the scan now freezes the wreck in time before more is lost to the sea
May 20, 2023 8:21 AM Subscribe
The world's most famous shipwreck has been revealed as never seen before. [BBC] The first full-sized digital scan of the Titanic, which lies 3,800m (12,500ft) down in the Atlantic, has been created using deep-sea mapping. It provides a unique 3D view of the entire ship, enabling it to be seen as if the water has been drained away. The hope is that this will shed new light on exactly what happened to the liner, which sank in 1912. The visualization was pieced together from a staggering 700,000 images collected by remote controlled submersibles. Over the course of 200 hours, a crew of engineers directed the robotic explorers to scan the length and breadth of the colossal ship as it rested at a crushing depth 3,800m below the ocean surface. Scan images and footage are from @AtlanticProds and Magellan.
The Titanic is the Marilyn Monroe of shipwrecks. It will never stop being photographed, examined, probed, and guessed about.
posted by pthomas745 at 8:38 AM on May 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by pthomas745 at 8:38 AM on May 20, 2023 [8 favorites]
yt started pushing Titanic videos on me this year and I ate them up. I think the first one that grabbed my interest was the recorded wireless telegraph traffic from the Marconi radio team that was employed by White Star.
1912 was still in the early days of radio, Armstrong was just beginning to develop his advancements similar to DC's transition to AC did for electricity, and Marconi was engaging in anti-competitive practices like the rest of the gilded age excesses, and the Gates/Ballmer Microsoft 100 years later. In fact, the Titanic had spark gap radio, as about as primitive as you can get since it was a direct application of Hertz's pioneering EM research 25 years earlier. But communicating wirelessly was magic! Still is, and it was then too.
I like how the term the radio men used between each other was 'OM' "old man".
The unique tragedy of the Titanic was that it, the utmost of human industrial, technology, and commercial enterprise up to that point, was mortally wounded by a humble iceberg just minding its own business, there weren't enough lifeboats for everyone, and yet it would remain afloat for 2 1/2 hours as all this became clear.
Being a Titanic fan now, I do wonder at why we don't have stories of people crafting their own rafts; there was tons of cork used as insulation between the boiler exhaust and luxury wood panneling. The ship was going down so take what you will!
I also wonder if the Titanic shouldn't have stopped by just tried to make it for the ship they could see on the horizon. That the Californian didn't wake up their Marconi operator to see what was going on with the ship firing rockets in the distance was another oddity of this story.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:27 AM on May 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
1912 was still in the early days of radio, Armstrong was just beginning to develop his advancements similar to DC's transition to AC did for electricity, and Marconi was engaging in anti-competitive practices like the rest of the gilded age excesses, and the Gates/Ballmer Microsoft 100 years later. In fact, the Titanic had spark gap radio, as about as primitive as you can get since it was a direct application of Hertz's pioneering EM research 25 years earlier. But communicating wirelessly was magic! Still is, and it was then too.
I like how the term the radio men used between each other was 'OM' "old man".
The unique tragedy of the Titanic was that it, the utmost of human industrial, technology, and commercial enterprise up to that point, was mortally wounded by a humble iceberg just minding its own business, there weren't enough lifeboats for everyone, and yet it would remain afloat for 2 1/2 hours as all this became clear.
Being a Titanic fan now, I do wonder at why we don't have stories of people crafting their own rafts; there was tons of cork used as insulation between the boiler exhaust and luxury wood panneling. The ship was going down so take what you will!
I also wonder if the Titanic shouldn't have stopped by just tried to make it for the ship they could see on the horizon. That the Californian didn't wake up their Marconi operator to see what was going on with the ship firing rockets in the distance was another oddity of this story.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:27 AM on May 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
^logged at Cape Race, not "recorded" wt telegraph traffic
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:33 AM on May 20, 2023
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:33 AM on May 20, 2023
(old news but) Photograph believed to show ‘Titanic Iceberg’ up for auction
posted by achrise at 9:42 AM on May 20, 2023
posted by achrise at 9:42 AM on May 20, 2023
→
Was that from the BBC radio docudrama that came out around the time of the Titanic centennial? That was rather well done (especially with the Titanic's signal getting less and less distinct as the generators failed).
posted by scruss at 10:45 AM on May 20, 2023
wireless telegraph traffic from the Marconi radio team
Was that from the BBC radio docudrama that came out around the time of the Titanic centennial? That was rather well done (especially with the Titanic's signal getting less and less distinct as the generators failed).
posted by scruss at 10:45 AM on May 20, 2023
I'm amazed that so much of the structure is still intact in spite of being on the ocean floor for over a century now. I guess once it hits the bottom there's minimal forces acting upon it, but still, excellent engineering!
posted by sudasana at 10:58 AM on May 20, 2023
posted by sudasana at 10:58 AM on May 20, 2023
I'm amazed that so much of the structure is still intact in spite of being on the ocean floor for over a century now.
