Britain's Worst Maritime Disaster Quiz

Answer: St Nazaire

The British troopship "Lancastria" with a displacement of 16,243 tons was sunk by a German air attack off St Nazaire while engaged in troop evacuation. The site is a designated war grave.

Answer: Tyrrhenia

A magnificent ship, Tyrrhenia had a slightly raked funnel and was one of the first ships of the Cunard line to have a 'cruiser stern', a design feature of the new Anchor Line ships and an indication of her mixed pedigree. With six decks - A to D, promenade and sun decks - there was ample space aboard for her passengers to enjoy. Capable of carrying 265 first, 370 second and 1,150 third class passengers, she was an elegant addition to the Cunard fleet.

She was fully converted from passenger to cruise liner in 1924 with alterations made to her interior accommodation space. That same year saw another change to the ship.

Her name Tyrrhenia had not proved popular, and many travellers were unable to either spell or pronounce it correctly. Therefore in an effort to make her title more 'user-friendly', she was ceremonially renamed Lancastria.

Answer: 17th June 1940

The air attack happened at approximately 15.57 hrs, on 17th June 1940.

Answer: Lusitania

His highly esteemed service record included other great ships such names as "Mauretania" and "Olympic", the second of these being a sister ship of the Titanic. He was Master of the Lusitania in 1914, leaving the ship shortly before its fateful 1915 sinking.

Answer: Captain Rudolph Sharp

Captain Rudolph Sharp was a veteran captain from Liverpool, held in high regard both by company and crew.

Answer: 4

Sharp rushed to the bridge, reaching the wheelhouse as four high-explosive bombs bracketed his ship. With the deck reeling beneath his feet he knew that Lancastria had taken vital blows. In fact two bombs had each passed through the deck planking and detonated inside the hull (one hit number 2 cargo hold, packed with at least 800 RAF men, the other smashed through number 3 hold releasing gallons of fuel oil into the water), while a third had struck the decisive blow. Falling directly down the huge funnel it had exploded in the engine room.

A fourth missed the ship by mere metres, but still contained enough power to hole the liner below her port waterline and the effects were as bad as a direct hit.

Answer: Roll out the Barrel and There'll Always be an England

A survivor told how even to this day he can not bear to hear these songs without remembering the horrific sight, sounds and smells of the disaster where he lost so many good friends.

Answer: survived the disaster but was killed 2 years later

After the horrendous sinking of the Lancastria Captain Sharp was taken back to England with other survivors. Briefly in command of the Antonia, he was transferred to command another Cunard vessel - the Laconia. This 19,695 ton ship was to play an important and tragic part in the course of U-boat warfare, after its torpedoing by U156, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Hartenstein, on 12th September, 1942. Captain R. Sharp, who had lived through the most costly Merchant Navy loss of the Second World War, did not survive the sinking of the Laconia, the death toll of which made it the second most costly British maritime loss of WWII.

Answer: The disaster wasn't reported untill much later

The loss of life was so shattering that Prime Minister Winston Churchill forbade the publishing of news of the disaster in England's press, clamping a 'D-notice' on it. He felt that the country's morale could not bear the burden of this terrible event.

In his voluminous "Second World War" he writes: 'When this news came to me in the quiet Cabinet Room during the afternoon I forbade its publication, saying: 'The newspapers have got quite enough disaster for today at least'. I had intended to release the news a few days later, but events crowded upon us so black and so quickly that I forgot to lift the ban, and it was some years before the knowledge of this horror became public'. Survivors were forbidden under the King's Regulations to mention the disaster. People killed were listed as 'missing in action' leading to the assumption by most bereaved relatives that they probably died during the bloody retreat.

However, the story of the sinking could not be contained and, after appearing in the "New York Times", it finally broke in English newspapers on Friday 26th July 1940, albeit belatedly and quietly.

The official report however is still sealed until the year 2040 (!) under the Official Secrets Act.

Answer: Between 2,000 and 3,000

The exact number of dead has never been established, but it is known that at least 3,050 people were killed. Research estimates that there were were actually more than 7,000 men aboard, and that between 4,500 and 5,000 perished. One survivor wrote 'The spirit of the men in the water was wonderful, they even managed to sing whilst waiting to be picked up.' But 'not everyone who had a lifebelt was saved ... I should estimate that 2,000 were saved by lifebelts and another 500 in boats and rafts, so that 2,500 people were saved out of a total of about 5,500'.

The horrifying statistic of people killed during the sinking gave the Lancastria the (unwanted) title of worst merchant loss for the British during World War Two II, indeed the worst British loss in history - and the fourth largest casualty figure of any single maritime sinking.

However, despite the horror of the Lancastria's demise Captain Sharp - who survived the ordeal - stated that there was no panic on board, even up to the final moment as the hull slid beneath the sea.

In words taken from his report to the Department of Trade "The sea remained littered with corpses for days. Some were found to have been killed by their life jackets, jumping from the high deck caused the jacket to snap upwards when hitting the water, breaking the wearer's neck".