with Charles Darwin aboard.
HMS Endurance has been the name of two British polar ice patrol ships, named after the vessel commanded by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Cook's voyage on HMS Endeavour was to study the Transit of Venus in the South Seas. He was joined by the botanist Sir Joseph Banks, and the astronomer Charles Green.

Answer: HMS Bounty

William Bligh's naval career began at the early age of 7, when he went to sea as the Captain's Servant in HMS Monmouth. At the age of 22 he was the Sailing Master on HMS Resolution, under Captain James Cook. He commanded HMS Britannia in 1787.
His most famous command was HMS Bounty, which was seized by mutineers under Fletcher Christian in 1789. They had voyaged to Tahiti to collect breadfruit trees which were required in the West Indies to feed the slaves, and while waiting for the right winds the crew grew too accustomed to the easy lifestyle of the islanders. Bligh was known as a martinet, but he did know how to keep his crew healthy and free from scurvy. They, however, resented being told to eat sauerkraut, and did not want to be returned to proper naval discipline. The mutineers cast Bligh and 18 other sailors adrift in three open boats, and in an astonishing feat of navigation, Bligh took them to safety in Timor 3600 miles away - with only a sextant and a pocket watch to help him.
Despite losing his ship, Bligh was exonerated of any blame and ended his naval career in 1814 as Vice Admiral of the Blue. In 1801 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his services to navigation and botany.

Answer: Suhaili

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was knighted in 1995. His voyage in Suhaili came about as a competitor in the Sunday Times Golden Globe competition, for the first person to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world. Sir Francis Chichester had completed a solo circumnavigation in 1966/7, but had stopped off in Australia. Knox-Johnston's epic journey ended on 22nd April 1969 when he arrived back in England at Falmouth, from where he had started out 312 days earlier.