Titanic will be gone by 2028
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flashbuck — 20 years ago(December 30, 2005 07:59 AM)
"What do people want to preserve it for, just so rich Yanks can pay $750K for a bottle of plonk brought up from her?"
That's not what I meant, far from it. I object to the way some people cash in on the Titanic tragedy; it's in very bad taste, especially since there are some survivors still alive. No, what I meant was the more thr wreck is exposed, the more forensic evidence we'll have to learn more about what happened. There are still lots of untold stories and lots of unanswered questions. If some people profit from it in the meantime, well, there's just no stopping that; hopefully the ultimate consequence will be beneficial.
Collin R. Skocik -
flashbuck — 20 years ago(December 31, 2005 08:58 AM)
I just heard not long ago that Millvinia Dean is alive and doing very well. It's possible that Lillian Gertrude, Barbara West, and Lousie Laroche are still alive. Michael Navratil was alive in 1998 and looks pretty good in the A&E documentary.
Collin R. Skocik -
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stealthman — 19 years ago(January 12, 2007 05:47 AM)
I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I feel nothing should be taken from the Titanic.
Photograhping and studying is ok, but it's a grave site, and should be left alone.
Stealthman.
"WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND THEY IS US"
POGO -
flashbuck — 19 years ago(January 12, 2007 06:58 AM)
I totally respect your point of view, Stealthman, but it's not only a gravesite, but also a historical site. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I suppose you could argue it doesn't matter now, considering anyone who might have survived would be dead by now anyway, and we don't travel in riveted, steam-driven ships anymore, so anything we might learn from the Titanic tragedy would not be applicable to today's world, but just for the knowledge of history I think we should continue exploring the wreck. And if we take anything, it should be for that purpose, not for souvenir-hunting and salvage.
The most practical things we can learn from the Titanic tragedy are well documented in White Star's records, and they involve administrative decisions that led to the disaster. That's something we never seem to learn, and we repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Hindenburg, Challenger, Columbia, September 11th, Hurricane Katrinathe same series of oversights, bureaucracy, and complacent inaction continually lead to disaster. When will we learn to think ahead?
Collin R. Skocik -
stealthman — 19 years ago(January 12, 2007 07:43 AM)
I heartily agree Collin.
The souvenir and treasure hunting is awful and should not be allowed.
As far as learning from the past, we don't have a good track record of that.
Tom Lepone
(Stealthman)
"WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND THEY IS US"
POGO -
bbbcouple — 19 years ago(February 14, 2007 02:21 AM)
The wreck is deteriorating because of damage caused by visitors to the site. The foremast crows nest was destroyed by the French expedition attempting to recover the ships' bell rung by lookout Frederick Fleet when he sighted the iceberg. The roof above the gymnasium is collapsing due to submersibles "landing" there to deploy ROV cameras. The entire "Titanic is falling apart" thing is to justify raping the wreck for anything of monetary value. There are no archaeological benefits to be had in exploiting the site. The construction and all other aspects of the vessel were well documented at the time of the sailing. We are not talking about an ancient shipwreck containing amphorae here. This ship went down within living memory, and there are presently two living survivors (Elizabeth Dean and Barbara West) of the disaster. There are the remains of 1496 passengers and crew down there.
How would you feel if someone dug up the grave of one of your ancestors that died in 1912, pried the rings from their fingers, pulled off their burial shrouds and put them on display for profit? Would you be satisfied with the explanation given?
"We need to document this, before it falls apart"
IT'S FALLING APART BECAUSE YOU WON'T LEAVE IT ALONE!!
If those responsible for looting the wreck were to display the artefacts at no charge, as a tribute to the victimsfine. But to profit from grave robbing is morally reprehensible. -
bbbcouple — 19 years ago(February 14, 2007 12:07 PM)
Why, thank you, stealthman.
I just wanted to add something. Scientists estimate that 200 pounds of steel are consumed daily by bacteria and converted into "rusticles". The hull of Titanic displaced 24,360 tons, the overall gross tonnage was 46,328. Now not all of the vessel is metal, but just the hull alone is almost 49 million pounds. At 200 pounds a day times 34,675 days (95 years) equals 6,935,000 pounds (approximately)of the hull consumed to date.
That leaves around 42 million pounds. At 73,000 pounds a year consumed, it should last until 2582 AD.
And that's just the hull. -
jimpoz — 19 years ago(March 24, 2007 08:12 PM)
Ironic, isn't it? Had Titanic never sunk, she probably would have followed Olympic to the Inverkeithing scrapyards in the late 1930's, thus already having disappeared forever. It's only because she was destroyed that she still exists.