Disaster at Sea Trivia Quiz

Answer: Titanic

This accident led to stricter regulations for passenger ships.

Answer: U.S.S. Forrestal

132 crew men were killed in the fire and two were reported missing. The fire was reportedly started when a missile was inadvertently launched into a fully loaded plane. This led to the U.S. Navy requiring all sailors to receive Damage Control Training. The ship in question also got the nickname "Fire Stall".
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv59-forrestal/forrestal-fire.html

Answer: She was found at sea with no one aboard and no clue as to the crew's fate

No trace of anyone on board or why they left the ship. All the life boats were still in place, the cargo and personal belongings were still there.

Answer: A new device was used to rescue the survivors

Thirty two crewmen survived thanks to a new invention called the McCann rescue chamber, similar to a diving bell. It took 13 hours to rescue 33 crewmen including one civilian.
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq99-1.htm

Answer: Morro Castle

To begin with the Captain suffered a major heart attack and died. A few hours later fire broke out and the fire fighting equipment failed to operate. When the acting Captain ordered an S.O.S. be sent, the batteries for the radio blew up. They hooked the radio up to a generator which blew up also after the S.O.S. was sent. Surviving passengers and crew were transferred to a rescue ship and moments later the ships tow line broke and she drifted aground at Asbury Park in New Jersey.
http://www.geocities.com/Oceansfarandwide/Morro.html

Answer: U.S.S. Thresher

The Thresher was on deep sea trials when the accident occurred. The monitoring ship received a message that the Thresher had minor problems and minutes later received garbled messages then sonar picked up a big disturbance and Thresher was gone.
http://thesaltysailor.com/april.htm

Answer: U. S. S. Scorpion

It was rumored that the Scorpion had been on a spy mission and torpedoed by a Soviet sub. The American version of the story is that it's own torpedo had gone wild and came back at the ship. It is also rumored that both sides were involved in a cover up.
http://members.aol.com/bear317d/scorpion.htm

Answer: The wreck of the Eastland

The Eastland was boarding passengers, in Chicago, for the five year celebration of Western Electric in 1915 when it capsized while still tied to the wharf. Before she capsized the captain was ordering passengers to one side of the ship to correct a listing problem. Over eight hundred died including twenty two families. She had over twenty five hundred passengers at the time.
http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/timea3a1.htm

Answer: The Lady Elgin

The Lady Elgin was rammed by another ship as she headed back to Milwaukee in 1860 with over six hundred on board. A storm on Lake Michigan further complicated matters and she soon broke apart. Only one life boat was launched and made it to shore. Everyone else had to rely on floating debris to make it back to land. However when they reached the shallows near Winnetka Illinois the churning surf smashed them against rocks, killing them instantly. There were only 160 survivors.
http://www.baillod.com/elgin/

Answer: U.S.S. Indianapolis

Of her 1,100 man crew, 900 made it to water. No distress signal was sent and no effort was made to search for her. Only a little more than three hundred survived after five days in the water with no drinkable water, no food, and with shark attacks. The sharks were still attacking while rescuers were pulling the crew from the water.
http://www.ussindianapolis.org/story.htm