Category Archives: Titanic

Titanic

Japanese Titanic Survivor Memoirs To Be Exhibited At Yokohama Museum

Masabumi Hosono, 1912 Image: Public Domain
Masabumi Hosono, 1912
Image: Public Domain

Masabumi Hosono, the lone Japanese Titanic survivor, will have his memoirs displayed at Yokohama Minato Museum this month as part of “Treasures collection” to celebrate 25 years of the museum. Hosono, age 42, was a civil servant of the Japanese Ministry of Transport who had been sent to Russia in 1910 to study their railway system. He then went to London for further research then boarded Titanic as a second class passenger. While aboard he started writing a letter to his wife though it was not completed until after he survived.

He was awakened by a knock on the door and went outside to find out what was going on. He was initially sent to the lower decks since he was a foreigner but made his way back to the upper deck. He got into Titanic lifeboat #10 when an officer called that there was room for two more. He did not, as some claim, try to disguise himself as a woman to get aboard the lifeboat. After he was rescued and returned to Japan, initially he was well received but then came under considerable criticism for surviving when so many women and children died. Condemned a coward in the Japanese press, he lost his government job. Textbooks used him as an example of being dishonorable. However he was hired back by the Transport Ministry and stayed there until his death in 1939.

Hosono never spoke of Titanic and was a source of shame for his family. The letter to his wife was published twice, the second time in the 1990’s. With that letter published and now an exhibit of his memoirs and letter,it is hoped to reverse the years of social disgrace that resulted from surviving such a tragedy.

Sources:
1. Lone Japanese Titanic Survivor’s Memoirs To Be Exhibited At Yokohama Museum(9 April 2014,JDP)
2. Masabumi Hosono(Wikipedia)
3.Masabumi Hosono-Titanic Survivor (Encyclopedia Titanica)

MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997


Titanic

Titanic News: Ballard To Speak At Museum, Titanic Memorial Garden in Cobh, Southampton Cemetery Walk, and Malaysia Airliner Possibly Deeper Than Titanic

1. The Marine Museum in Fall River will have a fund raiser that will feature a Titanic themed buffet followed by a presentation by Robert Ballard, co-discoverer of Titanic. The event will take place on 2 May and costs $125 for members, $150 for non-members, and is limited to 200 people. Tickets can be purchased by calling 508-674-3533 or at the Marine Museum in Fall River, MA.
Source:Titanic Discoverer Ballard To Speak At Museum (7 April 2014,The Herald News)

2.Titanic Memorial Garden To Open In Cobh(7 April 2014,Irish Examiner)
A special memorial garden is to be opened in the Titanic’s last port of call to commemorate the 123 people who boarded tenders onto the ill-fated liner. At 3pm this Friday, the memorial garden will be officially opened in Cobh, Co Cork — 102 years to the day after the Titanic anchored in the harbour. “The focal point of the garden is a glass memorial wall overlooking the final anchorage of Titanic onto which the names of the 123 passengers that boarded her in what was then known as at Queenstown are inscribed,” Hendrick Verwey, chairman of Cobh Tourism, said.

3. Southampton Cemetery Walks Will Remember Loss Of Titanic(8 April 2014,Daily Echo)
A series of walks will be held in Southampton to remember the loss of the Titanic. Friends of the Southampton Old Cemetery will be holding the walks this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, starting from the main gates at the end of Cemetery Road. Walkers will be guided around graves with family inscriptions relating to the loss of the White Star Line vessel.

4. Malaysia Airliner: ‘Best Lead Yet’ As Possible Black Box Signal Is Picked Up Deeper Than The Titanic(7 April 2014, Mirror Online)
Salvage teams hunting for the plane’s black box devices have picked up signals from 14,764 feet below the surface of the southern Indian Ocean. So-called “pings” have been detected 1,650km off the coast of Perth, Australia, at a depth of 4,500m. When the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on 14th April 1912 it finally rested 12,500ft beneath the Atlantic ocean. The depth will pose difficulties for salvage teams using the latest state of the art technology to locate the black boxes. There is little wonder as to why the area in the southern Indian Ocean is called the “loneliest place on earth”. One of the devices being used to try and fix the point of location of the two black boxes, the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, is the Bluefin 21. The 21 foot long robotic underwater vehicle which has a depth limit of 14,763 ft (4,500M) meaning it will be pushed to the very limit of its capabilities.


MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

Titanic

Monday Odds & Ends

1. MLB TV has had problems this season. Due to technical problems caused by a third party, watching on Roku has become a guessing game. Will the home or away feed be the one not working right, both, or should one just listen to the game instead? MLB is promising to fix the problem.

2. A Titanic exhibition in Estonia that recently ended broke attendance records for the museum. The Baltic Course reports that 220,000 people visited the “Titanic: story, findings, legends” exhibition that ran from November 2013 to March 2014. “Such a high visitors’ number at our museum landscape is undoubtedly extraordinary and exceeding or even repeating that would be rather complicated. The number of guests of the Titanic exhibition is proof and acknowledgement that we have offered to the public a world class museum experience,” said Maritime Museum director Urmas Dresen.
Source:Titanic Exhibition Breaks Estonian Museum Visitation Record(2 April 2014,The Baltic Course)

3. A letter written by the mother of Titanic survivor Eva Hart will be auctioned off next month reports the BBC. The letter is written on Titanic stationery was addressed to her mother in Chadwell Heath, England. The letter was found inside her husband’s jacket after they were rescued. Henry Aldridge & Son are the auctioneers for the letter and is perhaps the only one of its type to have survived.
Source: Titanic Last Letter To Be Auctioned(1 April 2014,BBC)

Titanic Belfast (side view) Image:Prioryman (Wikipedia)
Titanic Belfast (side view)
Image:Prioryman (Wikipedia)

4. Since opening two years ago, the Titanic Belfast Visitors Center has been visited by 1.45 million people reports Irish Times. It has drawn people from all over the world and broke all projections for attendance. 650,000 people passed through last year showing interest in Titanic has not slowed down. Needless to say, Titanic Belfast is “delighted” with the news.
Source:Titanic Centre Visited By 1.45M People Since Opening In 2012(2 April 2014, Irish News)

5. Hungarians @ The Titanic Film Festival(3 April 2014,Xpatloop.com)
This year’s Titanic Festival – running between 4-12th April – will also present the works of Hungarian film makers too. Erik Novák’s brand-new action-thriller and black comedy mixture Black Soup will have its premiere screening at the festival. Simon Szabó’s short film Wall that won the main award at the Tampere Short Film Festival, and Réka Bucsi’s animation short Symphony no. 42 that competed in the Berlinale can also be watched at Titanic. The original score for the Turkish movie The Long Way Home was written by Mihály Víg, and a special film selection and a round table-discussion will commemorate the recently deceased Miklós Jancsó.

6. Irish Titanic Survivors Featured At Irish-American Cultural Society Monthly Meeting(4 April 2014,The Current)
A journalist will provide a multi-media presentation about Irish-American Titanic survivors and the lives they lived out in the United States during the next monthly meeting of the Irish-American Cultural Society. Jim Curley, a journalist with personal ties to the story, will present a multi media talk on a County May village that sent a group of young women off for better opportunities across the Atlantic Ocean. Curley will give his presentation during the next meeting of the Irish-American Cultural Society at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 15 at the American Legion Hall, New Jersey Avenue and Mill Road, Absecon, NJ.

7. Rostron Cup Part Of Online Auction
Boston based RR Auction will be putting the Roston Cup and other Titanic artifacts up for auction online from April 17-24. Letters photos and other memorabilia will be up for auction and the Roston Cup will likely be the big ticket item for this auction. For details and information about the auction, go to rrauction.com.
Source: Online Auction For 240 Titanic Artifacts(4 April 2014,Business Standard)

MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997


Historic Ships, Titanic

Whatever Happened To….RMS Carpathia?

RMS Carpathia (date unknown) Image: public domain
RMS Carpathia (date unknown)
Image: public domain

I got a note asking what happened to RMS Carpathia, the Titanic rescue ship, after 1912.

RMS Carpathia was a Cunard line transoceanic passenger liner and primarily made runs between New York, Gibraltar, Genoa, Naples, Trieste, and Fiume. During World War I she retained doing commercial runs but did carry both Canadian and American troops to Europe.

On 17 Jul 1918, she was sunk by a German U-Boat in the Celtic Sea. Three torpedoes were fired and one hit the port side and the other the engine room killing two firemen and three trimmers. A third torpedo hit as they were lowering lifeboats. All 57 passengers and 218 surviving crew members got off in lifeboats. The German submarine did surface and threatened the lifeboats. Fortunately the HMS Snowdrop arrived on scene and drove it away and rescued the survivors.

The wreck was thought located in 1999 by team headed up by Graham Jessop on an expedition sponsored by National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). However that proved to be the liner Isis that sank in 1936. Noted author Clive Cussler announced in 2000 that his organization (NUMA-the fictional agency in many of his books that Dirk Pitt works for) had found the wreck at a depth of 500 feet and upright on the seabed. The wreck is now owned by Premier Exhibitions, the same group that also owns RMS Titanic, Inc which obtained salvage rights to Titanic. The company has recovered artifacts from the wreck for display in the Rescue Gallery in its Titanic:The Artifact Exhibition.

Source(s):
1. RMS Carpathia (Wikipedia)
2. Press Release:Artifacts From Titanic’s Rescue Ship, Carpathia, to Make World Debut at the Science Museum of Minnesota(9 April 2009, 4-traders.com)
3. Cunard Line: Carpathia (Encyclopedia Titanica)

MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

 

Titanic, Titanic II, Titanic Miscellaneous

Titanic News For April Fool’s Day 2014

film reel1. Those who use the Netflix streaming service will be happy to learn that Cameron’s Titanic will be available. Also coming via streaming are A League Of Their Own, Fox Network’s House, and B0b’s Burgers(season 3), see Lindsay Lohan before she became a hot mess in Mean Girls, those wanting a Scottish adventure will have Braveheart to watch. Saturday Night Live fans may recall the Coneheads movie and Robin Williams made everyone wary of boardgames in Jumanji. If you have been hankering to see the Rocky movies, fear no more as Rocky 1-5 are now streaming. For those who like horror gag movies, Scary Movie 3 is on. And just in time for Easter, The Bible: The Epic Miniseries is available.
Source: From House to Titanic: A Viewer’s Guide to the New Additions to Netflix(31 Mar 2014,E! Online)

2. Have you wondered about dogs on Titanic and what happened to them? The Smithsonian has compiled a guide about those 12 dogs. In The Definitive Guide to the Dogs on the Titanic , small dogs survived while the bigger ones perished. They were kept in kennels on F Deck and looked after by the ship’s carpenter. They got exercise, food, and a bathroom break. And there was a dog show planned but that never occurred. The dogs were let out at some point and were seen running about as the ship sank. There was no truth to oft-told tale that First Officer Murdoch’s dog was on a lifeboat and alerted Carpathia to the lifeboats by barking.
Source:The Definitive Guide to the Dogs on the Titanic(31 Mar 2014, Smithsonianmag.com)

3. Although doubts have been raised about a new Titanic being built by Clive Palmer, there are hopeful signs it may yet come to pass. There was a little noticed passage in a Asia Times about discussions to construct a cruise ship based on a historic, well known ship. No name was mentioned but some speculate it might be Titanic. Considering the source was within the Chinese government, speculation is that perhaps they will want to help fund this new ship to demonstrate how world class China has become in the 21st century.
Source: Chinese Government Considering Cruise Ship Business(1 April 2014, Asia Times)

Warning! Titanic Cliche Ahead
Warning! Titanic Cliche Ahead

4. Titanic Cliche Alert:Reshuffling Cabinet=Rearranging Deck Chairs on Titanic
In the wake of losing power in local elections, French President Francois Hollande has named a new prime minister and now says (after supporting higher taxes) he wants to lower taxes and worker contributions. Rainbow Murray,associate professor at Queen Mary University of London, says “I think it’s really rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Until they sort the economy out, nothing else is going to fix the major reason why the French are so unhappy with the government.” And if you have to fall back on this old tired cliché to make a point about French politics, you need to re-read Shakespeare for tips on how to better use wit to make your point.
Source: Hollande confirms Valls as PM, stands by pro-business pact(31 Mar 2014, CNBC/Reuters)


