The Sinking of the RMS Titanic and other ships.

[sdreid]

Since I mentioned it on another thread, I thought I'd note here that the 50th anniversary of the Bluebelle Incident is upon us. That was certainly a bizarre set of events with the inspiring story of a brave little girl who survived it all.

[louisa]

I'd never heard about this case. I've just looked it up on Wikipedia.

Fascinating.

[sdreid]

It is fascinating and if Harvey also killed a previous wife and her mother, as some suspect, then he could be called a serial killer by some definitions.

[Adam Went]

Rememberance Day today - 11/11/11. Time to give a minute's silence in remembrance of all those who have fought and given their lives in conflicts around the world for the benefit of our generations, and for the purposes of this thread, notably those who have lost their lives at sea.

Lest we forget.

Cheers,
Adam.

[louisa]

Yes. R.I.P. those heroes of World War II.

[Bridewell]

Unsinkable?

I read "Infamous disasters" on the board-description here, and since there wasn't one about the most infamous martime disaster in the world, I thought I should create one.

I first read about the Titanic when I was in school and the whole tale of the "unsinkable ship" going down with 2/3 of its passengers is just too good of a story to forget.

.

To the best of my knowledge the whole "unsinkable" thing is a myth. The White Star Line cut back on the number of lifeboats, because their presence would clutter up the promenade decks and "the ship would act as her own lifeboat", the argument being that she would stay afloat long enough for rescuers to reach her before she sank. This was an arrogant assumption to make because, very sensibly, all shipping except RMS Titanic seems to have laid up for the night when ice was encountered.

[louisa]

The Titanic did put out a flyer that described the ship as 'virtually unsinkable'

[Adam Went]

There was an article in, I believe, Shipbuilder magazine, as the ship was under construction, which contained the words practically or virtually unsinkable.

Then you had Captain Smith saying in an interview "I cannot conceive a situation which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."

Much was made of the fact that the ship actually went above and beyond the requirements for lifeboats - the regulations of the day stated she must carry a minimum of 16, whereas Titanic was fitted with 20.

So while not quite going so far as to say the "God himself couldn't sink this ship" adage, it was advertised and therefore rumoured to be the safest ship going around. And ironically, it probably was as well.

Cheers,
Adam.

[louisa]

As Lightoller stated at the hearings:

"Everything was against us"

[Adam Went]

Helen Churchill Candee said:
"It was a fancy dress ball in Dante's hell."

Cheers,
Adam.

[louisa]

Very descriptive!

[Mayerling]

A Sheepish Confession

I feel like repeating this story (and it is true, unfortunately) like Estelle Getty as Mrs. Petrillo on THE GOLDEN GIRLS in the early 1990s. "Picture it! Jeff Bloomfield's 30th Birthday celebrations with his mother and friends at Top of the World Resturant on April 20th 1984!..." Mom got several family and personal friends together to eat at that wonderful but ill-fated eartery on my birthday. One was my Drew University friend Roy. In the banter of the fine food, and that never to be forgotten arial view of some fifty or sxty miles from the Twin Towers, Roy and I discussed the glories of the building, and (now I consider weird and stupidly) I made the comment, "This is the building God himself could not sink!" I thought it was clever at that time. Heaven forgive me.

[Adam Went]

Oh no, Jeff!
Well one of the major lessons that came out of the Titanic sinking was that never again would a ship be called "Unsinkable", no matter the new technology and safety features that go into them.

Cheers,
Adam.

[louisa]

For the builders to label a ship 'unsinkable' or a building 'indestructible' would give people using them a false sense of security, which would be a good starting point for any compensation claim.

[Robert]

My mind goes back to the haunting remark by somebody on board, that the collision was like a giant finger being scraped along the side of the ship.

Yes without getting superstitious, calling a ship unsinkable is asking for trouble. Similar remarks would be "What can possibly go wrong?" and "You are guilty of a spelling error" (the writer will nearly always make an error while pointing out the error).