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.
"A Night to Remember"
They only used that line because I let my copyright lapse.
Sort of a long walk for a short drink of water wasn't it?
Geez, I gotta get out more...
sorry, i forgot that night...
Limps away, holding self gingerly....
I wasn't aware that structural integrity while sinking was a design criterion. :)
Yes, and did you know that Kerry was in Vietnam?
Ah, "A Night To Remember"! Now there's a movie.
heh heh - gotcha!;-)
Good and square! :)
Definitely.
and since it was all verified, it had the added benifit of being true - the heroism, the panic, the woman who refused to leave her busband - was all true, and not some made up fantasy.
This Titanic was made in 1953.
A Night to Remember was made in 1958. Interesting, just 5 years between each version.
that first version was fiction, wasn't it?
LOL.
I can't exactly remember the controversy, but it had something to do with water coming up "over" the supposed water-tight hull dividers -- which did not go up to the deck, but only 3/4 of the way or somesuch.
I can't remember the details, but the way you got the tail-up flip was filling the forward compartments first, then one-by-one filling the next as the ship pointed down.
I think the issue was White Star contended that a flooded forward compartment (or two or three) would not give you enough "dip" to flood the next (and then the next, and next!).
I don't remember.
I think it was like all the other movies,
some fact and a lot of fiction.
I've heard that the steel in the hull was made improperly, causing it to fracture in the cold water. There are numerous accounts of survivors hearing snapping and crackling sounds, which was the the steel fracturing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.