RMS TITANIC 1912

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

A few days ago I watched what I thought would be a mundane TV programme about a ship called The Mackay-Bennett how wrong I was as it turned out to be one of the most thought provoking and emotional things that I have ever seen on TV.

Paul

Moved from Silver Mist topic to Bob's new Titanic one.

 

 

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:11:40

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I didn't see the programme but my Wife and I did visit the Titanic cemetery in Halifax back in July. In recent years detective work and DNA sampling has enabled many of the previously unknown bodies to be identified. The graves are all in a curved alignment to match the shape of Titanic's bow.

A bit off topic though!

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:12:33

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Yes it is a little off topic but Bob is a fan of cable laying ships of that era, coupled with the Titanic connection it makes a fascinating subject.

I have been reading up on the crew that did so much for that poor little boy, it is strangely humbling to read about such overriding compassion especially when coming from such rough tough sailors.

Paul

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:18:07

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Paul to the rescue again………..Well done, my mate

Only this morning, I was looking at Stradivari violins on YouTube and one was played on the Titanic……As it went down!

Of course, we all want to know how it got saved from a watery grave?

Answers on a postcard please

Bob

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:13:11

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The violin was apparently strapped to Wallace Hartley's body Bob, see here:

**LINK**

A couple of pics I took in Halifax in July below.

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:13:33

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:13:52

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you, Colin…….Very interesting, but also very sad

Thank you, Dave…….Very amusing

Bob

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:15:32

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

After watching the first programme in the series about the Cutty Sark, I cancelled the series record thinking "just another mediocre programme". Following Paul's post earlier in the thread, just had to watch the programme on iplayer and what a superb programme it was. Regretted cancelling the series.

Bob, (I guess you know) Wallace Hartley was born in nearby Colne, and the town has a memorial to him and the nearby garden also has a model of the Titanic. The town also has a pub named after him. Worth a visit, but the last time I went was last winter and the garden was in need of a little tlc, may not be case now as the gardeners may have tidied things up in the summer.

**LINK**

**LINK**

Noted you interest in cable laying ships, only recently noticed in the March 1964 edition of Model Maker magazine an item about a model of the cable layer Mercury. Built at Cammell Laird in 1962, perhaps too new for your research, but if you would like a copy of the item, I could scan and email it. Plans are still available MM782 in the shop.

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:14:09

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you, Tony

All very sad, but still very interesting

It's probably a good idea to create a dedicated Titanic thread, to give the subject more deserving respect?

Many thanks for the cable ship scan, but no thanks at the moment

Keep up your good archive work

Bob

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:15:51

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

As hinted at earlier, we ought to have a special thread for Titanic based postings

The thread is open to all members

Post your model pictures, snippets, questions and relics etc

Bob

Note: I have moved the posts from the Silver Mist topic to this one.

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 18/09/2016 11:16:52

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Anything related

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

RMS Titanic

Edwardian elegance

Access to the vital lookout post…….Was from inside the mast

A vital piece of equipment, before Radar was invented

We just can`t imagine, shipping hazard Icebergs floating around the Atlantic these days!

Bob

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Two lifeboats the morning after, full of survivors having lost most of the menfolk………How sad?

Quite a lot of the bodies were buried at sea, yet, others had proper burials?

Bob

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

A lot of it was to do with class distinctions Bob. Bodies identified as First or Second class passengers tended to be brought back to land for their families to bury. The unidentified or Third class passengers received sea burials.

Another factor was the ability of the recovery vessels to preserve the bodies in cold storage, this also influenced whether they would be brought ashore. It was a bit of a confused situation as you might imagine.

Colin

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

The Mackay-Bennett happened to be in Halifax and the White Star Line hired her to retrieve the bodies, the ship took on a large number of coffins and canvas body bags and its cable hold was filled with ice (to preserve the bodies)

When the Mackay-Bennett arrived at the site of the sinking the crew found hundreds of bodies and started the grim task of recovery however it very soon became clear to the captain that he didn't have enough coffins, bags or even deck space for all of the bodies so he took the decision to return all of the recovered third class victims to the sea and to only recover first and second class bodies.

