Photo Credit: Javier Volcan via Compfight
This Sunday marks the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and the news is filled with appropriate tributes to the worst maritime disaster in history. Magazine and newspaper articles, blog posts, video, audio; every possible media platform has their take on the story. Some going deep for background on passengers, others recounting the event and still others are at sea right now, sailing the same course Titanic followed 100 years ago on April 15.
We have been covering the event through a series of posts in The Titanic Chronicles here and on Gadling. Let’s take a look at some of the other Titanic coverage we’ve seen around that is a bit more unusual.
We begin with a video from the UK’s CruiseDotCo who has an extensive video library on a variety of topics. Of this Titanic-related video CruiseDotCo captions: “Titanic memorial travellers dress up in period costume for cruise – A look at some of the passengers who are onboard the MS Balmoral for the 12-night cruise to commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic.”
Another effort comes from the Twitter feed of TitanicRealTime hosted by another UK organization, the History Press that invites us to “Experience Titanic’s epic journey with minute-by-minute tweets as if from on board the ship itself.”
The History Press also has an iPhone app with a wealth of information including construction of the ship, her journey, books available on the subject and more
Then come articles from a variety of viewpoints about the Titanic disaster, what caused it, what was learned from it and the lessons we carry forward. Not everyone was or has been sentimental about the sinking. Some are critical of the ship’s builder, owner and those who sailed.
Deutsch: Zeichnung des Untergangs der Titanic English: Illustration of the sinking of the Titanic Français : Illustration montrant le naufrage du Titanic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One article, out just today, comes from the National Review Online. Titled Titanic Presumption, author Allen C. Guelzo, Professor of the Civil War Era, and director of the Civil War Studies Program, at Gettysburg College who writes:
“‘The Titanic, name and thing, will stand for a monument and warning to human presumption.”
That was the judgment of Edward Stuart Talbot, the Anglican bishop of Winchester, in the sermon he preached the Sunday after the fabled Atlantic passenger liner Titanic took nearly 1,500 lives with her as she sank after striking an iceberg in mid-ocean on April 14, 1912.
“When has such a mighty lesson against our confidence and trust in power, machinery, and money been shot through the nation?”
Talbot could not have known it, but an entire cascade of mighty lessons was about to be visited on human presumption in spades, in the form of two World Wars (Talbot would lose a son at Ypres) and the genocidal sacrifice of millions on the altars of Fascism and Communism. A mid-ocean shipping accident that cost a five-hundredth of the lives Britain lost in the 1914–18 war should seem like small potatoes indeed.
Read more at the National Review Online
Another article comes from CTV News, talking about the White Star brand, once the name of the cruise line that operated Titanic now used by Cunard Line. In White Star name sails on without Titanic, author Susan Krashinsky from the Globe and Mail pens:
Enjoy luxury cruise service, from the brand that brought you the RMS Titanic.
As marketing pitches go, it’s not exactly an easy sell. But despite its associations with the most famous nautical disaster in history, the flag of White Star – the shipping company that built the doomed behemoth which sank 100 years ago – is flown proudly on one cruise line.
Cunard ocean liners still use the White Star brand, which the company acquired years ago. The name, and its logo bearing the original red pennant and white star, is a prominent part of the Cunard experience. Crew members are trained at the White Star academy and wear White Star lapel pins. Customers can order White Star luggage shipping service to porter their bags home after a trip. And White Star is the brand name of Cunard’s first-class tier of service, including a personal concierge.
Speaking of Cunard Line, we previously posted an entry in the The Titanic Chronicles series titled: Carpathia’s Heroic Role where We Are Cunard blog where Peter Shanks, the President and Managing Director of Cunard Line tells the story of Cunard Line’s ‘little Carpathia,’ the first ship to arrive at the site of Titanic’s sinking. Carpathia rescued more than 700 survivors, taking them to New York in the post titled “Guided by a greater hand…”
“At Cunard we have chosen not to take part in any of the major events surrounding the 100th Anniversary,” says Shanks. “On 15 April on each of our ships, we will have a remembrance service and a remembrance dinner – with a specially prepared menu that will tell the story of the little Carpathia. The Carpathia was the first ship to arrive at the site of the sinking of the Titanic and rescued more than 700 survivors, taking them safely back to New York.”
The story begins…
The story of the Carpathia is a fascinating one and one for Cunard Line to be proud of. I would like to tell you the story;
Carpathia was a workhorse; she wasn’t one of the glamorous express transatlantic liners built to compete for the Blue Riband and designed to resemble Versailles. Only once was she met by hordes of photographers with flashbulbs popping when she arrived in New York.
Read the rest of this interesting and timely story at We Are Cunard.
Sinking of the Titanic, drawn from wireless description (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This month, the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world at the time of her loss from striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912. I will be among a very lucky few who will be out in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 14‐15 over the actual site of the Titanic wreck, 100 years later, to commemorate the many people who so tragically lost their lives in the disaster.
Like so many others, I first learned of the Titanic tragedy as a child in grade school. As a teenager, my interest in the Titanic story was reawakened in 1985 when Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discovered the wreck off Newfoundland.
The discovery kicked off a worldwide re-emergence of interest and scholarship surrounding Titanic that was further whipped into a frenzy following the 1997 release of the blockbuster film “Titanic
- When the Titanic sank, it dropped more than 2.5 miles to the ocean floor.
- There were only 16 lifeboats on board, instead of the 64 lifeboats that were part of the ship’s original design, but later eliminated to save space.
- Each lifeboat was designed to hold 65 people, but the first lifeboats went out only partially loaded.
- To save money, shipbuilders had used cheaper rivets, which helped lead to the destruction.
- 1,517 people died on the Titanic. 705 people survived.
- When the Titanic sunk, it was on its way from Southampton, England to New York City, USA.
- A crewman spotted the iceberg that sank the Titanic, the captain turned sharply by reversing the engines, and the iceberg carved a 300-foot hole in the Titanic, below waterline.
- The bow of the ship went down first, as five compartments filled with water.
- The Titanic was 882 feet long and 92.5 feet (at its widest point).
Related articles
- The Titanic Chronicles: This Week We Remember (gadling.com)
- The Titanic Chronicles: This Week We Remember (chriscruises.net)
- ‘Titanic’ Back At Box Office, Enhanced For Your Tragedy-Viewing Pleasure (gadling.com)
- Cruise ship begins voyage to retrace Titanic’s path (blogginghounds.wordpress.com)
