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Titanic

Titanic 102nd Anniversary News

Each year it is always interesting to see what Titanic news is generated on the anniversary of Titanic’s sinking. As usual we have the memorials. And usually we get at least one story of someone claiming a new take on Titanic. This year it was researchers at Sheffield University who proclaimed that 1912 was not so bad a year after all for icebergs. I guess when you have run out of things to say (which seems impossible considering Titanic), your left debunking whether or not the icebergs of 1912 were really unusual or not. Missing so far, but it still early, is some conspiracy theory. I was at least hoping someone would make a Bermuda Triangle link of some kind or that it had something to do with the lost continent of Atlantis.  Bigfoot has yet to make an appearance and of course Nessie (Loch Ness monster) could also be made part of Titanic lore.

Before the news roundup begins, the Titanic community recently lost Ed Kamuda. Ed was one of the founders of Titanic Historical Society back in 1963. He was drawn to Titanic forever after he saw the 1954 movie Titanic starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck. He began corresponding with Titanic survivors and getting them to share their recollections of what happened aboard Titanic that night. The organization attracted other Titanic enthusiasts and researchers and began publishing its own magazine, the Commutator. And he Ed got to know Dr Robert Ballard, who in 1985 helped discover the wreck. He was a vocal opponent of salvage and joined with Ballard and others trying to preserve the wreck as a grave. Perhaps the greatest adventure was being asked, along with others from the society, to consult with James Cameron on his Titanic film. He and his wife were cast as extras in that movie. Ed considered a dream come true to walk on the decks of the ship created for the movie. He was 74 when he passed away last Sunday after suffering a long illness. He will be missed by the Titanic community and he has made a lasting impact inspiring many to learn the Titanic story. Although he would have been too humble to ever admit it, it was because of organizations like Titanic Historical Society that kept Titanic alive and now more well known then ever. RIP.

Canada
Remembering the Titanic in Midland(16 April 2014,News Barrie)
Conroy is the Captain of the S.S. Keewatin and says the ship has played an important role in opening up northern Ontario and connecting eastern Canada to the prairies. In addition to raising money for the Keewatin, part of Tuesday’s event is to welcome an exact replica of the Titanic – a model ship that took 30 years to build and will now become the centerpiece of a new museum aboard the S.S. Keewatin. “When people come to the museum they can get a feel for maritime history through all these model ships,” adds Conroy. There will be about 110 model ships in the museum, all donated by people from across the country. The S.S. Keewatin opens for the season on May 10th and all of the proceeds raised from Tuesday night’s dinner will go towards repairing and restoring the old steam ship.

Tale Of Halifax Titanic Survivor Told Through Song(14 April 2014,Truro Daily News)
That was all she needed to narrate the sinking of the Titanic as lived by Hilda Mary Slayter.Peppard’s performance Living Titanic was part of an event put on by the Titanic Society of the Atlantic at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in downtown Halifax to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the luxury liner’s sinking. Born and buried in Halifax, Slayter was the only Atlantic Canadian survivor aboard the ship that went down April 15, 1912.Peppard, a musical oral historian focusing on women’s truth, discovered Slayter’s story and decided to make history come alive. She brought the performance to Colchester County back in the summer of 2012. She blended her training as an artist with her research skills to create the musical. Slayter’s family gave Peppard access to Slayter’s journals, allowing her to narrate the performance in Slayter’s own words.

UK/Northern Ireland
Titanic Hotel Liverpool To Open In June At Stanley Dock(17 April 2014,Liverpool Echo)
Confirmation that the much-anticipated Stanley Dock hotel will open in the summer has been welcomed by Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson – but fellow hotel-owners remain wary. The 153-room site has faced criticism from local businesses for its chosen name, The Titanic Hotel, which bears obvious similarity to the rival 30 James Street – The Home of the Titanic. That city-centre Signature Living hotel, which opened recently, has claimed Stanley Dock’s choice of name will confuse visitors. Lawrence Kenwright, owner of the Home of the Titanic, said: “We have no links to this other venture. “I’m concerned that people arriving in the city will confuse the two hotels, and in the end that could be bad for business for both.” Stanley Dock development director Pat Power said the name Titanic Hotel Liverpool “cements” the project’s link to the Titanic Visitor Centre in Belfast and other themed hotel’s to be opened across the UK.

For information about the 30 James Street hotel (formerly known as Albion House where White Star Line had its offices), go to http://www.rmstitanichotel.co.uk/

Titanic Disaster Dead Remembered(15 April 2014,Belfast Telegraph)
Each year on the day of the April 1912 tragedy, a solemn ceremony is held at the memorial garden where all 1,512 victims are listed on bronze plaques. As well as relatives of Irish victims, relations of a number of international passengers who died travelled to today’s event in Belfast. President of the Belfast Titanic Society John Martin, whose great uncle Dr John Edward Simpson – one of the liner’s two doctors – died on board, said many people retained an interest in the ship. “Some with a direct family connection to people on board, some who were perhaps related to people who built the ship and then there are others who are more interested in why she sank and all the disaster management type of aspect of the story, so it’s important for a lot of people,” he said.

United States
Titanic Remembered On 102nd Anniversary, Echoes Some Of The Deadliest Maritime Disasters In The Last Century(17 April 2014,Tech Times)
As the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic is remembered on the 102nd anniversary of its sinking, it’s worth looking back through history and understanding how notable maritime disasters have long plagued us. While the scale of the Titanic disaster should not be discounted — more than 1,500 lives were lost when the “unsinkable” liner hit an iceberg and sank into the cold Atlantic waters — it has been dwarfed by some other sinkings, even in the 20th century. For the acknowledged deadliest ship sinking in history, you have to look at World War II, when around 9,000 people died in the torpedoing and sinking of a German ocean liner, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Tasked with evacuating both German military forces and civilians as Soviet forces moved toward East Prussia in the waning days of the war in 1945, it ran afoul of a Russian submarine on January 30 and was sent to the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Coast Guard Reflects On Titanic Anniversary(16 April 2016,DVIDS)
During the annual ceremony, Coast Guard Cmdr. Keith Shuley, chaplain of the Coast Guard Academy, dedicated floral arrangements in remembrance of the more than 1,500 passengers who died. Every year, the IIP conducts a ceremony to remember the passengers and crew who lost their lives as a result of the Titanic sinking.  A special moment of silence was held to honor Edward Kamuda, president and founder of the Titanic Historical Society, who died April 13, 2014.

Titanic 102nd Anniversary: A Look At How Safety Features In Ocean Liners Have Developed Over The Last Century(16 April 2014,Tech Times)
The Titanic sank 102 years ago, on 16 April 1912, killing more than 1,500 people, becoming one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history.  The “unsinkable Titanic” was plagued by several design flaws that led to revolutions in ocean liner safety.  Over 2,200 people were on-board the Titanic when the largest ship of the day set out on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Late on the night of 14 April, the ship famously hit an iceberg, creating a gash cross the bow of the craft. The mighty ocean-going vessel began taking on water, as passengers scrambled for life rafts.  White Star Line, the company that operated the ship, decided only 20 lifeboats would be carried on the craft, enough for just 38 percent of the full capacity of the Titanic. Legally, the company was only required to carry just 16 of the life-saving devices.  The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, passed in 1914 in the wake of the Titanic disaster, requires all passenger ships to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers. Mandatory lifeboat drills of all passengers aboard ships is also required due to the Titanic tragedy.

Remembering The Victims From Ireland’s ‘Titanic Village’ At Absecon Event(15 April 2014,Press of Atlantic City)
Jim Curley has a small family link to the Titanic – his uncle married the niece of one of the 1,500-plus victims of the “unsinkable” ocean liner that didn’t survive its first Atlantic Ocean crossing. Curley’s distant relation by marriage, Mary Mangan, was one of 14 young people from the same area of Ireland who sailed on that doomed trip; 11 of those natives of “Ireland’s Titanic village” died when the ship rammed an iceberg and quickly sank 102 years ago today. But Curley, who lives in Long Beach Island’s nautical-sounding town of Ship Bottom, knows that millions of people with no personal ties to the disaster still have an enduring fascination with history’s most famous shipwreck. So when he gives a talk about the Irish connection to the Titanic – as he will tonight in Absecon, at a meeting of South Jersey’s Irish American Cultural Society – Curley can draw a crowd.

Local History: Titanic Survivor Died Mysteriously In Akron On Second Anniversary Of Disaster(13 April 2014,Akron Beacon Journal)
Fate caught up with Elizabeth Hocking as she stepped off a curb in Akron. Exactly two years after surviving the sinking of the Titanic, she met her destiny. A streetcar conductor flagged down two pedestrians at about 6 p.m. after seeing a woman sprawled on East Market Street in front of Akron City Hospital. The men were surgeons, Dr. Charles E. Norris and Dr. Charles W. Millikin, who carried the woman into the hospital. “When discovered, the woman was lying on what is known as the ‘devil strip,’ the space between the car tracks,” the Akron Evening Times reported April 15, 1914. “The only wound on her body was a deep cut on the back of the head. She was unconscious and never regained sufficiently to talk before the end came early this morning.” Police initially thought she was a mugging victim. Officers identified her after finding a water bill in her pocket. Eliza Hocking, 54, a widow who lived at 195 Gale St. on West Hill, was the matriarch of an English family who had sought a better life in the United States. They packed up their belongings in Penzance, Cornwall, and booked second-class passage in Southampton aboard the Titanic on April 10, 1912.

Titanic, Titanic Exhibitions

Friday Titanic News

 

1. This is Surrey Today has an article detailing locals who survived or died on Titanic. One Jack George Phillipsof the more noted was Jack Phillips, who was chief wireless officer aboard Titanic. Both he and Harold Bride were the ones who sent the now famous SOS signal to all ships in the area.

Source:  TITANIC: Remembering Those Who Sailed On The Fateful Voyage(12 April 2013, This is Surreytoday)

2. Belfast will remember those who perished aboard Titanic (which included 28 from Belfast) with a midday ceremony. The Lord Mayor and the president of the Belfast Titanic Society will lay wreaths at Titanic Memorial on City Hall grounds. Six men whose names were not known at the time the memorial was built will be honored as well.

Source: Belfast To Mark Titanic 101 Anniversary(11 April 2013, 4ni.co.uk)

3. A number Titanic Artifacts are at Titanic Experience in Cobh, Ireland. Items such as a blue leather suitcase bought at Harrod’s and the personal property of Lilly Odell are permanent. The exhibition includes photographs and items on loan to the collection.

Source: Historic Titanic Artifacts Returned To Cobh For Anniversary(11 April 2013, thejournal.ie )*

4. The Southampton SeaCity museum, which opened in 2012, is doing well reports Daily Echo. Critics had feared once Titanic centenary had faded that visitors would melt away. The project, called a white elephant by many locally, cost £15m. 143,000 visitors have passed through its doors since exceeding its target by 20,000. To keep people coming back, the museum plans to host other major national exhibitions.

Source: Southampton’s SeaCity Museum Celebrates Year Of Success After Titanic Centenary(11 April 2013, Daily Echo)

*Links for Republic of Ireland newspaper are not provided due to policy of requiring fees for links.

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Titanic

Update on Hartley Violin

 

The BBC has an interesting update on the Hartley Violin claim. To recap: Henry Aldridge Wallace Hartley's Violin& Son claims a violin has been authenticated as belonging to Titanic bandleader Wallace Hartley and was on his body when recovered. It was given to his fiancee where it remained until she died. It was then donated to the Salvation Army with its Titanic connection mentioned. Then it was given to the mother of the current owner (unidentified at this point) who contacted the auctioneer to have it authenticated (which took seven years).

Skepticism was quick in coming. Karen Kamuda of Titanic Historical Society has questioned the authenticity pointing out no such violin is listed in the official inventory of items found.  Tracey Beare of Belfast Titanic Society thinks the violin is Hartley’s but not the one used on Titanic. Titanic author Daniel Butler went further and accuses the auctioneer of fraud and got violin experts to render an opinion. You can read the blog entry about that here.

Aldridge refutes all of those claims and says there are explanations for each of them.

1. Inventory Issue: Violin Not Listed In Official Papers of Items Found On Body
Aldridge: “Larger items of luggage were frequently not recorded but small effects like watches were.” (BBC, 5 April 2013)

I have no idea whether this is correct or not, but one would have to go back through the documents to determine how they did handle luggage. What Aldridge is referring to are those things found on the body, i.e watches, notes, rings and other personal effects. Such things,when found,would be returned to relatives or loved ones.

The problem is Aldridge claims the violin was inside a leather bag strapped to Hartley’s body which floated upright on a cork and linen lifejacket for ten days. If that is true, then they could not have missed the bag and its contents. It would have been opened and inspected, and noted somewhere. Finding a bag strapped to a dead man’s body and not opening to inspect and inventory? That is rather hard to believe. One possibility is that the bag was found floating but not to a body but possibly on something else (a deck chair perhaps) or just by itself. Then it might be brought back and left for the authorities to examine. If this is true, it might explain why no official record of it exists with his body. It was not found on him but perhaps is buried in paperwork. So when Maria Robinson identified it in Nova Scotia, they gave it to her and hence why no official record exists.

Of course the other possibility is that no violin was found at all and thus the one at issue, while owned by Hartley, was not on Titanic.

2. Salt Water Issue
The claim: A violin immersed in salt water gets heavily damaged and comes apart.
Aldridge: The violin was inside a nearly waterproof leather bag strapped to Hartley’s body which floated upright for ten days. (BBC, 5 April 2013)

Assuming it was in a leather bag that floated upright on Hartley’s lifejacket, there are some things to be considered. Even in a bag, it would not entirely protect it from the cold temperatures nor moisture. We have to assume during that time waves passed over the body and presumably the leather case strapped to the body. At some point, the body would be submerged temporarily. The water stain on the violin could have come from this.

There is a way to test this though is Mythbusters style. You set up a tank to simulate the wave action of the North Atlantic and have the same salinity (salt) level in it. Also make sure the water matches the colder temperatures for that time of year. They you set up floating dummy with a leather sack and a violin inside (preferably one donated for the cause) along with detection gear to monitor for temperature and moisture level inside the sack. And run for ten days to and see what happens. And then also run another challenge of a violin afloat with a leather container for the same amount of time.  My guess is the one inside the leather bag might be less damaged than the one without.

The BBC article does have violin dealer Andrew Hooker (formerly of Sotheby’s) saying that violins have survived seawater immersions in the past. He says that an 18 century Stradivari violin was swept out to sea one day in 1952 and was swept back in the next with no problems being able to be played. Note what is left out. He does not say where that happened (for fact checking) because it may not have been swept out to the deep sea but was lodged nearby on a rock and then swept back in on the next tide. To say it was not damaged is probably not accurate. Hooker does say something interesting to the BBC:

“Mr Hooker examined the Hartley violin in person and says it has been restored since surviving the Titanic disaster.”

Note that key word restored in that sentence.  According to The Telegraph article on 14 Mar 2013, the violin has two long cracks on its body opened up by moisture damage. And later we have a letter to the current owner’s mother as to why the Salvation Army music teacher decided to give it away. “….I found it virtually unplayable, doubtless due to its eventful life.” So it begs the question as to what Mr. Hooker means it was restored.

Perhaps though, even if made playable again, it never sounded good. That would bolster the assertion by one of Butler’s experts that the metal plaque effects the tone and quality of the violin. If so that would support the theory this violin was not one used for public performances.

3. Second Violin Issue
Claim: The violin, while owned by Hartley, was of a lower grade than most performers were used. Likely a gift since the metal inscription would inhibit its tone and overall quality when played.
Aldridge:” Mr Aldridge says that Hartley was a “cafe violinist” not a concert-grade musician, and did not have spare money for extra violins. (BBC, 5 April 2013)

Aldridge does have a point here. Concert grade violins are not cheap but most performers save up to buy the high quality equipment. It sounds better and if treated right, will last a very long time.  But if he was smart, and I bet he was, he had a backup. One that in a pinch he could pull out and use. It would be old, perhaps not as good, but would get the job done until he got back his primary (which would be in the shop being repaired). He may have brought it aboard Titanic that voyage and that is what we found. We may never know for sure whether he had two violins or not aboard Titanic. I wonder though if any violins were found in the debris field and recovered. They did find some musical instruments. Perhaps if he did have a second it is there and he kept the one most dear nearest to his heart.

I think we have to at least consider the possibility he had a primary and a backup. And if the metal inscription did effect tonal quality, he may not have used for public performances even if he was a “café violinist.”

Wrapping Things Up
One proof submitted is a diary entry by Maria Robinson dated 19 Jul 1912. It apparently is the transcript of a telegram sent to the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia in which she states: “I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiance’s violin.” The actual telegram has not been found so, at this point, it cannot be ascertained it was sent. It would seem to confirm a violin was returned to her. If that is true, it certainly supports the theory the violin was found but not why it was not recorded. If it was in luggage (the leather bag) found floating, that might explain it. However the silence on the Nova Scotia end is odd. If it was found on his body, it would be noted. If it was found in a leather bag brought ashore, and then identified by Maria Robinson, there would be an entry somewhere. A further check of records might have to be done and perhaps looking into ancillary records that might contain that nugget.

I think it is wise to have a second pair of eyes, independent of Aldridge, go over all the findings and double-check everything. And it also is wise not to underestimate fakery. There have been great fakes in the past that have gotten by experts on the first examination. Aldridge, despite what some might want to believe, would never be part of this. The damage to his reputation and his business would not be worth it. However there are others out there who have no problems creating historical fakes using clever means. Getting an old violin from that period and using all the right things might very well create a fake Hartley violin that would pass muster. After all, if one can make seemingly historical inscriptions on ancient tombs to make them look real, then mocking up an old violin is not so difficult.

Source: ‘Titanic Violin’ Sparks Heated Debate(5 April 2013, BBC)

Titanic

Titanic Plan On Display In Belfast

From The Irish Independent:

The world’s most expensive Titanic artefact has gone on public display in a centre dedicated to the doomed liner. The 32ft-long plan of the ship, which was used as a reference guide during the 1912 British inquiry into the sinking, has been passed to Titanic Belfast by a mystery benefactor. The anonymous collector bought the well-preserved paper diagram at auction for £220,000 last year. It bears ink marks denoting exactly where engineers giving evidence to the Board of Trade inquiry determined the White Star Line vessel had struck the iceberg on its fateful transatlantic maiden voyage in April 1912.

Source: Irish Independent, Ship Plan On Show At Titanic Centre, 27 Nov 2012


Titanic, Titanic 2012

Titanic Letter Returns To Belfast

Earlier this month a letter was put up for auction in New York. The letter written by Belfast doctor John Edward Simpson aboard Titanic and mailed in Cobh, was thought to fetch $34,000 (£21,692). It failed to reach that reserve price but an anonymous benefactor has purchased the letter and is sending to Belfast. Although copies abound, this is the original. Needless to say the Simpson family is quite pleased. You can view the BBC video here.

Titanic, Titanic 2012

Forget The Moon or Super Refraction; Captain Smith Was Drunk

The Daily Telegraph reports that a previously unseen account by a survivor alleges Captain Smith was drinking before Titanic hit the iceberg. Second class passenger Emily Richard’s claims in a letter (written aboard Carpathia) that Smith was in the saloon drinking before he went to bed. Most accounts have Smith retiring to his cabin after leaving Murdoch in charge and in bed when the collision occurred.

Una Reilly of the Belfast Titanic Society was asked about the claim and states to have never heard the accusation before.

The problem is that no one else can corroborate this story. And it is quite possible it is a case of mistaken identity. No doubt it will get some play as the story zings around the world. Of course various Titanic authorities will be called or asked to comment. Coupled with stories about drunks piloting boats, the news media might wring out even more stories. So where does this story go? It gets filed into those strange/odd stories that seem to come out around full moons, Halloween, or near anniversaries of important events like when Titanic sank.

Source: The Telegraph, Titanic’s Captain Edward Smith In Bed Drunk When Ship Struck Iceberg, 10 Mar 2012

Titanic

Belfast Big Wheel Coming Down

After two years of spinning next to city hall, the Big Wheel is finally coming down on 11 April. The wheel was a major tourist success but it also had its detractors. In November 2009 the Belfast Titanic Society complained the wheel blocked access to the Titanic Memorial. And it prevented them from laying a memorial wreath.

The Belfast Titanic Society campaigned for the wheel to be removed. Apparently it worked. Originally the company running the attraction had submitted an application for summer use. They have since decided to remove the wheel.