When Titanic was found in 1985, it ignited a debate that exists to this day: salvage or not to salvage. Robert Ballard argued Titanic should be left in peace and treated as a grave. Others thought otherwise that the ship was not a grave and to try to preserve what was left by bringing up artifacts to be conserved and displayed. When RMS Titanic, Inc went to US federal court after going to the wreck site to claim salvage rights, the anti-salvage camp flew into a rage. Titanic became a divided community of salvagers and anti-salvagers with vicious posts on Usenet (a precursor to Internet chat rooms) and email discussion lists. Instead of reasoned discussion, accusations flew like popcorn in at a ballgame. And some of the anti-salvagers went to war literally going after people personally for their views sometimes creating utter falsehoods that had real world consequences. It forever split the Titanic community and ended a lot of friendships. Apparently, it has reared its head again with the Titan disaster.

Julie Cook grew up on Titanic. Her great-grandfather died on that ship, and she was raised knowing what happened. That led to her interest in all things Titanic. She studied its lore, read the many books, and even wrote some books herself. She like many joined social groups to share her love with the ship, meet other enthusiasts, and other descendants of survivors or families that lost loved ones on that fateful night in 1912. And she found out that there are darker sides to using social media when she got some nasty messages, some of a personal and sexual nature, or other ones accusing her of things she never did. She came across her fair share of “rivet counters” as well. These are people so into the Titanic that goes beyond the normal academic or casual student of history. They know the smallest details about the ship, its people, and a whole lot more than most really care or want to know. And of course, the conspiracy theorists. There are a lot of them.

The Titan tragedy seems to have brought back the salvage vs anti-salvage row. White recounts that in its aftermath “…. Titanic community erupted into a toxicity I’d never seen.”

There were two camps. Those who felt Titanic should now be left alone and that the symbolism of a sub named Titan being wrecked when visiting her was just too disturbing. And, on the other side, that expeditions must continue, to honour those who perished and retrieve artefacts from the wreck before it was too late. Some of these people are inevitably more concerned with the monetary value of what may be recovered, or what they can get from gruesome ‘Titanic tourism’. Arguments and name-calling ensued. I got threats sent to my personal email from strangers who read an article I wrote in this newspaper last June about the Oceangate tragedy.

This sounds all tragically familiar to what took place in the late 1990’s and later when salvage was a hot topic causing exactly the same kind of name-calling, I personally saw take place. This does not surprise me at all, and I bet a few of them are from that time. New recruits to the cause are probably also jumping in as well starting up once again an uncivil discussion and resorting to personal threats and even worse. The toxicity of what she encountered really hit Cook hard it seems from her commentary on Daily Mail. She wonders though that perhaps it is just time to let the ship go.

You may or may not believe in curses, but to me, the wrecking of Titan on an expedition to see Titanic was a sign that said: leave her alone now.

Well, I do not believe in curses and nor do I subscribe to various claims the ship was cursed. The argument about salvage or not has merit and worthy of discussion. What made it go so terribly wrong was the hatred that ultimately was spewed forth by those on both sides. It was not enough to just say a person was wrong, they had to be punished. We see it today when someone does something that another person finds offensive. Instead of just saying “I don’t like that” and going on with their lives, they make it mission to start a campaign to damage them. They gather supporters to write nasty things about the person, to search and find out where they live, and to make dark threats as well. The hatred takes on a life of its own and sometimes ends up achieving a bad result for the person being targeted.  Cook has decided to leave all those groups and all the sniping behind. She has had enough and thinks at this point Titanic should be left alone.

Many no doubt will agree with her (not necessarily about the curse part, but that the wreck should be left in peace). The recent expedition confirmed what we all knew was taking place. As time marches relentlessly on, the deterioration of the ship will continue. Nothing can stop or delay that now. The Titan submersible tragedy, rather than a curse, showed the fragility that exists when diving to depths where the pressure is so great that the tiniest flaw or imperfection will result in a catastrophe. We will have to await the report that will be issued as to what the cause or causes were. If anything, the people at OceanGate fell into the very same trap that Captain Smith and others had about Titanic: complacency. No one thought hitting an iceberg, a rare occurrence, would result in the catastrophe that played out in the end. It did and as a result it showed a whole lot of assumptions and judgments were wrong about the ship. And OceanGate made the same mistake in thinking its submersible was safe and reliable. Neither was cursed but suffered from the same fatal flaw that doomed both.

Suggested Reading

Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997

Behe, G. (2012). On board RMS Titanic: Memories of the Maiden Voyage. The History Press.

Brewster, H. (2013). Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World. National Geographic Books.

Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition

Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc.)

Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)

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