Luxury Cruise of Doom! Trivia Quiz

Answer: RMS Lancastria

When the Lancastria was sunk off the coast of France, it was participating in the evacuation of British troops and civilians from that country. Over 4,000 lives were lost when this ship was sunk by a German air attack on June 17, 1940. The sinking of the ship was to cause the greatest loss of life in British maritime history.

It is estimated that about 2,000 lives were saved by passing ships, who stopped to help despite the fact that they themselves were under fire. The story was suppressed in British newspapers for over a month.

It was not until the American press reported on it that the British found out about the incident.

Answer: Greatest loss of life in any 20th century shipwreck

Although the numbers vary, the MV Wilhelm Gustloff is usually credited as having the greatest loss of life when sunk. This cruise ship had been changed into a hospital ship, as had many cruise liners during the war. The ship was sunk by a Russian submarine while it was trying to evacuate German soldiers, and civilians from Gdynia, Poland.

There were also over 4,000 children on board. It was a bitterly cold night and there was some ice in the water. Most figures put the loss of life at over 9,000 people.

Answer: True

This statement is true and the gallant rescue efforts were filmed live and shown around the world. The ship had just had a major overhaul after sinking into a shocking state of disrepair. When the ship sailed into a bad storm off the coast of South Africa, it started to leak.

The passengers were not notified that the ship was sinking until long after the captain and crew had packed their belongings and sent an SOS. While there was much to criticize, there were many actions to be admired.

Answer: Ferry boat

The MV Dona Paz was a passenger ferry boat that sank of the coast of Manila after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector. When the two ships collided the contents of the Vector ignited and spread to the Dona Paz. Witness' told stories of the sea, itself, being on fire.

The Dona Paz tragedy took the lives of over 4,300 people. Survivors were forced to jump into shark infested waters without life jackets which had been inadvertently locked up. Within two hours the Dona Paz lay on the bottom of the ocean.

The Vector sank within 4 hours after losing most of the men on board to fire. It was over 8 hours before authorities learned of the accident and began any kind of rescue operations.

Answer: New Zealand

When the wooden sailing ship Cospatrick caught fire and sank almost 500 people lost their lives. Only 3 people survived what is often known as the worst civil disaster in New Zealand. The Cospatrick was a beautiful 3-masted wooden sailing ship that made regular runs from England to New Zealand and Australia.

This was a dangerous trip that involved sailing around the infamous Cape of Good Hope. Another reason that this ship is remembered is that five survivors were found in a life boat, of which two later died.

These men had survived by practicing cannibalism on their dead shipmates.

Answer: Titanic

HMHS Britannic was the sister ship to the RMS Titanic which sank on its maiden voyage with great loss of life. The Britannic sank in 1916 during World War I, off the coast of the Greek island of Kea in the Aegean Sea. Originally constructed as a luxury passenger liner the Britannic was converted to a hospital ship during the war, as were most luxury liners. Even though this ship sank, only 30 lives were lost, in large part due to what was learned from the sinking of her sister ship four years before.

The shipwreck was first discovered and explored by Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1975.

Answer: St. Lawrence River

The RMS Empress of Ireland and the Norwegian coal freighter SS Storstad collided on May 29,1914 in the foggy St. Lawrence River in Canada. The sinking of this ship became the deadliest maritime disaster in Canadian history. According to "Ripley's Believe it or Not", among those who survived this disaster was Frank Tower who survived the sinking of the Titanic, and the sinking of the Lusitania as well the sinking of the Empress of Ireland.

The veracity of this claim cannot be substantiated.

Answer: Typhoon

The MV Princess of the Stars capsized in the waters off of the Philippines in 2008 with complete loss of life after getting caught in the middle of Typhoon Frank. This sinking of this passenger ferry cost over 800 lives and only 32 people managed to survive.

This passenger ferry was also laden with the pesticide endosulfan. While this was not the only ship lost in that typhoon it did cause one of the greatest losses of life. There was an uproar over why the ship was sailing when it was known a typhoon was coming.

There were also questions as to why a passenger ship of any kind would be loaded with pesticides.

Answer: True

The captain of the Carpathia and his crew were given numerous medals for their quick actions. It was not enough to save them, when they were torpedoed in 1918 in the Celtic Sea by a German submarine. At the time they were sunk, they were acting as troop transport. Evacuation was carried out in an orderly fashion and all passengers and crew boarded the lifeboats.

The submarine was approaching the lifeboats and getting ready to fire when the HMS Snowdrop arrived and started to return fire. Most of the crew and all of the passengers were saved.

Answer: The Stockholm

The Stockholm and the Andrea Doria collided off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts with a loss of less than 50 people. The superior design of the Andrea Doria enabled it to float for over 11 hours while the occupants were evacuated. The impact was so hard that at least two occupants of the Andrea Doria were thrown on board the Stockholm.

The rescue and subsequent sinking was televised world wide. The Andrea Doria lays on its side in 160 ft. (50m) of frigid water. Experienced divers consider it one of the most difficult shipwrecks to visit and have nicknamed the wreck "The Mount Everest of Scuba Diving".