Ship Trivia Quiz

Arizona seems the obvious answer for the warship, but when he specified "merchant ship" I immediately thought of the Exxon Valdez.  About as many movies about that ship as of the Maine, though.

For the Arizona, for some reason best known to the demons inside my head I focused on Pearl Harbor rather than Tora Tora Tora.  I never thought I would laud the qualities of TTT over another movie, but it has Pearl Harbor beat hands-down.  But try as I might, I couldn't find any connections.

Is there a movie, perhaps, about the Edmund Fitzgerald?

Yes, it's a good one!

My first thoughts were Maine and Titanic too, but if there are any feature films about the Maine, I've been unable to find them. Does it make a "cameo appearance" in another Spanish-American War film? "Message to Garcia", maybe?

Rick

Well guys, I guess we asked for this one, didn't we? The next time our good professor answers a question correctly and is reluctant to ask a follow-up, we might not want to pressure him so hard or we'll end up with a LuLu like this one! 

I am supposing that John is referring to the Arizona and Titanic. (Maybe the Maine and Lusitania?)

Well, ok; here goes.  This is a movie-related question - the sort that calls for "connecting" movies by way of actors who starred in them.

What's the connection between two movies that featured (arguably) the most famous warship sinking in American history and (just about unarguably) the most famous merchant ship sinking in anybody's history? 

jtilley wrote:

Thanks, eaglecentral.  I'm in full agreement; my poor old haflzeimer's-afflicted brain hasn't been able to come up with a decent (or indecent) question.  Please consider the floor open.

Hey! What's up with that, Professor?? !!  I'll bet your students would appreciate your halfzeimer's brain at test time, but you are an honored member of an elite (except for me) forum here. C'mon now, just a half hearted question... we won't laugh.

In view of jtilley's reluctance to provide a question, I'll declare the floor open to any interested party to provide the next question.

Tom S.

jtilley,

Even without the name of the ship in question, which was Leonid Krasin, I'm going to give you an OK on this question.

The Leonid Krassin was a purposely designed ice breaker built in Britain in 1916-1917 and launched under the name Svyatogor.  It had a long and interesting career.  When it was loaned to the US in 1941, it was in pretty poor condition, the survey of the ship found thousands of loose rivets, however, Congress appropriated $500,000 for it.  Before the deal to lease/purchase the ship was closed, the Germans invaded Russia and the Russians took the ship back for immediate war duty.  The ship was in regular service up through 1972 and made it's last voyage among Northern European ports in 1990.

The Leonid Krasin is a member of the International Historic Naval Ships Association and is now a floating icebreaker museum in St Petersburg.

As a result of the survey, many of it's features were built into the American Wind class icebreakers which served with the Russian, American, and Canadian navies in WWII and beyond.

jtilley, you've got the next question.

Tom S.

Time for another hint.....?

From among the class of ships that resulted from the loan, three of them were loaned to the Soviet Union under lend lease and were returned in the early '50s.

Hmmmmm....no bites yet.......I think I'll give a hint:

When the US Secretary of State asked to borrow the ship, he was asking on behalf of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Gotta be some connection there somewhere.

Tom S.

In the summer of 1941, the US Secretary of State, in friendly negotiations with the Soviet Union, was able to borrow a "specialty" ship from the USSR for one year.

QUESTION:   What was the name of the borrowed ship and what class of American naval vessels was the result?

Didn't think that one would last long!

Apparently the pneumatic dynamite gun's best feature was its psychological effect - since the enemy didn't hear it fire, the resulting surprise arrival of a 15-inch shell did not improve their morale!

Over to you again, Tom.

The projectiles were indeed moved by compressed air.  The pressure was adjusted to control the range.

The design was an attempt to launch a large amount of explosives without setting it off in the process.  Range was a problem and one model was able to propel a quarter ton of dynamite four miles, however, the Vesuvius range was reported to be about a mile and a half.  The biggest drawback to the design was that the ship itself had to be aimed at the target because the guns were built into the longitudinal axis of the hull.

Tom S.

Ahoy RickF,

This ship was Dnyamite!

I believe you refer to the cruiser USS Vesuvius.    It's main battery consited of three 15 inch dynamite guns designed by Edmund Zalinski.  The guns were used in action to bombard Satiago, Cuba in 1898 and got a good report by Admiral Sampson. 

Tom S.

Thanks. Here's a quickie that should not last long!

Going on from my earlier question, which unique USN ship was fitted with three 15-inch guns?

Rick

Late in 1918 the Austrian government decided to give this ship to the newly-formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Yugoslavia). This move would have avoided handing the fleet to the Allies, since the new state had declared neutrality. However, the former Austro-Hungarian fleet was soon targeted by the Italians. Viribus Unitis was sunk at anchor at Pula by a limpet mine attached by the crew of an Italian mignatta human torpedo on 1 November 1918, three days before the end of the war and only hours after command had been assumed by the new Croatian captain, who went down with the ship while the crew panicked.

Rick

Thanks, Tom.  OK, here is another:

Of the four dreadnoughts of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, two were sunk. Which one was not sunk in battle and how was it sunk?

subfixer,

You are correct.  I always thought that the business of borrowing powder to return the salute was great.  Nice to deal with a polite enemy.

The next question is yours.

Tom S.

subfixer wrote:

Glass commanded USS Charleston and was alloted two days for the capture. The fort had been abandoned some years before and the local government wasn't even aware that Spain and the United States were at war.The Spanish surrendered without firing a shot.

Oh, and after the initial bombardment, a Spanish officer went aboard the Charleston in order to borrow some gunpowder so that they could return the salute that they thought the Charleston had rendered. 

On June 20, 1898 a US Navy warship under the command of Capt Henry Glass fired upon Fort Santa Cruz on the island of Guam.

QUESTION:  What ship did Capt Glass Command and how did the Spanish respond to the shelling of their fort?

For extra credit:  How much time did Capt Glass's sealed orders expect the capture of Guam to take?