Mark Brader:
> These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2012-03-12,
> and should be interpreted accordingly... For further information...
> see my 2021-07-20 companion posting on "Reposted Questions from
> the Canadian Inquisition (RQFTCI*)".

Game 7 is over and JOSHUA KREITZER is the winner by a goodish margin.
Hearty congratulations, sir!

> ** Game 7, Round 9 - History - Famous Ships

The prefixes such as RMS and USS are shown for interest, but they
were ignored for scoring purposes, even if given wrongly.

> 1. While steaming on the St. Lawrence River in fog, this passenger
> ship was struck amidships by the Norwegian collier SS Storstad,
> and sank very quickly in the early morning of 1914-05-29.
> This accident claimed 1,012 lives, making it the deadliest
> purely maritime disaster in Canadian history. Name this ship.

RMS Empress of Ireland.

The wording "purely maritime" is used because of the Halifax
Explosion -- see question #8 -- which killed about 2,000 people.

> 2. This historic US battleship was the official site of the signing
> of the Instrument of Surrender by Japan to the Allied Forces,
> thus ending World War II in the Pacific. Name it.

USS Missouri. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> 3. The destruction of this warship did not cause the US to declare
> war on Spain, and in fact the responsibility for the event was
> never determined. But it served as a catalyst: the sinking
> and deaths of US sailors in Havana's harbor rallied Americans
> for armed intervention, and war was declared in April 1898.
> Name this battleship.

USS Maine. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> 4. Built in 1942, this destroyer sank more floating tonnage than
> any other ship from the Royal Canadian Navy's fleet of 400 ships
> that served in World War II. It was involved in 5 battles
> before being decommissioned in 1963. Name it.

HMCS Haida.

After decommissioning, it was moored as a museum here in Toronto
for years, then moved to Hamilton.

> 5. This ship set sail on 1826-05-22 for its first voyage: the
> mission was to accompany the larger ship HMS Adventure on a
> hydrographic survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. On its
> second voyage, Captain FitzRoy asked his friend and superior,
> Captain Francis Beaufort, to seek a gentleman passenger who
> would act as a companion as well as having opportunities as
> a naturalist. Name this ship.

HMS Beagle. (With passenger Charles Darwin, of course.) 4 for
everyone -- Dan Tilque, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> 6. The British battlecruiser HMS Hood was attacked and sunk by
> a German warship on 1941-05-24. Of the 1,418 crewmen aboard,
> only 3 survived. 3 days later the German ship was sunk in turn
> with a loss of 1,997 lives. Name the German ship.

Bismarck. 4 for Dan Tilque and Dan Blum.

ObMovie: "Sink the Bismarck!" (1960).

> 7. In the early 20th century three similar ocean liners were
> built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line.
> The most famous of these was the RMS Titanic. Name either of
> the other two ships of the same class.

RMS Olympic, HMHS Britannic. 4 for Dan Tilque and Joshua.
2 for Pete.

The Britannic was *originally* to have been the RMS Gigantic,
but I did not accept this name as an answer, because the name was
never used. It was changed after the Titanic disaster.

The Britannic was repurposed as a hospital ship because of World
War I, and was sunk in 1916, so it never entered passenger service.
One woman, Violet Jessop, survived both sinkings and was also on
board the Olympic when it collided (without dire consequences)
with another ship!

> 8. This ship, heavily laden with explosives, arrived in Halifax
> harbor on 1917-12-06. It collided with the SS Imo, a Belgian
> relief ship, and the resulting explosions caused large-scale
> destruction in Halifax. Name this ship.

SS Mont-Blanc.

> 9. This was the first ironclad warship of the United States Navy.
> It participated in the first naval battle between two ironclad
> warships. It fought to a draw with the Confederate States'
> CSS Virginia during the American Civil War. Name this warship.

USS Monitor. (Not the Merrimack, which was a previous name of
the Virginia.) 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, and Pete. 2 for Joshua.

