Ship Trivia Quiz

alumni72 wrote:

I had to look it up, but it wasn't too hard to find. However, I shall hold my tongue (or my fingers?), because I dropped the ball last time.  Sorry about that.

Go ahead and answer it Alumni72, we're not mad! All is forgiven, but just ask a question no matter how simple you think it is. It keeps the thread moving.

alumni72,

I'll second that.  Please post an official answer and let's move on.

Tom S.

Okay, okay - his name was Daniel Frazier.  Nobody at the time was sure if it was Frazier or James who threw themselves in front of Decatur to protect him - it is known that James was certainly vocal about having done so, but both were wounded during the battle.

DD602, USS Frazier (Benson class), was named after him - earned 12 battle stars in the Pacific in WW2, and was credited with sinking 2 Japanese subs, one by ramming.

The problem with me isn't answering the question (although that's hard enough), so much as it is coming up with a new one afterwards.  But here goes:

When the USS Panay was sunk by Japanese aircraft in December 1937, three gunboats from two different nations came to her aid - one of which was herself holed below the waterline by Jap artillery at the same time the Panay had been attacked.

What two nations were these ships from, and what were their names?

alumni72,

You are correct!

I try to take-off the pressure of thinking up a new question on-the-spot by having a new question standing-by in the ready question locker before I answer the last question.  I write it up on Microsoft word at my leisure and save it.  When I need it, I copy it to the reply page.  I find it much easier this way and it makes the thread go faster.

Tom S.

As far as I am aware, no other gunboats were involved in the actual incident, just Panay and some oil tankers.

Three days after the crew had made it to shore, they were rescued by the gunboats HMS Bee, HMS Ladybird and USS Oahu. Bee and Ladybird had earlier come under Japanese artillery fire.

Rick

Those are the ones that I found, I think Ladybird was hit by artillery with the loss of one sailor and four wounded.

Here is the link I mentioned before:  http://www.usspanay.org/

Sorry for the delay - it was our high school's homecoming game this evening (we won).

Rick, you got it - batter up!

And for anybody interested, the website that subfixer linked to has some excellent-quality film footage of the incident and a very detailed account of the events both at home and in China. It even has a filmed interview with the last living member of the Panay.  The narrator, however, seems to be of the opinion tht Panay should be pronouced differently from how I always felt it would be pronounced - which is how the crewmember pronounces it (the second 'a' should be a long a, as in razor, as opposed to the narrator's pronunciation, which is 'ai', as in Saigon.

OK, let's get away from warships and battles this time....

The first took just over three years. The fastest just over fifty-seven days. Name the two vessels.

Rick

RickF wrote:

OK, let's get away from warships and battles this time.... The first took just over three years. The fastest just over fifty-seven days. Name the two vessels. Rick

The first circumnavigation of the globe using sail was achieved by Victoria, one of Ferdinand Magellan's ships, piloted by Juan Sebastion Elcano. The fastest was achieved by Francis Joyon in the IDEC.

Sorry - only half way there!

Rick

Well, I would have said the USS Nautilus for the fastest, but I haven't followed records like that, so it's probably hopelessly out of date.  the net only gives back hits on solo ventures, it seems.

This is assuming that the first is, indeed, correct - which I think it is, since the Trinidad never made it back to Spain but the Victoria did.

Once again, the facts have got in the way of what I thought was a straightforward question! I based my question on single-handed circumnavigations, but overlooked the fact that both Magellan's expedition and Slocum (in Spray) took "just over three years". So, the prize goes to Subfixer -again!

Rick

The first vessel to cross the Atlantic under continuous steam power was the paddle steamer Sirius, steaming from London to Cork to New York in April, 1838. 

Sirius had been fitted with Samuel Hall's surface condensers which allowed the use of fresh water in her boilers. Previous vessels had to shut down their engines periodically and proceed under sail power while the crew cleaned accumulated salt from their boilers.

schoonerbumm wrote:

The first vessel to cross the Atlantic under continuous steam power was the paddle steamer Sirius, steaming from London to Cork to New York in April, 1838.  Sirius had been fitted with Samuel Hall's surface condensers which allowed the use of fresh water in her boilers. Previous vessels had to shut down their engines periodically and proceed under sail power while the crew cleaned accumulated salt from their boilers.

