Category Archives: Titanic

Titanic

Friday Titanic News

Happy Friday everyone. Here is some Titanic and other historic ship news hopefully you find interesting. Have a nice weekend everyone.

 

Andrea Doria’s Foghorn Sounds Again
Divernet, 25 Jul 2021

Andrea Doria’s foghorn sounds again

 

It will be the first time the Italian liner’s horn has been heard since it blew on sinking 65 years ago. The 213m ship had collided with Swedish liner the Stockholm 100 miles off Nantucket in 1956. Forty-six of the Andrea Doria’s 1706 passengers died, along with five of the Stockholm’s crew. Eight survivors are set to join technical divers, maritime historians and restorers for the 65th anniversary event, which will be livestreamed for the public on Facebook Live. The restored Kockumation horn is 1.2m long and its trumpet 60cm in diameter. Attached to an iron replica of a mast section, it weighs 227kg. It was discovered in 2016 by a dive team led by Joe Mazraani, captain of the Atlantic Wreck Salvage dive vessel Tenacious, which has carried out annual expeditions to the Andrea Doria since 2010. He spotted it beneath the mast and it was brought up the following summer.

You can view footage of the sinking on  YouTube.

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Podcast: Titanic is Dying But the Bow & Irish Memories Will Survive
Afloat.ic, 23 Jul 2021
https://afloat.ie/blogs/tom-macsweeney/item/51237-titanic-is-dying-but-the-bow-irish-memories-will-survive

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Titanic Family Fun This Summer In Worcester
Worcester News, 21 Jul 2021

The Titanic: Honour & Glory exhibition at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum are holding special fun-filled workshops for families to enjoy every Wednesday at 11am. The activities will include a range of arts and crafts and a free Monsters of the Deep trail, where children can take an adventure around the Museum, solving clues about real mythical monsters of the sea. Deborah Fox, senior curator with Museums Worcestershire said: “We’ve been delighted by the response to the exhibition, it has been amazing and is proving incredibly popular! We want to bring the history to life for our family audiences this summer and so we hope the drop-in workshops will be an opportunity for children to understand more about the famous ocean liner with craft and creative activities which they can take away with them”

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China. A Huge Replica Of The Titanic Was Made. It Will Be A New Tourist Attraction
RandRLife, 21 Jul 2021

The Chinese Titanic is being built near the city of Daying. It will be 269 meters long, 28 meters wide and 3,000 square metres. tons of steel. However, the ship will not be able to swim. It will remain on the beach as the focal point and major tourist attraction of Sichuan Amusement Park. The replica is supposed to be an accurate representation of the Titanic – from the sumptuous interiors to the dinner menu. The project to create a copy of the legendary ship lasted for several years and was initially announced for completion in 2017. Work was suspended for some time due to financial disputes, but in April, the project’s Facebook page said construction of the ninth floor of the building was underway.

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Sadly Jackie Mason passed away recently. He was truly one of a kind and was able to get laughs easily. Here is his  on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. It is a rare moment when the guest actually one ups the talented Carson. Enjoy! RIP Jackie Mason.

Titanic

Titanic News- Snopes Looks Into Titanic Photograph,Jinxed Train Station Gets New Life and more!

Europe’s Unluckiest Train Station Gets New Lease Of Life As Hotel
The Guardian, 19 Jul 2021

It earned the nickname “Titanic of the mountains”, but now the monumental and ill-fated train station at Canfranc is to get a new life as a five-star hotel, 51 years after the international rail link across the Pyrenees closed. The story of Canfranc, a village more than 1,000 metres (3,280ft) above sea level on the Franco-Spanish frontier, is one of vainglorious ambition and abject failure, of incompetence and corruption, of intrigue, smuggling and a century-long run of bad luck. Spain wanted to show that it was capable of building something on the scale of Europe’s great “railway cathedrals”, says Alfonso Marco, author of El Canfranc, historia de un tren de leyenda (Canfranc, the story of a legendary train). “By the time it was built it already belonged, conceptually and technically, in the 19th century,” he told the Guardian. The problem was that the station was conceived in 1853 but not completed until 1928.

