Monthly Gathering—February 2006
Titanic
RMS Titanic was the second of a trio of superliners intended to dominate the trans-Atlantic travel business. Owned by the White Star Line, Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of its launching. During Titanic’s maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912, and sank two hours and 40 minutes later at 2:20 a.m., Monday.
The sinking resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, ranking it as one of the worst peacetime, maritime disasters in history and by far the most famous. Titanic used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and was popularly believed to be “unsinkable.” The media frenzy about Titanic’s famous victims, the legends about what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes to maritime law and the discovery of the wreck in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel have made Titanic persistently famous in the years since. Yet despite all that is known, there are still mysteries connected with the great ship’s loss, such as: Why was the radio unmanned at the time of the disaster? Why was it sailing at top speed through waters known to be dangerous? Why wasn’t the ship found where she was known to have gone down?
For some possible answers to these and many other observations, please join us on Saturday, February 18, when our guest will be Titanic historian Ed Weichsler, whose interest in all things Titanic has spanned over 40 years and taken him across two continents. In the course of his travels, Weichsler has met two-dozen Titanic survivors, the aforementioned Robert Ballard and was offered a part in James Cameron’s film Titanic.
Take advantage of this unusual opportunity for a serious and in-depth examination of a tragedy that has achieved almost mythological status in the popular culture, and while you’re at it, why not bring a friend?
Page last updated: Sunday, February 15, 2009