The Great Ocean Liners 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: United States

The United States captured the Blue Riband on her first attempt in July 1952. The new ship made the Eastbound crossing from the timed points off New York and Cornwall, England, in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes, at an average speed of 35.59kn. This record has never been eclipsed. Today (2021) the great ship lies forlorn in Philadelphia.

Answer: Turbo-electric

Canberra was the first major liner equipped with a turbo-electric power plant. Steam provided power to turbines, which drove electric alternators. These, in turn, powered electric motors connected to the propeller shafts. The system proved troublesome in her early years, but eventually, she served out a long career, being sold to breakers in 1997.

Answer: Union - Castle Line

Formed by the merger of the rival Union and Castle Lines, on the 8th March 1900, this proud company served on the South African mail run until September 1977. Air travel and containerization rendered the operation unprofitable.
P&O operated to Australia, as did Blue Funnel. Cunard served on the North Atlantic.

Answer: Aquitania

Aquitania was built in 1914, and served in both World Wars, only being retired in 1950.
Lusitania was built in 1905, as was Mauretania. Olympic was built in 1911.

Answer: Hotel ship in Dubai, UAE

The great Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2 as she was known, was sold to UAE owners in 2008 for conversion to a floating hotel.
The original Queen Mary of 1936 is a hotel in Long Beach.
Ironically Cunard Line, who owned QE2, was absorbed into the Carnival Group prior to her retirement.

Answer: Three

Titanic's fourth, furthest aft funnel was a dummy. The number of funnels on a liner at that time indicated prestige and power, and many of the four and three funnel liners had one dummy stack. Usually, storerooms, and even dog kennels, were housed in the base of the unused funnel.

Answer: Windsor Castle (1960)

The Windsor Castle was, at 36 123 gross tons, the largest ship built for Union-Castle. The later Transvaal castle was slightly smaller at just over 30 000t. Southampton Castle was a fast cargo mailship.

Answer: C Y Tung

C Y Tung purchased the former Queen Elizabeth for his Orient Overseas Line in 1971. She was undergoing conversion to a floating university, named Seawise University when several fires broke out simultaneously aboard. Seawise was a pun on Tung's initials (CY's).
Onassis and Niarchos never operated passenger ships.
Cunard had sold the Elizabeth to the City of Florida in 1968.

Answer: HMS Curacao

While on a North Atlantic crossing, Queen Mary was being escorted by HMS Curacao, a Light cruiser. During maneuvers, the cruiser miscalculated and ran under the liner's bow. Curacao was cut in two and sank. Queen Mary was ordered not to stop for survivors.
Both Exeter and Achilles fought the German raider Graf Spee at the Battle of River Plate.
Tirpitz was bombed and destroyed in a Norwegian fjord.

Answer: Queen Mary 2

Delivered in 2003, the Queen Mary 2 (QM2) was by 2021 the only liner operating a scheduled service on the old North Atlantic run between Southampton and New York. This service is only operated during the Northern summer, and the rest of the year she spends cruising.