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I think that the rich people of today would be bribing anyone they can to get off the ship!

The Astor's are a remarkable family. They are still making headlines today!

 

Interesting Titanic Fact:

 

Most people don't realize that the Titanic was not exactly a unique ship. She was an "Olympic" class liner and she was one of three identical ships. The first ship was the "Olympic". The Olympic was the ship that got all the fanfare when she was launched because she was the first of these new super-liners. The Titanic was launched over a year later. The Olympic was the only one of the three ships to have a long career. Her nickname was "Old Reliable". Interestingly enough, Captain Smith was the captain of the Olympic before he transferred to Titanic. When WW1 started, the Olympic was reassigned to the British navy and became a troop carrier ship. She distinguished herself during the war by actually ramming and sinking a German U-Boat. After the war, Olympic was returned to the White Star Line to be used as a cruise ship. She was eventually converted from a coal burning ship to an oil burning ship. After a long and successful career , she was scrapped in 1935. Her fixtures were sold and are still in use today in several hotels and restaurants in Europe.

 

The other two "Olympic" class ships did not fare so well. The second ship in that class was the Titanic. We all know what happened there. The third ship was the "Brittanic". The Brittanic was never used as a cruise ship. While she was being outfitted for her maiden voyage, she was commissioned by the Royal Navy to be used in WW1. All of her brand new fixtures were removed and she was converted into a hospital ship. Brittanic served less than a year when she struck a mine and sank off one of the Greek islands. Today, Brittanic lies on its side in only a few hundred feet of water. She is remarkably preserved. Unlike Titanic, Brittanic is still in one piece and is a prime example of the Olympic class ship. There have been several documentaries and even a movie made about the ship.

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I want to thank everyone for posting in TITANIC!! Keep it up. I've learned stuff I never knew JUST BECAUSE of this thread.

 

I had no idea that Aster was possibly crushed by one of those smoke stacks (which have never been found)

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I think that the rich people of today would be bribing anyone they can to get off the ship!

The Astor's are a remarkable family. They are still making headlines today!

 

Interesting Titanic Fact:

 

Most people don't realize that the Titanic was not exactly a unique ship. She was an "Olympic" class liner and she was one of three identical ships. The first ship was the "Olympic". The Olympic was the ship that got all the fanfare when she was launched because she was the first of these new super-liners. The Titanic was launched over a year later. The Olympic was the only one of the three ships to have a long career. Her nickname was "Old Reliable". Interestingly enough, Captain Smith was the captain of the Olympic before he transferred to Titanic. When WW1 started, the Olympic was reassigned to the British navy and became a troop carrier ship. She distinguished herself during the war by actually ramming and sinking a German U-Boat. After the war, Olympic was returned to the White Star Line to be used as a cruise ship. She was eventually converted from a coal burning ship to an oil burning ship. After a long and successful career , she was scrapped in 1935. Her fixtures were sold and are still in use today in several hotels and restaurants in Europe.

 

The other two "Olympic" class ships did not fare so well. The second ship in that class was the Titanic. We all know what happened there. The third ship was the "Brittanic". The Brittanic was never used as a cruise ship. While she was being outfitted for her maiden voyage, she was commissioned by the Royal Navy to be used in WW1. All of her brand new fixtures were removed and she was converted into a hospital ship. Brittanic served less than a year when she struck a mine and sank off one of the Greek islands. Today, Brittanic lies on its side in only a few hundred feet of water. She is remarkably preserved. Unlike Titanic, Brittanic is still in one piece and is a prime example of the Olympic class ship. There have been several documentaries and even a movie made about the ship.

 

 

 

Cool facts. I continue to keep learning more and more about this fascinating topic. :look:

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I don't know that I'd attribute too much "bravery" to the "rich". From what I understand the first class passengers did have first dibs on the lifeboats - so a pregnant 19 year old lower class passenger would have drowned with her husband. And I've read this - not just repeating the movie. I wonder if that would happen today.

 

I also wonder about the women and children first - if this happened today how many men would knock women and children out of the way or how many women would abandon their children to get in the boat first?

 

I know there are people of character in the world today but there are also a lot that are amazingly selfish. Being able to accept your death in order for others to live is the ultimate bravery and you're as likely to find it in the lower classes as with the wealthy - perhaps even more so. I think we all hope we'd do the right thing and we also all hope we never have to find out how we'd behave under such circumstances.

 

Of course, as mentioned earlier, many of the deaths were unnecessary because not only weren't there enough lifeboats - the one's that were launched weren't full.

 

Actually, I remember hearing about an incident a couple of years ago where a ship was sinking and all the crew abandoned ship leaving the passengers.

