In 1987, when I was about five years old, my parents had a small vhs tape that I discovered. Being an inquisitive child and always one for videos I popped it in and for the next hour or so I sat spellbound in the grip of perhaps one of the greatest maritime disasters in history. I was watching National Geographic's documentary of Robert Ballard's discovery of Titanic which had happened only just a year or so before. From that simple beginning began a love affair with just about everything to do with this ship and the people surrounding it.
It does not take much to conjure images of Titanic if you say the name to anyone. Most people see the beautiful grand staircase, with crystal chandeliers and the beautiful woodwork. They see the clock, the cherub, wealthy people. Many others at the same time will see these people clustered at the stern alongside poor immigrants who had come seeking a better life in the new world. We collectively see the lights go out into the darkness of sea and starry sky, and then no more.
102 years later, the day of April 15 is remembered for the death of 1500 people aboard that ship. Somehow, some way, it is not only the death and the scope that linger in the collective minds of people. It didn't take a movie to make Titanic famous. She sat silent, entombed in the cold bottom of the sea forgotten like a myth. Then from the surface, there came light, and from that light illumination that all might witness her enormity.
After this came the vultures, perching, picking away until she was a sad carcass, yet still Titanic lingers, but why? Perhaps because it was the end of an age. Titanic exemplified a time when man's infallibility was never questioned, when the class structure was tight and the moral certainty bible thick. Titanic carried the hopes and dreams of that time, of all the people who built her and sailed upon her. It stood to certainty that this ship was one of destiny.
People were living better, technology was on the rise, and more people were growing wealthy than ever before. There was hope of peace, prosperity, and a unified people of all the world (under the watchful eye of a few extremely wealthy and ancient families). Was it any surprise when people said, "God himself could not sink this ship?" Indeed, this was an age that thought it had solved all the problems of the world. Alas, the ironic twist of fate and a perfect evening of circumstances and missed opportunities. The proverbial hand of God or fate struck with the worst sense of irony.
Upon her decks, the pale and beautiful world of Titanic's opulence fell apart. Wealth and prosperity meant nothing, the classes collapsed like the ship itself and humanity was laid bare for the weak and feeble thing it always was and would be.
So ended Titanic and with it the dream of an era. Titanic became the precurser, perhaps a catalyst to how unsolved the world's problems were.
Within two years of her sinking the world would be plunged into the first World War with worse atrocities yet to come. Yes, from this day ended all certainty, all human infallibility. I hope in the future to touch on some of the remarkable stories and facts I know of Titanic in future posts but for now I want to linger on Jack Thayer's words since they speak greater truth than I ever could.
“There was peace and the world had an even tenor to its way. Nothing was revealed in the morning the trend of which was not known the night before. It seems to me that the disaster about to occur was the event that not only made the world rub its eyes and awake but woke it with a start keeping it moving at a rapidly accelerating pace ever since with less and less peace, satisfaction and happiness. To my mind the world of today awoke April 15th, 1912.” - John B. "Jack" Thayer III, Titanic Survivor.
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For anyone interested in history, I would love to send out the word about the Honor and Glory project on Indigogo. These young men are painstakingly recreating the ship in 3D. They are consulting with Ken Marschall and others to create a realistic experience of the ship both for fans of the ship, and for museums and such. The goal is to not just showcase the ship, but the voyage, the passengers and the era in which she was built. Please check them out! Their work is incredible.
