Sinkings, Shipwrecks and Strange Occurrences Quiz

Answer: Henry I

In November 1120, King Henry I and his retinue, which included his son and heir William Ætheling, were returning to England following a visit to Normandy, the territory in France that formed the other major part of the king's dominions. The king was offered the use of the White Ship, one of the fastest and most modern vessels in England at the time, for the journey back to England by its captain, Thomas FitzStephen.

Although the king had made other arrangements, he allowed his son William Ætheling, plus a number of his other (illegitimate) children, and other members of his household, to use the White Ship to return to England.

At the request of the crew, William Ætheling supplied copious amounts of wine before the ship sailed. As the ship put to sea, the crew was encouraged to overtake the king's ship, which had already sailed.

However, the White Ship set off in the dark and, just after sailing, struck a submerged rock, which was a known hazard in the area. The ship quickly capsized, although William Ætheling was able to reach the one lifeboat.

However, he heard the cries of his half-sister and tried returning to save her. The boat ended up being swamped by others trying to save themselves, and led to William Ætheling being drowned. William Ætheling was one of an estimated 300 deaths on the White Ship, with the sole survivor being a man named Berold, a butcher from the city of Rouen.

Answer: Japan

In 1274, following the successful capture of the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Iki, a Mongol invasion force landed at Hakata Bay on the island of Kyushu. However, this force, estimated to consist of anywhere from 500 to 900 ships and 30,000 to 40,000 men, met with fierce resistance from the armies of the Japanese samurai clans, and were forced to retreat, intending to return to their bases in China. During the retreat, the fleet in Hakata Bay was struck by a typhoon, which led to the loss of approximately one-third of the ships and 13,000 men. Seven years later, in 1281, the Mongols made a second attempt to invade.

This time however, the invasion fleet, estimated to number 4,400 ships and 140,000 men, was unable to find a suitable site to land - in the period between the two invasions, the Japanese had built a series of defensive walls.

As a result, the Mongols were forced to remain at sea for several months. This second fleet was also destroyed by a typhoon, with up to half the Mongol soldiers killed.

This second typhoon caused so much destruction among the Mongol forces that they never again attempted to invade Japan. Following the end of the Mongol threat, the Japanese word "kamikaze", or "divine wind", was subsequently used to describe the typhoons.

Answer: The Solent

The Mary Rose originally entered service in 1512, and was one of the largest ships in the English Navy at the time. She saw extensive service in wars against the French between 1512 and 1522, before she was placed "in ordinary", or reserve. The ship underwent a major reconstruction from 1536, and returned to active service as a result of a third war against the French.

In May 1545, the French assembled a fleet with the intention to invade England. This fleet entered the Solent, the stretch of water between the coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, in July. An English fleet, led by the Mary Rose, faced the French force in battle on 19 July. Early in the battle, while manoeuvring, Mary Rose heeled to starboard, which led to water flooding the open gun ports. With the crew unable to correct the lean in time, the ship quickly capsized and sank, with more than 350 of the crew killed.

Answer: Genoa

On 20 October 1872, Captain William Briggs arrived at Pier 50 in New York to supervise the loading of a cargo of denatured alcohol onto the brigantine Mary Celeste. Briggs took command of the ship and, with a crew of seven, plus his wife and baby daughter, sailed on 5 November for Genoa. Due to the uncertain weather, the ship remained anchored in New York Harbor off Staten Island for two days before proceeding into the Atlantic. On 4 December, at a point midway between the Azores and Portugal, the brigantine Dei Gratia, which had left New York bound for Genoa on 15 November, spotted what appeared to be a derelict ship. Sending men aboard, it was discovered to be the Mary Celeste, which was abandoned and adrift.

The ship was in good order, with the last log entry, dated 25 November, giving her position as 400 nautical miles from where she was found.

The Dei Gratia took the Mary Celeste in tow and put in to Gibraltar, where the crew of the Dei Gratia was awarded £1700 in salvage. In March 1873, a new crew took the Mary Celeste to complete the journey to Genoa. Following her return to New York, as a result of the bad publicity due to the circumstances of her discovery, the ship's owners sold Mary Celeste.

Answer: Mediterranean Fleet

HMS Victoria was an ironclad turret ship commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1890. Upon entering service, she was taken to the Mediterranean where she became the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Anthony Hoskins. The following year, Hoskins was replaced by Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.

In June 1893, Victoria was leading the fleet on its annual summer exercises off the coast of Lebanon. On 22 June, the two divisions of the fleet were undertaking navigation exercises in two columns - Tryon, aboard Victoria, led one column, while the second was led by Tryon's deputy, Rear-Admiral Albert Markham, aboard HMS Camperdown.

The two columns were around 1,000m apart, although the safe turning circles of the ships was estimated at least 1,500m.

Despite this, Tryon ordered the ships of each column to turn successively 180 degrees. Due to the proximity of the two columns, Camperdown, leading the second column, collided with Victoria, leaving a 100 square foot hole in the flagship's side.