You have it, schoonerbumm.  Sirius  was a coastal packet and didn't have quite enough coal to make it the entire way which forced the crew to burn furniture and the like. Next question to you.

Continuing the ship tech thread...

What (and when) was the first tubine powered vessel launched in the United States?

This is a long shot because I can't find any information about this ship but it's name.

The Creole, in 1906.  Was closely followed by the two passenger ships Harvard and Yale in 1907.

Tom S.

I'm back after a long time with out a PC. But I will just throw out a tidbit of info. Not related to the question.

60AD Hero's Engine (aeolipile) - apparently Hero's steam engine was taken to be no more than a toy, and thus its full potential not realized for centuries.

Creole is not the vessel I'm looking for... though that doesn't mean it isn't the correct answer.

Do you have a launch date and particulars on her construction? 

How about Westinghouse's engine for the collier USS Neptune, launched in 1911.

Rick

Alas....I can't find any other detail on the Creole:

However, I submit the  SS Governor Cobb as the first steam turbine ship built in the US.  It was built in the Roach Shipyard in Chester Pa for the Eastern Steamship Company and launched on April 21, 1906. The link below is from page 340 of the MIT Technology Review IX  from 1907.

http://books.google.com/books?id=UQ4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA340&lpg=PA340&dq=tests+on+the+ss+governor+cobb&source=bl&ots=_kmrBxdkgk&sig=-MovYdgQzJ5GK1RHWNVY92v7fSI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

I also have a reference from the NY Times archive with a column headline concerning the SS Governor Cobb dated April 22, 1906 that announces FIRST TURBINE LAUNCHED Built for the Eastern Steamship Company in Pennsylvania, but you have to access the NY Times website via a password to view it.

Tom S.

jtilley,

Your very interesting addition to Governor Cobb's story is icing on the cake of this historical ship!

New QUESTION:

This ship got around!  It claimed several firsts among its list of historic honors.  It bankrupted its famous builder.  It played a part in the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, World War I and even after it was all but gone and nearly forgotten, it assisted one of the heroes of the Battle of the River Plate get home.  What is the name of this famous ship and where is it now?

I think we're talking about the SS Great Britain.

She was designed by I K Brunel and launched in 1843. Between 1855 and 1858, she was used as a troopship during the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. Later converted to a sailing ship. After a fire in 1886, damaged beyond repair, she was sold to the Falkland Islands Company and used as a storage hulk until the 1930s, when she was scuttled and abandoned. In her role as coal bunker, she served to refuel the South Atlantic fleet that defeated von Spee's fleet  in the Battle of the Falkland Islands (1914). In the Second World War, some of her steel was scavenged to repair HMS Exeter, badly damaged in the Battle of the River Plate.

In 1970 she was returned to the UK, to the Bristol dock where she had been built and where she is now on exhibition.  www.ssgreatbritain.org

Rick

RickF,

Yes.  The SS Great Britain is correct.  The next question is yours.

Tom S.

OK, here's a "quickie"...

Which vessel was the largest ever to sail rigged as a two-masted brig? And, just to forestall any "off the wall" answers, I mean built as a brig, not some giant clipper which might have lost a mast and been jury-rigged!

Rick

Definitely not a quickie!

I think the brig in question is the HMS Temeraire, launched in 1876.  It was an iron hulled warship of 8450 tons, was 280 ft long with a 60 ft beam.  Most brigs at the time were between 100-200 tons.

Tom S.

Good research on Tom's part, but..... 

Temeraire was known as the "Great Brig", and with 25,000 sq. ft. of sail and over 8500 tons, was the largest brig rigged vessel ever built, but,

... note the two stacks. She had two boilers,over 7500 hp of steam power and twin screws.  

Does a steamer count as a brig?