Sunday 15 April 2012

100 years of The Titanic


Sinking_RMS_Titanic_film_1991_James_Cameron

We all cried when Jack just drifted off into the abyss, when his deep eyes were fading away in the cold Atlantic Ocean. Titanic was a classic and hundred years have passed since that devious day when the Unsinkable sank. A mammoth piece of ice crumbled and humbled the human arrogance that was proclaimed the floating palace. The Titanic that once symbolized wealth and dismay alike later thanks to James Cameron symbolized eternal love and the perennial human spirit. Titanic the movie we all loved and cherishes, Titanic the ship we hardly knew. The frictional presence of Jack and rose made up our dreams, but the real survivors of the terrible night were left in the folds of history textbooks.


Titanic: The Unsinkable Ship


15th August 1912, exactly an hundred years back was a dark day in the human history, At around 2:20 today early morning occurred the greatest disaster in Maritime History, One that would later become a legend on its own, The sinking of The RMS Titanic. The Largest passenger liner of its time, enjoying the kind of status that the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship now enjoys, was an engineering marvel of the time. One that was proclaimed to be invincible, one that was destined for greatness, She did make it to the history books but for a sadder reason.


RMS Titanic 1912 port Southampton bay


The reasons for the disaster largely remain unknown. Yes! We know it hit an iceberg and sank, but why? Even with ships frantically receiving information of passing icebergs why would it head directly into it at full speed, head on? May be it was the failure of the radio receivers to recogni9ze the relay send to them by ships such as SS Californian and SS Amerika. Or was this the Captain’s failure to assess the situation and took misinformed decisions. I guess we may never know the real series of events that caused this rather unfortunate disaster. With a death toll of a little over 1500, 1514 to be exact, the disaster was the worst of its kind so far. The iconic image of the ship breaking in two in the icy waters of the Atlantic is haunting.


Titanic: The Movie ( 1991 )


Titanic movie poster by James Cameron staring Leonardo Di Caprio an Kate winslet

“Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic historical disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron”. This is how the Wikipedia describes the film. A film like no other and a fractionalized love story that tells the tale of the Titanic and the emotions it carried with it to the icy depths. Apart from just being a commercial and critical success the film made its way into many hearts all around the world. Khalid Hosseini in his book the Kite runner describes how Kabul was gripping in the ‘Titanic Fever’.




Titanic: The Photo Album


RMS Titanic's propeller, Docking bay in Southampton

RMS Titanic's Magnificent Central staircase, First Class

A life boat waiting to be taken aboard rescue ship RMS Carpathia


Miss Clara Gregg Hays widow of Charles Melville Hays

RMS Titanic's construction, Docking bay in Southampton

A life boat waiting to be taken aboard rescue ship RMS Carpathia near a capsized life boat

Survivors abroad the  ship RMS Carpathia

RMS Titanic's Anonymous Passenger

RMS Titanic's Sea tests

RMS Titanic's Second class deck

RMS Titanic's design, White Star board

RMS Titanic's Boilers

Sidney Leslie Goodwin was for decades referred to as the unknown child from Titanic

The Brown Shoes used to identify Sidney Leslie GoodwinThe Orphans from Titanic

18 comments:

  1. Very interesting actually. There has been extensive coverage in the recent news, but this is different altogether. And the pictures!! :)

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  2. @Rohu Thank you, This ship has fascinated me since a very young age!

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  3. That was quite a research :-) Well written!

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  4. Priceless images. Good job Mr. Wind.

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  5. Love the images and kudos to you for taking so much time out and writing a fabulous post

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  6. This such an useful article, I would love to frame it and show it off to the younger generation

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  7. @Shilpi

    Thank you! I got all these photos when I searched fro Titanic and thought a compilation would not hurt anyone!

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  8. @Divya Nambiar

    Thanks for that comment, you still have not told me what the wonderful surprise is.

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  9. @Harsha Chittar and @Arnab Maity

    Thanks guys.

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  10. love the titanic-fastone3104@yahoo.com

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  11. The greatest thing about pictures is that they tell stories.
    Great post!

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  12. @fastone3104 we all do, the majestic ship and the romantic film has captured a great part of our lives. haven't they?

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  13. @dissentingmind

    They sure do have a lot to tell!

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  14. Very nice post..Excellent photos...Thanks for sharing..:-)

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  15. Nice post and the collection of pictures as well. liked it

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come on! scribble down whats in your heart!