By all accounts, the wreck has noticeably deteriorated since it was first discovered. It may not be recognizable by the end of the century.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:24 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
By all accounts, the wreck has noticeably deteriorated since it was first discovered. It may not be recognizable by the end of the century.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:24 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Can't find the video I first watched, it had the Titanic sinking with the wireless traffic overlaid on yellow text. I remember the stars in the night sky were causing big blooming blotches on my Samsung LED TV...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRN2nP_9dA is the same traffic without the visuals.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:43 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRN2nP_9dA is the same traffic without the visuals.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 11:43 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
The world's most famous shipwreck
When I saw that at first, I thought, "The Atocha?" But ah, I see, the Titanic.
posted by limeonaire at 4:46 PM on May 20, 2023
When I saw that at first, I thought, "The Atocha?" But ah, I see, the Titanic.
posted by limeonaire at 4:46 PM on May 20, 2023
there weren't enough lifeboats for everyone, and yet it would remain afloat for 2 1/2 hours as all this became clear.
I actually found this topic really interesting, there's a wiki article about the lifeboats of the Titanic and an interesting comment on /r/askhistorians explaining why the whole lifeboat issue might have been safety theatre like the TSA was after 9/11. I'll summarize as best as I can, but it's still really long...
In response to the sinking of the Titanic, the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) treaty was written mandating that every passenger have their own spot on a lifeboat. The commenter on AskHistorians argues it was actually safety theatre in response to people being unwilling to get on board ships after the Titanic sank, similar to the kind of safety theatre we had with TSA after 9/11. Shipbuilders and regulators realised that their ships were more vulnerable to sinking than they had thought, but they couldn't say that and destroy the entire cruise / passenger / freight industry, so they were happy to run with the narrative that if they had just mandated every ship had enough lifeboats we would all be safe.
The reality was that typical ocean wave conditions would prevent the ship from even lowering lifeboats - there were maybe 2 days a month where conditions were calm enough. And if conditions were that calm, why on earth would your ship be sinking in the first place? The typical assumed use of the lifeboats was to ferry passengers to a rescuing ship - in the busy North Atlantic route it was assumed there would always be another ship relatively close by. For example, the RMS Republic (1903) with 3,130 on board collided with another ship, and used its 11 lifeboats to ferry all their passengers and crew across to the other ship before sinking. Some lifeboats made 20 trips in total, there were no deaths except for the 2 who were struck by the initial collision. So it was total overkill to have enough spots for every passenger, it was never regulated or intended that way.
Of course, if a ship was sinking, in rougher seas with no rescue in sight, people might chance it in a lifeboat, but that was almost certain death as well. When the SS Atlantic (1870) struck rocks and sank, they deployed all 10 lifeboats which shortly capsized, killing almost everyone who got on them. Most of the people who survived did so by remaining on the ship until the crew managed to rig five ropes from the ship to the shore, which allowed them to climb / swim their way to the share. Similarly for Clallam (1904) where they launched the lifeboats with women and children on board - the lifeboats sunk and all perished almost immediately. The ship took several more hours to sink, by which time another ship arrived to rescue them. The ship capsized and the (male) survivors were fished out of the water by the other ship.
This gives context to some of the hesitance displayed by the passengers of the Titanic, in leaving many lifeboats only half full. It would require husbands being separated from their wives and children, with no rescuing ship in sight yet, and it wasn't at all clear which was the safer option.
In many cases, ships sank in rougher conditions and the lifeboats were not of much use.
SS Norge (1904) - sank in 12 minutes. Of the 800 people on board, 635 died. Only launched 5 out of 8 lifeboats.
RMS Titanic (1912) - sank in 3 hours. Of the 2,224 people on board over 1,500 died. Launched 18 out of 20 lifeboats. Total lifeboat capacity 1,178, but only loaded 705 onto those boats.
SOLAS implemented, requiring ships carry lifeboats exceeding total passenger and crew.
RMS Empress of Ireland (1915) - sank in 14 minutes. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died. Only launched 5 out of 42 lifeboats.
RMS Lusitania (1915) - sank in 18 minutes. Of the 1,962 people on board, 1,198 died. Only launched 6 out of 48 lifeboats.
TLDR:
Ship sinks in typical ocean conditions - can't use lifeboats.
If a freak accident occurs and ship sinks in very calm conditions - you can use lifeboats, but.
Ship sinks rapidly (15 minutes or less) - you don't have time to launch lifeboats.
