Back in October it was announced that Robert Ballard was ending his long term relationship with Mystic Aquarium. Ballard said the reason was to focus on other projects. Mystic Aquarium announced its discontinuance of the Titanic Exhibit on 5 Jan 2015. The exhibit opened in 2012 informs visitors about Titanic’s discovery and of Robert Ballard’s part in it. A new explorers exhibit, yet unnamed, will replace it in 2015.
Source: Tropenmuseum,G.F.J. (Georg Friedrich Johannes) Bley (Fotograaf/photographer)
Back in 2012 it was reported that rubber blocks were washing up in the UK and northern Europe with the word Tjipetir engraved on it. Titanic was suggested as the source but Tracey Williams of Newquay, Cornwall possibly has determined the source BBC News is reporting. These rubber blocks were gutta-percha from an Indonesian rubber plantation named Tjipetir and were cargo on Titanic. But Williams thinks after charting where the blocks have been found and learning information from two sources that it is from the wreck of a Japanese cargo ship sunk in World War 1. Specifically the Miyazaki Maru which was sunk 150 miles west of the Isles of Scilly.
She learned that during the salvage large amounts of gutta-percha and rubber bales were released from the ship’s hold. And of course they are picked up by the current and tossed around in the ocean until it lands on a beach somewhere. It turns out that the Miyazaki Maru was sunk by the same U-Boat captain who sank the Lusitania in 1915–Walther Schwieger who was one of Germany’s top U-Boat captains during the war. He died in 1917 when his U-Boat struck a British mine while being chased by HMS Stonecrop.
It is speculated that these rubber blocks may be washing up on UK and northern Europe beaches for years to come. It is possible there is more than one source of these blocks as many ships carrying them were sunk during the war. And there still is the possibility some might be from Titanic.
Poster for the 1932 film The Mummy Image:Public Domain
Every few years or so an email comes through that claims Titanic sank because a cursed Egyptian mummy was aboard. Of course it has been debunked over the years and Barbara Mikkelson’s examination at Snopes.com throughly reviews all the details of the claim. Still it makes its rounds out there, bouncing around like the proverbial bad penny. So how did this story take hold? Although not often noted, fascination in Egypt and in mummies was strong towards the end of the 19th and the early 20th. Books, scientific and otherwise, were very popular on the subject. Even Bram Stoker, known for Dracula, penned his own horror mummy story called The Jewel of the Seven Stars. That story became the basis of many Hollywood and British mummy movies (such as Hammer’s Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb). So it is not hard to see why many might believe in cursed Egyptian relics or mummies.
The tale tells us that it is the mummy of Princess Amen-Ra who lived 1,500 years before Christ. And four young men in the 1890’s had misfortune when they acquired the mummy in the 1890’s while in Egypt. The one who bought it disappeared when he walked into the desert. A second was (accidently) shot by an Egyptian servant and lost an arm. The third found the bank that had his life savings had failed. And the fourth man ended up losing everything and selling matchsticks on the street. The mummy was sold to the British Museum, which had bad things happen as well (a death, reported poltergeist activity, people afraid to enter the area it was kept in etc). So ultimately it was sold to an American archaeologist and brought aboard Titanic and of course that ship sank in spectacular fashion in 1912. That is a watered down version of the whole story.
Egyptian history is full of various prince and princesses but so far no one has proved that an Amen-Ra (or variations of that name) existed. What is commonly thought to be the mummy is the inner coffin lid described as a gessoed and painted wooden mummy board of an unidentified woman. The lid was found in Thebes and has been dated (by style and shape)as from the late 21st or 22nd dynasty (about 950-900 bc). Unfortunately her identity is not known and the only inscriptions are religious phrases. She likely participated in ceremonies in the temple of Amen-Ra. It is speculated though not proven she was a priestess of that temple. It was donated to the British Museum in 1889 and has been on display ever since (except during the two world wars) and even gone on traveling exhibitions.