First class were placed in the coffins and Second class in the body bags.

The little boys body was saved because the sailors from the Mackay-Bennett couldn't bear to leave his little body floating in the water.

When back on dry land and after the little boy was not claimed by relatives the sailors clubbed together and paid for his funeral.

I can honestly say that the programme moved me to tears.

Paul

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

The little boy was called Sidney Leslie Goodwin and was a little under two years old when he died.

The Goodwin family of two adults and six children were travelling as 3rd class passengers on a family ticket that cost £48. 16s (some £4500 in todays money)

Not much is known about the Goodwins' activities during the voyage, except that they may have been separated by gender in opposite ends of the ship, Frederick and his older sons in the bow, and Augusta with Sidney and the girls in the stern.

By the time the Goodwins received a warning about the collision with the iceberg, all the lifeboats had been launched. The entire family perished in the sinking.

In his book, The Night Lives On, historian Walter Lord devoted a chapter (What Happened to the Gooodwins?) to the family, using the fact that they were English to challenge the White Star Line's implication that such high numbers of third-class passengers perished because they could not understand the English Language.

Paul

 

Edited By Paul T on 18/09/2016 12:11:39

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you, Colin for compiling the Titanic stuff under a common heading

A nice gesture

Bob

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

The iceberg alleged to be the culprit

Red paint was seen on the surface

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Bob

Making the iceberg the culprit implies a degree of intelligence and malevolence on behalf of the iceberg.

The blame for the incident lies solely on the Captains shoulders as he knew the risk of ice nearby and yet steamed on at full speed, he seemed intent on achieving the fastest trans-Atlantic sailing on this, his last voyage before retirement.

Did you know that the Iceberg separated from its parent glacier at roughly the same time as Titanics keel was laid?

Have you heard of the conspiracy theory that the Titanic was actually the Olympic and that White Star deliberately set out to sink the ship for an insurance payout?

The theory states that Olympic was in a collision with another ship and came in for repair whilst Titanic was still being fitted out, the damage was found to be extensive and had resulted in the Olympics being broken.

As the ships were almost identical White Star allegedly changed their names under cover of darkness and deliberately ran Olympic (now Titanic) into the iceberg.

Total rubbish but a good story

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Here is an interesting graphic sequence showing how the ship sank:

**LINK**

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

In hindsight…….What an elementary error, not taking the bulkheads all the way up to the ceiling?

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Colin.

There is some debate about how the ship went down. A respected Naval Structural Engineer produced calculations showing that it was highly unlikely that Titanics stern rose out of the water (as shown in the sequence)

His calculations revealed that the rear expansion joint would have failed when the forward list exceeded 5deg. If this is correct the propellers would never have been visible when the ship went down.

Paul

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Paul,

The expansion joint is a bit of a red herring as it was only fitted to the relatively lightweight superstructure that sat on top of the hull proper and its purpose was to absorb the flexing of the ship during normal pitching at sea. The extent to which the stern rose out of the water may never be known with any certainty as it was pitch dark at the time, the vessel's lights were out and there was only starlight to see by.

Obviously it made for a more dramatic film to have the stern standing vertical at the end with the passengers all sliding down into the sea or hanging on grimly. It does seem certain that the ship broke in two though and there is an interesting illustrated analysis here:

**LINK**l

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you, Colin

What an exhaustive study into every facet of the disaster?

Take a look at the model of the wreck, for instance……..Every piece is an exact replica of the ship, with full explanation included

A credit to the builder

The story of the actual sinking is frightening……..From early sinking stage, where the people on board actually thought they could stay afloat, till help arrived………To the sudden plunge down into the depths!

Truly disturbing

Bob

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

On a lighter side…..

What do you notice, odd about Titanic`s props?

Centre prop has four blades…….Outside props are three bladed……Handed too!

We learn something new, every day

Bob

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