2023-06-23 21:01:09
Since sinking on its maiden voyage over a century ago, the ocean liner’s wreck has held wide fascination, despite the risks of visiting this tomb in the depths of the ocean.
The five submersible passengers who perished in the area where the liner sank were just the latest intrigued by the story of one of the greatest maritime disasters in peacetime. Prior to this $250,000 expedition, the luxurious ship hit by an iceberg inspired novelists, filmmakers and many adventurers, eager to understand what happened in 1912 in the waters of the North Atlantic. When she left England for New York that year, the RMS Titanic was a jewel of technology and hubris, widely touted as an unsinkable ocean liner. With its 2,000 passengers and crew, it was the largest ship ever built at the time.
floating palace
On board this immense floating palace with sumptuous cabins, first-class travelers have access to a gymnasium, a squash court, a swimming pool and an à la carte restaurant.
Below the deck of the ship, hundreds of poor migrants in search of the American dream are crowded into modest neighborhoods. But for everyone, the transatlantic voyage turns into a nightmare on April 14 at the end of the day, when the Titanic collides with an iceberg. Its hull deforms and water rushes into the 269-meter vessel. Under the weight of the water that invaded the compartments, the bow of the liner sank under the waves and it began to sink. There are not enough lifeboats on board and in a panic the crew does not use them properly. Women and children are exfiltrated first, but some boats leave half full. A few hours after starting to tilt vertically, the huge ship broke in two and sank into the depths. Passengers who had not been evacuated perish very quickly in the freezing water.
About 1,500 people die in the disaster. Only 700 castaways were picked up by the RMS Carpathia, a steamship which had responded to the Titanic’s distress calls.
James Cameron’s Romance
The exact location of the wreck remained a mystery for 70 years, until a Franco-American expedition in 1985 discovered the place where it lay, 3,700 meters deep. The reported images show the two halves of the ship on the ocean floor, surrounded by countless debris: furniture, shoes, plates and other objects once on board. Since it was found, the wreckage has been visited by researchers, explorers, tourists and filmmakers. The most famous of these visitors remains the director James Cameron, whose film Titanic, released in 1997, narrates a romance on board the liner between Jack and Rose, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Huge worldwide success, the feature film has remained in the annals thanks to Celine Dion’s hit My Heart Will Go On and its controversial outcome, in which Jack sacrifices himself to save Rose by letting her drift on a floating door. Even 25 years after its release, the film still generates a lot of debate to determine if Jack really did not have the place to embark on this makeshift raft. A controversy that is just one example of how the story of the Titanic “seems to never end for the public”, summed up James Cameron in February. “Titanic has this kind of enduring, almost mythical, romantic quality,” the director said, pointing to “the men who didn’t board the lifeboats so that the women and children could survive.”
The indignation of the families of the victims
Titanic memorabilia and artifacts remain highly prized. A letter written by a Uruguayan passenger who died in the disaster will soon be auctioned and the violin that musician and bandleader Wallace Hartley played with on deck during the sinking was acquired for $1.7 million in 2013.
Since sinking on its maiden voyage over a century ago, the liner’s wreck has held wide fascination, despite the risks of visiting this tomb in the depths of the ocean. submersible who perished in the area where the liner sank were only the last intrigued by the story of one of the largest…
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