Of course thanks the Titanic legend it has been dubbed the “Unlucky Mummy.” It began with British writer and journalist, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, who believed the artifact was malevolent. His death was attributed by some (like Arthur Conan Doyle who created Sherlock Holmes) to its malevolence. Then two writers, William Stead and Douglas Murray began writing a horror story about an Egyptian mummy causing all kinds of problems. Then they saw the coffin lid at the British museum and Mikkelson writes:
Sometime after Stead and Murray invented their mummy tale, they were visiting the First Egyptian Room of the British Museum and noticed the coffin lid of the Priestess of Amun. They concocted yet another story that the look of terror and anguish in the face depicted on the coffin lid indicated that the coffin’s original occupant was a tormented soul, and her evil spirit was now loose in the world. Stead and Murray told their fanciful tale to eager newspaper reporters who — then as now — weren’t about to let the truth get in the way of a sensationally good story. The two stories were conflated into one and spread widely, and the Priestess of Amun came to be identified as the mummy whose mortal remains wreaked havoc wherever they were stored.
Today the legend still tries to soldier on despite the fact it has been decisively debunked. It is somewhat ironic that the sensational story he and Murray concocted about the mummy lid would one day be used to explain why he and others died on Titanic in 1912.
Oasis of The Seas, one of the largest cruise ships afloat today(Photo 2010) Image:Baldwin040(Wikipedia)
Back in the days when ships were made of wood (or other similar materials), most knew a ship or boat would float since wood floats on water. Sounds simple enough but it gets a bit more complicated when you add weight (or mass) to it. Then you have to think about how to do it to make sure its mass does not sink it. This is where two important principles come into play: buoyancy and the Archimedes principle. The Archimedes principle is that an object in a fluid encounters an upward force equal to that of the weight of the fluid displaced around the object. A ship floats when it displaces a lot of water and that water wants to return to where it was. This creates a force that pushes the ship upwards creating what is called the buoyancy force. A ship that displaces water equal to its own weight will float, while a ship that displaces water greater than its own weight will sink.
Ships and boats then have to be shaped in a way that allows for this displacement to occur so it does not sink. And it allows for a lot of air to be inside as well. Ships are not like solid blocks of steel, which have no air inside. Stability becomes a major issue as well. You want the center of gravity to be stable so it does not tip over easy. In small boats you can see how this works out. A person moving from one side to the other causes the center of gravity to change. Equipment has to be balanced and gear brought aboard has to be kept low and near the center of the boat. That is why it is unwise in small boats to sit on the sides as it will cause tipping. The same principle is true on larger boats and ships. Weight must be distributed so that no one part of the ship is heavier than any other. If the center of gravity on a ship becomes too high due to highly stacked cargo or other things, buoyancy becomes unstable and it will capsize.
Here is a YouTube video that explains how ships float.
The Titanic Hotel at Stanley Dock in Liverpool has been open for a while and reviews are coming in. Teresa Machan writing for the travel section of Daily Telegraph gave it high marks. She liked the style and character of the place, the service, the rooms and value for money. Her major ding is its location, the Stanley Dock, which is not exactly a place one finds classy hotels in Liverpool. So it got the lowest mark of 6 out 10. And the service would have been a 9 had not a waiter spilled milk when picking up her breakfast bowl. Otherwise she considers it worth the trip.
SS Eastland circa 1911 Photo: public domain (Library of Congress)
Susan Q. Stranahan writing for Smithsonian Online gives an excellent account of the tragic events of the SS Eastland, which rolled over while docked in the Chicago River in 1915. The death toll was appalling and most of those who died were under 25. It was a sensational story in the papers yet it faded. The Titanic, which sank in 1912 is still remembered today while Eastland is just barely remembered. So what happened?
Titanic became a symbol for the age she was built in, part Gilded Age, industrial, and the last embers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The ship became iconic and achieved immortality, something rare in historical memory. James Cameron’s movie cemented that in recent years. And the high money fetched in authentic Titanic memorabilia shows how strong that memory still is. Mention things like the Children’s Blizzard (1888), the General Slocum disaster(1904) or the 1918 flu pandemic and you get stares. Mention things like the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and that still has historical memory especially for people in Northern California that still live in its shadow.
One argument for the loss of Eastland memory is that there was no one rich or famous aboard. Possible but I do not think that is why it is forgotten. It is forgotten perhaps because the tragedy never reached a certain level that ingrained itself like some disasters do. Why is it that an old Great Lakes freighter is remembered while other ships that sank in those cold waters not? A song by Gordon Lightfoot called Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. While some knew about the tragedy in the news, it was this song that put it into a national consciousness. Titanic had books, songs, plays and movies. The Eastland has a few books, historical societies, newspaper records, and testimony at hearings. Yet it got no national memory because while tragic it simply did not stick into the historical memory. We may never know exactly why. And that is what historians and historical societies are for, to make sure such things do not pass into the realm of forgotten.
