Little-known mysteries about the legendary Titanic

The giant Titanic has entered history and fame since its sinking in 1912. Earlier the Titanic was honored throughout the world as the largest ship of its time. The event is considered the most serious maritime disaster of all time. Although the Titanic has sunk for more than 100 years, the mysterious stories surrounding this ship remain a hot topic, attracting readers all over the world.

"Can't sink"

In Cameron's "Titanic" in 1997, the heroine's mother watched the ship from Southampton's harbor and said, "People say that this ship cannot sink." However, this may be the biggest legend in the story of the Titanic, according to Richard Howells, Kings University, London.

Images of the Titanic " could not sink " 100 years ago.

"The truth is not that people think like that. It's just a myth and this makes the story more interesting , " he said. "A person is rejoicing in the pride of making an unsinkable ship, angering God and sinking the ship right in the first crossing."

Although the sinking of the Titanic occurred about 15 years after the film's birth, and this disaster was the main subject of news reports of the time, the scene of the ship itself was very scarce.

In fact, the Titanic was not a big event before the ship sank into the sea. The Olympic "sister" ship was the focal point of the public's first voyage of Southampton to New York in 1911. Olympic had a captain with Titanic, shared itineraries, and shared safety equipment. and have the same number of lifeboats.

The body of the Olympic "painted with a full color paint to make it appear shiny in the current film" . Some of these images were used for news about Titanic after the disaster but some scratches were added.

"History became legendary in just a few hours and certainly many days after the ship sank," Howells said.

Quiet weather

The weather was extremely quiet when the Titanic disaster.

It's easy to imagine the Titanic wrestling with aggressive waves while sinking. But the truth is that the weather is extremely calm when the disaster happens, not a ripple , not a wind .

It was a terrifying silence. And it is the weather that contributes to the tragedy. Why is that?

When going to sea in areas with icebergs, the wind is the factor that helps determine if there is an iceberg in the sea.

When the wind blows through, it will bring a cold stream due to the ice release, the more cold the flow when blowing into the ship, the closer the iceberg will be, helping the captain promptly turn the steering wheel to avoid collision.

Therefore, the absence of wind caused the Titanic to have only 37 seconds to turn the steering wheel when it discovered that the ice sheet was clearly not due to its enormous size.

The entire ship caught fire from the start

After the departure there is a fire incident on the ship.

Just a few hours after departure, a fire occurred in the coal furnace of the ship engine.

A cobbler who survived the tragedy of J.Dilley recounted: " This is a rather unexpected event because if the ship is not sunk, passengers will also face a scary tragedy - fire train. "

William T.Stead's prediction of the Titanic tragedy

In 1886, legendary journalist William T.Stead wrote a fictional story set against an Atlantic mail carrier sunk after hitting the reef and most passengers died due to lack of lifeboats. .

This story of his purpose is to make people pay attention and self-awareness in reinforcing maritime safety regulations.

William T.Stead's prediction of the Titanic tragedy.

In 1892, William wrote a similar story based on the White Star Line's Majestic ship.

Among them: " Two decades later, Stead lost his life on the fateful White Star Line Atlantic train after the ship hit the iceberg on the starboard side and only 20 lifeboats became nearly half the number. passenger on board. "

Chaos when the ship was in distress

Most of the rescue ships, when leaving the ship, still have plenty of room to save more ill-fated people. But the chaos, people scrambling to force it to " run " when possible.

Most rescue ships still have plenty of space.

The chef makes the cake escape

Chef John Baker on the train - Charles John Joughin is supposed to be able to preserve his life while waiting for his rescue to be helped by his drink . He is considered to be extremely intelligent when death is near.

The chef makes cake to escape death because he drinks alcohol to keep his body warm.

The last minute decision saved a businessman's life

Chocolate boss Milton Hershey and his family escaped death when deciding to cancel their reservation at the last minute because they had to stay in business.

Milton Hershey and his family escaped death when deciding to cancel their last minute booking.

