Ship Trivia Quiz

what  GMorrison  posted is what i had posted originally til i did a bit more looking & found what i finally posted. how many major variations of the post ww2 "surcouf" class was there & what are they?

The Surcouf class was divided into anti-submarine and anti-aircraft variants.

your turn

 This submarine, in what seems to have had been in an existance of constant controversy, was lost with all hands. No one is sure exactly where, although it is known that she was headed for Tahiti at the time. It is also not positively sure whose side she was on.

 What is the sub's name and what was special about her? Just name one special thing, there are lots to choose from. (Or name several, they make good trivia)

That'd be the NN3 Surcouf; French submarine (or underwater cruiser).

In the spirit of full disclosure I had NO idea what the answer was, but a little searching yielded the answer.

There's so much story about this boat to tell, I can only say look up the Wiki reference:

en.wikipedia.org/.../French_submarine_Surcouf_%28N_N_3%29

Many years ago I started my fascination of things that sail with the classic "The Ship; an Illustrated History" by Landstrom. On page 270 there's a beautiful rendering of the strangest submarine I had ever seen, with two 8" guns in a forward turret and a float plane on the rear deck. Frankly I had not given it another thought until today, when reading the above article reminded me of the drawing.

The connection to Marlin is included.

One piece of trivia- she was the largest submarine ever built at the time of her sinking.

You nailed it, GM. That article makes for some good reading. Ask away!

Who-dis?

John Philip Holland  en.wikipedia.org/.../John_Philip_Holland

That's it. Your turn.

I thought it was Hyman's ol' pappy. Like father, like son.

what was the mogami originally built as?

The class was originally designed as light cruisers with provisions to allow for switching the six inch main armament to  eight inch in order to bypass the London Naval Treaty.

your turn

Name just one famous ship that was rebuilt in this dock into a completely different type.

USS Merrimack. She was originally a fully rigged screw frigate.

BTW that's Drydock 1 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It was completed in 1834.

USS Merrimack to CSS Virginia in what was Gosport Shipyard and what is now named Norfolk Naval Shipyard. This drydock was the first in the United States, built in 1833, and is still in use to this day.

The next question is yours, GM.

The USN lost seven destroyers in one evening. When, where, why?

Honda Point Disaster  September 8, 1923 en.wikipedia.org/.../Honda_Point_Disaster

Yes. 14 Clemson Class destroyers en route from San Francisco to Santa Barbara turned east about 25 miles too soon in fog.  12 went aground, 5 were able to back off the rocks, but 7 were lost along with 23 crew.

The historic Southern Pacific Coast Line runs through the area in what is now Vandenburg AFB. A track walker discovered a collection of survivors and sent for help.

Your turn ddp.

what happened to mogami's 6" guns & turrets?

The 6" guns and turrets were installed on the Yamato class BBs and in coastal emplacements.

your turn.

This US submarine was a unique boat. Its quiet was only equalled by the later Ohio class and finally surpassed by the Seawolf class. Elements of her propulsion system were used by later US submarine classes, but none used all of her innovations.

What submarine was this and what were some of her unique innovations?

I was gonna offer the USS Skipjack, but the only innovation I could recall on her was her teardrop hull.

Also, I have no followup question if I'm correct.

SSN-671 USS Narwhal. One particular innovation, and pardon my lack of technical knowledge, is that the reactor cooling system could have the pumps turned off and work on gravity only.

Not a question for the game since I may be wrong with the above, but why do the Seawolfs start over with low numbers?.

First, you are correct so you get to ask the next question.

GMorrison

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Not a question for the game since I may be wrong with the above, but why do the Seawolfs start over with low numbers?.

Second, (from Navsite);

  Another mistake is the ship’s number, SSN 21. This number was created by Vice Admiral N. Thunman. He said that the submarine for the 21^st century should be named SSN 21. By doing so he made the mistake that every ship’s number can only be given once and the number "21" was already given in 1912.

After that class of boats, the numbering picked back up with SSN-774 USS Virginia, also a lead ship of a new class.

Thanks, and thanks for the info. My own personal suspicion is that Ron Thunman wore # 21 when he played football at the University of Illinois, but conclusive proof is not yet available. I assure you I will find it, though...

Question soon...

What American surface unit was sunk by a British ship?

In which war? The Falklands, maybe??