Titanic sinking a century ago

[dmccarty]

There was talk of why not try to make a run for the pack ice that was 5 or 6 miles away according to the radio reports they had. But the captain was criticized for running as long as he did and shoving more pressure into the hull breech. As for the offending iceberg it was miles behind when they stopped, and you could never get on it to begin with as it was taller than the ship. But all moot points, because when the captain realized from the damage reports that the ship was actually going to sink it was too late to do anything about it. The tragedy was not filling the first lifeboats to capacity. Hundreds more could have been saved. The mistake before that was not paying more attention to what radio reports they had of growlers and pack ice in their path and Ismay ( chairman of the board of White Star) actually suggesting they should try to outrun it and put on more speed. He was He** bent on getting in to NYC on time or before. Another fact I learned just this month was that the radio was inoperable about 7 hours before the striking of the iceberg, and the 2 radio operators (not employees of the ship line, but employees of Marconi radio company) had worked all evening to repair it. And had only gotten it going again a few hours before the strike. This caused them to be backed up with outgoing paying passenger radio traffic. This is what payed the bills and their salaries. And was part of the cause of the unpleasant radio exchange with the nearby ship California's radio operator. The message "shut up shut up I am working Cape Race" was sent his way, which angered him, and he turned of the rig and went to bed. In those days it was normal to only have 1 radio operator on board, if any at all. Titanic carried 2 and a very large 5KW spark rig. The California was less than 5 miles away, but did not hear the CQD call (forerunner to SOS) because the tee'd off operator had went to bed. Also it is alleged, and testified to by the one surviving operator (McBride) that the other operator, (cannot remember his name) had placed another ice warning message under his coffee cup and not delivered it to the bridge because he was so busy sending passenger traffic because of the backlog. All in all a comedy of errors all coming together for a great loss of life.. Please note, 100 years later, the sinking of the Concordia, another comedy of errors also resulting in loss of life. Live and learn?.. um.. not so much.

James K0UA

That was interesting.

The California seems to have hove too to wait for dawn because of the ice reports...

Most accidents are a chain of events. Break one of the chains and the accident would not have happened.

Later,
Dan

 

[Soundguy]

1958 "A night to remember" is supposed to be one of the better films that depicts the history/events of the boat based off a novel written shortly before.

Came across it by accident and thought I'd share if anyone didn't know.

never seen it.. will have to look it up!

 

[dmccarty]

1958 "A night to remember" is supposed to be one of the better films that depicts the history/events of the boat based off a novel written shortly before.

Came across it by accident and thought I'd share if anyone didn't know.

The book, "A Night to Remember" is a work of non-fiction not a novel and it is supposed to be one of the best books about the Titanic. I read it years ago and the book is in storage in the barn. And no, I did not read the book when it came out! I ain't that old!

But I do have a story about the "A Night To Remember" movie. A story that I did not fully tell my parents about until I was in my 30's or 40's. :laughing: I saw the movie when I was around four years old. I remember it scaring me so bad I hid behind a chair when the ship was sinking.

The part my parents did not know was the connection to one of my dad's favorite stories. :laughing:

We had a small Jon boat. I think it was Aluminum with styrofoam under the seats and a small electric motor power by a single battery. No gas moter. My dad was still in school and we did not have the proverbial pot to wee wee in. One day my dad and I went fishing in a small lake at the school he was attending. I can vividly remember the lake, the dock, and the ground near the dock leading to the school cafeteria. As we returned to the dock my dad let me conn the boat. As we got closer to the dock I could not slow down and we were heading for a collision. All I could think of is that we were going to hit the dock and sink like the Titanic. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

My dad was in the bow saying, "Son, we are going to hit the dock. Son, slow down, we are going to hit the dock!" All I could see is a looming ice berg!

This was in Central Florida. Ice bergs are not real common on the lakes.

Of course we hit the dock. We did not sink but the boat did ring a bit. :laughing:

My dad has told that story for years and years and years. It is one of his favorite stories. One day when I was an adult I told him the rest of the story. He did not know what I was thinking when we were at ramming speed and heading to the ice berg, errr, dock. My parents got a kick out of hearing the untold story.

What is funny is that same boat was later at my grandparents house that was on a lake. My cousin and I would fill the boat with water for fun. We would flip the boat over and make it a submarine. There was no way to SINK that Jon boat with all of the floatation under the seat. Course I did not know that when I was four!

Once as an adult I was on a trip to that part of Florida and I was going to pass the school and lake so I stopped to take a look. Everything was as I remembered it. The very 60's looking cafeteria was still there. There was a dock on the lake. But the lake was more like a wee little pond that was likely shallow enough for me to walk across.

Best of all, NO ICE BERGS! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan