BreakTheIce
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It's now officially been a 100 years to one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters ever. I'm talking about April 14/15 1912 when (at that time) the world's largest ship had a fatal encounter with an Iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York and sunk into the sea. Yes, you guessed it, I'm talking about Titanic. She is by far the most famous ship in history. And even 100 years after her sinking, she continues to be a tropic of great fascination to many.
Nobody quite knows why the Titanic is so famous. Perhaps it was because, at the time, she was by far the most luxurious ship in the world, and was carrying some of the richest people on Earth from Europe to New York, and sunk on her very first voyage. Many people thought it was impossible for her to be sunk. This was partially true. Titanic had 16 water tight compartments below the sea level. She was built so that if the first 4 were filled with water, she could still stay afloat.
However, later at night on April 14, 1912, Titanic took a glancing blow to her side from an Iceberg, which tore open 5 of her 16 water tight compartments. This doomed Titanic. Her encounter with the Iceberg was very unfortunate, especially now when experts analyze the whole event.
Many people don't understand why the crew controlling Titanic tried to get her to avoid the Iceberg, and not just gently run into it, directly. Titanic was designed to withstand direct hits from an Iceberg or other ships. Though it might be human nature to try an avoid an obstacle, people now do think that just running into the Iceberg wouldn't have been a bad idea.
Another theory that people now believe is that if Titanic was turned at her going speed when the Iceberg was spotted, it could have been dodged by a few feet. She was put into reverse to maneuver around the Iceberg. Her central turbine however could not be put in reverse, so it was just simply stopped. This made her rudders much less effective.
Her clash with the Iceberg started what would be one of the worst nights in memory for the survivors, and the last few hours of the lives of the victims. Titanic did not carry enough life boats to hold all her passengers.
What's worse is that many of her lifeboats were launched without even being fully loaded with people. Over 1500 people died 2 hours and 40 minutes after her fatal encounter with the Iceberg.
Many people now believe that even if she had enough lifeboat capacity to hold all her people, they all couldn't have been saved. There was way too much chaos and confusion on board to assume that 2 hours and 40 minutes would be enough to safely evacuate everyone.
Although she sank on 1912, her wreckage wasn't discovered by man until September 1, 1985. Over the years, many people have gone down there and have retrieved many artifacts from around her debris field.
I'm not sure if I agree with people going down there and taking stuff out and bringing it to museums. Sometimes I think it's great to preserve some of her for future generations to see. But sometimes I just feel that her wreck is actually a graveyard for over a thousand people. Should we really be disturbing it? Seems disrespectful to those who lost their lives that night.
There aren't any bodies in the Titanic's wreck anymore. Scientists believe they must've been completely devoured by 40 years after her sinking. All that's left of the people are their leather boots, which the critters on the ocean floor do not eat. However, on occasion, parts of human bodies have been retrieved. A finger bone encircled by the partial remains of a wedding ring was found concreted to the bottom of a soup tureen that was retrieved from the debris field in 2001. It was returned on the next dive.
Today, mother nature is quickly working at eating away what's left of Titanic. It is predicted that within the next 50 years or so, the entire ship will collapse to the ocean floor and will just be a pile of rusticles intermingled with the ship's more durable interior fittings.
I'm making this topic to remind everyone who died and survived (all survivors have passed away by the way) that, 100 years later, you are not forgotten. I remember you, and I'm sure many other people remember you too.
Nobody quite knows why the Titanic is so famous. Perhaps it was because, at the time, she was by far the most luxurious ship in the world, and was carrying some of the richest people on Earth from Europe to New York, and sunk on her very first voyage. Many people thought it was impossible for her to be sunk. This was partially true. Titanic had 16 water tight compartments below the sea level. She was built so that if the first 4 were filled with water, she could still stay afloat.
However, later at night on April 14, 1912, Titanic took a glancing blow to her side from an Iceberg, which tore open 5 of her 16 water tight compartments. This doomed Titanic. Her encounter with the Iceberg was very unfortunate, especially now when experts analyze the whole event.
Many people don't understand why the crew controlling Titanic tried to get her to avoid the Iceberg, and not just gently run into it, directly. Titanic was designed to withstand direct hits from an Iceberg or other ships. Though it might be human nature to try an avoid an obstacle, people now do think that just running into the Iceberg wouldn't have been a bad idea.
Another theory that people now believe is that if Titanic was turned at her going speed when the Iceberg was spotted, it could have been dodged by a few feet. She was put into reverse to maneuver around the Iceberg. Her central turbine however could not be put in reverse, so it was just simply stopped. This made her rudders much less effective.
Her clash with the Iceberg started what would be one of the worst nights in memory for the survivors, and the last few hours of the lives of the victims. Titanic did not carry enough life boats to hold all her passengers.
Many people now believe that even if she had enough lifeboat capacity to hold all her people, they all couldn't have been saved. There was way too much chaos and confusion on board to assume that 2 hours and 40 minutes would be enough to safely evacuate everyone.
Although she sank on 1912, her wreckage wasn't discovered by man until September 1, 1985. Over the years, many people have gone down there and have retrieved many artifacts from around her debris field.
I'm not sure if I agree with people going down there and taking stuff out and bringing it to museums. Sometimes I think it's great to preserve some of her for future generations to see. But sometimes I just feel that her wreck is actually a graveyard for over a thousand people. Should we really be disturbing it? Seems disrespectful to those who lost their lives that night.
There aren't any bodies in the Titanic's wreck anymore. Scientists believe they must've been completely devoured by 40 years after her sinking. All that's left of the people are their leather boots, which the critters on the ocean floor do not eat. However, on occasion, parts of human bodies have been retrieved. A finger bone encircled by the partial remains of a wedding ring was found concreted to the bottom of a soup tureen that was retrieved from the debris field in 2001. It was returned on the next dive.
Today, mother nature is quickly working at eating away what's left of Titanic. It is predicted that within the next 50 years or so, the entire ship will collapse to the ocean floor and will just be a pile of rusticles intermingled with the ship's more durable interior fittings.
I'm making this topic to remind everyone who died and survived (all survivors have passed away by the way) that, 100 years later, you are not forgotten. I remember you, and I'm sure many other people remember you too.

