Time for a maritime challenge! Think you’re an expert on Irish ships? Test your knowledge and find out in our seriously tricky quiz!
1. Next year a new OPV will join the Irish Naval fleet. After which Irish literary giant will it
Time for a maritime challenge! Think you’re an expert on Irish ships? Test your knowledge and find out in our seriously tricky quiz!
1. Next year a new OPV will join the Irish Naval fleet. After which Irish literary giant will it be named?
The LÉ George Bernard Shaw is expected to join the fleet next year and will be the fourth Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). The name follows in same vein as the other ships in this class named for some of Ireland’s greatest literary giants, LÉ Samuel Beckett, LÉ James Joyce and LÉ William Butler Yeats.
2. The RMS Leinster was one of a number of ships painted with unusual markings during the First World War. What were the markings for?
Dazzle camouflage was an innovative technique used in the First World War and a lesser extent in the Second. Blending completely into the background was not an option so the aim was to confuse the enemy by painting ships in unusual and often beautiful geometric shapes and patterns. They had mixed results and the RMS Leinster was painted in these markings when it was sunk by a U-boat off Dublin Bay in 1918.
3. The Asgard famously landed guns in Howth in 1914. What was the name of the second gun running boat that landed in secret at Kilcoole a week later?
Unlike the Howth landing which was met with fanfare the Kilcoole gun landing operation was kept quiet. After the Kelpie split ways with the Asgard it was met by the Chotah and offloaded her armament. The Chotah held on to the cargo while the Kelpie sailed across the Irish Sea acting as a decoy for the Asgard. The Chotah continued the journey and a week later under the cover of darkness the guns were offloaded to the beach where they were met by a small number of volunteers and their supporters who hurried away with the guns in the night to be stashed and stored away.
4. What was the name of the group of Irish ships who risked all to maintain the essential balance of trade during the Second World War?
As the battle raged in the Atlantic neutral Ireland was locked within a war zone. But vital trade needed to continue and we simply couldn’t afford to stay out of the water. The Irish Mercantile Marine were prepared to work despite the appalling and terrifying conditions. They took supreme risks and boldly traveled the treacherous waters, suffering heavy losses, all to maintain the balance of essential trade. They relied on their neutral markings, identifying themselves by painting the Irish tricolour and EIRE in large letters on the sides of their ships and deck.
5. In what year did divers discover the wreck of the RMS Lusitania that sank off Cork in 1915?
On 7th May 1915 the luxury liner RMS Lusitania was fired upon by a U-boat and sank some 11 miles off Kinsale, Co. Cork. This remains one of the greatest disasters to occur in Irish waters. On 6th October 1935 the wreck of the RMS Lusitania located off the southwest coast. Three weeks later the first dive to place to uncover the rumoured treasure that sank with the ship.
6. How many dogs joined Ern