Ship sinks slowly (12 hours or more) - lifeboats used to ferry passengers to rescuing ship in multiple trips, it's ok to have fewer lifeboats. This is the primary use case of the lifeboats, particularly in "super ships" like the unsinkable Titanic with multiple watertight compartments.
Ship sinks semi-slowly before help can arrive (2 hours) - yeah this is the Titanic. They could definitely have used more lifeboats and more training. But this is how we learn, our regulations are written in blood.
posted by xdvesper at 8:29 PM on May 20, 2023 [46 favorites]
I actually found this topic really interesting, there's a wiki article about the lifeboats of the Titanic and an interesting comment on /r/askhistorians explaining why the whole lifeboat issue might have been safety theatre like the TSA was after 9/11. I'll summarize as best as I can, but it's still really long...
In response to the sinking of the Titanic, the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) treaty was written mandating that every passenger have their own spot on a lifeboat. The commenter on AskHistorians argues it was actually safety theatre in response to people being unwilling to get on board ships after the Titanic sank, similar to the kind of safety theatre we had with TSA after 9/11. Shipbuilders and regulators realised that their ships were more vulnerable to sinking than they had thought, but they couldn't say that and destroy the entire cruise / passenger / freight industry, so they were happy to run with the narrative that if they had just mandated every ship had enough lifeboats we would all be safe.
The reality was that typical ocean wave conditions would prevent the ship from even lowering lifeboats - there were maybe 2 days a month where conditions were calm enough. And if conditions were that calm, why on earth would your ship be sinking in the first place? The typical assumed use of the lifeboats was to ferry passengers to a rescuing ship - in the busy North Atlantic route it was assumed there would always be another ship relatively close by. For example, the RMS Republic (1903) with 3,130 on board collided with another ship, and used its 11 lifeboats to ferry all their passengers and crew across to the other ship before sinking. Some lifeboats made 20 trips in total, there were no deaths except for the 2 who were struck by the initial collision. So it was total overkill to have enough spots for every passenger, it was never regulated or intended that way.
Of course, if a ship was sinking, in rougher seas with no rescue in sight, people might chance it in a lifeboat, but that was almost certain death as well. When the SS Atlantic (1870) struck rocks and sank, they deployed all 10 lifeboats which shortly capsized, killing almost everyone who got on them. Most of the people who survived did so by remaining on the ship until the crew managed to rig five ropes from the ship to the shore, which allowed them to climb / swim their way to the share. Similarly for Clallam (1904) where they launched the lifeboats with women and children on board - the lifeboats sunk and all perished almost immediately. The ship took several more hours to sink, by which time another ship arrived to rescue them. The ship capsized and the (male) survivors were fished out of the water by the other ship.
This gives context to some of the hesitance displayed by the passengers of the Titanic, in leaving many lifeboats only half full. It would require husbands being separated from their wives and children, with no rescuing ship in sight yet, and it wasn't at all clear which was the safer option.
In many cases, ships sank in rougher conditions and the lifeboats were not of much use.
SS Norge (1904) - sank in 12 minutes. Of the 800 people on board, 635 died. Only launched 5 out of 8 lifeboats.
RMS Titanic (1912) - sank in 3 hours. Of the 2,224 people on board over 1,500 died. Launched 18 out of 20 lifeboats. Total lifeboat capacity 1,178, but only loaded 705 onto those boats.
SOLAS implemented, requiring ships carry lifeboats exceeding total passenger and crew.
RMS Empress of Ireland (1915) - sank in 14 minutes. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died. Only launched 5 out of 42 lifeboats.
RMS Lusitania (1915) - sank in 18 minutes. Of the 1,962 people on board, 1,198 died. Only launched 6 out of 48 lifeboats.
TLDR:
Ship sinks in typical ocean conditions - can't use lifeboats.
If a freak accident occurs and ship sinks in very calm conditions - you can use lifeboats, but.
Ship sinks rapidly (15 minutes or less) - you don't have time to launch lifeboats.
Ship sinks slowly (12 hours or more) - lifeboats used to ferry passengers to rescuing ship in multiple trips, it's ok to have fewer lifeboats. This is the primary use case of the lifeboats, particularly in "super ships" like the unsinkable Titanic with multiple watertight compartments.
Ship sinks semi-slowly before help can arrive (2 hours) - yeah this is the Titanic. They could definitely have used more lifeboats and more training. But this is how we learn, our regulations are written in blood.
posted by xdvesper at 8:29 PM on May 20, 2023 [46 favorites]
I'm amazed that so much of the structure is still intact in spite of being on the ocean floor for over a century now.