 

The real moral to the story is never tempt fate - I mean never exhibit such arrogance as to assume accidents can't happen - and always have a emergency plan. Boring stuff and almost never gets used - but in that one in a million chance when you need it - you'd wish you were organized and prepared.

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I don't know that I'd attribute too much "bravery" to the "rich". From what I understand the first class passengers did have first dibs on the lifeboats - so a pregnant 19 year old lower class passenger would have drowned with her husband. And I've read this - not just repeating the movie. I wonder if that would happen today.

I'm not sure if it would be correct to say that the First Class passengers had "dibs" on the lifeboats. It was just easier for them to get to the boat deck. The third class passengers were in the bowels of the ship and had a hard time getting to the upper decks. Many of them didn't speak English and couldn't read the signs so they got lost. When they were filling up the boats, they didn't ask what class the passengers were in. If you were a woman or a small child, you got first dibs irregardless of class.

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I think that the rich people of today would be bribing anyone they can to get off the ship!

The Astor's are a remarkable family. They are still making headlines today!

 

Interesting Titanic Fact:

 

Most people don't realize that the Titanic was not exactly a unique ship. She was an "Olympic" class liner and she was one of three identical ships. The first ship was the "Olympic". The Olympic was the ship that got all the fanfare when she was launched because she was the first of these new super-liners. The Titanic was launched over a year later. The Olympic was the only one of the three ships to have a long career. Her nickname was "Old Reliable". Interestingly enough, Captain Smith was the captain of the Olympic before he transferred to Titanic. When WW1 started, the Olympic was reassigned to the British navy and became a troop carrier ship. She distinguished herself during the war by actually ramming and sinking a German U-Boat. After the war, Olympic was returned to the White Star Line to be used as a cruise ship. She was eventually converted from a coal burning ship to an oil burning ship. After a long and successful career , she was scrapped in 1935. Her fixtures were sold and are still in use today in several hotels and restaurants in Europe.

 

The other two "Olympic" class ships did not fare so well. The second ship in that class was the Titanic. We all know what happened there. The third ship was the "Brittanic". The Brittanic was never used as a cruise ship. While she was being outfitted for her maiden voyage, she was commissioned by the Royal Navy to be used in WW1. All of her brand new fixtures were removed and she was converted into a hospital ship. Brittanic served less than a year when she struck a mine and sank off one of the Greek islands. Today, Brittanic lies on its side in only a few hundred feet of water. She is remarkably preserved. Unlike Titanic, Brittanic is still in one piece and is a prime example of the Olympic class ship. There have been several documentaries and even a movie made about the ship.

Very interesting facts! Kor, are there specifics as to which restaurants and hotels in Europe have fixtures from the ship Olympic?

 

I did not realize documentaries have been made about the Brittanic. I'd be interested in reading and seeing more about the Brittanic. Have artifacts from Brittanic been removed or is the ship essentially preserved as is? Are there laws preventing salvage or taking of artifacts from this ship?

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I think that the rich people of today would be bribing anyone they can to get off the ship!

The Astor's are a remarkable family. They are still making headlines today!

 

Interesting Titanic Fact:

 

Most people don't realize that the Titanic was not exactly a unique ship. She was an "Olympic" class liner and she was one of three identical ships. The first ship was the "Olympic". The Olympic was the ship that got all the fanfare when she was launched because she was the first of these new super-liners. The Titanic was launched over a year later. The Olympic was the only one of the three ships to have a long career. Her nickname was "Old Reliable". Interestingly enough, Captain Smith was the captain of the Olympic before he transferred to Titanic. When WW1 started, the Olympic was reassigned to the British navy and became a troop carrier ship. She distinguished herself during the war by actually ramming and sinking a German U-Boat. After the war, Olympic was returned to the White Star Line to be used as a cruise ship. She was eventually converted from a coal burning ship to an oil burning ship. After a long and successful career , she was scrapped in 1935. Her fixtures were sold and are still in use today in several hotels and restaurants in Europe.

 

The other two "Olympic" class ships did not fare so well. The second ship in that class was the Titanic. We all know what happened there. The third ship was the "Brittanic". The Brittanic was never used as a cruise ship. While she was being outfitted for her maiden voyage, she was commissioned by the Royal Navy to be used in WW1. All of her brand new fixtures were removed and she was converted into a hospital ship. Brittanic served less than a year when she struck a mine and sank off one of the Greek islands. Today, Brittanic lies on its side in only a few hundred feet of water. She is remarkably preserved. Unlike Titanic, Brittanic is still in one piece and is a prime example of the Olympic class ship. There have been several documentaries and even a movie made about the ship.

Very interesting facts! Kor, are there specifics as to which restaurants and hotels in Europe have fixtures from the ship Olympic?

 

I did not realize documentaries have been made about the Brittanic. I'd be interested in reading and seeing more about the Brittanic. Have artifacts from Brittanic been removed or is the ship essentially preserved as is? Are there laws preventing salvage or taking of artifacts from this ship?

Jacque Cousteu made the first dive to the Brittanic way back when. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, also made a dive in the 1990s and made the documentary. As far as I know no artifacts have been removed from the ship. Unlike the Titanic, everyone got off the ship this time. I believe the plan is to turn the Brittanic into a living museum.

Here is a pic of Brittanic as a hospital ship:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...ic_hospital.jpg

 

As for the Olympic's fittings and fixtures:

Olympic's fittings were auctioned off immediately before she was scrapped; some of her fittings, namely those of the First Class Lounge and part of the Aft Grand Staircase, can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, England. Some fittings and paneling also ended up at a Haltwhistle paint factory. The rest of her fittings found homes in scattered places throughout Great Britain.

 

In 2000, Celebrity Cruises purchased some of Olympic's original wooden panels and created the RMS Olympic Restaurant on board their newest cruise ship, Millennium. According to Celebrity Cruise Line, this rare collection of wood panelling once graced Olympic's à la carte restaurant.

 

In 2004, in the Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri, USA, a first class cabin from the Olympic served as an example of that class of vessel's interior quarters. A replica of the Grand Staircase in the Titanic is built at this museum as well as many other items recovered from the Titanic wreckage.

 

The clock from Olympic's grand staircase, probably made most famous through the RMS Titanic is on display at the Southampton Maritime Museum.

 

Here are a few pics of Olympic:

This is how she looked as an ocean liner. She was nearly identical to Titanic. In fact, several postcards of Titanic back then actually had the picture of Olympic on it:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...RMS_Olympic.jpg

Here is a pic of Olympic during the war. Notice the "Dazzle" camouflage paint job.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t...r%29.jpg/180px-

Here is a pic of the "Olympic Suite" at the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, Northumberland, England:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t...ympic_Suite.jpg

Edited by Kor Kringle

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TITANIC FACT FOR TODAY:

First Officer Murdoch was engaged to be married and the wedding was scheduled one week after Titanic was supposed to complete her maiden voyage. Murdoch's fiance lived another 58 years and never married.

Murdoch was the officer shown in the "Titanic" movie as putting a gun to his head as the ship was sinking. This was completely bogus. He did not kill himself.

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I think that the rich people of today would be bribing anyone they can to get off the ship!

The Astor's are a remarkable family. They are still making headlines today!

 

Interesting Titanic Fact:

 

Most people don't realize that the Titanic was not exactly a unique ship. She was an "Olympic" class liner and she was one of three identical ships. The first ship was the "Olympic". The Olympic was the ship that got all the fanfare when she was launched because she was the first of these new super-liners. The Titanic was launched over a year later. The Olympic was the only one of the three ships to have a long career. Her nickname was "Old Reliable". Interestingly enough, Captain Smith was the captain of the Olympic before he transferred to Titanic. When WW1 started, the Olympic was reassigned to the British navy and became a troop carrier ship. She distinguished herself during the war by actually ramming and sinking a German U-Boat. After the war, Olympic was returned to the White Star Line to be used as a cruise ship. She was eventually converted from a coal burning ship to an oil burning ship. After a long and successful career , she was scrapped in 1935. Her fixtures were sold and are still in use today in several hotels and restaurants in Europe.

 

The other two "Olympic" class ships did not fare so well. The second ship in that class was the Titanic. We all know what happened there. The third ship was the "Brittanic". The Brittanic was never used as a cruise ship. While she was being outfitted for her maiden voyage, she was commissioned by the Royal Navy to be used in WW1. All of her brand new fixtures were removed and she was converted into a hospital ship. Brittanic served less than a year when she struck a mine and sank off one of the Greek islands. Today, Brittanic lies on its side in only a few hundred feet of water. She is remarkably preserved. Unlike Titanic, Brittanic is still in one piece and is a prime example of the Olympic class ship. There have been several documentaries and even a movie made about the ship.

Very interesting facts! Kor, are there specifics as to which restaurants and hotels in Europe have fixtures from the ship Olympic?

 

I did not realize documentaries have been made about the Brittanic. I'd be interested in reading and seeing more about the Brittanic. Have artifacts from Brittanic been removed or is the ship essentially preserved as is? Are there laws preventing salvage or taking of artifacts from this ship?

Jacque Cousteu made the first dive to the Brittanic way back when. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, also made a dive in the 1990s and made the documentary. As far as I know no artifacts have been removed from the ship. Unlike the Titanic, everyone got off the ship this time. I believe the plan is to turn the Brittanic into a living museum.

Here is a pic of Brittanic as a hospital ship:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...ic_hospital.jpg

 

As for the Olympic's fittings and fixtures:

Olympic's fittings were auctioned off immediately before she was scrapped; some of her fittings, namely those of the First Class Lounge and part of the Aft Grand Staircase, can be found in the White Swan Hotel, in Alnwick, England. Some fittings and paneling also ended up at a Haltwhistle paint factory. The rest of her fittings found homes in scattered places throughout Great Britain.

 

In 2000, Celebrity Cruises purchased some of Olympic's original wooden panels and created the RMS Olympic Restaurant on board their newest cruise ship, Millennium. According to Celebrity Cruise Line, this rare collection of wood panelling once graced Olympic's à la carte restaurant.

 

In 2004, in the Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri, USA, a first class cabin from the Olympic served as an example of that class of vessel's interior quarters. A replica of the Grand Staircase in the Titanic is built at this museum as well as many other items recovered from the Titanic wreckage.

 

The clock from Olympic's grand staircase, probably made most famous through the RMS Titanic is on display at the Southampton Maritime Museum.

 

Here are a few pics of Olympic:

This is how she looked as an ocean liner. She was nearly identical to Titanic. In fact, several postcards of Titanic back then actually had the picture of Olympic on it:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...RMS_Olympic.jpg

Here is a pic of Olympic during the war. Notice the "Dazzle" camouflage paint job.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t...r%29.jpg/180px-

Here is a pic of the "Olympic Suite" at the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, Northumberland, England:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t...ympic_Suite.jpg

Very interesting Kor! I found some websites last night about the Brittanic. Fascinating! :yahoo: I may post something from that site later. We were close to that Southhampton Maritime Museum this summer, but never got to Southampton, when we were in Portsmouth.

 

I would be interested in seeing the Olympic Suite in Alnwick, if I ever got there. Has anyone else here, ever been there? Or do you know anyone, Kor, who's been there?

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The third ship was the "Brittanic". While she was being outfitted for her maiden voyage, she was commissioned by the Royal Navy to be used in WW1. All of her brand new fixtures were removed and she was converted into a hospital ship. Brittanic served less than a year when she struck a mine and sank off one of the Greek islands. Today, Brittanic lies on its side in only a few hundred feet of water. She is remarkably preserved.

 

Have artifacts from Brittanic been removed or is the ship essentially preserved as is? Are there laws preventing salvage or taking of artifacts from this ship?

 

Jacque Cousteu made the first dive to the Brittanic way back when. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, also made a dive in the 1990s and made the documentary. As far as I know no artifacts have been removed from the ship. Unlike the Titanic, everyone got off the ship this time. I believe the plan is to turn the Brittanic into a living museum.

End quoted material ------------------------------------------

 

I found this on the site Hospital Ship Britannic regarding the Cousteau expedition:

 

Cousteau tried to lift an engine room telegraph to the Calypso, but only its base made it to the surface. It was taken to a museum at Monaco. Other items include a big piece of coal, the ship's sextant and the brass insert of the wheel. The sextant was cleaned and then taken to an Athens museum. On it it's engraved the ship's name.

 

The site also stated that Greece and Great Britain most both approve any further expeditions to the Britannic

Edited by reindeertrekzonnewsnow

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TODAY'S DAILY TITANIC FACT:

One of the stewardesses was Voilet Jessop who was now living through her second shipwreck. Miss Jessop had been on Olympic when it was involved in the collision with HMS Hawke. Miss Jessop would survive the sinking of the Titanic and would continue to work for White Star Line. Five years later in 1917, Jessop would be working as a nurse on Titanic's other sister ship Britannic when that ship would be sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea. Thus, Violet Jessop would have the dubious honor of serving on all three of the "Olympic" class ships when they met with disaster.

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TODAY'S DAILY TITANIC FACT:

One of the stewardesses was Voilet Jessop who was now living through her second shipwreck. Miss Jessop had been on Olympic when it was involved in the collision with HMS Hawke. Miss Jessop would survive the sinking of the Titanic and would continue to work for White Star Line. Five years later in 1917, Jessop would be working as a nurse on Titanic's other sister ship Britannic when that ship would be sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea. Thus, Violet Jessop would have the dubious honor of serving on all three of the "Olympic" class ships when they met with disaster.

There's a book written from Violet Jessop's diaries called "Titanic Survivor: the newly discovered memoirs of Violet Jessop who survived both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters." It's introduced, edited and annotated by John Maxtone-Graham and was published in 1997. It may be in a nearby library! I looking it over, and there are a couple chapters on the Britannic.

Edited by reindeertrekzonnewsnow

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TODAY'S DAILY TITANIC FACT:

One of the stewardesses was Voilet Jessop who was now living through her second shipwreck. Miss Jessop had been on Olympic when it was involved in the collision with HMS Hawke. Miss Jessop would survive the sinking of the Titanic and would continue to work for White Star Line. Five years later in 1917, Jessop would be working as a nurse on Titanic's other sister ship Britannic when that ship would be sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea. Thus, Violet Jessop would have the dubious honor of serving on all three of the "Olympic" class ships when they met with disaster.

There's a book written from Violet Jessop's diaries called "Titanic Survivor: the newly discovered memoirs of Violet Jessop who survived both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters." It's introduced, edited and annotated by John Maxtone-Graham and was published in 1997. It may be in a nearby library! I looking it over, and there are a couple chapters on the Britannic.

I have that book. Its one of the best survivor accounts out there. Her own family had no idea that she had kept these diaries. I highly recommend it! I'm not sure you would find it in a library but it is fairly easy to find on EBAY as well as the THS site.

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

Charles H. Lightoller was 38 years old and had been at sea since he was 13. Lightoller joined White Star Line in 1900 and served on several of the company's ships before being assigned to Titanic as 2nd Officer two weeks before the start of its maiden voyage.

 

In May, 1940 Sir Winston Churchhill put out a call for every available boat, yacht and skiff on the south coast of England to make their way to the coast of France to extract the British and French Army from Dunkirk. One 58-foot private boat in particular, manned by a three man crew, set out to help.

Never having had more than 21 people in it, the owner and his crew decided to do their part to save their country at a time of its greatest peril. It made the trip and when it returned to England, the little boat disgorged 130 British soldiers who had been crammed into every nook and cranny. This time, 66 year old retired Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller wasn't going to be accused of not filling up a lifeboat!

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Some additional info from Titanic survivor's biography on Charles Lightoller:

 

At around 2:00am all of the Titanic's rockets had been fired and all the lifeboats had been lowered save for the four collapsible Engelhardt-type boats with canvas sides. Collapsibles A and B were still lashed upside down to the roof of the officers' quarters. Collapsible D was lifted, righted and hooked to the tackles where Boat 2 had been. The crew then formed a ring around the lifeboat and allowed only women to pass through. The boat could hold 47, but after 15 women had been loaded, no more women could be found. Lightoller now allowed to men to take the vacant seats. Then Colonel Gracie arrived with more female passengers and all the men immediately stepped out and made way for them. While loading this boat, Lightoller was ordered by First Officer Wilde to go with her. "Not damn likely" was Lightoller's reply and he stepped back on deck. While the collapsible was lowered to the ocean, two men were seen to jump into it from the rapidly flooding A deck.

 

Lightoller still had the Collapsible B to get off. As the water rose on the Boat Deck, he climbed on to the top of the officers quarters and, using a borrowed pen knife he stripped the covers and cut away the ropes. He was able to send it down to the flooded deck. Just then the Titanic took a great plunge forward. He turned to face the sea and dived in. He had started to swim clear when he was sucked against the grating of one of the large ventilator shafts, and he was taken down with the ship. As the water hit the still hot boilers, the blast blew him back to the surface where he found himself alongside the capsized Collapsible B. As the Titanic went under, the forward funnel broke loose and toppled his way, narrowly missing him.

 

Thirty men had climbed onto the overturned Collapsible B. They including two First Class passengers, Second Officer Lightoller, Colonel Gracie, the two Marconi Operators Phillips and Bride. The rest were all crew, mainly firemen. They paddled away from the remaining swimmers, fearing that they would swamp them. Bride informed Lightoller that the Baltic, Olympic and Carpathia were on their way to rescue them. Lightoller calculated that the Carpathia would arrive around dawn. Three men died that night, one of them Phillips.

 

When dawn and the Carpathia arrived the Collapsible B was slowly sinking, and as the Carpathia was picking up other survivors the men on the capsized boat transferred to two lifeboats. Lightoller found himself in lifeboat 12, designed for 65-capacity, now with 75 persons on board. Boat lifeboat 12 was the last boat to be rescued by the Carpathia with Second Officer Lightoller in command. As the boat neared the ship, one wave, then another, broke over its bow. It seemed that she might flounder but was soon in the shelter of the Carpathia, rope ladders were lowered and Lightoller helped all the survivors out before he climbed aboard himself, becoming the last Titanic survivor taken aboard the Carpathia.

 

On 8 December 1952, Charles Herbert Lightoller passed away. He was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium and the ashes scattered in the Garden of Remembrance.

 

Cause of Death: Heart Failure / Disease

Buried: Mortlake Crematorium Richmond Surrey England

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Lightoller was truly one of Titanic's heroes! He wrote a short autobiography that is extremely hard to find entitled "Titanic and Other Ships". I've read excerpts from it and its a great read.

Another great Lightoller moment:

During the Senate hearings into the disaster, Lightoller became increasingly agitated over the ridiculous questions asked by the Senators. At one point while he was on the witness stand, Lightoller was asked "What exactly is an iceberg made out of?" He faced the Senator and yelled in an agitated voice............"ICE"!!!!!!!....... :yahoo:

Edited by Kor Kringle

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

 

The name "Titanic" was sanded off the thirteen surviving lifeboats on Friday, april 19. The following day the boats were hoisted up to the second floor of a warehouse and stored, later to be joined by collapsible A. Eventually, the total value of the lifeboats was set at $4,520. In time, they were moved and then lost to history. Probably they were placed upon another White Star Line ship.

 

Its a shame that these lifeboats weren't preserved for history.

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

The recovery of the bodies from the water proved to be a monumental task. The White Star Line chartered the cable ship Mackay-Bennett on the afternoon of Monday April 15 to return to the area and recover as many bodies as possible. The Mackay-Bennett did not arrive one the scene until 8:00 Saturday night, April 20, almost a week after the disaster.

In the meantime, once the word was out to all of the ships crossing the Atlantic that Titanic had sank, most of the other steamship captains steamed many miles out of the way to avoid the wreckage in order not to distress their own passengers. However, one ship, the Bremen, actually steamed through the wreckage and the crew sighted more than 100 bodies. One of the Bremen's passengers, Mrs. Johanna Stunke, told reporters later, "We saw the body of a woman dressed only in her night dress, and clasping a baby to her breast. Close by was the body of another woman with her arms tightly clasped around a shaggy dog...We saw the bodies of three men in a group, all clinging to a chair. Floating by just beyond them were the bodies of a dozen men, all wearing lifebelts and clinging desperately together..."

 

51 bodies were recovered on the first morning. All valuables were removed and a complete description of body was made. However, many of the bodies were in bad shape after having been in the water for over a week. On April 21st, the captain of the Mackay-Bennet wired for help and on the 22nd the ship "Minia" left Halifax with more coffins and supplies. "Minia" arrived on the 26th.

 

Even in death, class structure was maintained. The remains of the crew members were stored on the open deck and iced down with no embalming or preparations made. Second and Third Class passengers were placed in canvas bags and for the most part unidentified. First Class passengers were embalmed and place in coffins, and most of them were identified.

 

In all, 328 bodies were recovered, 119 of which were buried at sea. Of the 209 returned to Halifax, 59 were removed by family members adn the remaining 150 were buried in Halifax. Of these, 128 were never identified and they are buried under numbered headstones with room left for a name if they are ever identified.

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Halifax and the Titanic Victims

Shortly after the Titanic sank the White Star Line chartered four Canadian vessels; two Halifax-based cableships, the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia, a Canadian government vessel Montmagny and a St. John's-based Bowring vessel, Algerine. There were 328 bodies recovered, with 209 being returned to Halifax; the badly damaged, or deteriorated bodies were buried at sea. Of the 119 buried at sea, about 60 were unidentified at the time and 49 remain unidentified.

 

Once victims were returned to Halifax, a temporary morgue was set up in the Mayflower Curling Rink near the northwest corner of Agricola and McCully Streets. From there, identified bodies were shipped out to families' or interred in Halifax according to families' wishes. The Halifax Deputy Registrar of Deaths, John Henry Barnstead, supervised the handling of victims, with all personal effects kept in small canvas bags, numbered to match the body number assigned at sea. Careful records of the artifacts were kept and can be inspected today at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. J. H. Barnstead's son, Arthur S., was to be appointed head of the Mortuary Committee five-and-a-half years later after the devastating Explosion in Halifax Harbour when Halifax and Dartmouth had 10 times as many victims to deal with.

 

Ultimately 150 Titanic victims were buried in ceremonies from May 3, to June 12, 1912. Nineteen are in the Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, ten are in the Baron de Hirsch Jewish Cemetery, and 121 are in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Of these, 44 remain unidentified.

 

~ Excerpt from text prepared by Alan Ruffman, 1996

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © 1998, Government of Nova Scotia, All Rights Reserved.

 

There have been some bodies identified by DNA more recently, and some by research.

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

 

"Louis Hoffman" from Nice, France boarded Titanic with his two children, two year old Edmond and three year old Michel. The Hoffmans were enroute to an unknown destination in the United States and were travelling under fictitious names. Hoffman was really Michael Navratil who was kidnapping his two children from his estranged wife in France, who had no idea where he or the children were. The children survived but "Louis Hoffman" did not.

Aboard the Carpathia, the boys, unable to speak English, were dubbed the Orphans of the Titanic, when they turned out to be the only children who remained unclaimed by an adult. First Class survivor, Miss Margaret Hays, agreed to care for the boys in her New York home (304 West 83rd Street) until family members could be contacted.

Marcelle Navratil, recognized her boys from newspaper stories and was brought over to America by the White Star Line where she was reunited with her sons on May 16.

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/image...l_boys3_thm.jpg

The three sailed back to France on the Oceanic.

 

Michel went to University where he became a professor of psychology.In 1987, he returned to the United States for the first time since 1912 to mark the 75th anniversary of the sinking.He became the Titanic's last living male survivor and died in 2001 at the age of 92.

 

Edmond became an architect and builder. During World War II he fought with the French army, was captured and made a prisoner-of-war. He managed to escape from the camp in which he was held, but his health had suffered and he died in the early 1950s aged 43.

Edited by Kor Kringle

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

After the sinking of the Titanic, many changes were instituted. Even before Carpathia reached New York, it suddenly occurred to everyone that there was, in fact, room on all of the liners to put enough lifeboats for everyone on board. When Olympic next steamed out of Southampton, it was carrying 64 of them. Within a year, Olympic would go back to Harland and Wolff's Belfast shipyard for a complete upgrading. The double bottom would now extend above the waterline and the watertight bulkheads would go all the way up to C deck, the first open deck. A ship-wide signaling system would also be installed. Titanic's other sister ship, Brittannic, would undergo similar upgrades.

 

In the United States, a new North Atlantic Ice Patrol was established. This organization is still in effect today. Every April 15, they fly over the spot where Titanic went down and drop a wreath.

Edited by Kor37

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

One of the true heroes of the Titanic disaster was Captain Arthur Rostron, Captain of the Carpathia. It was sheer luck that the wireless operator on Carpathia, Harold Cottam, heard the distress call from the Titanic. He had been on duty for 17 hours and had planned on shutting down 30 minutes earlier but was waiting for a reply to a message he had sent. Around midnight, he got the distress signal from Titanic. After informing the First Officer, they ran to the Captain's cabin and burst in without knocking. Rostron, having already gone to bed, was irritated by this and demanded to know what what going on. After being told, Rostron went to the chart room and figured out the course. At full steam, they were about 4 1/2 hours away from Titanic.

 

Rostron then issued an incredible amount of orders. Keep in mind that less than 15 minutes had passed since the distress message came through. Rostron ordered the following:

 

- Every crewman was to report for duty at his normal duty station, and each was to be fed and served all the hot coffee he wanted to help him keep awake and warm.

- Crew members from the steward's department were to gather up all of the blankets, towels and extra crew's clothing to hand out to survivors and to prepare all the public areas with beds.

- The cooks were to prepare hot coffee and food for survivors.

- All Third Class passengers were to be placed into one section of the Third Class area so that there would be room for Titanic's survivors.

- All empty cabins and all officers' cabins, including Rostron's, were to be readied. All cabins with empty beds were to be identified so that the empties could be utilized.

- There were three ship's doctors aboard. Each was told to prepare for the arrival of survivors, one doctor for each class.

- Four extra lookouts were posted and every officer was to be on the bridge looking for icebergs.

- All unnecessary equipment and the ships heating system was turned off so that all steam could be fed into the engines.

- All of Carpathia's boats were readied for launching.

- All gangway doors were opened and all stewards, pursers and extra crewmen were to remain by them to help people onto the ship. At each gangway, the crew slung a chair which could be lowered so that survivors could sit in it while being lifted onto the ship.

- The crew readied canvas bags and cargo nets to be used to haul aboard.

- Ladders for survivors to climb up on and powerful lights were hung over the sides.

- Oil buckets were lined up at the forward toilets. If the seas were rough, oil would be poured into the toilets and dumped into the water to help calm it.

 

Carpathia steamed toward Titanic's position in excess of 17 knots, almost 20 percent faster than it had ever steamed before.

 

Captain Roston's actions that night made his career. Eventually he was given command of "Mauretania" and remained there until 1926. He was then made Commodore of the Cunard Line and retired in 1931. He died in 1940.

 

In this day of apathy and no pride in workmanship, we could sure use a few more men like Arthur Rostron. What an incredible person he was!

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

 

The Collision Between Olympic and Hawke:

 

On September 20, 1911 Olympic was leaving Southampton beginning its fifth trip to New York. Off the Isle of Wight and following a parallel course was the British cruiser HMS Hawke, doing routine engine tests. Olympic, weighing over ten times more than Hawke, slowed and made a turn toward the open sea, but on a converging course with the Hawke. As Olympic increased speed, Hawke seemed to fall behind, but suddenly it changed course hard to port and headed straight for the Olympic. While the crew of the Hawke vainly tried to change course, the current created by the massive hull of the Olympic sucked the cruiser into the side of the Olympic. Hawke rammed the Olympic with a massive thud which crumpled the concrete filled bow of the Hawke and ripped open two of the watertight compartments near the stern of the Olympic and damaged its starboard propeller. (The bow of the Hawke was filled with concrete because, as a British warship, one of its duties was to ram an enemy ship in an attempt to sink it.)

Hawke limped home to Portsmouth, and the passengers on Olympic had to be off-loaded into tenders and taken back to Southampton. Olympic itself was patched up in Southampton and then steamed back to Belfast where the only drydock in the country large enough to accommodate it was located. This drydock happened to be the drydock that Titanic was currently occupying as it completed its fitting out. Enroute to Belfast, workers replaced the starboard propeller shaft with the one that was supposed to be installed on Titanic.

A false good came out of the collison. Olympic survived a major collision with a ship designed to sink another ship by ramming it. Only two of the major watertight compartments were breached and despite some serious flooding, Olympic did not sink. This seemed to convince some people of the myth that the two ships were unsinkable.

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Newfoundland dog a Titanic Hero

 

Rigel, a big black Newfoundland dog, belonging to First Officer Murdoch, saved the passengers in Life Boat #4. They were drifting in front of the 'Carpathia' and to weak to call out. The dog had swam in the icy water for three hours, probably looking for his master, he was swimming in front of the life boat and alerted the 'Carpathia' crew by barking. The boat might not have been rescued if not for the sharp barking of Rigel.

Captain Rostron saw the boat on the starboard end of the bridge thanks to the barking and ordered the engines stopped. Jonas Briggs, a seaman aboard the 'Carpathia' kept the dog. Care was taken to get Rigel on board, but he appeared little affected by his long trip through the ice-cold water. He stood by the rail and barked until Captain Rolstron called Briggs and had him take the dog below.

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

 

The Marconi Wireless System:

 

Wireless communication was still a fairly new innovation in the early 1900's. In 1909, its use had prevented major loss of life when the White Star liner "Republic" sank after colliding with the "Florida", an Italian owned liner. Only two people had been lost because wireless was used to summon help from many other nearby ships.

By 1912 almost all commercial ships carried wireless provided by one of several competing companies. Many, including Titanic, used the Marconi wireless system and the Marconi system on Titanic was the most powerful available on any ship.

Marconi wireless operators were employed by the Marconi Company and not by the ship or its owners. The operators were contracted out and reported to their company offices first and to the ships officers second. The operators were only expected to pass information on to the crew of the ship if the information was related to an emergency or if it pertained to the navigation of the ship.

 

 

Thanks for the Titanic fact Kor! I love and live Titanic.

You are very welcome, Trip! However, a little more participation by you in this thread would be most appreciated. There are many things that can be discussed if you wish to such as :

 

1) Captain Stanley Lord - Villian or scapegoat?

 

2) Bruce Ismay - Hero or coward?

 

3) Who is ultimately to blame for the disaster? White Star Line?, Captain Smith?, Harland & Wolff?

 

This thread can be a lot of fun with some more participation!... <_<

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TODAY'S TITANIC FACT:

 

Titanic, the largest vessel in the world when she entered service in 1912, was not the finest nor the most technically advanced of her day. Size is seldom an indication that something is better and that was the only record she held… and only for five weeks when a larger liner, Hamburg-America's Imperator was launched on May 23rd.

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Incredible to think, 96 years ago today people were waking up to the bad news.

 

Actually, it was several days before the full extent of the tragedy was realized. The first reports indicated that the ship struck an iceberg and was being towed in. Then it got changed to the ship went down but everyone was saved. Then as more reports came in from the Carpathia, the true tragedy was learned.

 

The Carpathia was the first ship on scene the morning of the 15th, they sent the first reports, right? What caused it to take days for them to get the story correct?

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Incredible to think, 96 years ago today people were waking up to the bad news.

 

Actually, it was several days before the full extent of the tragedy was realized. The first reports indicated that the ship struck an iceberg and was being towed in. Then it got changed to the ship went down but everyone was saved. Then as more reports came in from the Carpathia, the true tragedy was learned.

 

The Carpathia was the first ship on scene the morning of the 15th, they sent the first reports, right? What caused it to take days for them to get the story correct?

Newspapers back then weren't quite as determined to be factual back then (then again, they still aren't.. :wow: ). Once they heard the Titanic had hit an iceberg, many newspapers just made up stories just to be first with it. Captain Rostrom of the Carpathia also did not allow wireless messages to be sent right away. He was a very ethical man and wanted to be sure that he had a full accounting of the survivors before any messages were allowed to be sent.

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