Tag Archives: iceberg

Titanic

Friday Titanic News

 

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

‘Last dance vibe’: After 100 years, the International Ice Patrol is winding down N.L. iceberg flights
CBC (0n MSN), 23 May 23

A program founded over 100 years ago, spawned by the sinking of one the most famous vessels in history — the RMS Titanic — is quietly winding down. Over the next couple of years, staffed flight missions of the International Ice Patrol will become a thing of the past as satellites and drones become more advanced. “I think we’re towards the end of the era of the aviation mission and soon the satellites will be doing all of the work,” tactical commander Lt. Alex Hamel told CBC News during a recent flight.

Additional Resources:

About the International Ice Patrol.

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Wait What?! Expert Believes The Titanic Did Not Hit An Iceberg
The South African, 24 May 23

Titanic researcher Parks Stephenson told The Mirror: “I’ve got a growing amount of evidence that Titanic didn’t hit the iceberg along its side, as is shown in all the movies.,” he said. “She may actually have grounded on the submerged shelf of the ice. That was the first scenario put out by a London magazine in 1912. Maybe we haven’t heard the real story of Titanic yet,” he added.

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The only picture of the Marconi radio room onboard the Titanic. Harold Bride is seated at his station. Photo was taken by Father Francis Browne, SJ, while aboard Titanic.
Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

Amateur Radio Heard SOS In Welsh Town 3,000 Miles Away
BBC, 22 May 23

When the Titanic hit an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic in 1912, its telegraphers desperately sent out distress calls hoping somebody, somewhere might hear them. But among the first to respond was an amateur radio operator some 3,000 miles (4,800km) away in south Wales. Self-taught Arthur Moore received the signal at his homemade station in Blackwood, Caerphilly county. He rushed to the local police station, but was met with incredulity. And while the radio enthusiast could do nothing to help those on board the Titanic, he went on to pioneer an early form of sonar technology which helped discover its resting place decades later.

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Wallace Hartley’s Violin

Treasures Of The Titanic: From The Violin Played By Musician Wallace Hartley As The Ship Sank To The Watch Frozen In Time, How Surviving Items Have Resurfaced In Auctions
Daily Mail, 19 May 23

They are the everyday objects that reveal the extent of the human tragedy when the Titanic sank in 1912 with the loss of 1,500 lives.The body of violinist Wallace Hartley, who continued to perform with his fellow band members as the ship slipped beneath the waves of the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg, was found days after the tragedy with his violin strapped to his chest.

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First Ever Full-Sized Scans Of The Shipwreck Could Finally Shed Light On What Happened The Night The Liner Sank In 1912
Daily Mail, 17 May 23

More than a century after it sank, the first ever full-sized scans of the Titanic show the historic shipwreck in astonishing detail. Experts have taken thousands of digital images to create an incredible 3D reconstruction of the wreck, which now lies 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The images, published by the BBC, reveal the wreckage in greater detail than ever before, including stalactites of rust on the ship’s bow, the serial number on a propeller, and a hole over where the grand staircase once stood. They present Titanic almost as if it’s been retrieved from the water, although this will likely never happen as the wreck is so fragile that it would disintegrate under any movement. Experts hope studies of the scans could reveal more about the mysteries surrounding what happened on the fateful night in April 1912, such as the exact mechanics of how it struck the seafloor.

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Titanic Project Brings West Belfast Schools Together
BBC, 15 Mar 23

Two west Belfast primary schools from separate communities have completed a Titanic shared education project. The film about the doomed liner, made by pupils from St Joseph’s Primary School, Slate Street, and Blackmountain Primary, is to be shown at Belfast City Hall on Wednesday. The film called Who Sank the Titanic? looks at why the ship perished on its maiden voyage in April 1912. Rare footage of the shipwreck filmed in 1986 has recently been released.

 


Titanic

Titanic News-Update on SS. Keewatin; Iceberg Question

 

S.S. Keewatin 2007
Public Domain (via Wikipedia)

Heritage Groups Advocate To Keep Titanic-Era Boat In Port McNicoll (Global News, 3 Feb 2021 -Video)

This is a follow up on SS Keewatin, and in video only format.

 

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

What Happened To The Giant Iceberg That Sank The Titanic?
Explica, 4 Feb 202

What is certain is that it must have remained in the same place for a long time: those huge mountains of ice float adrift until over time, they become part of the liquid water of the ocean.

It was reported today that veteran actor Christopher Plummer passed away at age 91. He was a terrific actor who elevated even ordinary movies. He shot to fame playing Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. He did not like how his character was drawn. Nor did the real Trapp family children. Aside from the usual liberties taken with the story (and changing the gender of the two oldest from boys to girls!) they were empathetic that their father was nothing like the stage or the movie presentation. And he certainly did not make them wear sailor’s outfits as well. At any rate, Christopher Plummer will be long remembered for the many roles he played on stage, film, and even on the small screen. RIP Christopher Plummer.