As my grandfather used to love to point out, the Titanic's swimming pool is still full of water!
posted by dmd at 8:32 PM on May 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
As my grandfather used to love to point out, the Titanic's swimming pool is still full of water!
posted by dmd at 8:32 PM on May 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
The "Oceanliner Designs" yt channel was created by an Australian bloke; being in my 50s I tend to assume my generational lessers are ignoramuses (as I was in the 80s) but this guy really knows his stuff!
he's just posted a review of the new video here on his channel
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:42 AM on May 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
he's just posted a review of the new video here on his channel
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:42 AM on May 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
The scan shows both the scale of the ship, as well as some minute details, such as the serial number on one of the propellers.
Holy shit, that is bonkers.
posted by brundlefly at 11:01 PM on May 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Holy shit, that is bonkers.
posted by brundlefly at 11:01 PM on May 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, James Cameron just came.
posted by brundlefly at 11:02 PM on May 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by brundlefly at 11:02 PM on May 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Being a Titanic fan now, I do wonder at why we don't have stories of people crafting their own rafts; there was tons of cork used as insulation between the boiler exhaust and luxury wood panneling. The ship was going down so take what you will!
If memory serves me correctly, one of the survivors recounted seeing a crew member throwing deck chairs overboard for people to cling to, but the problem (for anyone not trapped on the ship as it went under) was not so much drowning as hypothermia. If you were in the water and didn't get pulled into a boat soon, as a few swimmers were, you were going to die, raft, life vest, or no.
RMS Lusitania (1915) - sank in 18 minutes. Of the 1,962 people on board, 1,198 died. Only launched 6 out of 48 lifeboats.
The Lusitania ironically had enough lifeboats for everyone, but not only did it sink quickly, it also listed heavily, meaning that half the lifeboats on the high side were useless, and boarding the others was difficult as they swung out from the hull.
The Titanic went down slowly by the head, so lifeboats were launched on both sides. (And what side you were on made the difference as to whether the officers enforced "women and children first" or "women and children only" -- another factor in floating the boats lees than full.)
The listing issue would recur throughout history, as with, for only two examples, the Andrea Doria and the Costa Concodria (both of which fortunately had the "sank slowly enough for help to arrive" factor in play).
posted by Gelatin at 5:42 AM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
If memory serves me correctly, one of the survivors recounted seeing a crew member throwing deck chairs overboard for people to cling to, but the problem (for anyone not trapped on the ship as it went under) was not so much drowning as hypothermia. If you were in the water and didn't get pulled into a boat soon, as a few swimmers were, you were going to die, raft, life vest, or no.
RMS Lusitania (1915) - sank in 18 minutes. Of the 1,962 people on board, 1,198 died. Only launched 6 out of 48 lifeboats.
The Lusitania ironically had enough lifeboats for everyone, but not only did it sink quickly, it also listed heavily, meaning that half the lifeboats on the high side were useless, and boarding the others was difficult as they swung out from the hull.
The Titanic went down slowly by the head, so lifeboats were launched on both sides. (And what side you were on made the difference as to whether the officers enforced "women and children first" or "women and children only" -- another factor in floating the boats lees than full.)
The listing issue would recur throughout history, as with, for only two examples, the Andrea Doria and the Costa Concodria (both of which fortunately had the "sank slowly enough for help to arrive" factor in play).
posted by Gelatin at 5:42 AM on May 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Can't find the video I first watched, it had the Titanic sinking with the wireless traffic overlaid on yellow text. I remember the stars in the night sky were causing big blooming blotches on my Samsung LED TV...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRN2nP_9dA yt is the same traffic without the visuals.
This is so poignant. Definitely worth a watch / read. I wouldn't have gotten the same picture from just reading it at skimming speed - the slow typing really brings home what an experience it was. All the people around them trying to save them, the communication problems that kept some from hearing the Titanic's signals, the Morse Code skill of the various operators, the emotions that the Titanic radio operator must've been feeling...
posted by slidell at 11:12 AM on June 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRN2nP_9dA yt is the same traffic without the visuals.
This is so poignant. Definitely worth a watch / read. I wouldn't have gotten the same picture from just reading it at skimming speed - the slow typing really brings home what an experience it was. All the people around them trying to save them, the communication problems that kept some from hearing the Titanic's signals, the Morse Code skill of the various operators, the emotions that the Titanic radio operator must've been feeling...
posted by slidell at 11:12 AM on June 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
And if conditions were that calm, why on earth would your ship be sinking in the first place?
In my brief Titanic rabbit hole, I did read that the seas were very calm and that seas that calm could be a sign of lots of ice nearby. (Not sure how credible that info was.)
posted by slidell at 11:14 AM on June 10, 2023
In my brief Titanic rabbit hole, I did read that the seas were very calm and that seas that calm could be a sign of lots of ice nearby. (Not sure how credible that info was.)
posted by slidell at 11:14 AM on June 10, 2023
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