Disasters at Sea Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sinking of the Lusitania

The RMS Lusitania was torpedoed on May 7, 1915, while returning to England from New York. HMHS (christened RMS) Britannic sank off the coast of Greece November 21, 1916. T/N Andrea Doria collided with MV Stockholm and sank on July 25, 1956. RMS Olympic, the oldest "sister" of Titanic and Britannic, had a number of near misses, but never sank and was scrapped in 1937.

Answer: Captain Ernest M. McSorley

Ernest M. McSorley, a veteran of many years of maritime operations on the Great Lakes, was master of the Edmund Fitzgerald when she sank on November 10, 1975. Jessie B. Cooper was captain of the SS Arthur M. Anderson, which was traveling with the Edmund Fitzgerald. Ralph G. Walton was a member of the Fitzgerald's crew. Edward J. Smith was, of course, captain of the Titanic.

Answer: Lusitania

RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 on May 7, 1915. Andrea Gail, a fishing vessel, disappeared in a storm in 1991. Andrea Doria collided with MV Stockholm on her way to New York on July 25, 1956. Edmund Fitzgerald, as Gordon Lightfoot fans know, sank in a storm near Whitefish Bay on November 10, 1975.

Answer: 6

Six men disappeared with the Andrea Gail in 1991: Captain Billy Tyne, Michael "Bugsy" Moran, Dale Murphy, Alfred Pierre, Bobby Shatford, and David "Sully" Sullivan. 29 men went down with the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975; 1,012 died on the Empress of Ireland in 1914; and, surprisingly, only 46 of the 1,706 people aboard the Andrea Doria died, most of those from injuries suffered in the collision.

Answer: Britannic

RMS Olympic and RMS Britannic, Titanic's sister ships, were both requisitioned for military use by the Royal Navy during World War I. Olympic served as a troop transport and, although attacked at least once, was never sunk and was eventually scrapped in 1937.

At the time of her sinking, Britannic was serving as a Royal Navy hospital ship and had been redesignated HMHS Britannic. Although Germany tried to claim that Lusitania was transporting ammunition, she was not in military service and no evidence of her having ammunition aboard has been found. Empress of Ireland was a Canadian ship and would not have been subject to requisitioning.

Answer: Capricorn

On January 28, 1980 the SS Capricorn collided with the USCGC Blackthorn. Capricorn's anchor became embedded in Blackthorn's hull. Momentum caused the anchor chain to become taut, resulting in the capsizing of the Blackthorn. All 23 of the dead were members of the Blackthorn's 50 man crew.

The MV Chester Poling sank in the Atlantic on January 10, 1977. The MV Holo Holo disappeared in the Pacific on December 11, 1978. The SS Poet disappeared in the Atlantic after departure from Cape Henlopen, Delaware on October 24, 1980.

Answer: Sinking of the MV Miss Majestic

The MV Miss Majestic sank in Lake Hamilton near Hot Springs, Arkansas on May 1, 1999. The FV Aleutian Enterprise capsized and sank in the Bering Sea on March 22, 1990. The SS American Eagle suffered a cargo tank explosion on February 26, 1984 and sank in the Gulf of Mexico on February 27. The SS Silver Dove sank in the north Pacific on April 2, 1973.

Answer: Disappearance of the FV Linda E

The Linda E, a commercial fishing vessel, disappeared with three crewmembers on Lake Michigan, December 11, 1998. The LB Superior Challenge sank in the Gulf of Mexico June 30, 2003. The fishing vessel Theresa A disappeared in the Atlantic after departing from Fairhaven, Massachusetts on September 9, 1950.

A boiler exploded on the tug SS Celia at Charleston, South Carolina on November 18, 1950.

Answer: MV Sirrah and SS Santa Maria

The Sirrah and Santa Maria collided October 19, 1964 near Anchorage, Alaska. The Frosta and George Prince collision happened on October 20, 1976; the Morris Hess and Dan Quinn collided on July 5, 1951; and the Union Faith and Warren J. Douchet collided April 6, 1969.

Answer: Tanker Marine Sulphur Queen

Robert Ballard has led more than 100 expeditions to explore various shipwrecks, and has found the lost wreckage of such illustrious vessels as the German battleship Bismarck, the U. S. aircraft carrier Yorktown, and the PT-109. There is no confirmation that the wreckage of the SS Marine Sulphur Queen, which disappeared in the infamous Bermuda Triangle on February 4, 1963, has ever been found: however, a large shipwreck was discovered off the Florida coast in 2001 that may be the Marine Sulphur Queen, although it is considered possible that it could also be one of three other ships that were torpedoed by German submarines in that area during World War II.