Ship Trivia Quiz

I didn't think she counted for this question because she was sunk the first time by British aircraft.

The boat I'm thinking of was in US hands when she was sunk and both times it was completely intentional. 

I'm fairly certain it's the Gato-class sub USS Bluegill (SS-242). It was sunk after its decommissioning in the late '60s, and (I have no idea why) was raised in 1983, towed to a new (classified) location and sunk again. 

I have to confess that I'd never have got this one if I hadn't read a thread on modelwarships.com about a build of this particular sub (a conversion of the Trumpeter 1/144 kit)

Yes EP, very good. I was wondering when someone from MW was going to show up and answer it! 

Cheers,

Avery 

Wow.  I know this situation has changed fairly recently.  When I visited London the first time, back in 1978, an impressive lineup of ships was moored along the Embankment, with Captain Scott's Discovery having pride of place.  I know most of those ships are gone now.  On the basis of recent photos (e.g., the broomstick ride in one of the Harry Potter movies), I'll take a guess and say the only one left is H.M.S. Belfast.

I wonder, though, if EPinniger may be playing a trick on us.  As I remember, there are a couple of markers on the river bank defining the actual boundaries of the City of London (a relatively small area), as opposed to the Borough of Westminster.  My recollection is that the Belfast is moored opposite the Tower of London, and that (I think) is within the City.  But, come to think of it, is the river part of the City?  Or does the boundary of the City run down the middle of the river?  (the Belfast is, I believe, moored near the south bank.)  Maybe (depending on how deviously tricky EPinniger is trying to be) the technically correct answer is zero.

Perhaps EP means Greater London, in which case you have the river between Staines in the West and Dartford in the east.

Rick

I wasn't intending to be tricky or deceptive with my question - by "London" I was really referring to Central London in general, not just the "City of London".

By "warships" I'm referring to ships that were actually built as commissioned navy vessels, so this excludes the various historic civil ships and boats on the Thames (e.g PS Tattershall Castle) which may have seen war service in WW2 or WW2.

I'm not sure the Discovery was ever a Navy ship, but in any case it's now moored at Dundee in Scotland (don't know when it was moved - in the mid 1980s I think)

Well, I'm stumped.  The Belfast is well-known (correctly, I assume) as the biggest surviving British warship that served in WWII.  And the question used the word "warship," so I assume the other(s) is/are big enough to fit the definition "ship" rather than "boat."  Has some destroyer or sloop or corvette been restored and put on exhibit in the Thames?  I have no idea.

Great question.

I don't think the Discovery was every a naval vessel.  I do remember her as being moored in the Thames back in '78; she was gone by the next time I visited, in '87.

Looks like this was a trickier one than I thought! I tried to avoid giving away too much with my initial question, as I thought it'd be too easy - I should have remembered that most posters here are US-based (no offence intended - I'm not very knowledgeable myself about the number and location of preserved warships in the USA!).

So I'll try and clarify the question a bit: Firstly, although my question excludes civilian vessels which saw wartime service, it doesn't exclude the opposite - though all the ships in question are still recognisable, and are preserved as historic vessels (not necessarily museum ships) they may not actually be warships anymore.

Secondly, by "ship" I'm really thinking of a reasonably-sized vessel - i.e not a MTB, ship's boat, landing craft or similar small vessel. (There was at least one MTB converted to a houseboat in the Hampton/Kew area (west London outskirts), for example, though I don't know if it's still there. And, although this is really more of a land vehicle than a boat, there's a converted WW2 DUKW amphibian used for river tours)

I'll take another shot.  Three vessels:  H.M.S. Belfast, H.M.S. President, and H.Q.S. (formerly H.M.S.) Wellington.

My recollection was that the latter two weren't there the last time I visited, but Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Wellington) establishes that I was wrong.

Am I at least getting warmer?

jtilley wrote:

I'll take another shot.  Three vessels:  H.M.S. Belfast, H.M.S. President, and H.Q.S. (formerly H.M.S.) Wellington.

You're exactly right - HMS Belfast, HMS Wellington and HMS President (originally HMS Saxifrage) are the three ships I was thinking of.

Here's a brief summary of the various historic ships on the Thames (that I know of), with web links, if anyone's interested:
Upstream from Belfast, on the Victoria Embankment on the north side of the river, are HMS Wellington - a WW2 Grimsby-class sloop - and "HMS President", ex-HMS Saxifrage, a WW1 Flower-class corvette (not the same as a WW2 Flower). Both are converted to civil use but are still recognisable, retaining most of their original superstructure.

A short distance upstream is TS Queen Mary - not the Cunard liner, but an excursion steamer built in 1933. (Google Earth shows a smaller steamer moored in between Queen Mary and Wellington, but I'm not sure of this one's name, or if it is permanently moored). A bit further upstream, beyond Hungerford Bridge, is the paddle steamer Tattershall Castle. Nearby is another passenger ship, though not quite as historic (built in 1953) - the Hispaniola, now converted to a restaurant.
Overall, there are plenty of interesting old ships and boats to see on the Thames in London.

More historic vessels can be found near at West India Quay in the Docklands (near Canary Wharf) - outside the Docklands Museum are two steam tugs (ST Portwey and Knocker White), a small barge tug (Varlet) and the coaster SS Robin - the oldest surviving cargo steamer in the world. These are all clearly visible from the railway station on the bridge above the dock. (I had no idea of their existence until I visited the Greenwich Maritime Museum last year)

For readers outside the UK, all of these ships can be found on Google Earth, although the Docklands ones are hard to spot as they're in the shadow of a building.

Ok, here's the next question.  I think it's an easy one.

I just bought one of the nice Midship Models 1/700 Mahan-class destroyer kits.  It occurred to me that it might be fun to build it as the U.S.S. Keeling.  What's remarkable about that ship?

I remember it as the ship that escorted an Atlantic convoy in the novel (?) The Good Shepherd. It was a book my dad had that I picked up out of a box in the garage. An excellent read.

You got it, Subfixer.  (I was hoping it would take a little longer than that!)

The book is indeed a work of fiction, by C.S. Forester.  I'm a longtime Forester fan; in my opinion The Good Shepherd his two or three best works.  But my opinion on that point tends to change depending on which Forester book I've read most recently.

billydelawder wrote:

How Bout the Hancock?

Nope, sorry. But, after further consideration, I have some misgivings about the hint that I gave above. I am fairly sure, but not 100%  sure, that she was renamed during building so don't use that hint to give you your answer. I'll give a better hint: She wasn't named after a famous statesman, a famous battle, another famous ship, or what might be considered a traditional source for an aircraft carrier. Too easy! But I guess I owe you that.

subfixer wrote:

billydelawder wrote: How Bout the Hancock? Nope, sorry. But, after further consideration, I have some misgivings about the hint that I gave above. I am fairly sure, but not 100%  sure, that she was renamed during building so don't use that hint to give you your answer. I'll give a better hint: She wasn't named after a famous statesman, a famous battle, another famous ship, or what might be considered a traditional source for an aircraft carrier. Too easy! But I guess I owe you that.

I have to bump this up after editting for you who might have missed it.

OK, to expound on the last q:

What exactly was the Shangri-La named for? 

It was named for:

After the Doolittle Raid, launched from the Hornet, President Roosevelt answered a reporter's question by saying that the raid had come from "Shangri-La", the faraway land of the James Hilton novel Lost Horizon.

David