Ship Trivia Quiz

No she's neither of these, just to clarify it is the 1906 Dreadnought she pre dates by some thirty years, although she also pre-dates the earlier one.

Slightly cryptic clue - she is Englands Glory

Then I guess it must be HMS Warrior!?

Excellent bryan, I'm impressed,

 It is HMS Devastation, (1873) the first specifically designed ocean going  battleship not to carry sails. She was armed with two turrets each with two 12" guns, and is the direct ancestor of the modern battleship.

here shown in 1896

note; the cryptic clue refers her depiction on the Englands Glory matchboxes.

Back to you again

Thank you George!

Well, and another first then.

QUESTION: What was the first warship powered by steam turbines?

I think the Turbinia was the first vessel to have a steam turbine, and I  believe the French were fitting them in a motor torpedo boat, (which put the wind up the Admiralty when they saw how fast they were) - but I exclude them as not being ships.

Is it HMS Viper, a destroyer.

Damn, that was quick! I reckoned most people would have thought HMS Dreadnought was the first.

Well done George, you're next!

I really must stop doing this, I am not getting any work done on my current build

bump

Maybe a hint!?

A clue;

We've seen her like before, but she was not as lucky; she had two disasters but it was the second one that changed thinking.

Is it HMS Thunderer (again a Devastation class battleship)? She had two major incidents. First there was a boiler explosion in 1876 which killed 45 people. Then, in 1879, one of her 12-inch muzzle-loading guns exploded due to double-loading after a misfire. This time 11 people were killed. This incident led to the introduction of breech-loading guns (already used in France and Prussia).

Doesn't need much of a hint for you to get the range of the Question Bryan, that is the answer I was looking for.

The British Navy abandoned breech loading in 1864, because they couldn't get the breech seal right, it took the Thunderer accident and Questions in the house to get them to re-adopt the system post 1879, although in truth I suspect they had been working on it anyway, particularly as the French had it in operation.

Thank you for your kind words George!

Next QUESTION:

On this particular day in March 1940 the skies above Southampton were filled with Luftwaffe bombers expecting to find a very coveted target there. What was the target and what went ‘wrong'?

They were expecting to find RMS Queen Elizabeth, which was due to sail from the Clyde to Southampton for fitting out. The crew were signed on, hotels booked in Southampton and parts sent overland from Glasgow. However, it was all a ruse, the ship was intecepted at sea and sailed directly to New York.

Rick

Great stunt wasn't it!? I can imagine Hitler having one of his fits of rage over it

You're up Rick!

Thanks Bryan. For my question, I'm going back to "firsts"...

The first operational iron warship was built for a navy no longer in existence. What was the name of the ship and which navy?

Rick

Could it be the HEIC Nemesis 1839? HEIC stands for Honourable East India Company. I suppose they were kind of a navy. The company no longer exists as it was dissolved in 1874.

Bryan is correct. The turtle ships were, I think, wooden vessels with  iron plating.

The Nemesis, built by Lairds for the Bengal Marine, a naval arrm of the Honorable East India Company, was an iron-hulled paddle frigate. Ordered in 1835 and launched in 1839, she was armed with two 32-pounder and four 6-pounder guns and served with distinction during the First Opium War (1841-43).

Over to you again, Bryan.

Thank you Rick.

Next QUESTION:

Sailors wouldn't want to cross this line on just any day of the week! Why?

The International Date Line is correct. But the reason isn't.

Seamen, especially those on sailing vessels, were concerned about something far more important (they usually weren't paid until they signed off at arrival back at their home port anyway).

GROG!!!

They would ideally want to cross the International Date Line on the day they get their Grog ration, so the next day they can get it again?

Getting close...

Well, if the late Eric Newby was a member of this forum he'd know the answer straight away! So does (or should ) anyone who has read his book The Last Grain Race (or any similar book).

The keyword here is Sunday!

This day usually was a sailors' day off! The rest of the week the watches were occupied with all kinds of chores. Not a minute was wasted. All this accompanied by chronic hunger and fatigue. A sailors' life was hard.

But then there was Sunday. Apart from sailing the ship (obviously) no other work had to be carried out. Finally they had time for themselves. Cleaning, laundries, mending clothes, model making or just relaxing were favorite pastimes. Depending on the cook even the food might be a little more special. To put it simple: Sunday was sacred!

Imagine crossing the IDL from east to west. An extra day would then be added. If they crossed on a Sunday, the next day again would be...Sunday. Great!

Now imagine crossing the IDL from west to east. A day will be subtracted. Saturday is immediately followed by Monday. No Sunday at all....OMG. It all depended on the good will of the captain to provide any compensation.

I guess Subfixer kind of answered the question, he came up with Sunday. Let's move on, this was a bad question. Subfixer you're next!

I'll take this one by backing up to it with my hand behind me as I don't really think I earned it. But, anyway.....

Who is the man who made the following statement?

"When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience in nearly forty years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course there have been winter gales, and storms and fog and the like. But in all my experience, I have never been in any accident ... of any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort."

Hmmm, from the top of my head: sure sounds like something Sir Edgar Britten could have said. Although I hope I'm wrong because I don't have a decent question ready yet

Best not to tempt fate, particularly when you are about to take the worlds largest liner out on her maiden voyage, eh Captain Smith.