Ship Trivia Quiz

So what's the connection to either of the two CinCs of the High Seas Fleet during the war - Tirpitz or Scheer?

:-) 

I don't believe Tirpitz ever commanded the High Seas Fleet - at least during WWI.  It had four commanders during the war:  von Ingenohl (1913-1915), von Pohl (1915-1916), Scheer (1916-1918), and Hipper (1918).  Here's a Wikipedia article that lays all that out:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Seas_Fleet

The convoluted logic I was using (which I hoped would keep people occupied for a little while - but bondoman figured it out almost immediately) was:  1. Scheer had a pocket battleship named after him.  2.  That ship was a sister ship of the Graf Spee.  3.  The Graf Spee was "played" in the movie by the U.S.S. Salem.  4.  Salem is the name of cities in Oregon and Massachusetts.

OK, sister ship works for me.  I'm good with that.  I had been afraid that this relation was going to be based on the two cities of Medford or Springfield, and I was preparing to cringe.  I liked this movie.

Rick 

jtilley wrote:

I don't believe Tirpitz ever commanded the High Seas Fleet - at least during WWI.  It had four commanders during the war:  von Ingenohl (1913-1915), von Pohl (1915-1916), Scheer (1916-1918), and Hipper (1918).  Here's a Wikipedia article that lays all that out:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Seas_Fleet The convoluted logic I was using (which I hoped would keep people occupied for a little while - but bondoman figured it out almost immediately) was:  1. Scheer had a pocket battleship named after him.  2.  That ship was a sister ship of the Graf Spee.  3.  The Graf Spee was "played" in the movie by the U.S.S. Salem.  4.  Salem is the name of cities in Oregon and Massachusetts.

Good question none-the-less John, you have nearly redeemed yourself from that abomination from the past.

Which Victory ship was the only one to be converted into a Liberty ship?

Yes you are correct.

Surface Line, to you.

Guess I can't avoid this part of the game.  OK, let's get it over with.

After WWII, all the Commanding Officers of this major warship (larger than destroyer) never required the crew to polish brass.  What ship? 

Absolutely correct.  Maybe trivial, but I think it'a a great story.

Your turn.

Rick 

Sorry for taking so long to come up with a new question. I came across a question I could answer without research and jumped right in without thinking about the consequences. Anyway; here is my question.

This ship's name has been carried by many in the British Royal Navy over the centuries. One was the last of its type built for the navy, Another was the first of its kind. In the WW1 the ship that carried this name met a sudden and tragic end.

What is the name? 

HMS Majestic

Would it be Vanguard?  Last 2 before the missle sub were battleships, the WW1 version being lost do to an internal explosion, and the one after that was the last British battleship built

OK I'll chime in with some trivial trivia....

Which American Naval vessel at Pearl Harbor had her name derived from a fictional female character from a novel?

Not the answer I am looking for, but a good one. Helena was a character in Greek mythology, technically not a literary novel. But realistically I'm sure someone at sometime has put her in one. 

The light cruiser Helena was at Pearl Harbor... so if no figures out another answer in the next, say, 48 hours or so, CL-50 will be close enough. 

Also, the character I'm looking for is tied to larger vessel and is included in a display at Disneyland.

schoonerbumm wrote:

OK I'll chime in with some trivial trivia.... Which American Naval vessel at Pearl Harbor had her name derived from a fictional female character from a novel?

Repair Ship (AR)      Medusa      (AR-1)

Like Helena, Medusa and Vesta are from ancient mythology rather than literary novels.

When I framed the question, I wouldn't have considered either of these vessels as, technically, "warships" (my father in law served on AR-5 Vulcan)... but on Dec. 7th, AR-1 Medusa proved differently,

from DANFS:

"On 7 December 1941, Medusa was at Pearl Harbor. During the action there, she helped to down two Japanese planes and sink a midget submarine, in addition to rendering assistance to numerous stricken vessels. At the end of the attack Medusa undertook the task for which she was designed, getting and keeping the ships in fighting condition."

It's amazing what these threads unveil.

I'm not sure that Vesta was at Pearl Harbor (confusion with Vestal?).

Last hint, the vessel whose name found its derivaton from this character was a BB.

Hmmm....I think something downright diabolical is going on here.  The battleships present at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 were the Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia - plus the old battleship Utah, which had been redesignated a floating target.  Maybe I'm revealing my weak knowledge of literature, but I can't think of a female fictional character with any of those names.  (Now, if we were trying to figure out the name of a musical comedy shared by a battlship at Pearl Harbor, that'd be easy.)  I think it's far more likely, though, that we're being victimized (not for the first time) by Schoonerbum's intricate, if slightly twisted, sense of humor.  Stand by for electronic tomatoes, Schoonerbumm.

I'm not aware of any super-official definition of the word "warship," but I'm accustomed to seeing it applied to all good-sized naval vessels (i.e., those larger than boats and operated by navies).  The U.S. Coast Guard also, at least on occasion, refers to its large vessels as warships.  I guess those naval vessels that carry no armament whatever might be exempt from the "warship" label, but I think there's pretty general agreement that it applies to such vessels as amphibious and support craft - at least those that carry guns.   

You're correct she was the Vestal, those being the virgins that waited on Vesta (Vestia); all somehow appropriate to Pearl Harbor.

A BB? They are all streets in San Francisco, down in Mission Bay.

I'm not sure what the definition of a novel is, but I'll have to go with West Virginia. Work that word root!

Virginia was named for a real person... Elizabeth I, the virgin queen.

California, however was named for Califa, a fictional queen of the Amazons. "Fictional" as opposed to mythological... Califa does not show up among the dozens of Amazon queens listed in mythology.

"For two centuries, Europeans believed California to be an island,
as seen on this 1610 map. The derivation of the name "California" was
a mystery until 1862, when scholars "discovered" a novel by the
Spanish writer García Ordóñez de Montalvo called "The Exploits of the
Very Powerful Cavalier Esplandián, Son of the Excellent King Amadis of
Gaul," written in either 1510 or 1521 - and in any case well in
advance of the 1533 discovery of Baja California by the Spanish.

Ordóñez's novel tells the legend of Queen Califa (alternately
transcribed as Califia or Calafia). 

It was very popular at the time, read even by
the great conquistador himself, Hernán Cortéz. In 1524 Cortéz wrote
his king that he expected to find the legendary island of the Amazons
"a few days' sail to the northwest."

When Fortun Jiminéz landed on the rocky coast of Baja California in
1533 and found pearls, it started a rush to find Queen Califa, her
voluptuous maidens and all of the gold, silver and gems mentioned in
the novel. It is not certain if Jiminéz or Hernán Cortéz himself
bestowed the name on the land, but maps showed the peninsula as an
island for the next two hundred years."

Before the cyber vegetables take flight.... Califa shows up in displays at Disneyland and in Government buildings in Sacramento. 

I think Helena was a valid answer, given that I didn't state "BB" instead of "warship", and the arguable line between "mythology" and "literature".

Surface_Line, you are up next.

Well... I was on a different track than I thought because I was thinking "Helen", not "Helena".  It turns out that the city of Helena was named for St Helena, the mother of Constantine.  I just have to accept that remotely, Helena herself was possibly named for Helen of Troy, the character from the Illiad (a novel, as far as I'm concerned, and not mythology at all)  So I feel 75% correct anyway.

I will provide a question after work today, I hope.

Rick