Let us all pause to remember the sinking of the Titanic

✯ Day 105 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

The story of the Titanic is one that, at first glance, may seem as though it needs no retelling. Since the fateful night precisely 99 years ago today that this seemingly mighty and unsinkable ship went down, every generation has heard tell of how one of the grandest ocean liners of all time meet its nearly unthinkable end. And yet, given the gravity of this event, how cannot stop and reflect upon the story - the real story, not merely the glamorized Hollywood version - of the events that unfolded in those staggeringly cold Atlantic waters on April 15, 1912.

I have always wondered if part of the reason why the sinking of the Titanic remained so visibly in the public eye over the decades is because she went down on her maiden voyage. While the same grim fate has befall other ships throughout time, too, perhaps none had received such press and publicity prior to their launch as the RMS Titanic did.

At the time of her completion the Titanic, which was owned by the White Star Line, was the largest steamship on earth. This majestic vessel had been designed by world class engineers and built with some of the most cutting edge technology and extensive safety features of its day.

Tragically however, the ship was only constructed with enough lifeboats to hold 1,178 people, whereas on the night she went down, the Titanic had 2,223 passengers on board. However, in the end (which came surprisingly quickly for such a seemingly impenetrable and resilient ship) far fewer people than there was theoretically lifeboat space for survived the nightmarish ordeal that freezing April eve.

{An artist's version of what the Titanic may have looked like as it approached the iceberg that would be its murderous undoing. Image via Vivid.ro.}

 

As the Titanic cut across the unpredictable Atlantic waters on a night that was described by most accounts as being cold, but calm and pleasant, its starboard side collided with a large iceberg that buckled the hull in multiple spots (causing numerous rivets that were located below the waterline to pop free).

The structural damage this impactful hit had resulted in the ship taking on water rapidly, which in turn weighed the mighty vessel down considerably (therefore causing more and more water to come rushing into the ship as it submerged further below the waterline).

The rest, as they say, is history. Less than three hours after the Titanic struck that direful iceberg, it had gone down, resulting in a mind boggling 1,517 fatalities (including, especially heartbreaking, one woman, Alma Pålsson and all ten of her children).

Though various movies over the years have tried to capture the horrendously frightening last minutes of this ill-fated ship's life, only those who were there as the Titanic sunk will ever truly know what conspired that night and what it felt like to witness the unthinkable.

Today, one year shy of a full century since the RMS Titanic was lost at sea, let us all take a few moments of solemn silence to remember and honour the over one thousand, five hundred souls - men, women, and children of all ages - whose lives were robbed of them by the sea on April 12, 1912.

Though gone, I believe, and very much hope, that due to the gravity of this maritime disaster, those passengers - like the very ship that transported them across the sea - will never be forgotten.