> 10. When launched in 1938 this ship became the world's largest
> passenger liner, a title it held until the SS France was launched
> in 1972. Once it was no longer a working liner, there was
> a plan to convert it to a floating hotel, like its sister ship
> in California; when that failed, it was moved to Hong Kong for
> another purpose, but it was scuttled after a 1972 fire and the
> wreck lay in the harbor there for decades. Name the ship.

RMS Queen Elizabeth (or its later names: Elizabeth, then Seawise
University).

The Queen Mary (launched in 1934) is the sister ship, which is still
a hotel in California. The Queen Elizabeth 2, successor to the Queen
Elizabeth, remained in passenger service until 2008 and now is also
a hotel, in Dubai.

> ** Game 7, Round 10 - Challenge Round

> * A. Post-WW2 World Leaders

> A1. Who was the first chancellor of postwar West Germany?

Konrad Adenauer. 4 for Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> A2. The Labour Party won the July 1945 British general election,
> thus installing this man as Prime Minister and successor to
> Winston Churchill. Name him.

Clement Attlee. 4 for Erland and Joshua.

> * B. The Human Body

> B1. This is a complex network of nerves located in the abdomen
> behind the stomach, where the celiac trunk, superior
> mesenteric artery, and renal arteries branch from the
> abdominal aorta. A blow to this area is said to "knock
> the wind out of you." Name it.

Solar plexus or celiac plexus. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, and Pete.

> B2. Located at the lowermost portion of the vertebrate brain,
> continuous with the spinal cord, this body part is
> responsible for the control of respiration, circulation,
> and certain other bodily functions. Name it.

Brainstem, or specifically the medulla oblongata (and I accepted
medulla). 4 for Joshua and Pete.

> * C. Firsts for American Women

> C1. In 1983, who became the first American woman in space?

Sally Ride. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> C2. In 1993, who became the first female US Attorney General?

Janet Reno. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> * D. World Capitals

> D1. What small European country's capital city is Vaduz?

Liechtenstein. 4 for everyone.

> D2. Abuja is a planned city, located in this African country's
> Federal Capital Territory. It """has been""" the capital
> since 1991, when it replaced the country's largest city
> as capital. Name the country.

Nigeria. (Still true. The old capital was Lagos.) 4 for everyone.

> * E. Unseen Characters

> E1. In many episodes of this TV sitcom, Howard has loud
> aggravated shouting conversations with his mother who speaks
> with a Brooklyn-esque accent; it's implied that she's in
> a different area of the house, and therefore has never
> appeared onscreen. Name the series.

"The Big Bang Theory". 4 for Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> E2. An object of Charlie Brown's affection, this is an unseen
> character in the "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles M. Schulz,
> and is a symbol of unrequited love. We never know her name;
> how is she referred to?

The little red-haired girl. I required "little" for full points.
4 for Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete. 3 for Dan Tilque.

> * F. Nobel Peace Prize Winners

> F1. Name either of two people who were awarded the 1973 prize
> for efforts to bring about a cease-fire in the Vietnam War
> and a withdrawal of the American forces.

Le Duc Tho (who declined the prize), Henry Kissinger (who didn't).
4 for Dan Tilque, Erland (the hard way), Joshua, and Pete.

> F2. Nelson Mandela is """one of 4""" South Africans to win the
> Nobel Peace Prize. Name any one of the other three.

F.W. De Klerk (1993, with Mandela), Albert Lutuli (1960), Desmond Tutu
(1984). (Still true.) 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.
2 for Erland.

Doris Lessing is not South African and she won the literature prize,
not peace.

Scores, if there are no errors:

GAME 7 ROUNDS-> 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 BEST
TOPICS-> Lit Can Spo Sci Geo Ent His Cha SIX
Joshua Kreitzer 40 0 36 27 48 36 18 44 231
Dan Blum 16 8 23 30 24 20 20 36 153
Pete Gayde 13 8 -- -- 30 20 18 44 133
Dan Tilque 0 4 16 27 28 4 24 31 130
Stephen Perry 39 4 40 36 -- -- -- -- 119
Erland Sommarskog 4 4 20 23 0 24 4 26 101

--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Why do they do that?"
msb@vex.net "Because they can."

My text in this article is in the public domain.