We Are Sailing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Endeavour

Cook was an eighteenth century explorer who visited places as far apart as Newfoundland and Australia. He is also credited as being the first European to sail around all of New Zealand. The Royal Navy owned the Endeavour, and Cook was given command of her in 1768. Endeavour's voyage lasted three years, but after Cook returned to England the ship was sold on to carry cargo, eventually sinking off Rhode Island in 1778.

Answer: Mayflower

The Mayflower was the ship which brought the group of English people, now known as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth in Devon to the New World of what is now the USA in 1620. Christopher Jones was part owner of the ship and the captain for the voyage, with the vessel carrying about one hundred passengers plus crew. Jones, and his ship, returned to England, but he died in 1622 with the Mayflower being broken up and sold for scrap two years later.

Answer: Gipsy Moth IV

Francis Chichester sailed around the world single-handedly between August 1966 and May 1967, with a stop in Sydney, Australia, en route. He followed the traditional route used by the tea clipper sailing ships with one of his stated aims being to match the time taken by the much larger, and fully crewed, ships of the past.

He spent a total of 226 days actually at sea and broke several records for a small ship and solo sailor. Gipsy Moth IV was left to deteriorate before being restored in the 2000s and sailed around the world again, this time with a full crew, between 2005 and 2007.

Answer: Bonhomme Richard

This ship was originally owned by the French and was given to John Paul Jones to command by King Louis XVI of France during the Revolutionary War. The original name was Duc de Duras, with the new name being chosen as a tribute to Benjamin Franklin, author of 'Poor Richard's Almanac'.

The ship did not survive long, sinking after the Battle of Flamborough in September 1779, only a few months after its acquisition. John Paul Jones, along with his French allies, won the battle despite losing his ship, and took control of HMS Serapis, captured from the British Navy, as his new flagship.

Answer: Endurance

Shackleton was born in Ireland in 1874 and became one of the major explorers of the early twentieth century, particularly in Antarctica. He was a member of Robert Falcon Scott's first expedition to the region, beginning in 1901. Once Amundsen had become the first man to reach the South Pole, Shackleton decided to attempt a crossing of Antarctica by land, setting off in 1914. Endurance was the ship he used for the expedition, but it became trapped in ice before sinking in the Weddell Sea. Shackleton made a successful, and heroic, voyage in a lifeboat with a small crew to reach occupied land and arrange the rescue of the main personnel of his party.

Answer: Victory

HMS Victory was launched in 1765 and was the flagship (the ship of the officer in command) at several battles between France and England during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. She is primarily remembered for being Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 when the British fleet defeated the French and Spanish.

The battle was to cost Nelson his life. Victory was due to be broken up in 1831, but the public outrage this suggestion caused meant the ship was saved.

She was eventually restored and became a museum in Portsmouth, home of the Royal Navy.

Answer: Kon-Tiki

Heyerdahl was born in Norway in 1914 and in his adult life established himself as an 'adventurer'. He took a particular interest in Polynesia and believed that ancient civilisations could have travelled there from the Americas using rudimentary craft.

In 1947, he decided to prove his theory and built Kon-Tiki, a raft created from balsa wood and hemp - materials which would have been available in historic times. With a crew of five, plus himself, Heyerdahl sailed from Peru and arrived on the Tuamotus Islands, in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, just over three months later. Kon-Tiki was damaged but salvaged and is on display in Oslo's museum.

Although Heyerdahl's journey, since replicated by other explorers, proved it was possible for South Americans to have made the trip, there is no widespread acceptance among anthropologists that they actually did so.

Answer: Calypso

The RV (research vessel) Calypso began life as a minesweeper, built in the USA and provided to the British navy during World War II. After a stint as a ferry in Malta, she was bought by a philanthropist who leased her to Cousteau for a nominal amount. Cousteau was an early advocate of conservation, particularly in the field of marine life, and was well known from the 1950s onwards, due to his books and films.

He was also responsible, in partnership with a fellow Frenchman, for the development of underwater breathing apparatus.

After Cousteau's death in 1997, Calypso fell into disrepair with bitter, and unresolved at the time of writing (2020), legal disputes between the Cousteau Foundation and other parties regarding her restoration.

Answer: Spray

Joshua Slocum was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1844 and temporarily 'ran away to sea' when he was only fourteen, and then permanently two years later. Having settled in San Francisco, and taken American citizenship, Slocomb spent most of his time sailing to various parts of the world.

In 1892, he acquired the former oyster sloop called Spray, which was practically derelict. Having rebuilt the vessel, he set sail in 1895 to travel around the world, achieving his goal three years later when he arrived back in North America in 1898.

He is the undisputed first man known to have sailed solo around the world. Slocum's book about his journey, 'Sailing Alone Around the World', became a best seller, but in 1909 both Slocum and the Spray disappeared without trace during a voyage to the West Indies.

Answer: Beagle

HMS Beagle was launched in 1820 and was one of the ships of the British Navy. Darwin was not, like the other people in this quiz, the captain of the ship but his name is inextricably linked with her as it was on the Beagle that he made his trip around the world.

It was during this voyage, made between 1831 and 1836, that Darwin made his studies of geology, wildlife and fossils which later led to his theories on evolution. The fate of the Beagle is not known for sure - she was sold to be broken up in 1870.

A replica of her was built in Chile and completed in 2016.