Posted on 12/05/2005 12:02:23 PM PST by ZGuy
The discovery of two large pieces of the Titanic's hull is changing the story of how the luxury ocean liner sank 93 years ago.
Undersea explorers said Monday that the Titanic broke into three pieces, not two pieces as commonly believed and portrayed in James Cameron's 1997 film version of the catastrophe. That means the ship likely sank faster than believed.
The hull pieces were found this summer by an expedition sponsored by the History Channel. Its leaders called it the most significant find at the site since undersea explorer Robert Ballard discovered the wreck 20 years ago and declared that the ship had broken in two.
"The breakup and sinking of the Titanic has never been accurately depicted," Parks Stephenson, a Titanic historian, said Monday at a conference at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, where scientists discussed the findings.
The 46,000-ton luxury liner was billed as "unsinkable" by its owner, the White Star Line. But it sank after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. About 1,500 people were killed.
Ballard discovered the bulk of the wreck in 1985 in 13,000 feet of water, about 380 miles southeast of Newfoundland. A portion of the ship's bottom was missing, and Ballard's team presumed it had fragmented into hundreds of small pieces.
The discovery of the two hull pieces about 500 meters from the rest of the wreck indicate that the piece came off the ship intact and later broke into two large sections, the explorers said.
"That's X marks the spot," said Richard Kohler, who led the expedition. "Right above that is where the Titanic broke."
Ballard did not immediately return a call for comment.
I hated that movie.
And yes, I kept muttering "Well, SINK already!"
Well, I only sat through it to see Kate's boobies.
titanic was coal fired. i don't know offhand whether the coal bunkers were in the sides of the ship, like the Maine, or between compartments, or what.
Oh God, please don't tell me we have to endure another Celine "Let them touch those things for once" Dion theme song.
I'd give 'em a B+.
Brain still frozen to this day...when he read the script he immediately found a cold storage freezer and sat in it for a couple days to "experience" the character and what he went thru. He WAS a very dedicated young man...now just a cold shadow of himself these days...
You want Off or On my Ornithology Ping List?
Ping for a later read.
"A night to remember" will always be the definitive TItanic movie.
Agree
Hang on a tick...I thought he froze to death.
Agree about the 'Love Story' plot. Cameron took an actual historical event - One that was full of real irony as well as being stranger than fiction - and trivialized it with his sop to the teeny bopper crowd. It was totally predictable and, aside from some of the effects, a terrible movie IMO.
Agreed.
Whatever happened, it should have occured in the first hour of that turkey.
LOL. Off, please!
Yeah, why was she wearing a life vest when those two things provided enough buoyancy?
When "Jack" slipped beneath the water I stood and cheered in the theater.
I got an angry response from the Leo fans and applause from most of the men in the audience.
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