April 15
UNSINKABLE? DAY
The ‘unsinkable’ luxury liner, Titanic, sank at 2:27a.m. on this day in 1912. The largest passenger vessel in the world went under off the coast of Newfoundland two and one-half hours after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. A young David Sarnoff, later of RCA and NBC, relayed telegraph messages to advise relatives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean of the 700+ survivors. 1,517 lives were lost at sea. One account claimed that lifeboats weren’t operable and those that were, quickly filled with male passengers and crew members, instead of the traditional women and children first. Reports indicate that the captain of the Titanic, most of the crew and the ship’s orchestra remained on board as the huge luxury liner slid into the icy Atlantic. Still another report, from a survivor, indicated that as the great ship was going down to a watery grave, the orchestra played Nearer My God to Thee.
Many movies and documentaries about the monumental disaster have been filmed over the years. However, none had the exacting data gleaned by scientists from the 1986 expedition aboard Atlantis II. Dr. Robert Ballard headed a crew and a robot named Jason in a descent to the deck of the Titanic aboard Alvin, a submersible craft. They returned with information and photos that challenged and verified stories from the past. After years of studying the facts, the 1997 Academy Award-winning film, Titanic, recreated the ship to the tiniest detail including the design on the elegant china. Although the film’s love story is fictitious, the true tragedy of the Titanic can be seen by the world many decades later.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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