Lost at Sea: Can You Unravel These Naval Mysteries?

What caused the sinking of the SS Atlantic in 1873?

Struck a rock

Fire onboard

Caught in a hurricane

Collided with another ship

The SS Atlantic struck a rock off Nova Scotia in 1873 while carrying passengers to New York; over 560 people died, making it one of the worst maritime disasters of the 19th century.

Which ship vanished after sailing from Rio de Janeiro in 1826?

HMS Beagle

USS Cyclops

HMS Challenger

Mary Celeste

The Mary Celeste is infamous for being found adrift and deserted in 1872, but it actually vanished for a period after sailing from Rio de Janeiro in 1826 before being rediscovered under a different name.

What mysterious fate befell the USS Porpoise in 1854?

Vanished searching for Franklin

Sunk by a mine

Destroyed by fire

Captured by hostile forces

The USS Porpoise disappeared while searching for the lost Franklin expedition in the Arctic in 1854, adding another layer of mystery to the fate of the Franklin crew.

What ship vanished in the Great Lakes in 1958?

SS Carl D. Bradley

HMS Endeavour

USS Langley

RMS Queen Mary

The SS Carl D. Bradley sank in Lake Michigan during a storm in 1958, resulting in the loss of 33 crew members, making it one of the worst maritime disasters in Great Lakes history.

Which ship is famous for vanishing in 1775?

HMS Erebus

HMS Challenger

HMS Sappho

USS Scorpion

HMS Sappho, a British man-of-war, mysteriously disappeared after departing Australia in 1775; its fate remains one of the unsolved mysteries of naval history.

Which vessel was known as the “Queen of the Lakes”?

SS Edmund Fitzgerald

USS Constitution

HMS Bounty

SS Great Eastern

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which famously sank in a Lake Superior storm in 1975, was once known as the “Queen of the Lakes” due to being the largest ship on the Great Lakes at the time of her launch.

What was the fate of the HMS Pandora in 1791?

Sank in a cyclone

Captured by pirates

Wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef

Converted into a hospital ship

HMS Pandora, sent to capture the Bounty mutineers, wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef in 1791, leading to a tragic loss of life among the crew and prisoners.

Which ship was lost with all hands in 1804?

USS Insurgent

HMS Resolute

SS Arctic

USS Thresher

USS Insurgent was lost with all hands during a hurricane in the Caribbean in 1804, with no survivors or wreckage ever found.

Which ship was famously raised from the seabed in 1961?

USS Arizona

Vasa

Mary Rose

HMS Erebus

The Vasa was famously raised from the seabed in 1961, over 330 years after it sank, and is now preserved in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.

What caused the USS Maine to explode in 1898?

Coal bunker fire

Sabotage by Spain

Hit by a mine

Unknown causes

The cause of the explosion that sank the USS Maine in Havana Harbor remains unknown, with theories including a mine, internal explosion, or sabotage.

What was unusual about the disappearance of the Waratah in 1909?

Vanished in calm seas

Only women survived

All children survived

It was a warship

The SS Waratah, often referred to as “Australia’s Titanic,” vanished without a trace in calm seas off the coast of South Africa in 1909, and no wreckage has ever been found.

What was the SS Gairsoppa carrying when it sank in 1941?

Passengers

Aircraft parts

Silver bullion

Military supplies

The SS Gairsoppa was carrying a large cargo of silver bullion when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1941; the wreck was discovered in 2011 with much of the silver recovered.

Which ship sank during its maiden voyage in 1628?

Mary Rose

Vasa

HMS Victoria

USS Monitor

The Vasa sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 due to being top-heavy with insufficient ballast to support its heavy artillery, leading to its sinking in the Stockholm harbor.

What tragic fate befell the USS Indianapolis in 1945?

Sunk by an iceberg

Torpedoed by a Japanese submarine

Caught in a typhoon

Fire on board

The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1945 after delivering parts for the atomic bomb; most of the crew perished in the sinking and subsequent days before rescue.

Which ship disappeared with all hands in 1941?

USS Reuben James

USS Indianapolis

HMS Hood

SS Gairsoppa

HMS Hood was sunk in 1941 by the German battleship Bismarck in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, resulting in the loss of all but three of its 1,418 crew members.

What was the fate of the USS Cyclops, vanished in 1918?

Sank in the Bermuda Triangle

Preserved as a museum

Scrapped in 1946

Converted into a cargo vessel

The USS Cyclops was a US Navy ship that mysteriously disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle in 1918 with 306 crew members and passengers on board, and no trace of the ship has ever been found.

Which ship was known as “The Ghost Ship of the Arctic”?

HMS Terror

USS Maine

RMS Lusitania

SS Edmund Fitzgerald

HMS Terror earned the nickname “The Ghost Ship of the Arctic” after it was abandoned in 1848 during Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition and later discovered in remarkably preserved condition in 2016.

What led to the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912?

Hit by a torpedo

Collision with an iceberg

Onboard fire

Structural failure

The RMS Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City, leading to the deaths of over 1,500 people.

Which vessel was destroyed by an explosion in 1947?

SS Grandcamp

HMS Vanguard

USS Maine

RMS Lusitania

The SS Grandcamp explosion in 1947 in Texas City was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in U.S. history, resulting from the detonation of approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate.

What led to the sinking of the HMS Captain in 1870?

Overturned in a storm

Hit by a torpedo

Ran aground

Caught fire

The HMS Captain capsized during a storm off Cape Finisterre in 1870 due to design flaws that made her top-heavy and unstable, leading to the deaths of nearly 500 people.