As writing this we are approaching the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. I have had an interest towards the ship over the years. Even though I am not what one would call a "Titanic Buff", I have still watched several documentaries and read some books about the disaster. And as the Titanic has been appearing over the media a lot recently, I have again felt drawn to that disaster once again. I am not sure what makes Titanic so interesting for me. Maybe it is the just the mixture of people, history, then modern machinery..and terrible tragedy, that almost has an romantic undertone. (I am planning to buy couple of new books and DVDs to learn more about the ship, since many of them are getting a re-release) Is there anyone else on the forum who finds the ship and all those events surrounding it fascinating..and what makes Titanic interesting to you?
I find it interesting. An article in Command magazine (military history) makes the case that there were between 6-12 Royal Navy officers aboard Titanic at the time and it was at their urging that the Captain ordered such a high speed despite icebergs and a moonless night because they wanted the ship "put through her paces" to test the ships suitability for wartime service given the naval arms race between the British and Germans was ongoing.
I suspect why this particular ship draws so much attention is aside from it sinking on it's maiden voyage, it was the largest most grand ship f its day. The disaster marked a turning point in shipping requirements 24hr radio watch enough lifeboats for all onboard.
^That's conceivable. It's also conceivable that they would be pushing the head of the White Star Line as well. Logically any info they could gather about Titanic would also translate to her sister, Olympic. I'm drawn to the Titanic disaster because I'm a student of history and it proved to be such a turning point both in the history of oceanic travel as well as in the dawning age of radio.
I find the 'romantization' of the Titanic disaster to be a bit disturbing. Yes it was a very long time ago, but 1,500 people died... quite unpleasantly. Yet the whole affair is glorified in more ways than one. It's... weird.
Expect a high price if you want the 1997 James Cameron movie. I was investigating the purchase of a copy last weekend and none of the chains with local stores had copies in stock or their web site. The ones on Amazon were several dozen dollars. I did manage to buy a copy of the April National Geographic with the composite photos of the debris field.
Well, it's bound to happen. It's happened with both world wars as well, plus it makes a great story, especially as we're still discovering things about it today. It's still amazing that after all these years, there's still much about it that is a mystery. I don't see that we're really romanticizing it, as much as we're paying tribute to those who've perished, much as we do when we're celebrating Veterans/Rememberance Day. History is full of great stories just waiting to be told, and this is one of them. It's also a great reminder that nothing's infallible.
The RMS Olympic. It was launched in 1911 and was retired from service in 1935. The maiden voyage of the Titanic was delayed due to a couple of incidents that involved the Olympic and parts from the Titanic were used to get the Olympic back in service. I just discovered that someone, Violet Jessop, was on the Olympic when it was involved in a collision in Sept 1911, but also survived the sinking of both the Titanic and the Britannic.
She very likely inspired the character of Rose in the movie, not to mention that both are names of flowers, however, I wonder if that's more of a coincidence. Oh, nevermind. Upon reading on Wikipedia, I see that her fictional counterpart was a character Cameron created named Lucy. But I do have to wonder if part of her story was transferred to Rose. I happen to remember a story on the news awhile ago announcing that one of the survivors from the Titanic had died, so that may be her.
Well, that’s yet another interesting twist on the Titanic story, if there’s any truth in it. That woman should never have been allowed aboard any ship. She was obviously a jinx! Seriously, though, she had an amazing life. The linked article states: “She originally had trouble finding work on ships due to her young age (most stewardesses were middle aged women in these days) and her strikingly good looks.” Obviously Miss Jessop was born in the wrong century. She would have had no trouble getting hired as an airline stewardess in the 1960s! Violet Jessop died quite some time ago — 1971, to be exact, at the age of 84.
Considering how many films there has been about the Titanic, the following incident seems to be always absent(from wiki). It is like fate would have tried to warn everyone that the trip would end badly. It is incredible how close the collision was. I wonder if any of the passengers where spooked about the incident. I remember reading that some had been, though it has been a while since I read some of the survivors stories. The Olympic had pretty long career indeed. It is a pity that they scrapped her. It would be really cool to have one of those Olympic-class ships as a floating museum. I am sure it would be quite of an money maker these days. Speaking of Titanic films, here is a recent article from BBC about the myths and legends that the various films have helped to spread: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17515305 And here is a small but nice site about the various Titanic films: http://www.jimusnr.com
Robert Ballard was the guest on The Colbert Report last night to promote National Geographic Channel's special "Save the Titanic."
While my memory is not what it used to be (having been cluttered with years of worthless information), I thought that I had read where the White Star line had the bright idea of sending the Olympic to bring home the survivors of the Titanic. Needless to say most didn’t want to. When I first had read about the Olympic, I always wondered what happened to her. But that was before the Internet and things were a bit tougher to dig up.
Yeah, but the prices skyrocketed once the movie started heading back into theaters, because that's what happens when a popular movie is revived and the DVDs are out of print.
It's really a pity that she was scrapped. Reading the Wiki-article about the Olympic just now, I noticed that on of her first and second class tenders, the SS Nomadic, will be restored to full glory by the end of this year (over 101 years after entering her original service). Pretty cool.