Oscar Palmquist, age 26, was immigrating from Sweden when he boarded Titanic in Southampton as a third class passenger. He was in lifeboat 15 when rescued. Eventually he ended up living near siblings in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he worked as a tool maker. He died in 1925 under circumstances that many thought suspicious when his body was found floating in a pond. Since many knew he feared water, they did not believe he committed suicide.
Some suspected murder by a jealous husband over an affair with his wife. However officially his death was determined to be accidental and neither murder or suicide. He was buried in Bridgeport’s Mountain Grove Cemetery. His grave was never marked with a headstone and he faded from memory. However his tragic death did apparently strike a chord with many people and was remembered last year during the 100th anniversary of Titanic’s sinking. It also began an appeal by Titanic International Society to put a proper headstone on the grave.
And on 29 June at 11 a.m., a ceremony and dedication at Mountain Grove Cemetery will take place. His great nephew, David Palmquist, and other family members will attended along with Titanic devotees. The public is also welcome to attend.
As previously communicated, on October 15, 2012, the Company entered into a non-binding letter of intent with an entity representing a group of individuals (the “Consortium”) working to effect a purchase of the stock of RMS Titanic, Inc. Since entering into the LOI, Premier has been negotiating exclusively with this group. The entity with whom the Company is negotiating has been soliciting federal, state, and local government entities, as well as philanthropic contributions, to build support to go public with a broader campaign to secure capital necessary to complete a transaction. They continue to request confidentiality until they feel comfortable that there is sufficient support to go public with the project.
Due to the complexity of the transaction and the many elements that are necessary for consummation, the process has taken longer that Premier had hoped. While the Company continues discussions with this group, Premier also recognizes the uncertainty of their completing a transaction and obtaining funding commitments. The Board is therefore considering the full range of strategic and financial alternatives in this regard, which likely will include retaining an investment bank, and will pursue possible paths in parallel.
The complexity of these assets, and the need to comply with the underlying court orders, require that any transaction or arrangement be more carefully structured and executed than a typical transaction. Timing is certainly a factor, but it is not the only factor. The Board and management, together, remain committed to maximizing shareholder value.
This confirms some speculation about who this consortium might be, a group of investors trying to raise capital both with taxpayer money (that is where government money comes from) and private investors (rich people with lots of money like that guy with the hoodie who heads up a social network). You can guess the problem with raising this capital. Not only is the price astronomical, it comes with a major constraint: it stays under U.S. federal court jurisdiction because you are not allowed to sell off any portion of the collection. That means the court will be over your shoulder all the time wanting reports and details of the collection from what is being stored, how it is being carefully preserved, and when it is on display.
So the upshot of it is this: Premiere is formally notifying that they are looking for other interested parties. This may be the reason, according to Seeking Alpha that Premiere’s stock price has dropped. It dropped from $2.30 to $2.10 ion 28 May and dropped much further since. Premiere might consider appealing the judge’s decision to a higher court. And it is entirely possible down the road one of two things happening: the entire collection being shuttered until resolved or the U.S. government seizing it as a national/international treasure under some obscure international treaty or possibly use a congressional resolution passed years ago as the pretext.
1. Titanic II Update: The Australian drops a small zinger saying its development appearsto have slowed. No explanation is given for this statement or what they base it upon. They also note they were recently denied access to tour the CSC Jinling shipyard in Nanjing.
2. The Mystic Aquarium recently expanded its Titanic exhibit to include a gallery about the International Ice Patrol reports The Day. The unit, based in New London, is a small unit within the U.S. Coast Guard. Commander Lisa Mack believes it provides great visibility for the Coast Guard. “Our hope is that people find it interesting and learn something about our service.” Many people have no idea the Coast Guard tracks icebergs until they learn of it through such exhibits or research the Titanic story.
3. From Ireland:Creating large scale models often pose a problem when you need to move them. 17-year-old Lorin Robinson had built a 7 foot long model of the ship but college is 15 miles away. So he called up a friend and using a trolley made from an old go-cart to move it from his room to Weston College in time for summer arts show. The set off after midnight hoping the roads would be quiet. Not so quiet as trucks roared past them and many street lights are no longer operating at that hour. Fortunately they got there and were spotted outside their classroom at 7:30 a.m. The model is now on display from 18-28 June. Hopefully they will have an easier time getting it back home.
Source: Student Drags His Titanic 15 Miles(13 June 2013,Irish Independent)
(Link Not Provided To Republic of Ireland Newspapers Due To Paid Links Demand)
4. A new cruise facility will be built in the Titanic Quarter owing to the increased stopping of cruise ships that have generated £3.9m in visitor spending. £7m is going to be invested to allow passengers to disembark within walking distance of Titanic Belfast, the Pump House, and Nomadic.
Source: £7m Invested In Titanic Cruise Facility(13 June 2013, 4ni.co.uk)
1. The Belfast Telegraph is reporting complaints people are making about paying a fee to visit Nomadic and another one for Titanic Belfast. Currently people wishing to board Nomadic pay £7.50 for adults,£5.00 for children 5-16. Family tickets are also available (£22-27 depending on family size). However if you want to visit Titanic Belfast, a separate fee is required for entry. Which has got some visitors angry at having to dig deeper into their pockets. The Telegraph reports that Nomadic Charitable Trust is in negotiations with Titanic Belfast to set up a joint ticketing scheme.
2. James Cameron, who recently gave his DeepSea Challenger to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, believes that one day expeditions such as his would help scientists predict deep sea earthquakes and their tsunamis. In an interview to CNN, Cameron says “Building technology vehicles like the DeepSea Challenger to get down there, is a first step to planting large instruments which could allow us to survey seismic activity. Ultimately it could lead to some predictive modeling which tells us ‘look we’ve got pressure building up here, maybe this could be a tsunami in the Pacific rim, get ready, brace yourselves”
According to ABC News Online, a backbencher decided to throw out Titanic in reference to the Labor party. Here are the choice quotes from Yahoo 7 News:
“It’s like the Titanic – we’re in the final scenes”
“Third class has realised the doors are locked and they’re not getting out.”
“And first class are running around looking for a dress to put on.”
Wow. One hopes you do not find the lifeboats all gone when you get there! For misusing Titanic, you get our infamous Titanic Cliche Award with fractured finger.
This 18-foot-model of RMS Titanic will be on display this summer in St. Clair. (Photo:The Times Herald)
The world’s only full scale Titanic replica is going on display at Moore Boathouse in St. Clair. This replica, which weighs 1,500 pounds and 10,000 pounds in its case, was on display last year at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. For its builder, Gart Kohs, it is a work of love and exactitude. He worked on the model from 1999-2004 out of his own pocket and even traveled to Harland & Wolff in Belfast, N.I. to review the original drawings.
Just like the largest ocean liner of its time, the 18-foot long model has 3.3 million rivets and 8 miles of lighting that even makes the dials of the telegraph glow. The lifeboats were built plank by plank of the same kind of wood — Swiss pear — so the grain pattern matches. Each lifeboat took 1 ½ months to make. Inside, tables and chairs were fashioned after the originals as was the grand staircase and Tiffany fixtures. “Anything you could look inside and see is there,” Kohs said. “It is a replica in every sense of detail. There isn’t a finer ship model in the world. We know that.”
Koh will not allow it to be displayed in any exhibit that has artifacts retrieved from the wreck. “Our rule is we’ll never profit from the tragedy and we’ll never display the model with plunder,” he said. “We’ve turned down some big museums.”
The St. Clair exhibit is to benefit an agency that awards grants for elementary school programs, scholarships, and public park improvements.
For exhibit information, time and dates, and admission fees, go to stclairfoundation.org.
