Titanic anniversary

[MinionZombie]

No! Tell me this was just Jade Goodie or some other idiotic idiot!? Please don't tell me it's common place?! Heard about it on the Hollywood Babble-On podcast this week ... absolutely stunning. I dearly hope these people never breed.

[Neil]

heard about it on the hollywood babble-on podcast this week ... Absolutely stunning. I dearly hope these people never breed. lol!!

[shootemindehead]

Surely to have been close to the hull - because there would be currents surely - those bodies would have had to have been in the down draft of the ship? If so they would have gone down a lot quicker? The ship would have only have taken a few minutes, assuming a speed of 10-30mph. My morbib curiousity always wonders who survived the longest on the ship. There were obviously people inside when it went down - families who decided to return to their rooms, crew even all the way down in the boiler rooms etc. So almost certainly when the ship went down, some people were still inside, in the dark, in rising water. I suspect they could have survived for a good few dozen seconds in the dark, fighting to keep their heads in air bubbles, while the pressure increased... Until the pressure killed them. Horrible! Can't understand why families were reported as returning to their cabins... Can't imagine doing that! I believe the water was very calm on the night, so much that the debris from the wreck is spread over a very small area. Of course people caught in the downdraught of the ship would have been dragged quicker, at the beginning anyway. But plenty of the bodies of people who jumped in without lifejackets and died of hyperthermia drifted down afterwards over a longer period of time. The photos of Ballard's first dive are an eerie sight. One can only imagine what a sight that would have been, as bodies that froze eventually sank slowly to the sea bed. Bloody creepy. There were hundreds of people left in both the bow and the stern segments when it went down. But, I'd say that they were all dead by the time the bow went under the water. Air would have been pushed out of the ship by the water coming in, so a lot of people would have suffocated too without drowning. What would have been terrifying would have been to be caught in the stern at a crazy angle, trying to get out. Though, if Titanic (1997) is to be believed, a lot would have been killed when the stern crashed back into the sea after her back broke. On the sea bed, the stern is completely collapsed, while the bow section is remarkable intact. -- -------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:19 PM ---------- I suppose it's easy to say 'that's madness' now with 20/20 hindsight and with the history of Titanic itself, but at the time there was a lot of arrogance and ignorance. Arrogance that the ship wouldn't sink, and ignorance of the sheer scale of the disaster, combined with knowledge that hadn't yet been gained - knowledge and experience that only came about as a result of Titanic's sinking. As far as I know, there were quite a few people who were very sceptical of White Star Line's "unsinkable" nonsense. I remember reading that some rival engineers were raising eyebrows at the "riveted only" hull. No reinforced wielding at the seams. In other words, the hull plates were bolted together with white hot riviets which cooled, contracted and formed a "watertight" seal. For such a large ship, that was taking a very large risk. In addition, the bulkeads didn't reach the upper decks, which meant that water would overflow into each successive compartment if flooding was severe enough. This alone went against the standards of the day What's even more astonishing though is that there are a whole community of morons - who are allowed to breed - who didn't know that Titanic was real. They only thought it was a movie. I kid you not ... I weep for the gene pool of mankind. GTFOOH

[Neil]

On the sea bed, the stern is completely collapsed, while the bow section is remarkable intact. In Cameron's recent documentary they go into a lot of detail about this... They think a lot of damage was down by the hydro-dynamic downwash of its wake impacting on it when it came to sudden stop on the sea floor. It's also interesting in some documentaries that suggest the stern finally sank so gently people simply swam off of it without their hair even getting wet!?

[acealive1]

I'm still fascinated that no bones have been found. Amazing to think the sea (and/or its occupants) can break them down over just 80-100 years... they found bones before and very recently. they said there may even be intact bodies in the inside compartments we cant see -- -------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 PM ---------- No! Tell me this was just Jade Goodie or some other idiotic idiot!? Please don't tell me it's common place?! ah cmon, let her rest.

[Neil]

they said there may even be intact bodies in the inside compartments we cant see No way! They'd be long gone surely! Surely bacteria etc would have broken them down in the same way as has occurred outside the ship? You're actually suggesting, in some of the cabins, or buried in the engine rooms, there are somehow preserved bodies?!

