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Post by Winter_King on Apr 14, 2022 14:47:54 GMT
The ocean liner RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and it would sink the next day killing around 1500 passengers. Last photo taken on April 12:
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Post by mikef6 on Apr 14, 2022 15:08:43 GMT
A book I read back in the ‘90s (lost the title) ended its account of the sinking by pointing out the world’s peoples ambiguous attitude toward science and technology. Even though most appreciate jet aircraft, easy transportation, home computers, cell phones – even atomic power - and all the other modern appliances we use, there is an uneasy feeling that if any of these went wrong it could spell disaster for humanity. After the atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan in 1945, the world rejoiced at the end of the war but almost at once books and movies about atomic power causing havoc appeared, including those Atomic Monster B-movies that I loved as a naïve kid.
The book offered the thesis that the 20th century actually began on April 12, 1912 when the unsinkable Titanic sank. That this singular almost universal ambivalence toward technology that signifies our time, began that day.
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Post by Winter_King on Apr 14, 2022 15:20:24 GMT
Interesting fact: in 1898, Morgan Robertson would write a novella called The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility.
The story features a fictional ocean liner called Titan, travelling from England to New York, which sinks in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg around the same area the Titanic sunk. In the story the crew also ignores iceberg warnings. The size of the ship in the novel is very similar to the size of Titanic and it also doesn't contain enough lifeboats for everyone aboard (common practice at the time).
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Post by politicidal on Apr 17, 2022 1:17:36 GMT
Interesting fact: in 1898, Morgan Robertson would write a novella called The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility. The story features a fictional ocean liner called Titan, travelling from England to New York , which sinks in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg around the same area the Titanic sunk. In the story the crew also ignores iceberg warnings. The size of the ship in the novel is very similar to the size of Titanic and it also doesn't contain enough lifeboats for everyone aboard (common practice at the time). Life imitating art.
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Post by msdemos on Apr 20, 2022 4:28:24 GMT
Although the "definitive" Titanic movie now seems to have been made, given that there were SO many other stories that came out of that horrific night, it does make one wonder how long it might be before somebody else decides to give it a go again....... Charles LightollerAs the ship began its final plunge, Lightoller attempted to launch Collapsible B on the port side. This collapsible boat was one of the smaller Engelhardt lifeboats with canvas sides and was stowed atop the officers' quarters. The collapsible fell onto the deck upside down. Lightoller then crossed over to the starboard side of the roof, to see if there was anything further to be done there. As the ship sank, seawater washed over the entire bow, producing a large wave that rolled aft along the boat deck and washed over the bridge. Seeing crowds of people run away from the rising water, Lightoller realized it would be a futile move to head aft and dived into the water from the roof of the officers' quarters. Lightoller described the shock of the water as being like "a thousand knives being driven into one’s body".
Surfacing, Lightoller spotted the ship's crow's nest, now level with the water, and started to swim towards it as a place of safety before remembering that it was safer to stay away from the foundering vessel. Then, as water flooded down one of the forward ventilators, Lightoller was sucked under. He was pinned against the grating for some time by the pressure of the incoming water, until a blast of hot air from the depths of the ship erupted out of the ventilator and blew him to the surface. The suction pulled him down again against another grating, but he resurfaced. He realized he couldn't swim properly because of the weight of the Webley revolver he was carrying in his coat pocket, so he swiftly discarded it. Following this, he saw Collapsible B floating upside down with several swimmers hanging on to it. He swam to it and held on to a rope at the front. Then the Titanic's Number 1 (forward) funnel broke free and hit the water, washing the collapsible further away from the sinking ship.
Lightoller climbed on the boat and took charge, calming and organising the survivors (numbering around 30) on the overturned lifeboat. He led them in yelling in unison "Boat ahoy!", but with no success. During the night a swell arose, and Lightoller taught the men to shift their weight with the swells to prevent the craft from being swamped.
After the sinking, Lightoller published a testimony in the Christian Science Journal crediting his faith in a divine power for his survival, concluding: "with God all things are possible". SAVE FERRIS
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