Back in 1987, the Titanic Historical Society commissioned Rollins Outdoor Advertising to create a mural for its 75th anniversary. The mural, a 10-by-15-foot mural of Titanic’s grand staircase, was long believed to be the work of Gilbert Perry Jr. However a recent examination of two signatures on the mural revealed the name James Wahwassuck. And according to The News Journal, it turns out that Wahwassuck was the actual painter who did it from Perry’s sketches. The revelation came about during a fundraising celebration where the Titanic mural had been loaned by Titanic Historical Society. Event coordinator Rick Pulling noticed the two signatures when he unrolled the mural. Pulling tracked down Wahwassuck and contacted him. Wahwassuck had also learned from recent news story that Perry had been considered the artist. While normally most commercial artists do not sign their names, he urged Perry to sign both their names near the bottom where it will not be easily seen. Wahwassuck did not see the mural after it was done. The Titanic Historical Society had no idea about the true history of the mural.
Changes in technology! When I was kid, to speak live to someone very far away meant a special phone connection. There was no visual connection at all. So when 20 first graders at Notre Dame Academy in Duluth, Georgia recently decided to discuss Titanic, they used Skype to have a discussion with Titanic experts at the Marine Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts. They fielded many interesting questions about Titanic and even some about Titanic II. From the news account, it looks like it was a lot of fun. Back in the day we had to hope one day such things like a Dick Tracy watch (a small television screen) or a Star Trek like communicator. Today we have flip phones that take pictures, make telephone calls, receive email, and view movies on. Just keep the tribbles away from the grain.
Long ago a serious row divided the Titanic community over salvage. It divided scholars,survivors, and many enthused amateurs. The result was a very nasty flame war conducted by hostile postings to Usenet and and Internet discussion lists. Threats, accusations, and demonization of those on other side of the argument were common. It resulted in ruined friendships, bitter recriminations, and some real world bad actors doing bad things. It has mostly faded now but when The Telegraph reported of a major row involving Titanic that included threats of violations and all kinds of malicious accusations, it brought back memories from long ago.
This issue is not about salvage but between two online groups: Olympic Class Liners (OCL) and Lovers of Ocean Liners(LOTOL). According to Telegraph, Jonathan Smith of OCL started watermarking his collection of Titanic photographs and postcards when he posts them online. He did this to prevent them from being used without his permission. This sparked an outcry from those in LOTOL. They claimed he did not own the photos and accused him of plagiarism regarding his research. From that point on, it began to heat up on Titanic websites and other sites that discussed ocean liners. It soon reached full boil with threats of breaking legs and accusations of child molestation. British police are investigating after a complaint was lodged with them.
My experience with the last Titanic flame war is that there are no winners. Once you go down this road of recriminations and demonization, nothing good comes of it. And there are those who thrive on these type of things. They love to say the most audacious of things not caring a bit whether true or not. In truth, they do not care. They just want to keep the pot boiling. Cooler heads must prevail here. Otherwise it will end up with everyone losing in the end.
1. Titanic Exhibition To Open At Cleveland’s Great Lakes Science Center In June
Photo courtesy George Behe
Titanic:The Artifact Exhibition opens at Cleveland’s Great Lakes Science Center on 1 June and will run until 5 Jan 2014. Ticket prices vary. Nonmembers: $24 adults, $22 youths 2-12. Members: $10 adults and youths 2-12. Further information at GreatScience.com.
2. DSV Alvin Completes Major Redesign And Refit
Deep Submergence Vehicle (DSV) Alvin, originally built in 1964, has completed $41 million redesign and refit. The revamped DSV is now aboard the R/V Atlantis for certification testing off California and Oregon. The refit has increased Alvin’s weight which includes a new titanium sphere allowing it dive deeper than before. The new sphere is wider making it more comfortable for personnel aboard. Enhanced science payload, lighting, high definition imaging systems along with a much improved command and control system. A new type of foam is being used, syntactic, that replaces the old air bubble system. Syntactic is made up of microspheres made of glass and other material allowing it to take more pressure.
3. Titanic II Update
Tillberg Design of Sweden has been selected to design several interior areas of Titanic II. Tillberg will help design first, second and third class accommodations. It also includes the smoking room, first class lounge, Cafe Parisian, the grand staircase and safety features.
BBC News is reporting that the Hartley violin–now on display in the United States–underwent a CT scan at BMI Ridgeway Hospital in Wiltshire. A 3D image was made to examine the violin from the inside. Astrid Little, the hospital’s imaging manager said: “The scan revealed that the original wood was cracked and showed signs of possible restoration.” The auction house of Henry Aldridge & Son believes this and other things proves it was Wallace Hartley’s violin.
He counters Titanic author Daniel Butler, who claims the violin glue would have come apart due to exposure to salt water, by saying the glue used was animal glue. Such glue melts when heated but not when cold, says Aldridge.
1. A local school in the UK has developed a unique connection to Titanic due to a local man descended from J. Bruce Ismay. Terry Ismay, a great-grandnephew (with several greats in that) of J. Bruce Ismay, has been given a spot on Titanic II by Clive Palmer. His two children attend Cordeaux Academy in Louth so he decided to give them access to the new ship through the Internet. They will have access to the ship’s development with regular updates and where the construction is going on. There is also the possibility they will have their own flag on the ship.
Source: Louth School Forges A Unique Link With ‘The New Titanic”(16 May 2013,Louth Leader)
2. James Cameron is to be be honored by Scripp’s Institution of Oceanography in California with the 2013 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest. The award is given to those who further understanding of the sea. Cameron’‘s sole dive in the one man submarine Challenger Depth on 26 Mar 2012 went 6.8. miles down, the first solo diver to that depth. Additionally he donated the lander used on that mission to Scripps. He also plans to donate the $25,000 Nierenberg prize money to Scripps for the new Lander Lab.
Source: Filmmaker, Explorer James Cameron To Be Honored With Science Prize(16 May 2013, UPI)
3. Writing in Huffington Post, Stephen Coan–president and chief executive of Sea Research Foundation–is not happy with Titanic’s salvage and that artifacts raised by RMS Titanic, Inc, are to be auctioned off. He cites a Marist poll indicating the wreck ought to be a memorial. 65% of those polled agree with the proposition it ought to be a memorial site. I am puzzled by the timing of this piece. There are not going to be further salvaging by RMS Titanic, Inc (now part of Premiere Exhibitions) which holds the legal right awarded by a federal court in Virginia. And it has been declared a maritime preserve by the United Nations with the consent of the Canada, Britain, France, and the United States. There will be no further dives down to look at it either (which cost about $30,000) for tourists to look at the wreck. As for the auction, that is still up in the air. No one is saying what is going on in that regard. It seems the only point of the piece is to tell the world that Mystic Aquarium has a Titanic exhibition without using Titanic artifacts.
Source: Let Titanic And Its Victims Rest In Peace(17 May 2013, Huffington Post-blog)
Sir William White (2 February 1845 – 27 February 1913) is a name unknown to many unless you are a maritime historian or a naval architect. During his time as chief constructor of the Royal Navy, he oversaw the construction of numerous battleships, cruisers, and unarmored warships. He retired in 1902 after suffering a nervous breakdown in 1901 due to a mishap involving the royal yacht Victoria and Albert. He went to work for Cunard as a consulting architect for RMS Mauretania. He also became president of Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and Institution of Marine Engineers. From 1909-1910 he was council chairman for the Royal Society of Arts, and was governor of Imperial College until his death in 1913.
His contribution to Titanic came during the American inquiry. He penned a long letter to The Times about how the media had sensationalized the story resulting in premature opinions as to what happened. While the lifeboat issue was certainly important, naval engineers had to come up ways to keep the ship from sinking when they collide with icebergs. Merely slowing down would not be enough (and passengers might not like moving slowly across the ocean).
White argued for improving the water-tight subdivision of ships. The Titanic used transverse compartments that ran the width of ship which did not work. He proposed future designs add longitudinal compartments that ran from bow to stern.
Many ships were retrofitted after Titanic’s sinking, like having their double bottoms extended up the sides to the waterline giving them double hulls (this was done on Olympic). Other ships altered the height of the bulkheads to make them fully watertight.
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