 

 

Item#3 above is the fake story. April Fools!
Titanic, Titanic II

Titanic News: Beer Served On Original Titanic on Titanic II(Maybe)

Wrexham Lager Beer workers, circa 1910. Image: public domain
Wrexham Lager Beer workers, circa 1910.
Image: public domain

More possible evidence that Clive Palmer is not doing a Titanic publicity stunt. The Daily Mail reports that Wrexham Lager, which was served aboard Titanic, will also supply Titanic II if approved by Blue Star Line. According to brewery director Mark Roberts:

“We got to hear about the plan and the fact they were looking to use original suppliers if possible. They have signed up the original brandy and champagne houses and we thought it was only right they should have the original lager suppliers too.”

Now to be clear it is not quite official. The brewery has sent samples to Blue Star and got a positive reaction writes Daily Mail. So the next step is the legal one where documents are signed to license the beer as the official beer of Titanic II.

Wrexham Lager produced a range of lagers under different labels. The Munich style lager was apparently the one used on Titanic. According to Titanic lunch menus that survived, they were served “iced draught Munich lager beer.” Wrexham Lager went out of business in 200o but was relaunched in 2011 by Mark Roberts. Industrialist Robert Graesser bought the majority share in 1886 and secured major contracts with Great Western Railway and British Army. He apparently traveled on a White Star liner to America and took a keg of beer to market it. Apparently it became popular in this country and shipping lines like White Star decided to stock it.

Source: Let’s Hope That’s All That Goes Down: Replica Titanic Cruise Ship Plans To Serve The Same Brand Drinks As The Ill-Fated Liner(27 Mar 2014,Daily Mail)


MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

Titanic, Titanic II

Titanic News: Antique Dealers Accused Stealing Titanic Memorabilia, Titanic II Keel Might Be Laid Soon, And How To Recycle Old VHS Tapes

gavel1. The New York Post reports that Noelle Hollander, daughter of late nautical expert Frank Braynard, has filed suit against two antiques dealers accusing them of stealing her father’s trove of ship memorabilia which includes Titanic memorabilia. The suit alleges Kerry McCaffrey and Richard Faber looted the memorabilia during a visit when her father was suffering from dementia. Also alleged is that he sold them a valuable painting at a bargain basement price which a gallery is now selling for $125,000. Hollander claims her father was unaware what the antiques dealers were doing because of his illness. Both dealers deny any wrong doing.
Source: Titanic Items Swiped From Seaport Museum Founder: Suit(25 Mar 2014,New York Post)

2. Cruise Ship News hopes that everything is going well and that the keel for Titanic II will be 31 March. That has symbolism since the original Titanic keel was laid on the same date in 1909. Of course there are nagging reports of problems between Clive Palmer and the Chinese shipyard. And some believe the whole thing is a publicity stunt.
Source: Titanic 2 Keel Expected To Be Laid March 31(25 Mar 2014,Cruise Ship News)

3. In the category of what will they make Titanic out of next comes this story. Five students with a charity called Butterfly Project decided to recycle old VHS tapes in a novel way. So they obtained 1,000 old VHS tapes, disassembled them, and used the materials to construct a 12 foot replica of the famous ship. Sadly no picture accompanies the story, which is a bummer since it would be something worth seeing. Hard to remember but VHS tapes were state of the art tech for viewing movies not so long ago. At least the typewriter still has a use when power goes out and you need to get a letter out the door.
Source: What Do You Do With 1000 VHS Video Cassettes – Make A Titanic Model Of Course(25 Mar 2014 ,Gloucester Citizen)


MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

Titanic, Titanic Miscellaneous

Titanic News: Tinian Plans Titanic Themed Resort, Titanic Halloween Masquerade and Titanic Irish Whiskey Loses A Year

Map of the islands of Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands along the Marianas Trench (east of China and the Philippines). Image: Public Domain (US Geological Survey)
Map of the islands of Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands along the Marianas Trench (east of China and the Philippines).
Image: Public Domain (US Geological Survey)

1. Tinian, one of the principal islands in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is planning a multimillion dollar Titanic-themed hotel and resort. The planned resort will be built on a 40,000-square-meter property on Tinian harbor. It will be built to look like it is sitting on water but built on land. Aside from the usual amenities resorts have, it will include a casino and banquet room. The decision to use a Titanic theme is due to the world-wide fascination created by Cameron’s Titanic. It is particularly popular in China, where the movie and soundtrack are very popular. And that is the goal of the resort, to attract tourists from Northern China. So many Chinese tourists will have a choice in a few years: go to a Titanic themed hotel and resort in Tinian or head into the interior and stand aboard a Titanic simulator.
Source:$130M Resort On Tinian OK’d(24 Mar 2014,Saipan Tribune)

2. If you are looking for Titanic themed Halloween masquerade party that will be on a ship, consider one in San Francisco for 2014. According to SFgate.com:
Prepare for the ultimate Halloween party cruise that will be transformed into a haunting Titanic, filled with over 300 Ghosts & Ghouls raised from the dead of the historic Titanic that sank hundreds of years ago.You will be picked up in the San Francisco Bay at Pier 40, where you’ll board the beautiful Fume Blanc Commodore Yacht. You’ll hit the city-lit bay on a 4 hour cruise, with some of the most vivid views of Treasure Island, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Nob hill, the Golden Gate GateBridge, and the magnificent San Francisco Skyline. There are 3 amazing decks on the spacious 350 passenger Fume Blanc Commodore vessel. Seating will be ‘first come, first serve’ on the lower decks, but there will be some reserved seating on the 2nd level so that table service can have the best views of the all the gorgeous scenery.

Sounds fun but costumes/mask required to attend and tickets must be purchased in advance. Ghosts (real ones) admitted free. 🙂
Source: Titanic Masquerade Halloween(22 Mar 2014, SFgate.com)

3. Bad news for fans of Titanic Irish Whiskey. The five year old blend is being reduced down to four years reports The Spirits Business. Their current supplier will not supply a five year blend and with only 300 cases left to be divided on the international market, they made the business decision to drop to a four years or risk running out of whiskey. Okay so this is not strictly a Titanic news item but I happen to know many whiskey drinkers out there get upset when a whiskey maker lowers the aging. It costs approximately $47 for 700ml.
Source: Titanic Irish Whiskey Reduces Age Over Scarce Stocks(24 Mar 2014,The Spirits Business


Titanic

Titanic News: Survivor Letter Translated On Reddit

A letter written in French dated 8 Aug 1955 written by Rose Amelie Icard was recently put on Redditt for translation assistance. What was revealed, if true, is a striking account of what happened that fateful night in 1912. Miss Icard likely was a maid to first class passenger Martha Stone. She recounts how they were shaken out of bed and initially told there was nothing wrong only to learn it was very serious. And she witnessed Ida Strauss saying she would stay with her husband, Isidor.

“She put her arms around the neck of her husband, telling him: ‘We have been married 50 years, we have never left each other, I want to die with you.”

She also heard Captain Smith order “Women and children first” and that Benjamin Guggenheim helped women and children. Icard passed away in July 1964.

The letter was written to a Madame Ausein, possibly a daughter of a woman that survived the sinking. The Reddit user claims he bought her letters and passport at an auction. The letter has not yet been authenticated.

Source: Titanic Letter Reveals New First-Hand Account Of Disaster(21 Mar 2014,The Telegraph)


Shop Amazon – Top Easter Gifts

Titanic, Titanic Miscellaneous

Autistic Boy Asks Lego For More Bricks To Construct Titanic

An 11-year old Icelandic boy named Brynjar Karl has a dream–to use Lego bricks to build his Titanic masterpiece. With the help of his mother, he has made a plea via YouTube to Lego for more bricks. Let’s hope his dream comes true!

Source: 11-Year-Old Boy With Autism Is Asking Lego To Help Him Be Even More Awesome(18 Mar 2014,Huffington Post)

Shop Amazon – March DVD Sale – Up to 52% Off Over 4,900 Titles