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Is This the Final Photograph of the Titanic?
Snopes.com, 16 Jul 2021

Snopes looks into whether or not a photograph (Morrogh Image) is the final photograph of Titanic. After consulting with Ken Marschall and another expert, it likely was not the last one. It appears to have been taken a few minutes before the Odell Image (taken by Kate Odell on the tender heading ashore). Which makes the Odell image still the last and final photograph of Titanic as she heads out to sea, and into history.

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‘The Apparition Screamed Out ‘Waratah! Waratah!’: Dundee Ship Richard King And ‘Australia’s Titanic’
The Courier, 16 Jul 2021

The Waratah was sailing to Cape Town but she disappeared from sight into the mist with her 211 passengers and crew in July 1909. The story of the Waratah has often been compared to that of the Titanic, which sank three years later. As such, the Waratah has been referred to variously as the “Titanic of the Southern Ocean” and “Australia’s Titanic”. The Richard King was one of the ships that took part in an exhaustive but unsuccessful search for the Waratah. Numerous attempts to salvage it and a few sightings have been reported, with none proving to be true. No one has ever found a trace of the ship and this great maritime mystery is up there with the Mary Celeste and the Flying Dutchman.

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What Titanic Left Behind: This Forgotten Mansion Was Owned By A Family Taken By Maritime Tragedy
Thetravel.com, 15 Jul 2021

The nearly-forgotten home of Lynnewood Hall was once considered to be one of the finest mansions in the country from the Gilded Age. It also held the title as being the finest home in the state of Pennsylvania but with so many Neo-Classical Revival features, that was not a tough challenge to overcome. What more interesting – and tragic – is the family who once owned this mansion, and how their lives were intertwined with that of the biggest maritime disaster in history: The Titanic.

https://youtu.be/yiLgiIFcYI0


Titanic

Titanic News: OceanGate Dives to Titanic, Can AI Detect Icebergs?

Historian Talks About Family’s Incredible Survival Story Aboard The Titanic
Wwaytv3.com, 13 Jul 2021

Visitors to the Museum of Coastal Carolina in Ocean Isle Beach got an intimate look at a family who survived the Titanic. Julie Hedgepeth Williams travels across the country to tell the story of her great uncle, Albert Caldwell. Caldwell, his wife and infant son were one of a few families to survive the sinking of the Titanic fully intact.

OceanGate Sub Makes First Dive To Titanic Wreck Site And Captures Photos Of Debris
Geekwire, 13 Jul 2014

The first fruits of OceanGate’s 12,500-foot-deep dive in the North Atlantic include photos that show the frame of a stained-glass window and fragments of floor tile from the ocean liner, which hit an iceberg and sank during its maiden voyage from England to New York in 1912. The loss of the ship and more than 1,500 of the people who were on board — plus the wreck’s rediscovery in 1985 — made the saga of the Titanic one of the history’s best-known sea tragedies.

Boat Built In Same Shipyard As The Titanic To Become Gloucester Docks’ New Restaurant
Soglos.com, 13 July 2021

It was built in the same Belfast shipyard as RMS Titanic in 1911 and spent decades working the River Severn, now the Ribchic Piranha is to be reborn as The Showman – a new floating restaurant at Gloucester Docks. Businessman Marcus Hyland bought the boat in 2017 when the one-time converted tanker came to the end of its days ferrying passengers between Worcester and Stourport and serving as a floating pub.

Can Artificial Intelligence Detect Sea-Ice And Enhance Safety?
Fossbytes.com, 12 Jul 2021

Often, we all wonder if the Unsinkable Ship ‘The Titanic’ could have been saved from the iceberg. Well, the answer lies with technology; if the world was capable enough to identify the turmoils and barriers in the deep sea, so many accidents, not only Titanic, wouldn’t have happened. Today, our marine and navigation system has evolved. Adverse climatic conditions and all those affecting the movements in deep-sea can be identified and prevented too. But one such factor, which requires much attention, is the ice and small glaciers. Often captains and marine experts have mentioned different kinds of ice that pose a significant threat to the ships.