Although orders were issued to try and get the ship to shallow water 5 miles away, the damage proved too great, and Victoria rolled over and sank just 13 minutes after the collision, with the loss of 358 members of the crew, including Admiral Tryon.

Answer: Lundy

HMS Montagu was a Duncan-class battleship commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1903. The ship served in the Mediterranean for two years before being transferred to the Channel Fleet in early 1905. In May 1906, Montagu was being used to test newly developed wireless telegraphy equipment in the Bristol Channel. On 29 May, the ship was anchored off Lundy, a small island in the Bristol Channel, but was unable to receive messages from the wireless station in the Isles of Sicily. So, the ship weighed anchor to move closer to the wireless station, but heavy fog forced the ship back towards Lundy.

Although getting accurate navigation information from a pilot boat, the navigator of Montagu insisted that the information was wrong - although warned by the pilot boat that the battleship would soon run aground, this was ignored. Ten minutes after leaving the pilot boat, Montagu ran aground on Shutter Rock, the south-west corner of Lundy, causing a 91 foot hole in the ship's side. Efforts to refloat the ship proved unsuccessful, and eventually Montagu was removed from service and sold for salvage and scrap.

Answer: Quebec City

Dr Hawley Crippen was a purveyor of patent medicines in London. In 1910, police were investigating the disappearance of his wife, Cora. Although they had no evidence to connect Crippen, he and his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, abruptly fled London, first for Brussels, before they then boarded the SS Montrose at Antwerp, which was bound for Quebec.

In between their leaving London and boarding the Montrose, the police discovered evidence that Crippen had murdered his wife. Publicity reached the Montrose, and the captain, Henry Kendall, recognising the pair, sent a telegraph message to the authorities in England indicating their presence. Chief Inspector Walter Dew then boarded the SS Laurentic at Liverpool - the Laurentic was scheduled to arrive in Quebec before the Montrose. On 31 July 1910, with the Montrose entering the St Lawrence River, Chief Inspector Dew boarded the Montrose disguised as a pilot.

There, having introduced himself as a police officer, Dew arrested Crippen and Le Neve, with the pair subsequently returned to England.

Answer: Canadian Pacific

Empress of Ireland was one of a pair of express liners ordered by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company to operate services across the Atlantic between Liverpool and Quebec. Entering service in 1906, the ship had made close to 100 crossings by May 1914. On 22 May, Empress of Ireland arrived in Quebec from Liverpool.

The ship remained in Quebec until it departed for Liverpool on 28 May with 1,057 passengers and 420 crew, including a new captain, Henry Kendall, who was making his first trip down the St Lawrence aboard the ship.

In the early hours of the 29 May, Empress of Ireland reached Pointe-au-Père, where the pilot disembarked. Upon resuming its course, the Empress sighted the lights of a collier, SS Storstad - initially, the weather was clear, but fog soon enveloped both ships, and eventually, despite the use of fog whistles, the Storstad collided with the Empress, causing a large hole in the liner's side. Empress of Ireland quickly capsized. About fourteen minutes after the collision, the ship sank, causing the deaths of 1,012 people

Answer: SS Île de France

The Andrea Doria was a transatlantic liner owned by the Italian Line. On 17 July 1956, the ship departed Genoa for her 51st crossing to New York. Eight days later, the Swedish-American Line ship MS Stockholm departed New York en route to Stockholm. In the evening of the same day, Andrea Doria was approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts at the same time as the Stockholm. Stockholm, which was fitted with a strengthened bow to allow her to operate in the Arctic Ocean, and Andrea Doria ended up on a collision course.

Despite both ships taking evasive action, the two collided, with Andrea Doria suffering a large hole in her side and taking on a list. One of the ships that responded to Andrea Doria's distress call was the French Line ship Île de France, which was en route to Le Havre. Île de France was one of the largest liners remaining on the North Atlantic route. Once her captain, Raoul de Beaudean, had determined that Andrea Doria was in serious difficulty, he ordered that his ship proceed at once to the Italian liner's aid. Arriving three hours after the collision, Captain de Beaudean was able to position Île de France in such a way to provide shelter to the foundering Andrea Doria, as well as illuminating his ship to provide comfort to the survivors in the water. Île de France eventually rescued 753 of the 1,663 passengers and crew from Andrea Doria.

Answer: Lake Superior

The Edmund Fitzgerald was a bulk carrier built for the transport of taconite pellets, an iron ore, from mines near Duluth in Minnesota, located on the north shore of Lake Superior, to iron works located along the shorelines of the Great Lakes. On 9 November 1975, Edmund Fitzgerald, having collected a load of taconite, departed from Superior, Wisconsin (part of the Duluth Metropolitan Area) headed for a steel mill near Detroit.

However, a day after departing, and in company with another freighter, the Arthur M. Anderson, the Edmund Fitzgerald was caught in a severe storm crossing Lake Superior. Caught in winds of almost 60 knots, the Fitzgerald, which had previously reported taking on water, disappeared from the Anderson's radar.

The Coast Guard immediately launched a search - debris was found almost straight away, while the wreck of the Fitzgerald was discovered 15 miles west of Deadman's Cove, Ontario at a depth of 530 feet.