History, Titanic

Titanic Chronology: April 14, 1912

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 pm ship time on 14 April 1912. The night was moonless and the sea calm with temperatures at or below freezing. Titanic was moving quickly but did not see the iceberg until it was nearly upon them. An attempt to steer around it resulted in a collision on Titanic’s starboard side. The iceberg would puncture Titanic enough so that the first five compartments would flood. Since the compartments were not totally sealed all the way up, water would go from one compartment to the other making her sink at the bow.

Titanic, Titanic Miscellaneous

Iceberg The Titanic Hit Was 100,000 Years Old

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain
Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

It has never really crossed my mind to consider how old the iceberg Titanic hit. Possibly as part of an intellectual exercise and a desire to alleviate boredom, scientists at Sheffield University crosschecked data on ocean currents and witness descriptions from 1912. And now they believe it was snow that formed glaciers 100,000 years ago in southwest Greenland that ended up being the infamous iceberg that collided with Titanic in 1912. And it originally was 100ft above the water and possibly 1,700ft long when first formed. By the time it hit Titanic it had shrunk a bit in size but still quite large.

Source(s)
1. Iceberg that sank the Titanic was more than 100,000 years old, only a fraction of its original massive size, scientists discover (New York Daily News,6 Mar 2016)

2. Iceberg that sank the Titanic killing 1,517 people was 100,000-year-old, scientists discover (Daily Mail,6 Mar 2016)

Titanic

Is The Iceberg Photo Up For Auction Really The Iceberg That Hit Titanic?

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain
Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

Livescience.com has an article today that reports there is some doubt about the iceberg photograph up for auction is the one that collided with Titanic.

“There are two photos of icebergs from the area on the day following the collision, both of which purport to be the Titanic iceberg,” said Grant Bigg, an environmental scientist at the University of Sheffield in England.”

Bigg found there was another iceberg photo taken by Captain William George Squares de Carteret of the SS Minia. And believes it matches the dimensions that survivors gave of it. But there is no definitive proof that it is either.

Source:Photo of Iceberg that Sank Titanic for Sale: Is It Real?
(Livescience.com,22 Oct 2015)

Titanic

Photo of Titanic Iceberg Up For Sale

A picture of the possible iceberg that doomed Titanic along with a
statement by a chief steward is up for auction at Henry Aldridge & Son. The steward describes seeing red paint on the iceberg that came from scraping a vessel. The photograph and statement signed by the steward were given to the White Star Line lawyers Burlingham, Montgomery & Beecher. After the inquiry it was framed and hung in their boardroom until the firm went out of business in 2002.

Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain
Photograph of iceberg taken by chief steward of Prinz Adalbert on morning of 15 April 1912 near where Titanic sank. At the time he had not learned of the Titanic disaster. Smears of red paint along the base caught his attention. The photo and accompanying statement were sent to Titanic’s lawyers, which hung in their boardroom until the firm dissolved in 2002. Public Domain

The photo was taken by M. Linoenewald, chief steward on German liner Prinz Adalbert. The Adalbert passed through the area where Titanic sank on 15 April 1912 but the disaster was not yet known to them. He took the photograph of the iceberg and later had three other crew members sign the statement as witnesses. The picture was included in Walter Lord’s book A Night To Remember.

Four of the remaining partners in the firm are putting it up for sale
through Henry Aldridge on 24 October 2015. It is lot 209 and estimated to fetch £15,000 ($23,000USD).

Source(s)
1.Guilty: the iceberg that sunk the Titanic (16 Oct 2015, Daily Telegraph)
2. Henry Aldridge & Son website*

*Note you will need to search the upcoming auction for details on the photo and other Titanic items up for auction.

Titanic, Titanic Cliches

Tacky Titanic: TV Personality Says Iceberg Did Belfast A Favor

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

Over in the U.K. television personality Jeremy Paxman decided to take a swing at Belfast in a recent article. He wrote, in part, that the iceberg did Belfast a favor and they ought to rename Titanic Quarter as Iceberg Quarter. An uproar resulted from these comments but his thrust was that millions spent to revitalize Belfast were wasted before the city decided to become a tourist destination. Locals have a different view of the matter calling his comments offensive, wrong and misleading. He apparently was recently there and had a meal in Titanic Quarter and noted that the Christmas market “offered the odours of 40 varieties of food you could not think of eating.”

Okay we get the point, you are not a fan of Belfast, Northern Ireland, these days. Perhaps you have a point about the tax money spent when, if they had played their cards right earlier, they could have used lots of private capital to achieve better results. Belfast and Titanic were not that close until fairly recently. For a lot of years it was remembered as the place it was built, the workers who had by hand put the ship together, and the sadness over the loss. Sure there were people that kept it alive but Belfast moved on and had bigger problems to deal with. Then with the growing interest in Titanic and thanks to a very popular movie, the lights clicked about the opportunities Titanic offered them by becoming a major attraction for Titanic enthused travelers. And it worked from what the numbers reveal.