From the Jack and Rose File:

How Titanic Teased Jack’s Death At The Beginning Of The Movie
Screen Rant, 12 Jul 2021


Titanic

Oshkosh Titanic Exhibit; Monitoring Wreck Deterioration

 

Titanic Memorial, Washington D.C.(1940)
Photo: Public Domain(U.S.Library of Congress, Harris & Ewing Collection)

Oshkosh Public Museum Welcomes “Titanic: The Wisconsin Connection” Exhibit
WeAreGreenBay.com, 11 Jul 2021

“As one of the most talked-about moments in history, the sinking of the White Star Liner RMS Titanic continues to pique people’s interest over 100 years later. The Oshkosh Public Museum is thrilled to announce their Titanic: The Wisconsin Connection exhibit set to be unveiled Wednesday, July 21. Over two years in the making, this exhibit is based on in-depth, research of Wisconsin passengers conducted by Museum researchers from the Experiential Media Group, salvager, and owner of the Titanic artifacts.”

The exhibit runs from 21 July- 13 October 2021. For hours of operation, purchasing tickets and other information, please click here: Oshkosh Public Museum.

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As The Titanic Decays, Expedition Will Monitor Deterioration
ABC News, 30 June 2021

“Racing against the inevitable, an undersea exploration company’s expedition to the site of the wreckage could start this week, beginning what’s expected to be an annual chronicling of the ship’s deterioration. With the help of wealthy tourists, experts hope to learn more about the vessel as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks spawn. “The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions, said Friday from a ship headed to the North Atlantic wreck site.”


Titanic

Titanic News: Titanic Size Compared to Cruise Ships Today;Robots to Find Shipwrecks

 

RMS Titanic pictured in Queenstown, Ireland 11 April 1912
Source:Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh Ireland/Wikimedia Commons

How Big Was Titanic Compared To Modern Cruise Ships?
Newshub, 5 Jul 2021

But how big is big? If you were to judge its size by the movie Titanic alone, you would assume RMS Titanic was one of the largest things ever built, perhaps so big that it’s yet to be matched since. However, as time rolled on and technology evolved, the cruise ships taking to the ocean these days are so big they’d make Cal Hockley spill his hair wax. Putting Titanic next to some of the largest modern cruise liners underlines just how massive and amazing cruise ships have become.

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Lawton Heritage Association To Tell The Story Of Titanic Through The Eyes Of Women
Lawton Constitution, 4 July 2021

A fundraiser by the Lawton Heritage Association will allow visitors to experience the tragedy of the Titanic through the eyes of women at various levels of the social strata, while telling the broader story of an active historical era. Sandi Colby, who is coordinating the event for the Lawton Heritage Association, said the idea is to share the stories of women who were aboard the Titanic when it struck an iceberg and sank into the icy waters of the Atlantic in April 1912, while also linking the tragedy to the suffrage debate that had intensified about the same time.

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Deep Sea Robots Will Let Us Find Millions of Shipwrecks, Says Man Who Discovered Titanic
Guardian, 4 July 2021

“All the work I’ve done in the past in archaeology used vehicles that were connected to a ship. The ones that we’re building now are revolutionary new vehicles, able to work in extremely complex and rugged terrains – a new class of autonomous underwater vehicles that have their own intelligence and that are going to revolutionise the field of marine archaeology.” They are all the more extraordinary because they allow marine archaeologists to explore the ocean floor without needing to go to sea themselves. In the US, he recently undertook an expedition exploring Lake Huron and found an 1800s wreck – a search that was all done from land.


Titanic

Titanic News:1st Class Dinner, Diver Tells Titanic

 

RMS Olympic’s A la Carte Restaurant, located in B-Deck level. Circa May 1911
Robert John Welch (1859-1936), official photographer for Harland & Wolff
Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

First Class Dinner Gala Returning To Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
ClickOrlando.com, 29 June 2021

If you have ever dreamed of dining like one of the guests onboard the famous Titanic, now is your chance once again. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition — 7324 International Drive, Orlando — announced on Tuesday that its popular first-class dinner gala is returning on July 2. Guests can join Captain Smith, Margaret “Molly” Brown, and additional first-class passengers for a night to remember. The reserved dinner event includes a Captain’s cocktail party, a tour of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, a first-class dinner, and reenactments of the night of April 14, 1912.

