Ship of Dreams...and Nightmares

Dreamboat Annie - Heart

Sideline on the music choice: Ultimately this one won out for the haunting introduction and the single line "Ship of Dreams". The other choice was Into the Ocean by Blue October. Have a listen, it is a good one also.

Does anyone else find society's obsession with the Titanic a little strange? There have been many disasters (sadly) with loss of life greater than the 1500 or so who perished with the sinking of the Titanic yet, it is the unsinkable that captivates us more than others. I wonder why it is so. 


Back in the day (my youth) the word Titanic was always accompanied with "unsinkable". I first saw a to-scale version of the ship in a plexiglass enclosure in a mall in Minneapolis Minnesota. It was massive and I just couldn't imagine how big it really was. It didn't compare to the really ocean going vessels I had seen coming in and out of the harbour in Thunder Bay. I think that is what captivated me. How could a ship that was unsinkable sink? And I wanted to know what made them think it was unsinkable, for at the time I didn't know about the many watertight compartments. But then I wondered why did they fail, it seemed like a sound idea. 


Although this year on April 15, 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, people have never let the story go. Long before James Cameron came out with his modern tale of love on the ill-fated ship, people were obsessing over the luxury liner. He didn't renew the fascination with the tragedy, he just re-kindled the flames. Much like Dr. Ballard did when he finally located the remains in the oceans depths. That was 1985 and many years had passed with unsuccessful searches. It seems that today, he is disappointed by the fact that no government has taken steps to preserve the underwater graveyard of so many souls. If when he had made the discovery, he had brought back just one artifact, then he could have claimed the site as his own and no one could legally go down and pillage. With his passion to see the site memorialized as a shrine, he could have donated his ownership to a worthy museum. Now it is a free for all. Thus far, I don't believe that anyone has gone within the rusted framework to collect souvenirs, but the site has suffered some damage and disturbance none-the-less. I imagine it will be just a matter of time before a real scavenger hunt begins. 

Some original footage of the ship before leaving port

It seems that a number of locations have laid claim to bits and pieces of the Titanic story. Belfast of course, because it was there that the ship was made and designed. It was the Irish working man who made it unsinkable. To be fair, they also constructed the sister ship of the Titanic, the Olympic sailed for many years problem free - well, she always floated! The craftsmanship and ability of the Irish working man remains intact. Southampton was the port that saw the Titanic official embark on its maiden voyage and where most of the passengers boarded the vessel. New York City has laid a claim for it was not only the intended destination of the ship but also the American headquarters of the owners, White Star Lines. Halifax, also has a connection to the Titanic as it was from here that the MacKay-Bennet was commissioned by the White Star Lines to search for victims of the disaster. And they found much more than they expected. A sea of floating bodies, 328 were pulled aboard to attempt identification via personal effects with 119 returned to their watery grave with damage too extensive for personal identification. A minister aboard gave them a proper burial at sea. All but 59 bodies that were shipped to surviving family members were buried at one of three cemeteries in Halifax marked with simple granite blocks paid for by White Star Lines. Then there is Las Vegas which is currently hosting an exhibit of artifacts including a 15-ton piece of the starboard hull which was raised 12,500 feet from the ocean from after 80 years of rusting and enduring 60,000 lbs of pressure per square inch. It would be incredible to see, particularly when you consider that at 26 feet long you would need 34 similar pieces to represent the 883 foot length of the the Titanic. Some artifacts that you see within Titanic exhibits are not necessarily from the ship after its demise. Some items on the Titanic were identical to the items on White Stars other ships, some items are replicas, some left the Titanic before the ship sailed, some floated on the surface of the water, some came from the some 700 survivors.


So, should we use the technology available to us today to preserve and conserve the artifacts of the Titanic or should it be left for Mother Nature that claimed her to dispose of her in her own time? While we cultivate this fascination for this particular ship for whatever reason, I don't think that we need to have tangible materials to hold in our hand to feel a greater connection. 100 years after the fact, knowing exactly how she sank is of no real value. Anything further that can be learned will not be accomplished by plucking a victims jewelry from the fleshless bones. We have found her final resting place and can visually see if she broke apart in two or more pieces, but the china cup and spectacles recovered from the 1st class cabin is not necessary. Besides, even if we pulled every last piece of her up there would still be arguments over the conclusions made. Consider that some 50 years after the death of US President J.F. Kennedy, there are still people who don't believe the official version of the events and the investigation began immediately not 100 corrosive years later. The Titanic sank, a lot of people died, it was terrible. Do we need to know more? Let them rest in peace.

Titanic memorial wall at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax Nova Scotia

Survivor names in white, Victims names in black 

Here are a few facts that you may not have known about the Titanic.
1. The Titanic was the largest moving object of its time.
2. It cost $7.5 million dollars, 3 years and 10,000 men to construct it. Today it would cost about $400 million to build it
3. In the days when White Star and Cunard competed to have the biggest and fastest vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean, more than 100,000 people gathered to watch the Unsinkable commence it's maiden voyage.
4. A first-class ticket sold for $4,500 each (equivalent to $90,000 today). Third class was $40 ($770 today) and you had to share one of two bathtubs with 700 other passengers. But to tell the truth, back then they didn't bathe too frequently for fear of catching disease from the practice. Third class on the Titanic was said to be similar to second class on any other liner. 
5. There is only one survivor of the Titanic still living today. She was 2 months old at the time and remembers nothing. Don't bother asking her for eye-witness accounts.
6. A Swiss watchmaker who claims to have purchased a 1.5 kg of steel and pieces of coal retrieved from the depths of the Atlantic in 1991 will be selling Titanic-DNA watches. The luxury wrist adorners also comprised of platinum, gold and steel will sell for between $7,800 and $173,100. Exactly how big and heavy will these timepieces be?
7. I don't think I have a personal Titanic connection...but I did sit in a replica deck chair at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Don't miss the riveting exhibit at the museum, second only to the display depicting the effects of the Halifax Explosion.