And even if there was someone famous or rich on Eastland that day, that is no guarantee it would be remembered beyond a certain radius. Historical memory can be shocking in its forgetfulness. All we can do is try to shine a light on what happened so that people do not forget what has happened before.
Titanic Captain Edward J Smith, 1911 Photo: Public Domain
According to Daily Mail, the records of Titanic captain Edward J. Smith and members of his crew are among records now available online at http://www.ancestry.co.uk/. This is not a free site although you can get a free 14 day trial and then a monthly fee will apply (see terms and conditions for either the US or UK sites for details). However you can go to Encyclopedia Titanica and find a great deal of information without having to pay a monthly fee.
Sketch of HMS Cressy sinking by Henry Reuterdahl Image:public domain (Wikipedia)
On 22 September 1914, three British Royal Navy Cruisers–HMS Cressy, HMS Aboukir and HMS Hogue–were sunk while on patrol near Ostend. One German U-boat, the U9, sank all three. From all three ships 837 men were rescued and 1,459 men perished ( 62 officers and 1,397 enlisted men). There was a huge outcry at the time at the large loss of life caused by a U-boat, which up till then were not taken that seriously as a threat. It hurt the reputation of the Royal Navy and forced them to implement stringent anti-submarine tactics after that. The German U-boat commander was given a hero’s welcome and the submarines would prove to be a threat to British shipping. In 1954 the British government sold salvage rights to a German company which eventually ended up being acquired by a Dutch company. And that company has been salvaging metal from the ships since 2011.
This has caused in uproar in Chatham, where a large number of those who perished came from. Now there is demand from local leaders for the government to declare the wreck site as a war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act. The argument is that if Titanic is a grave, then the remains of three Royal Navy cruisers ought to be as well. So far there is no reaction from the British government and the company that has the salvage rights would likely fight any attempt to interfere with their ability to salvage.
1. Rare Titanic Menu Auctioned Off MSN News reports the rare Titanic menu auctioned off by Henry Aldridge & Son fetched $96,000 (£60,000). A small locker key from Titanic topped $99,000 (£62,000). MSN reports the bidding was fierce and bidders were from around the world. Andrew Aldridge is quoted to say “Some of the items we had on sale today were extremely rare, which prompted a lot of interest from people here in the UK as well as from Monaco, South America and the USA.” Perhaps Premier Exhibitions can learn a thing or two from Aldridge about selling Titanic artifacts.
Image: Public Domain (NOAA)
2. Ballard Says Adios To Mystic Aquarium
Robert Ballard has ended his long term relationship with Mystic Aquarium to focus on other projects reports Hartford Courant. Ballard cites his work with his Ocean Exploration Trust and the Center for Ocean Exploration at the University of Rhode Island as the reason for ending the relationship. “I couldn’t keep this many irons in the fire. I had to make some decisions” said Ballard. Ballard helped raise money for Mystic and his leaving is bittersweet says aquarium president Stephen Coan. “But I’m really happy for him,” he said. “So many things have come together for him over the past few years in terms of having the tools he needs for his research and the affiliations to support that work” said Coan.
3. New Photographs Of Titanic Launch Ulster Folk and Transport Museum now has on display 166 never before seen photographs of Titanic’s launch at Harland & Wolff in 1911. Photos of Titanic sister ship Olympic are included.
4 Titanic Artifacts Value Goes Up But No Buyers As Of Yet
It was announced this week that a new appraisal of the Titanic collection sets its value at $218 million. It was previously valued $189 million so it has gone up in value. Unless there are some very wealthy investors willing to stake the money, it may be very difficult to sell as a whole lot. I wonder if they are planning to challenge the salvage ruling as too constrictive in selling the collection.
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.
1. According to The Guardian, 166 photographs– never seen by the public before–are going on display at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. The photos show Titanic during her launch at Harland & Wolff on 31 May 1911. Images from Olympic are also included.
2. The Atlanta Business Journal is reporting a new appraisal of the Titanic artifact collection held by Premier Exhibitions is now worth $218 million. The appraisal was done by The Alasko Co. The previous appraisal set the value at $189 million. The appraisal only covers the artifacts and not any of the intellectual or archaeological assets by Premier Exhibitions.
, 