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What It’s Like to Dive the Titanic
ScubaDiving.com, 24 June 2021

We landed in our job zone away from the ship, slowly moved off in the direction of the ship and after about 10 minutes, we gently bumped into a mud bank. The sea floor at this stage has been quite beveled with ripples in the sand. And as we got nearer and nearer the wreck site you could see debris starting to fall — bits of wreckage or small items on the seabed. And you know you’re getting nearer and nearer to it. But as we approach the mud bank, the pilot had slowed down and gently bumped into it. He then started to rise because, at this stage, the mud banks where the ship — the bow — plunged into the seabed. It literally buried itself 60 feet below the surface of the seabed. And so the pilot just started to make the sub rise slowly in front of us.


Titanic

Titanic Wedding Blues

RMS Titanic pictured in Queenstown, Ireland 11 April 1912
Source:Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh Ireland/Wikimedia Commons

According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, newlyweds have received stinging rebukes on social media for a Titanic-themed wedding. Their uncle shared a photo of the two posing on a homemade Titanic bow celebrating their nuptials. It quickly drew criticism from people who were mad at how this trivialized the tragedy. The comments were all over the place, but the message was clear that they had crossed a line.

There have been many tacky things over the years from Titanic shaped ice cubes, knick-knack of all kinds, and even children’s slides. And there have been lots of people who have tried to recreate the famous scene from the James Cameron movie, sometimes just in jest. There was a famous advertisement some years back for a Red Bull, an energy drink. It showed a carton of it being loaded onto a ship. The captain asks about it and the crewman says it is an energy drink that gives you wings. The captain scoffs saying they only serve champagne on his ship, and you do not need wings on a ship. As the carton is lowered back down, the ship’s name is revealed as Titanic. You can view it on YouTube.

There were some who criticized the commercial for being in bad taste, but it was just a lighthearted joke to sell a product. Does anyone criticize James Cameron for having that bow scene in that famous movie? Not that I have heard. Here we have a fiancée who knew his future wife loves that scene. With some assistance from a relative, they build one so that they can both stand on it for the reception. How many times has this happened already? Probably a lot where couples got married in a Titanic-themed setting. The Titanic themed exhibition in Pigeon Forge offers wedding packages where they can get married at the outdoor fountain or at the Titanic Grand Staircase. And all the marriages are done by an ordained minister dressed as the Titanic Captain. I hardly think that is tacky and I bet whether at the fountain or on the staircase, it is a wedding to remember. They do not offer one with a bow setting because that is from that movie. It also may be difficult to pull off as well.

At the risk of sounding like William Shatner in the famous skit of his on SNL, get a life. They were recreating a scene from a movie. A movie, I must remind, that though depicting historical events, was fictional as were the characters of Jack and Rose. That is what they are recreating, two fictional characters standing on Titanic’s bow in a romantic scene. It would be different if they were dressed as Isidor and Ida Straus for the wedding and saying to each other “where you go, I go” type of vows. That would trivialize their deaths and others as well. The fact so many people got worked up into a frenzy is quite astonishing. And that some of the comments were quite vicious as well. Those who have been around the Internet for a long time have a feeling of déjà vu as it reminds one of the old flame wars on the old Internet groups and email discussion lists.

The newlyweds should not be ashamed, nor made to feel so. I wish them nothing but happiness for their life together. Enjoy the Celine Dion song here.*

*Due to restrictions imposed by creators who post on YouTube, some videos and music can now only be played at YouTube. YouTube will generate a message that the content is unavailable and must be played on their site. Rather than seeing that ugly message, we will provide the direct link for you to view.


History, Titanic

Slideshow of Former Widener Home Lynnewood Hall

Lynnewood Hall, 2013
Photo: Shuvaev/Wikimedia Commons

Few estates showcase the wealth of the Gilded Age than Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Built by Peter A.B. Widener between 1897-1900, it was a masterpiece of design. The 110-room mansion sat on 300 acres that were meticulously cared for and adorned with statues. The mansion was 70,000 square feet and designed by the noted American architect Horace Trumbauer. Aside from being a place to live, it was also to be the home of one of the largest private art collections in the country. It is estimated to have cost $8 million to build. Sadly, both his son George Dunton Widener and grandson Harry, died when Titanic sank in 1912. George had two other children who were not aboard at the time. His wife Eleanor and maid did survive but it was a devastating blow to AB. He would die in 1915.

