2.20am tomorrow...........

[spanner570]

One hundred years ago, on the morning of the 15th April at 2.20am the Titanic sank. Out of 2200 on board, 1500 died. She took nearly 3 hours to sink.

I listened to Jeremy Vine this lunch time and he did a slot on the sinking. He had a 'Titanic Expert' in the studio and asked him amongst other ridiculous questions..."Couldn't the ship have parked and allowed people to get off on to the ice?".........This from a Durham University educated bloke!

Anyway, they were talking statistics, lives lost, ect. and how quickly the ship foundered.

Consider these two sinkings:-

Lusitania sunk in May 1915 after being hit by a torpedo. Out of 1900 people on board 1100 died....The ship sank in 18mins.

Wilhelm Gustloff sunk in January 1945 after being torpedoed. Out of 10,500 on board 9,300 died....The ship sank in 50mins.

The Titanic loss has alway sparked the imagination and I was just wondering why, when the two examples above are equal to it, ( in the case of the Gustloff, the worst maritime loss in history) they never get discussed with the same prolonged 'why and how' fervour.

Yet the Titanic sinking is alway cropping up with new theories and claims.

Cheers,

Ron

[Guest]

she sank early morning on the 15th... todays only the 13th Ron

as far as your question, I'm going to assume that its all hype coming from the claims that she was unsinkable, there were also some conspiracy claims about it being linked to WW1 as well if i remember right.

[spanner570]

she sank early morning on the 15th... todays only the 13th Ron as far as your question, I'm going to assume that its all hype coming from the claims that she was unsinkable, there were also some conspiracy claims about it being linked to WW1 as well if i remember right.

Thanks Colin....What a tool!

You would never guess I've read loads of books on maritime stuff, yet I still don't know what day it is today!!!

Wording altered, but can't change the thread title.....I need a drink!

Cheers,

Ron

[stona]

Apart from the publicity surrouding her maiden voyage (largest ship afloat,celebrity passengers etc) the major difference between the loss of the TITANIC and the other two is that she was not lost in wartime when thousands were losing their lives almost every week.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Interesting Ron. The parking bit is nearly as daft as Mountbatten during WW11 advocating that an iceberg could be made into an aircraft carrier. He mentioned this at a meeting of top US top naval types. They all looked astounded. I wonder why ?

Have to admit to being bored stiff with Titanic being thrown at me.

What about the Hood in 1941 the pride of His Majesty's Navy. Sunk by the Bismark. 1414 British Sailors lost.

Equally the Lancastria sunk 1940. Approx 2000 servicemen mostly RAF & 1000 civilians. Total 3000 died.

Also a very sad disaster indeed. The Slapton sands Tiger incident. The Germans sank & killed 638 & then unfortunately a British Cruiser shelled the remnants & killed a further 308.

Strange that the Titanic so long ago should get this iconic image. All the passengers thought she would not sink. The others above were well aware of their possible fate. Yet not a mention especially as they were defending their countries.

Laurie

[Guest]

We were discussing this very fact the other day at work, very sad but by no means the worst disaster of recent times, perhaps it was the fact that so many upper class passengers were lost, the class system was in full swing at that time, the media has been in a feeding frenzy ever since

At the time it was never claimed that it was unsinkable, the papers added that bit long after the incident

[Guest]

At the time it was never claimed that it was unsinkable, the papers added that bit long after the incident

Is that right Andy. I had often wondered what nut had made that claim as anybody who did would have had a black mark after his name post the Titanic.

Looking at the size of a small Iceberg just above the water let alone the 4/5ths under no ship would stand a chance unless it was a small dinghy.

Laurie