The last song of the band Titanic

One of the most vivid images of many films Titanic is the band playing music when the ship sinks. The story tells that the musicians perform on the deck to stir the air for the passengers. The last melody they play is the hymn "Nearer, My God, To Three" . None of the musicians survived and they were honored as heroes.

Simon McCallum, data manager at the British Film Institute (BFI), said witnesses recounted that the band played on the deck, but there was some controversy about the last song. Many people believe that they played a famous jazz song.

The image of the band on the Titanic is reproduced romantic on film. (Photo: ITV Studio Global Entertainment)

"We never knew the truth when all seven musicians were killed, but that hymn created a romantic image in the movie , " he said.

Paul Louden-Brown, of the Titanic Historical Society, played an advisory role for director Cameroon, saying the music scene in the 1958 version of "A Night To Remember" was so beautiful that Mr. Cameron decided to repeat it in his movie. Cameroon shared that he loved the scene very much and that was the scene that brought great meaning to the story.

Captain Smith's death

Few knew about Captain Smith's final moments, but he was still remembered as a hero, though he ignored the iceberg warning and did not slow down the ship when it was reported that there was ice. Titanic's highway.

"He knows how many passengers and how many seats are on the lifeboat, he let the lifeboat leave the ship when the customer only partially filled it , " said Louden-Brown, who did not acknowledge the "picture." Shout " on Captain Smith said.

That night, the boat accommodates the first 65 people to leave the Titanic's hips with only 27 passengers. Many lifeboats were still half empty and did not return to rescue more survivors.

"History says that he died a heroic death. The cards and stories tell him that he swam across the water with a child in his arms and said" good luck, boy, please Take care of yourself ", all this has never happened," Louden-Brown added.

He said that Captain Smith must be the last person responsible for all the errors in commanding the ship. He did not order "leave the ship", causing many passengers not to realize that the Titanic was in danger. There is no plan to evacuate in an orderly manner, without a common notification system, without rehearsing with the lifeboat.

Cowardly boss

There are many stories about J Bruce Ismay, president of the Titanic manufacturing company, but most focus on describing his cowardice when fleeing Titanic while passengers, mostly women and children, being left behind and having to take care of themselves.

All scripts portray Ismay portraits in a despicable way when asking the captain to drive the train too fast and then "take part in fear of death" when jumping into the first lifeboat.

Louden-Brown said if the original information about Ismay was not available, the public would find William Randolph Hearst, the magnate of a major American newspaper. This man and Ismay had been dissonant for many years before the incident of Ismay refusing to cooperate with the press about a ship's accident. Ismay was condemned in the United States, where Hearst directed the press to create a fierce battle against Ismay. The newspaper published the names of all the dead but in the information of those who were saved, only Ismay's name was available.

Some survivors said he had jumped into the first lifeboat, others said he had asked the crew of the rowing crew to take him away. The ship's barber said that Ismay was asked by the captain to come down to the boat.

20 Titanic lifeboats can carry 1,178 passengers. (Photo: British Maritime Museum)

The Lord Mersey, the head of the 1912 British Investigation Report on the Titanic disaster, concluded that Ismay helped save many passengers before finding a place on the last lifeboat to leave the ship.

The German version of Titanic in 1943 described Ismay as an abusive Jewish businessman, demanding that the captain drive the ship quickly through the ice despite warnings. The movie "A Night To Remember" , which has long been considered the most authentic version of Titanic, also built similar Ismay characters.

Louden-Brown said this was unfair and proposed the issue to Cameroon director when the two worked together. In the Cameroon film, Ismay used his position to influence the captain to go faster to New York earlier and get the attention of the press.

Mr. Ismay has never overcome the shame of being accused of jumping into the first lifeboat and he retired from the White Star Line in 1913.

Frances Wilson, author of "How to Survive on the Titanic: The Fall of J Bruce Ismay" , said she sympathized with Ismay and considered him: "an ordinary man falls into a unusual circumstances ".