Between 1915-1940, it was a private art gallery open to the public by appointment. In 1940, over 2,000 pieces of art were donated to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.  When Joseph Widener passed away in 1943, none of his children wanted the responsibility (meaning cost because it took a lot of money to keep the house and grounds maintained). It was abandoned and left to slowly disintegrate until 1948 when a developer bought it for a very low price. After that it was purchased by the Faith Theological Seminary. They sold off most of the land and now sits on 33 acres. Most of the art that was left was sold off prior to the sale. The seminary sold off many the famed interior detailing to raise funds. You must go to the National Gallery in Washington to see the Widener art collection, which is still preserved.

The house has been left to rot having been stripped of its precious art and detailing. Some rooms and areas are still in good condition as the slideshow indicates. It has been added to the list of endangered historic properties in the region. The secret tunnels referred to in the title were possibly used by staff to navigate the large house without being seen by Widener’s guests. The home was up for sale in 2014 for $20 million but that was brought down to $17.5 million in 2017. It appears off the market but not really known if it was sold or not. Perhaps it ought to be renovated and made open to the public (for a fee, of course) like many mansions and estates in Britain and France. You can view the slideshow here.

 

Titanic

Ballard Has Expedition Coming Up;Former Astor Gatehouse For Sale

 

Image: Public Domain (NOAA)

Titanic Discoverer Robert Ballard Set To Embark On Major New Expedition
Theday.com, 10 June 2021

Next month, a consortium of organizations assembled by Ballard will launch a 10-year, $200 million federally funded effort to study the Pacific Ocean section of the country’s vast offshore Economic Exclusion Zone, which includes far-flung destinations such as Guam and American Samoa.  “Fifty percent of the United States is beneath the sea, but we have better maps of Mars than we do of our country,” Ballard said this week about the expedition, which will not only map the bottom but study the makeup of the entire water column, from the shoreline to the abyss.

Astor Gatehouse For Sale In Rhinebeck Has A Connection To Titanic
WPDH, 10 June 2021

The Rhinebeck, New York Astor Gatehouse is for sale and it’s an impressive piece of history. The asking price is $2.5 million and the listing is through Sotheby’s International Realty. The Aster Gatehouse was built in 1878 as part of Ferncliff Farms a working dairy farm and horse breeding farm. William Backhouse Astor Jr. built the property to breed racehorses. The Astor family was once one of the richest families in New York and one that has a tragic connection to the sinking of the Titanic.


Titanic

Titanic Exhibit Increases Hours, Man Learns Father’s Titanic Connection; OceanGate Ready for Dive

 

Titanic Memorial, Washington D.C.(1940)
Photo: Public Domain(U.S.Library of Congress, Harris & Ewing Collection)

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition Announces Attraction Now Open Daily (Clickorlando.com, 31 May 2021)

Officials at Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition announced the Orlando attraction is expanding operations and will now be open daily. The attraction is located along International Drive and allows guests to step back in time to 1912 to see more than 300 artifacts and historical items, a full-scale room replica and the “Little Big Piece,” a 3-ton section of the original ship’s hull.

Wisconsin Man Learns Of Late Father’s Titanic Tie Through New Documentary(Spectrum News I, 31 May 2021)

Fong said his dad had him when he was 65-years-old, and his father never spoke about his journey aboard the ill-fated ship. But other family members through the years made mentions of a harrowing survival from a shipwreck. Through dates, data and corroborating DNA, the new documentary “The Six,” created with executive producer James Cameron, tells the true story of six Chinese men rescued from the unsinkable vessel. Fong said his dad and the other five didn’t understand the third class member instructions to stay in their barracks and took another way to the top of the ship where they escaped.

Oceangate Gets Its Titan Sub Ready To Begin Expedition To Titanic Shipwreck (Geek Wire, 28 May 2021)

Those 11 years haven’t all been about the Titanic: OceanGate has been regularly sending its submersibles into the depths of waters ranging from Seattle’s Elliott Bay and the Salish Sea to New York’s Hudson Canyon and the Andrea Doria’s resting place off the Massachusetts coast. But diving down to the fabled ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic in 1912 has been OceanGate’s focus for the past several years. That’s why the company built the Titan submersible, using titanium and carbon fiber, and then rebuilt it when the first vessel wasn’t deemed strong enough to stand up to the pressure of a 12,500-foot-deep (4,000-meter-deep) dive.