Maritime Disasters Quiz

Year

What happened?

Casualties

Ship

2014

This Korean ferry, carrying 325 high school students, sinks

306

2012

A reckless captain strikes an underwater rock off the Tuscan island of Giglio

32

2010

This drilling rig explodes and spills oil into the Gulf of Mexico

31

2000

This Russian submarine sinks in the Barents Sea.
The government of Russia was heavily criticized for its hesitant involvement

118

1994

A leaky bow let this ferry sink on its way from Tallinn to Stockholm

852

1989

This notorious oil tanker runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
Its oil spill kills at least 250,000 animals

n/a

1987

The sinking of this Philippine ferry marks
the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history

4,386

1945

The sinking of this German ship marks the largest loss of life in a single ship

9,343

1941

Almost half of all the casualties of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
occurred in the sinking of this battleship

1,177

1917

This largest man-made explosion happens in a Nova Scotia city

1,950

1916

This hospital ship, to this day still the largest ocean liner
lying on the sea floor, is bombed in the Aegean Sea

30

1915

This British ocean liner sinks in only 18 minutes off the Southern Irish coast

1,198

1914

This ship sinks following a collision on Saint Lawrence River,
making it the deadliest peacetime naval disaster in Canadian history

1,012

1912

This ship collides with an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sinks

1,514

1904

The city of New York witnesses its worst disaster (until 2001)
when this steamboat catches fire in the East River

1,021

1898

The sinking of this U.S. battleship precipitates the Spanish-American War

261

1865

This Mississippi side-wheel steamboat, carrying freed
soldiers of the Union, catches fire

c. 1,500

1588

This fleet of 130 ships is defeated while trying to attack England

c. 20,000