Solving a Titanic mystery.SHORTLY BEFORE NOON ON APRIL April: see month. 10, 1912, THE UNSINKABLE SHIP OF DREAMS, THE RMS TITANIC The RMS Titanic, a British Olympic-class ocean liner, became famous as the largest ocean liner built in her day and also for sinking on her maiden voyage in 1912 with a huge loss of life. , CAST OFF FROM HER DOCK AT SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND, AND STEAMED AWAY ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE Noun 1. maiden voyage - the first voyage of its kind; "in 1912 the ocean liner Titanic sank on its maiden voyage" ocean trip, voyage - an act of traveling by water . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FOUR DAYS AND 14 HOURS LATER, SHE WOULD REACH HER ETERNAL DESTINATION-2 1/2 MILES BELOW THE CHOPPY, FRIGID frig·id adj. 1. Extremely cold. 2. Persistently averse to sexual intercourse. WATERS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN North Atlantic Ocean The northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, extending northward from the equator to the Arctic Ocean. . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THIS TITANIC TRAGEDY WAS BLAMED ON AN ICEBERG. BUT OTHER EXPLANATIONS HAVE BEEN OFFERED. HERE ARE A FEW OF THOSE ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WAS IT THE FAULT OF CAPTAIN EDWARD J. SMITH? IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT HE HAD THE SHIP MOVING TOO FAST. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT HAS ALSO BEEN SAID THAT HE IGNORED ICEBERG WARNINGS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT HAS BEEN SAID HE WAS SLEEPING WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE SHIPS'S BRIDGE ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... SAILING THE MIGHTY TITANIC TO THE SAFETY OF NEW YORK HARBOR New York Harbor, a geographic term, refers collectively to the rivers, bays, and tidal estuaries near the mouth of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City. This is sometimes construed in the sense "the Ports of New York and New Jersey". . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WAS IT THE FAULT OF THE TWO LOOKOUTS, FREDRICK FLEET AND REGINALD LEE Reginald Robinson Lee (May 19, 1870 – August 6, 1913) was one of two lookouts stationed in the crow's nest, alongside Frederick Fleet, when the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14th, 1912. ? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HIGH IN THE CROWNS' NEST OF THE FORWARD MAST, THEY STRAINED THEIR EYES PEERING INTO THE MOONLIT-DARKNESS OF THE BLACK SEA AND THE BLACK SKY. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PERHAPS WITH BINOCULARS, THEY WOULD HAVE SPOTTED THE ICEBERG IN TIME FOR THE SHIP TO MANEUVER PAST IT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HOWEVER, THE BINOCULARS HAD BEEN LEFT BEHIND. IT WAS A MISTAKE, BUT WAS IT THE MISTAKE? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WAS IT THE FAULT OF THE BUILDERS, HARLAND AND WOLFF Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries began as a shipyard located in Belfast. Early history Harland and Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland (1831–1895) and Hamburg-born Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834–1913, in the UK from age 14). ? IT HAS BEEN CLAIMED THAT THE STEEL USED IN THE TITANIC HULL WAS TOO BRITTLE. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] USING MODERN TESTS, SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND THAT THE STEEL ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... FULL OF SULFUR IMPURITIES, SHATTERS WHEN STRUCK LIKE GLASS HITTING PAVEMENT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WAS IT THE FAULT OF THE OWNERS OF THE TITANIC, THE WHITE STAR LINE COMPANY? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DID J. BRUCE ISMAIL, PRESIDENT OF THE WHITE STAR LINE ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... ORDER CAPTAIN SMITH TO GO FULL SPEED AHEAD ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... IN ORDER TO SET A NEW SPEED RECORD FROM ENGLAND TO NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DID THE MIGHTY SHIP SINK BECAUSE OF THE COAL FIRE ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... BURNING OUT OF CONTROL IN THE ENGINE ROOM? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OR WAS THE TITANIC THE VICTIM OF AN ANCIENT CURSE ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... THAT EMANATED FROM THE EGYPTIAN MUMMY HOUSED BEHIND THE SHIP'S BRIDGE? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PERHAPS, AS SOME HAVE SAID, THE ANGRY GHOST OF A STEEL WORKER WHOSE BODY WAS WELDED INTO THE HULL OF THE TITANIC WAS EXACTING REVENGE. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OR MAYBE IT WAS SABOTAGE? WORLD WAR I WAS ON THE HORIZON AND PERHAPS THERE WAS INTRIGUE AFOOT. OR MAYBE, JUST MAYBE ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ... IT WAS SEAMAN HENRY SMEDLAP SMEDLAP! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU DIDN'T DO PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE The routine checking of hardware that is performed by a field engineer on a regularly scheduled basis. See remedial maintenance. preventive maintenance - (PM) To bring down a machine for inspection or test purposes. See provocative maintenance, scratch monkey. ON THE WATERTIGHT DOORS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NOW THEY'RE ALL RUSTY! THEY MAY NOT SLIDE SHUT IF WE NEED 'EM TO. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DIDN'T THE CHIEF TELL YOU TO DO DAILY PM SINCE WE HUNG THEM A YEAR AGO!? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HAVEN'T YOU HEARD THE NEWS, MATE? THIS SHIP IS UNSINKABLE! WE DON'T NEED NO WATER-TIGHT DOORS. NO WATER'S GONNA REACH THOSE DOORS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I DON'T MIND DOING A LITTLE PM HERE AND THERE, BUT ONLY WHERE I THINK IT'S NEEDED. NOW SHOVE OFF! I'M GETTING FORTY MORE WINKS! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SEAMAN SMEDLAP'S FORTY WINKS HAS BEEN ALMOST A CENTURY'S WORTH OF WINKS. HIS FATAL MISTAKE WAS BELIEVING THAT HE COULD DECIDE WHAT NEEDED PM AND WHAT DIDN'T. HE THOUGHT THE TITANIC WAS TOO BIG AND TOO POWERFUL TO BE SENT TO THE OCEAN'S FLOOR BY A LITTLE RUST ON SELDOM USE DOORS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DO YOU HAVE ANY TITANICS IN YOUR UNIT? MAY BE YOU CALL THEM A TANK OR A HELICOPTER . OR A FIGHTING VEHICLE. MAYBE YOU THINK LIKE SMEDLAP THAT PM ON BIG MODERN EQUIPMENT IS A WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY. SMEDLAP WAS WRONG COULD YOU BE? PERHAPS NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW WHY THE MIGHTY TITANIC STRUCK AN ICEBERG AND SANK. BUT WE DO KNOW ONE FACT FOR CERTAIN: ALL EQUIPMENT WILL SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE NMC NMC Nursing & Midwifery Council (UK) NMC NSSDC Master Catalog (NASA) NMC Northwestern Michigan College (Traverse City, Michigan) NMC National Meteorological Center OCEAN WITHOUT PM. AND SOME OF THAT EQUIPMENT MAY TAKE "ALL HANDS everybody; all parties. See also: Hand " DOWN WITH IT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion