Almost 100 years ago, April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank into the history books. Out of approximately 2,227 passengers, plus crew, only 705 people survived. After the disaster, some 320 bodies were recovered for burial at Fairview Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, including J. Dawson, the unanticipated hero of James Cameron’s movie, Titanic. The remaining 1,500 became an unwitting part of one of the most fascinating cemetery memorials of all time.
The story is well known. A glorious passenger ship surpassing the scale of all those previously built. The RMS Titanic was a floating palace that included swimming pools, squash courts, elevators and steam baths. (1) The First Class lounge was in the Louis XV style while the Smoking Room had mahogany paneling highlighted with mother-of-pearl. A verandah, complete with flower-packed trellises, allowed for post-prandial relaxation while the formal Reception Area anticipated the evening’s fine dining. However, the type of food served certainly differed according to class. (2)
Life was very good. At least until the iceberg showed up.
While the iceberg remains the principal cause of the Titanic disaster, hindsight argues a number of other possible items conspiring to the eventual sinking. These range from the innocuous to the heartbreaking to the downright bizarre.
- The missing binoculars from the crow’s nest restricting the lookout to eyesight-only during a very dark night;
- Sixteen lifeboats (and four collapsible rafts) for almost 3,000 people;
- Lack of action taken by the captain on six iceberg warnings sent by other passenger ships traveling in the same steamship lanes;
- An unforeseen metallurgical weakness of the ship’s steel hull made brittle by the icy, Arctic water;
- Cost overruns in buildout, causing the purchase of slag-riddled rivets for the ship’s bow, the area receiving the greatest impact from the iceberg;
- The Titanic curse, instigated by the vengeful Princess Amen-Ra.
In uncomplicated terms, the large loss of life was caused by outdated British Board of Trade regulations which allowed Titanic to go to sea with insufficient lifeboat accommodation. Regulations required vessels of 10,000 tons or over to carry a minimum of 16 lifeboats with a capacity of 5,500 cubic feet with rafts and floats equal to 75 percent of the lifeboats’ capacity. Titanic could carry a total of 3,511 passengers and crew but regulations meant the Company was required to provide space for only 962. White Star, in fact, provided Titanic with four extra collapsible type boats increasing the capacity to 1,178. (3)
Finding the Titanic’s wreckage site did not occur until almost 75 years later but even then, discovery yielded its own set of preservation and vandalism challenges.
When Dr. Robert Ballard’s expedition found the wreck on September 1, 1985 he decided to leave the area in peace, [simply] recording the discovery with photographic images. In 1986, he returned and placed a bronze memorial plaque on her stern for the Titanic Historical Society honoring those who died. He kept his promise, but since then the wreck site, considered by most a mass grave, has been stripped and several exhibitions staged in Europe and the United States have displayed an odd assortment of twisted, torn and broken objects; even personal items and clothing. (4)
What is the correct approach here?
After all, not many of us have the financial wherewithal to rent a submersible for our own personal visit, a la James Cameron. Visiting an exhibition is as close to the wreck site as we can get. And since the ship sank in international waters, why shouldn’t owner, RMST, Inc., be allowed to extract the findings for museums or personal collectors?
Or should the RMS Titanic be considered a mass grave, similar to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor?
These questions are currently being considered and weighed in a U.S. court. On March 30, 2009, The Port Clinton News Herald reported that, “U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, a maritime jurist, is expected to rule within weeks that the salvaged items must remain together and accessible to the public. At the same time, a cadre of government lawyers is helping Smith shape covenants to strictly monitor future activity at the Titanic wreck 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic. Amid evidence of the ship’s deterioration, experts and government lawyers say the sanctity of the Titanic must be properly protected as a memorial to the 1,522 people who died when it went down.” (5)
An update on the final decision will be posted here once it is handed down.
© 2009 by G.E. Anderson
Sources:
2. Dining on the RMS Titanic - all classes
3. The Loss of Life – Titanic Historical Society
4. Vandalism of the Ship Site – Titanic Historical Society
5. Fate of the Titanic, Its Treasures in Judge’s Hands – PortClinton News Herald. March 30, 2009
Other Interesting Sources:
1. The current owners of the RMS Titanic wreck
2. Titanic Exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
3. The Curse of Amen-Ra: Did an Egyptian Mummy Relic Cause the Sinking Of The RMS Titanic?
4. “In Weak Rivets, A Possible Key to Titanic’s Doom” The New York Times. April 15, 2008
5. The RMS Titanic’s Passenger Manifest
6. The RMS Titanic’s Cargo Manifest
8. The New York Times Headline Article
9. Floor Plans for the Titanic – overview
10. Purchase the RMS Titanic Building Schematics
