Titanic

[SwordsFlameSong]

Anyone want to talk about the Titanic?

:wave:

[Fyre_Nymph]

Sure. ^.^

What subjects do you really want to touch down on? Layout? Passengers? Crew? The sinking?

[SwordsFlameSong]

LOL. I have no clue. I have read everything out there about Titanic - including the unabridged hearings (which were very dry). So I am pretty much game for anything on it.

[Arion]

I used to be really into the Titanic, I had a ton of books on it and everything. I liked the whole mystique of it, seeing how it looked when it was afloat, all luxurious full of people, and then looking at pictures of the wreck where everything was rotting underwater, and all the artifacts they found. It's interesting. I think it'd be fun to explore a shipwreck.

[LostSheep]

As long as we're talking about the ship and not the movie. ( :blushake: )

You know when they found the wreck back in the 80s, that was really a cover and what they were really looking for was an American submarine which had sunk in the vicinity back in the 60s?

So that means that Winslet and Dicaprio were really pawns of the Pentagon. I'm sure there's a moral there somewhere.

[Brightshores]

Anyone want to talk about the Titanic?

:wave:
I believe it sank.

;)

[Fyre_Nymph]

I'm, like, a titanic freak. I love the titanic, Everthing about it. I SWEAR in a past life I was a passenger on it >.< It almost kills me to see what she looks like now, though. To think about what is was before she was consumed by the ocean leaves me utterly devastated.

[SwordsFlameSong]

I believe it sank.

;)

Ya don't say? _wedgie_


8O

[SwordsFlameSong]

The Titanic's birth was an indicator of man's grandiose plans.

The racing through ice fields man's arrogance that they could beat Nature.

The microcosm of society at that time. The class structure that determined whether or not a child was saved etc. For each 1st class dog saved (there were three) approximately 29 3rd class children died.

The finding of the Titanic. I was a Sr in HS and had already been fascinated at what they would find if they could find it and then they did.

The increased pace of the micro-organisms at work on the wreck.

Was pulling items for the museum looting of a graveyard or a true "archeological" exercise. Not to mention the damage done to the site

And people can knock the movie all they want but James Cameron has also made subsequent dives to the wreck and has explored it farther than any of the other expeditions.

The conspiracy theories that the Titanic was actually the Olympic who had been brought into dock for repairs.


:)

[Ceres]

The conspiracy theories that the Titanic was actually the Olympic who had been brought into dock for repairs.


:)

My son went through a phase when he was about 7 where he was totally obsessed with the Titanic and subsequently, I know way more about it than I ever intended to :lol: I never heard anything about a conspiracy theory - can you elaborate?

[Catiana]

My son went through a phase when he was about 7 where he was totally obsessed with the Titanic and subsequently, I know way more about it than I ever intended to :lol: I never heard anything about a conspiracy theory - can you elaborate?


My sons went through the same exact thing when the movie came out. We even had to watch the webcast of them ringing the bell or blowing the horn ( can't remember which) that they brought up from the wreck.

[Theres]

And people can knock the movie all they want but James Cameron has also made subsequent dives to the wreck and has explored it farther than any of the other expeditions.
then you'd think he would've gotten it right. forth stack smoking... unforgivable! :lol:

[Arion]

And people can knock the movie all they want but James Cameron has also made subsequent dives to the wreck and has explored it farther than any of the other expeditions.
I loved the movie, it was an incredble love story that just happened to have Titanic as a backdrop. I love how it starts in the present day, then old Rose retells the events and sort of resurrects it all. I thought it was beautifully done. The recreations of everything were just incredible.


The conspiracy theories that the Titanic was actually the Olympic who had been brought into dock for repairs.
Oh yeah, forgot about that. I'm not sure if i believe it, though, but it's always interesting to speculate. There are always conspiracies with these major historical events, like the Romanov executions and how Anastasia and Alexei's bodies were missing, and a bunch of women came out claiming to be Anastasia. Now the movie version of that (the Disney one) was terribly historically inaccurate, but a fun movie, still. Whoops, I'm going off-topic 8O

[SwordsFlameSong]

Basically, the biggest conspiracy theory revolved around IMM (Morgan & Piri etc),, a company that had a history of some questionable business practices, and their connection to the White Star Line.

The Olympic was insured for half its construction costs. In the first 9 months of the ship's commercial use it ran into Hawk which lead to a suit that went all the way to the House of Lords. White Line lost. Whilst Olympic was in dry dock for repairs it pushed back the Titanic schedule and also lost revenue. There was another incident that I can't recall clearly and then, it dropped a propeller a bit before the Titanic was scheduled for sea trials.

In a nutshell, the Olympic had used up all its insurance and was heavily in the red with more loss to be counted with the propeller being thrown.

The allegation is,, White Line switched out the two ships. The "sisters" were quite alike and often interchanged in photos etc. Another curious detail that conspiracy theorists use to support this stance is the fact Ismay called for the A deck promenade area to be enclosed relatively close to the sea trials. This would set the two ships apart.

The sea trials themselves were very lax in comparison to the trials the Olympic went through.

Another factor they pull in is the mystery as to why Morgan, Piri and the Vanderbilts cancelled their billets pretty much before the eve of the maiden voyage. Morgan also had his art pieces, already in the hold, removed.

Then they throw in the sudden addition of Wilde to the crew bumping down Murdoch etc. Normally, there would be a goodly bit of time before a transfer but this was down relatively suddenly. And Wilde didn't seem to be very concerned about getting to know his "new" ship.

So, the theory goes, they decide to tank the problematic Olympic under the guise of the Titanic. The theorists go on to say that the plan included running into an iceberg with the expectation that there would be other steamships close enough by to help load the passengers. The ship goes down and they get the Titanic insurance payout. Thus recouping much of their losses and the Titanic carries on as the Olympic.

Technically, the allegation does appear plausible. IMM had done a switch before. They were ruthless and didn't like losing money. Most items back then (such as preservers) didn't have the ship's name on it so they would be easy to switch. The name plates would be an easy switch also.

Though plausible, Cameron's last expedition down to the Titanic brings up one glaring flaw in the carefully prepared argument for the "sister swap" theory. The Olympic did not have turkish baths. The Titanic did. And Cameron was able to get his snoop dog down there and film.

One could argue that the fresco restaraunt was also a difference.

The other conspiracy, though much more minor, regards the fire in the coal bunker. The allegation is, that the fire was still out of control on the voyage and, part of the reason for the increased speed was to get to NYC at night. The Fire Department would be waiting and they could try and put out that fire under cover of darkness thus saving themselves from a PR nightmare whilst showcasing the positive PR aspect of getting into port much earlier then thought. Luxery and speed. Good draws. Not to mention, can you hear what many of the passengers would have said if they found out that a bunker fire had been raging on for over a week and while they were unboard?

Errk