[bassman]

Yeah....intact bodies seems a bit far fetched... I saw a documentary last night called "Saving the Titanic". Robert Bullard, the man that originally found the ship in '85, is very concerned with how the ship is being treated and showed off some video/photos of how archeologists and tourists are damaging it more and more with each visit. Landing their submersibles on the hull, grave robbing artifacts, entering the ship and destroying the interiors, etc. It was an interesting to see how human presence has started destroying the ship again, but I get the feeling Bullard was mostly pointing his finger at James Cameron.

[Neil]

Yeah....intact bodies seems a bit far fetched... I saw a documentary last night called "Saving the Titanic". Robert Bullard, the man that originally found the ship in '85, is very concerned with how the ship is being treated and showed off some video/photos of how archeologists and tourists are damaging it more and more with each visit. Landing their submersibles on the hull, grave robbing artifacts, entering the ship and destroying the interiors, etc. It was an interesting to see how human presence has started destroying the ship again, but I get the feeling Bullard was mostly pointing his finger at James Cameron. Well, the subs landing on it are a minimal weight surely? Which leaves unmanned craft going inside and knocking/manipulating? What sort of damage is that doing?

[bassman]

Well, the subs landing on it are a minimal weight surely? Which leaves unmanned craft going inside and knocking/manipulating? What sort of damage is that doing? They showed the damage that the subs have caused and it's very obvious even to the average person. While all the rust formations are usually a darker color, you can plainly see the newer brown look of where they've been landing on the ship. You can even see holes in some places where they've landed. Without knowledge of the structure of the ship, I would be worried about landing a sub on it, anyway. Cameron actually addresses it on the commentary for the film and says he doesn't think it does any damage, but the "Saving Titanic" documentary makes me think otherwise...

[Neil]

They showed the damage that the subs have caused and it's very obvious even to the average person. While all the rust formations are usually a darker color, you can plainly see the newer brown look of where they've been landing on the ship. You can even see holes in some places where they've landed. Without knowledge of the structure of the ship, I would be worried about landing a sub on it, anyway. Cameron actually addresses it on the commentary for the film and says he doesn't think it does any damage, but the "Saving Titanic" documentary makes me think otherwise... Hmmmm... Can't see how any major damaged is really bing done by the subs? I'll have to try and see the documentary I guess! -- -------- Post added at 01:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:51 PM ---------- Yeah....intact bodies seems a bit far fetched... Just read earlier there are some scientists who are suggesting within Titanic there may be preserved bodies! Why does my morbid curiosity want to investigate this!

[AcesandEights]

It was an interesting to see how human presence has started destroying the ship again, but I get the feeling Bullard was mostly pointing his finger at James Cameron. As satisfying as that thought may be in some respects (I can't be the only one who thinks Cameron comes off as a bit of a stiff-necked twat), I don't think it matters much in the long run. A lot of these efforts are preserving history by studying and reclaiming artifacts that will last a lot longer than that rusting out hulk which is slowly but steadily moving towards collapsing under its own weight down there in that abyss.

[shootemindehead]

Hmmmm... Can't see how any major damaged is really bing done by the subs? I'll have to try and see the documentary I guess! Ballard is suggesting that subs (which are tons in weight) landing on the ships hull are disturbing the sensitive metal and causing damage. You can actually see clearly what he's talking about too. There's large orange patches where subs have touched down on the deck of the forward structure. I think what he means by damaging, is that the disturbance is quickening up the "rotting" process of the metal.

[Neil]

Ballard is suggesting that subs (which are tons in weight) landing on the ships hull are disturbing the sensitive metal and causing damage. You can actually see clearly what he's talking about too. There's large orange patches where subs have touched down on the deck of the forward structure. I think what he means by damaging, is that the disturbance is quickening up the "rotting" process of the metal. Surely they're almost weightless in effect? ie: Only weighing a fraction of their surface weight?

[shootemindehead]

But subject to 1000's of PSI from the weight of the sea above, I would imagine. I think it's more the movement and friction of the vehicles that's causing the disturbance.

[Neil]

I think it's more the movement and friction of the vehicles that's causing the disturbance. I can understand that!