Everybody loves Titanic. The love story of Jack and Rose has been imprinted on our hearts deeply so much that the sinking of the majestic Titanic has made us cry as we watched the lovers tearing apart. Not to forget, the luxurious decks which adorned Titanic astounded us each time we saw Jack showing Rose the dolphins. And who can stop thinking about the famous arm- in- arm pose that became a worldwide symbol of love.
For us, Titanic is just a movie that definitely deserves all the Oscars that are being given away. James Cameron, the creator is worshipped for his highly talented soul to make such a stupendous movie. Even today, 15 years after the movie’s release, if aired on television, the movie has everybody glued to the screen to watch the ship sink for the umpteenth time. Ever wondered how the ship actually sank? Ever wondered how anybody discovered the Titanic after it sank? I never thought about it until I came across the book “The discovery of Titanic”. Until then, it didn’t matter how it was found. It never mattered for us to know who brought the story of Titanic alive to the world. We saw the movie, the majestic ship sinking into great waters, a heart wrenching love story – that was Titanic for us.
In the book “The discovery of Titanic” Robert Ballard, the author who is an explorer, oceanographer and Former Navy captain explains the intricacies, challenges and the conflicts involved in finding the wreck of Titanic. As the book progresses, you will comprehend that searching the Titanic was indeed a titanic task itself. Titanic was long thought to have sunk in one piece. After it sank in 1912, many schemes were implemented in vain. The essential problem was the sheer difficulty of finding and reaching a wreck that lay over 12,000 feet below the surface, in a location where the water pressure is over 6,500 pounds per square inch (simply unimaginable). The explorers would need equipments with high definition cameras to locate the debris area in the waters of the Atlantic. A number of expeditions were mounted to find Titanic but it was not until 1 September 1985 that a Franco-American expedition succeeded.
They discovered that the ship had in fact split into two before hitting the sea bed. The separated bow and stern sections lie about a third of a mile (0.6 km) apart in a canyon on the continental shelf off the coast of Newfoundland. They are located 13.2 miles (21.2 km) from the inaccurate coordinates given by Titanic's radio operators on the night of her sinking,[184] and approximately 715 miles (1,150 km) from Halifax and 1,250 miles (2,000 km) from New York. Both sections hit the sea bed at considerable speed, causing the bow to crumple and the stern to collapse entirely. The two sections are surrounded by a debris field measuring approximately 5 by 3 miles (8.0 × 4.8 km).
Robert Ballard and his team first spotted a boiler lying on the ocean bed which resembled from the pictures they had from Titanic’s maiden voyage. The boiler was the turning point that led to the discovery of the ship. The debris contained hundreds of thousands of items, such as pieces of the ship, furniture, dinnerware and personal items, which fell from the ship as she sank or were ejected when the bow and stern impacted on the sea floor. The debris field was also the last resting place of a number of Titanic's victims. Most of the bodies and clothes were consumed by sea creatures and bacteria, leaving pairs of shoes and boots – which have proved to be inedible – as the only sign that bodies once lay there.
Titanic has proved that everything that is big and proud doesn’t sail through everything safely because an ice berg can bring it all down. The legendary ship has proved to be a tragic reminder for 1500 lives that sank with the ship altogether taking down all hopes. Yet, Robert Ballard and his team were courageous enough to hail in the cold waters for days together to pay condolence for those who died on the night of April 12th, 1912.
The bow of the wrecked RMS Titanic, photographed in June 2004
For us, Titanic is just a movie that definitely deserves all the Oscars that are being given away. James Cameron, the creator is worshipped for his highly talented soul to make such a stupendous movie. Even today, 15 years after the movie’s release, if aired on television, the movie has everybody glued to the screen to watch the ship sink for the umpteenth time. Ever wondered how the ship actually sank? Ever wondered how anybody discovered the Titanic after it sank? I never thought about it until I came across the book “The discovery of Titanic”. Until then, it didn’t matter how it was found. It never mattered for us to know who brought the story of Titanic alive to the world. We saw the movie, the majestic ship sinking into great waters, a heart wrenching love story – that was Titanic for us.
In the book “The discovery of Titanic” Robert Ballard, the author who is an explorer, oceanographer and Former Navy captain explains the intricacies, challenges and the conflicts involved in finding the wreck of Titanic. As the book progresses, you will comprehend that searching the Titanic was indeed a titanic task itself. Titanic was long thought to have sunk in one piece. After it sank in 1912, many schemes were implemented in vain. The essential problem was the sheer difficulty of finding and reaching a wreck that lay over 12,000 feet below the surface, in a location where the water pressure is over 6,500 pounds per square inch (simply unimaginable). The explorers would need equipments with high definition cameras to locate the debris area in the waters of the Atlantic. A number of expeditions were mounted to find Titanic but it was not until 1 September 1985 that a Franco-American expedition succeeded.
They discovered that the ship had in fact split into two before hitting the sea bed. The separated bow and stern sections lie about a third of a mile (0.6 km) apart in a canyon on the continental shelf off the coast of Newfoundland. They are located 13.2 miles (21.2 km) from the inaccurate coordinates given by Titanic's radio operators on the night of her sinking,[184] and approximately 715 miles (1,150 km) from Halifax and 1,250 miles (2,000 km) from New York. Both sections hit the sea bed at considerable speed, causing the bow to crumple and the stern to collapse entirely. The two sections are surrounded by a debris field measuring approximately 5 by 3 miles (8.0 × 4.8 km).
Robert Ballard and his team first spotted a boiler lying on the ocean bed which resembled from the pictures they had from Titanic’s maiden voyage. The boiler was the turning point that led to the discovery of the ship. The debris contained hundreds of thousands of items, such as pieces of the ship, furniture, dinnerware and personal items, which fell from the ship as she sank or were ejected when the bow and stern impacted on the sea floor. The debris field was also the last resting place of a number of Titanic's victims. Most of the bodies and clothes were consumed by sea creatures and bacteria, leaving pairs of shoes and boots – which have proved to be inedible – as the only sign that bodies once lay there.
Titanic has proved that everything that is big and proud doesn’t sail through everything safely because an ice berg can bring it all down. The legendary ship has proved to be a tragic reminder for 1500 lives that sank with the ship altogether taking down all hopes. Yet, Robert Ballard and his team were courageous enough to hail in the cold waters for days together to pay condolence for those who died on the night of April 12th, 1912.
The bow of the wrecked RMS Titanic, photographed in June 2004
No comments:
Post a Comment