Ship Trivia Quiz

Praying Mantis is not the correct answer. Iranian frigates were either disabled or sunk by airfired missiles or shipfired missiles. I believe only one frigate was actually fired upon by surface ship artillery aftering be disabled by other means. The oil platforms do not qualify.

Please continue with the search.

The HMS Alacrity sank the Argentinian 3900-ton supply ship ARA Isla de los Estados with 15 rounds from 1 2.5-inch gun during the Falklands War in 1982, but is a supply ship a warship?

The cruiser HMS Newfoundland sank the Egyptian frigate Domiat on 31 October 1956 during the Suez Campaign. Is this the one?

Rick

Guess that means I need to find another question? Here's an easy one....

This sailor was born in Norfolk. He was shot by a sharpshooter on the enemy's flagship whilst onboard his own flagship, HMS Victory.  He died two days later. What was the name of the ship from which the fatal shot was fired?

Rick

     Admiral Nelson was hit by a marksman from French REDOUTABLE, which was alongside his flagship VICTORY. The bullet entered Nelson's left shoulder, pierced his lung and entered his spine. He was carried below by a sargeant-major of the marines and two seamen. Nelson died three hours later after being shot.

     Today, marks the 204th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar.

                    Montani semper liberi !   Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                                         Crackers   

No, it was not Redoubtable! Read the question again.

Rick

No, the original one, my home over here in the UK.

Rick

The subject of my question was definitely not shot by a marksman on the Redoutable.

Rick

I think the answer may be Ridderschap van Holland. 

The H.M.S. Victory in question was the one built in 1620 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victory_(1620) ), the event took place during the Four Days' Battle of 1666 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Days_Battle ), and the admiral who was killed by the sharpshooter was Adm. Sir Christopher Myngs ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Myngs ). 

Good question, RickF.  You sent us off quite skilfully in the wrong direction.  The giveaway was the statement that the admiral died some days later.  (Nelson, of course, died on the afternoon of Trafalgar.)

   Rick....My hat tip to you. That was indeed a very clever question you offered about the VICTORY. I fell into your trap as you intended. I knew that there were several ships in the British navy starting in the late 16th century named VICTORY. On reading your question later, I thought you might be referring to Sir John Balchen's VICTORY, wrecked on the Casquets Rocks in 1744, but the historical record does not support this thought.

              Montani semper liberi !   Happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                                   Crackers    

Well done Professor! The coincidence of it being Trafalgar Day was too much to resist, coupled with the fact that I had read about Sir Christopher Myngs a few weeks ago and was struck by the uncanny similarities between him and Nelson.

They were born within 20 miles of each other in Norfolk (altough 133 years apart). Both were Vice-Admirals. Both were killed on board HMS Victory, shot by sharpshooters in the rigging of opposing vessels. Both were shot through the left shoulder...Spooky, eh?

The floor is yours.

Rick

Ok, here goes.  I'm not really a movie buff, but it seems that lots of my trivia questions have to do with Hollywood - so here's another one.  (It's conceivable that it may have more answers than the three I'm thinking about.  If that turns out to be the case, I will of course give credit to any correct answer.)

Name three Hollywood movies, all in color and all made after WWII, that feature destroyers of the Benson/Gleaves/Livermore class (or modified versions thereof).

Yep - two more to go. 

This raises an interesting question:  what are we gonna do if two or three people contribute to the right answer?  Has that happened before?

The ship in "The Enemy Below" was a Buckley-class destroyer escort; the last scene was, I think, shot on board a Sumner- or Gearing-class destroyer.  I don't recall a Benson/Gleaves/Livermore-class ship in "Tora,Tora,Tora"; I imagine all, or most, of that class was gone by the time the movie was made.  Maybe somebody can correct me on that point.

In any case, even if "Tora,Tora,Tora" is right, we only have two of the three.

Hmm....Maybe it's time for a hint.

Two of the flicks in question - one of which has already been correctly identified - clearly fall in the traditional category of "war movies."  The other one most definitely doesn't.  It's set in peacetime - and the ship only appears in the first and last scenes. 

The Bedford Incident

Mark

I haven't seen "The Bedford Incident" in quite a few years, but as I remember it was done mostly with models - of 1960s-vintage ships.  I think the Bedford was either a King-class or Charles Francis Adams-class destroyer, complete with ASROC and other high-tech modern weapons.  And in some shots she mysteriously turned into a British ship (the movie was made in England). 

And "The Bedford Incident," unless I'm much mistaken, was in black-and-white.  All three of the movies I'm thinking about are in color.

By the way, I can also remember reading the book back when I was in high school.  I really enjoyed it - and I remember thinking the movie didn't come up to the book's standard.  The moviemakers changed the ending a bit, and made the parallels with Moby Dick less prominent.  Now that my memory's been jogged, I may see if I can scare up a copy of it and re-read it.

The Bedford Incident was a shot in the dark - I didn't think it was right but was too tired last night to check it out.  You were correct about the British ships - the frigates HMS Wakeful and HMS Troubridge were used for the "live action" shots in the film.  The model was supposedly a Farragut-class US destroyer.

Mark

OK,

How about On the Town with USS Swanson in the background in the opening and closing scenes. 

Still looking for a third.