Passengers in third class

One of the most emotional scenes in Cameroon's "Titanic" is a scene depicting third-class passengers trapped under decks and not on lifeboats. Howells said there is no historical evidence to prove this.

The closed doors separate the third-class passengers from other passengers. However, the cause of this case is not because of the anticipated shipwreck, but because of US immigration laws and concerns about spreading the disease.

Third-class guests include Armenians, Chinese, Korean, Italian, Russian, Scandinavian and Syrian, as well as some people from the UK. All are looking for a new life in America.

"According to the US Immigration Law, immigrants must be separated before the Titanic anchors in Manhattan, the ship will park at Ellis Island for these people to check up on health and immigration procedures , " Howells said.

Each of the third-class passengers has its own compartment and is allocated to separate lifeboats, though no lifeboat is stored in the third-class cabin. These passengers have to grope through a maze of corridors and stairs to reach the lifeboat. Passengers from first and second class can easily board the canoe because the canoe is the promenade of first and second class compartments.

The British Investigation report emphasized that the Titanic had complied with the US immigration laws at the time and that the accusations of third-class visitors locked under the cabin were wrong. The evidence shows that some doors are locked when managers wait for instructions from superiors. These doors were later opened but at that time most lifeboats had left.

The Lord Mersey stressed that third-class guests were "reluctant" to leave the ship, " unwilling to leave their luggage" , and it was difficult to get a group of them on the lifeboat. There is no evidence that a malicious conspiracy interferes with third-class passengers.

When the lifeboat was released, the managers ordered "women and children to board the boat first" . 115 men in first class and 147 second-class men were required to stay to make room for women and children. They are all dead.

No third-class guests testified during the British investigation but they were represented by WD Harbinson attorney. He also concluded that there is no evidence of discrimination against third-class visitors. However, less than a third of them survived.

The only Japanese passenger

Masabumi Hosono is the only passenger in Japan who risked his life to jump into a rescue ship and escape death.

It is Mr. Masabumi Hosono, a Japanese civil servant who comes to Europe to work, when the tragedy happens. Hosono had thought of facing death honorably.

But after seeing a desperate passenger jumping into the lifeboat even though the sailors pointed their guns at them because to make room for women and children to advance, Hosono desperately danced and survived.

Everything seemed to be smooth, doubtful, at that time in Japan, that action was considered cowardly and lack of honor. So when Hosono returned home, he was critically criticized and stoned by the community.

In one of his records, Hosono said he probably would rather die on that ship than suffer the end of life in the humiliation of the community and relatives.

Natural error

There is an undeniable fact that the Titanic was wrecked by the iceberg. But for years, researchers have been working hard to understand the real cause. Immediately after the disaster, British and American investigations concluded that the ship had run too fast. If it moves at a slower pace, the crash will not be so serious. Even Titanic could completely avoid the iceberg.

In that case, the collision only broke six boat compartments, which could still float on the water. Many believe that the ship can avoid the collision if the rider does not panic and turn in the wrong direction. It is possible that the truth is hidden from investigators to protect the reputation of White Star Line and colleagues.

Without considering the human factor, the Titanic tragedy could be " staged " by nature. Two astronomers from Texas State University (USA) speculate that the super moon makes ice sheets move. This is a rare phenomenon, which occurs when the moon is closest to Earth on the full moon. The effect resonates from the moon and the sun causes unusually large waves. Two astronomers use astronomical elements to explain the theory that icebergs appear in large numbers on Titanic's voyage.

However, experts claim that the biggest cause may stem from light refraction. When the ship began to sink, the sailors signaled for help. The nearby California ship seemed to ignore, though many flares lit up the night sky. On the fateful night, the Titanic entered the heat island area, where the cold air was under a warmer atmosphere. This heat island phenomenon causes light refraction, which can create illusions, making the crew on the ship unable to detect the iceberg in time as well as affecting the California ship's exact determination of the signal of rescue.