What he said was tacky trying to create a hypothetical that if Titanic had never existed or never sunk, Belfast would be just a backwater in the United Kingdom. Most people are smart enough to avoid the foot-in-mouth disease. He may have said it just to generate the controversy he wanted. After all it set off a firestorm in Belfast as locals raced to microphones to criticize his comments and point out what a dolt he was for saying them. Some television personalities like to do this sort of thing to attract viewers, At any rate we here at Titanic News Channel award him our oft imitated and never duplicated Fractured Finger Award. We usually award this to dummies who use Titanic cliches but we make an exception in this case. Award not suitable for framing.

Sources:
1. Jeremy Paxman: Titanic Iceberg Did Belfast A Huge Favour(3 Dec 2014,Belfast Telegraph)
2. Titanic Victim’s Relative Hits Out At ‘Insensitive, Insulting’ Jeremy Paxman(4 Dec 2014,Belfast Telegraph)


Titanic, Titanic Miscellaneous

Sunday Titanic Musings

Photo:Public Domain
Photo:Public Domain

The Iceberg Comes For You
Some months back there was a news report about a new study on icebergs. It revealed that 1912 was an exceptional year for icebergs with higher than average numbers of them about in the North Atlantic. That study has now been formalized in a paper titled The Titanic Year of 1912: Was It Exceptional? by Gary Bigg in Significance magazine. But the story is not just about 1912 but also a warning that iceberg risk is about to increase, so they are still a great threat to ships. No further comment except to say I hope tax dollars were not used in this study.

Tattoo Titanic
Tattoos are popular these days. You see lots of men and women adorning various parts of their bodies with them. Some are small and others cover entire backs and fronts. And in areas no tattoos ought to be. So it come as no surprise that some have decided to adorn with Titanic-themed tattoos. Turns out a lot of people like them that there was a recent convention in Belfast. From pictures I saw, these are serious Titanic tattoos. And once you get them, they are practically for life since they are difficult to remove (it can be done but from what I have heard it can be expensive and painful.)

When Music Goes Bad
Most people who hear My Heart Will Go On usually like it but occasionally someone gets the needle stuck in their head. Not only does the music play but causes attachments to form. Perhaps ones that are completely wrong. Like Ashley Formby, age 27, in the U.K. He is or was an aspiring singer and his teacher, Helen Sedgwick (age 27), taught him that song. And then it went bad reports the Mail Online. He messaged her stating he wanted to be more than a music student. He followed up with flowers, emails, and gifts. She apparently shunned his advances but to no avail. She got a harassment notice (the U.K. version I assume of a restraining order) but he still continued to attempt contacting her via emails. So it finally ended in his arrest for violating the harassment order and the contacts ceased. And a judge now has made the restraining order indefinite.

Visiting The Apple Store
My iPhone decided recently that I ought not hear calls anymore. I could listen to them via the speaker (or talk) but that was a nuisance. My first clue was getting a call and thinking there was dead air. It frustrated a relative of mine thinking I was pranking them! I followed all the recommend procedures suggested by Apple and others to no avail. So I had to head to an Apple Store and let a tech figure it out. I went to the Apple Store in Burlingame, California. In retrospect, another place probably would have been better. Downtown Burlingame on historic Burlingame Avenue is always an experience but midday when it is warm and sunny means lots of people are about. It is a day the Beach Boys would sing about. Lots of pretty girls, young mothers with strollers, parents with kids are about. The store itself was pleasantly cool but when I entered it was like being in a noisy restaurant. Now the staff was very pleasant and I was on time for my appointment. And the guy that assisted me did a great job. Thankfully my iPhone is still under warranty (and with AppleCare+). The receiver was shot so they gave me a new phone. Could not have been nicer and easier to deal with. I asked him though if it was always this noisy at lunch time. He smiled and said yes. I said my voice was going hoarse from having to talk louder than normal. He laughed and understood exactly what I said. But heading back home I could hear The Beach Boys singing a song about sunny days and happy people strolling down the street near a beach. Burlingame is not near a beach but it can be as close as your imagination.


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Titanic Miscellaneous

Spoof Alert: Iceland Issues Traffic Citation To Titanic!

Stop the presses! Cable news channels issue those news alerts! Iceland has finally caught up with the party responsible for a hit and run back in 1912.

Spokesman for the police department described the findings as follows: “An iceberg on its regular course with right of way was struck on an April evening in 1912. The ship which struck the iceberg then fled the scene of the crime. A complaint was filed, but we have been unable to find the alleged liner. About ten years ago, with the discovery of the ruins of the Titanic, we begin verifying scratch damage from the iceberg and comparing them with the photos of the sunken ship. We used analysis techniques we learned from watching C.S.I., and the chemistry set we ordered from Wal-mart online, to verify that the Titanic was the perpetrator of the crime.”

Those funny guys at spooftimes are responsible for this. Weekly World News is probably kicking themselves for not getting this first! 😉