Famous Shipwrecks of History
Instructions: From the Titanic to ancient Bronze Age cargo ships, discover the dramatic true stories behind history's most memorable losses at sea.
- 1.
On what date did the RMS Titanic sink after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic?
AApril 10, 1912BApril 12, 1912CApril 15, 1912DApril 18, 1912 - 2.
Which American oceanographer led the expedition that discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985?
ARobert BallardBJacques CousteauCSylvia EarleDDon Walsh - 3.
Approximately how deep does the Titanic wreck rest on the ocean floor?
AAbout 3,500 feetBAbout 6,000 feetCAbout 9,500 feetDAbout 12,500 feet - 4.
What type of vessel sank the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania in May 1915?
AA German surface warshipBA German submarineCA floating sea mineDA collision with another ship - 5.
In which of the Great Lakes did the ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald sink in November 1975?
ALake SuperiorBLake MichiganCLake HuronDLake Erie - 6.
Which Canadian folk singer wrote and recorded a famous 1976 song honoring the SS Edmund Fitzgerald?
AJohn DenverBHarry ChapinCGordon LightfootDJames Taylor - 7.
In which year did the Mary Rose, a flagship of King Henry VIII's navy, sink in the Solent?
A1514B1545C1588D1620 - 8.
In which English city is the raised and restored hull of the Mary Rose now displayed for visitors?
ALondonBBristolCPlymouthDPortsmouth - 9.
In which city can you visit the Vasa Museum, home to the world's only preserved 17th-century warship?
AStockholm, SwedenBOslo, NorwayCCopenhagen, DenmarkDHelsinki, Finland - 10.
The Swedish warship Vasa sank in 1628 — on what kind of voyage did this disaster take place?
AA return voyage from battleBIts final trip before retirementCIts very first voyageDA test trip following major repairs - 11.
Which nation's navy hunted down and sank the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941?
AThe United StatesBBritainCCanadaDNorway - 12.
The Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sank in 1956 after colliding with which ship?
AThe SS United StatesBThe RMS Queen MaryCThe SS ConstitutionDThe MS Stockholm - 13.
Approximately how many people lost their lives when the RMS Titanic sank in April 1912?
AAbout 1,500BAbout 700CAbout 2,100DAbout 400 - 14.
The ancient Uluburun shipwreck, dating to about 1300 BCE and containing a priceless Bronze Age cargo, was discovered off the coast of which modern-day country?
AGreeceBItalyCTurkeyDCyprus - 15.
Off the coast of which country did the RMS Lusitania sink after being torpedoed in 1915?
AEnglandBIrelandCFranceDScotland
Answer Key
The Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14 and sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, taking approximately 1,500 lives with her.
Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found the Titanic on September 1, 1985, using a remote-controlled camera sled called Argo, roughly 370 miles south of Newfoundland.
The Titanic lies about 12,500 feet — nearly 2.4 miles — below the surface of the North Atlantic, making visits by submersible an extraordinary feat of deep-sea exploration.
German submarine U-20 fired a torpedo into the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, off the coast of Ireland; the great liner sank in just 18 minutes, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard.
The Edmund Fitzgerald vanished beneath Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, during a violent storm, taking all 29 crew members to the bottom — the lake's deadliest recorded shipping disaster.
Gordon Lightfoot's 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,' released in 1976, became one of his signature songs and has kept the memory of the 29 lost crew members alive for generations.
The Mary Rose sank on July 19, 1545, during an engagement with French forces in the Solent — the strait between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight — and lay on the seabed for over 430 years.
After being raised from the seabed in 1982 — a moment watched live on television by millions — the Mary Rose was moved to a specially built museum in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard, where she is preserved today.
The Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, houses the remarkably well-preserved warship that was salvaged from Stockholm harbor in 1961 after resting on the bottom for 333 years.
The Vasa capsized and sank on August 10, 1628, almost immediately after leaving Stockholm harbor — she never even cleared the harbor on her maiden voyage.
The Royal Navy sank the Bismarck on May 27, 1941, just three days after the German battleship had destroyed the British flagship HMS Hood, killing all but three of Hood's 1,418 crew.
On July 25, 1956, the Andrea Doria and the Swedish passenger ship MS Stockholm collided in dense fog off Nantucket; the Andrea Doria sank the next morning, claiming 46 lives.
Of the 2,224 people on board, approximately 1,500 perished — the disaster led directly to major improvements in maritime safety laws, including the requirement to carry enough lifeboats for everyone aboard.
Discovered near the town of Kas on Turkey's southern coast in 1982, the Uluburun wreck is one of the oldest known shipwrecks ever excavated and yielded copper ingots, ivory, glass, and artifacts from many ancient civilizations.
The Lusitania sank about 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale on Ireland's southern coast; the loss of 128 American lives among the dead helped fuel anti-German sentiment in the United States.