Famous Shipwrecks Quiz
Instructions: Set sail through history and recall the great maritime tragedies and legendary lost vessels, from the Titanic to the Lusitania.
- 1.
The RMS Titanic sank in April 1912. In what ocean did she go down?
AThe Atlantic OceanBThe Pacific OceanCThe Arctic OceanDThe Indian Ocean - 2.
The RMS Lusitania was sunk in 1915 during World War I. Which country's submarine torpedoed her?
AGermanyBAustriaCTurkeyDJapan - 3.
The Titanic was famously described as 'unsinkable' before her maiden voyage. Where was she built?
ABelfast, Northern IrelandBLiverpool, EnglandCGlasgow, ScotlandDSouthampton, England - 4.
The USS Arizona was sunk during a surprise attack on December 7, 1941. Where did this happen?
APearl Harbor, HawaiiBManila Bay, PhilippinesCMidway IslandDGuam - 5.
The Mary Rose was a famous warship of which English king when she sank in 1545?
AKing Henry VIIIBKing Henry VIICKing Edward VIDKing Richard III - 6.
In what year was the wreck of the Titanic first discovered on the ocean floor?
A1985B1978C1991D1969 - 7.
The Bismarck was a powerful German battleship sunk in 1941. What type of vessel finally sank her?
ABritish cruisers and destroyersBAmerican aircraft carriersCSoviet submarinesDNorwegian torpedo boats - 8.
The Vasa was a Swedish warship that sank in 1628 on her very first voyage. In which city was she sailing from?
AStockholmBGothenburgCOsloDCopenhagen - 9.
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975, inspiring a famous song by Gordon Lightfoot. On which Great Lake did she sink?
ALake SuperiorBLake MichiganCLake ErieDLake Huron - 10.
How many lifeboats did the Titanic have — far too few for all her passengers and crew?
A20B14C32D8 - 11.
The Endurance was Ernest Shackleton's ship, crushed by ice in 1915. Near which continent did she sink?
AAntarcticaBGreenlandCIcelandDSouth America - 12.
The Andrea Doria sank in 1956 after a collision with which other passenger ship?
AMS StockholmBSS United StatesCRMS Queen ElizabethDSS Ile de France - 13.
The Spanish Armada suffered a famous defeat in 1588. Which country's fleet helped destroy it?
AEnglandBFranceCPortugalDThe Netherlands - 14.
The wreck of the Endurance, Shackleton's ship, was only recently found on the ocean floor. In what year was she finally located?
A2022B2015C2008D2019 - 15.
The RMS Titanic was carrying a famous ancient Egyptian artifact said by some to be cursed. What was it?
AThis is a popular myth — no such artifact was on boardBA mummy from the British MuseumCA golden pharaoh's maskDA carved stone tablet
Answer Key
The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. She struck an iceberg just before midnight on April 14, 1912.
A German U-boat (U-20) torpedoed the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, off the coast of Ireland. The sinking killed nearly 1,200 people and helped turn American public opinion against Germany.
The Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Construction began in 1909 and took about three years to complete.
The USS Arizona was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 1,100 of her crew were killed and she remains on the bottom of the harbor as a memorial today.
The Mary Rose was a favorite warship of King Henry VIII. She sank in the Solent channel near Portsmouth, and her remarkably preserved wreck was raised in 1982 and is now on display in a museum.
The Titanic's wreck was discovered on September 1, 1985, by a joint American-French expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard. She was found resting about 12,500 feet below the surface.
After being crippled by a British torpedo plane that jammed her rudder, the Bismarck was finished off by British cruisers and destroyers on May 27, 1941. The engagement marked the end of Germany's biggest battleship.
The Vasa sank just minutes into her maiden voyage from Stockholm harbor on August 10, 1628. She was recovered in 1961 and is now displayed in her own dedicated museum in Stockholm.
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Lake Superior during a fierce November storm on November 10, 1975, taking all 29 crew members with her. Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 ballad 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' became a hit song.
The Titanic carried only 20 lifeboats, enough for roughly half of the 2,224 people on board. The disaster led to international regulations requiring ships to carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board.
The Endurance became trapped and was crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea near Antarctica. Shackleton famously led his entire crew to safety across hundreds of miles of open ocean in a small lifeboat.
The Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish passenger ship MS Stockholm off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts on July 25, 1956. The Andrea Doria sank the following day, killing 46 people.
England's fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake helped defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. Many surviving Armada ships were then wrecked by storms along the coasts of Scotland and Ireland.
The Endurance was found on March 5, 2022, by the Endurance22 expedition, resting about 10,000 feet below the surface of the Weddell Sea in near-perfect condition after more than 100 years.
The story of a cursed Egyptian mummy aboard the Titanic is a well-known myth with no historical basis. No such artifact was listed on the ship's manifest, but the tale has been retold so many times that many people believe it is true.