I'm not saying it gets sufficient coverage. Smaller sinkings, still involving many more people than the Titan, get no coverage at all.
The Titan story was exotic, desperate migrants and refugees drowning sadly are not.
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Missing Titanic Sub.
- Thread starter mikedt
- Start date
The Titan story was exotic, desperate migrants and refugees drowning sadly are not.
I wonder if it had any type of black box like planes have for recording data?
Oceangate's business is lying imploded at the bottom of the Atlantic. So I think that company is finished.
Perhaps they'll now leave the resting place of 1500 souls in peace? No more gruesome sightseeing by rich tourists.
Perhaps they'll now leave the resting place of 1500 souls in peace? No more gruesome sightseeing by rich tourists.
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Best answer, Mike.
I agree with what you said, but I don't think it will happen. In 2000 RMS Titanic inc revovered 800 artefacts from the Titanic
Just for some perspective, as the news media has all of us fixated on this sad event, there is a different disaster that has also occurred recently and it's only mentioned in some independent news sources -- a boat off the Greek coast has sunk and several hundred people, most women and children refugees, are also dead.
This is a statement on our culture, we're focused on a the tragic death of a handful of people who died while on what's essentially a highly-priced joy-ride but when maybe 700 refugees fleeing in the hope of a better life also die in a tragic accident, it's a non-event.
As Media Spotlights Titanic Sub, Hundreds of Migrants Who Died in Greek Shipwreck Get Scant Coverage
As many as 700 migrants are feared to have died after an overloaded fishing vessel capsized last week off the coast of Greece. As search and rescue efforts continue with dwindling expectations, the Greek Coast Guard is facing backlash over its failure to help rescue passengers before the boat...www.democracynow.org
To be frank, the Titan submarine news story was rather unique, and had suspense and excitement, especially with the popular media. How many times has there been news stories of migrants dying at sea? Too many to count probably.
Even CCTV(China Central TV) covered the Titanic story for several days. Probably because there's still much interest in anything related to the RMS Titanic in China. The James Cameron (1997) movie is still one of the favourites here. In fact there's even RMS Titanic themed hotel rooms
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sorry but if i'm going to see the Titanic in a submersible vehicle, i'm going to go with James Cameron. not some shady business man that has no idea what he was doing.
and this might be controversial, but though i do feel bad that everyone onboard died. i do not feel sorry for them. they fell for the shady businessman. they should have done their own research and learn what they were getting into......especially when the price for the ticket to come onboard was $150K.....LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN THE TOCKET COSTED $150,000.00 US DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i know the people who went could afford it. but, they should have been more careful with their money as they did when they amassed such a fortune.
so who do you guys blame the fool of a businessman? or the people who were stupid enough to be fooled into such a venture?
i know the people who went could afford it. but, they should have been more careful with their money as they did when they amassed such a fortune.
so who do you guys blame the fool of a businessman? or the people who were stupid enough to be fooled into such a venture?
I heard one news person say the next big dangerous adventure will be taking people into space. He mentioned $200K a ticket
It's kind of like space tourism. The Russians have been selling seven-figure sum paid trips into space for years, using very tried and tested space technology, or do you go with the much more unproven Virgin Galactic, or SpaceX, or Boeing Starliner, or Blue Origin?
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yeah but i would go with SpaceX then just some rich business guy. i would rather go with Jeff Bezos's, Home | Blue Origin, than some rich guy.
The people that died are just part of a long line of people that gave their life for a great adventure. I'm sure they won't be the last. I sometimes think that the greater the risk level the more appealing the adventure is to some.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
I've often wondered why Titanic is so popular when there was an oceanliner called the Wilhelm Gustloff that was evacuating refugees after WWII ended and to avoid the oncoming Russian invasion and got sunk, taking over 9000 lives with her, in minutes. To date, this is the worst ship disaster of all time, but mostly forgotten.
Also the Empress of Ireland lost tons as well, sank in 11 minutes.
It's not always obvious why one event captures the public imagination and another doesn't, but it's frequently not related to its significance. In the case of the Titanic my guess is that it was the combination of glamour and disaster that did it. The boast that it was "unsinkable" doubtless added an element of hubris and nemesis to the story too - it always helps if events fit, or can be fitted, neatly into a dramatic archetype. I've noticed that the coverage of the Titan has been leaning very heavily on that particular one for the last couple of days as well, at least until today's events in Russia drove it completely off the news bulletins (which they have over here).
MV Wilhelm Gustloff - Wikipedia
RMS Titanic on the other hand was a completely civilian British ship, no war. The sinking changed so many things to improve safety of ships at sea, mainly the SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety Of Life At Sea). Which mandated sufficient life saving equipment and lifeboats for all souls on a vessel, running a 24 hour radio watch, and maintaining a proper 24 hour lookout, for things like icebergs, i.e. the main things that were wrong for the RMS Titanic in 1912. Amongs many other improvements, like fire protection, navigation, etc.
SOLAS Convention - Wikipedia
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nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
Dona Paz also lost more souls than Titanic. More recent as well.
The Empress of Ireland sank only two years after Titanic, in 1914. Despite having more than enough lifeboats on board for all crew and passengers, she sank in 14 minutes, and many in lifeboats horrifically killed when the vessel rolled over. It's so unknown today that a YouTube video was how I even knew about it. It's a more horrific tragedy than Lusitania.
There was a Russian Sub called the Kursk that isn't as well known as the one about the Titan as well. Those poor people spent like a week (?) inside a sunk sub with no escape.
The Empress of Ireland sank only two years after Titanic, in 1914. Despite having more than enough lifeboats on board for all crew and passengers, she sank in 14 minutes, and many in lifeboats horrifically killed when the vessel rolled over. It's so unknown today that a YouTube video was how I even knew about it. It's a more horrific tragedy than Lusitania.
There was a Russian Sub called the Kursk that isn't as well known as the one about the Titan as well. Those poor people spent like a week (?) inside a sunk sub with no escape.
The Kursk was pretty well publicised at the time, at least on this side of the Atlantic. It's doubtless got less public recognition than the Titan at this moment because it was around the turn of the century while the Titan has been filling reports for the last week. For a meaningful comparison we should ask in 20 years' time and see how many people remember the Titan.
Knowledge of other sea disasters depends a lot on a persons background. I was in U.S. Coast Guard so I guess I have paid more attention when a sea disaster happens.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
I think the only other incident that got as much attention as Titanic (well, until it cooled down a few years later while Titanic is still fresh on everyone's minds even in 2023) was the Sewol Ferry Disaster. So many things went wrong there. At times, just re-reading the chain of events makes me wonder (getting my conspiracy flag flying) if the deaths of those kids were intentional. I mean they denied help from the U.S. (who had birds in the air) and Japan, and told the kids to stay in their cabins, yet they got less punishment than the captain of the Costa Concordia. The entire country tried all it could to AVOID a survivable event. It makes me head spin just realizing these kids were TEXTING THEIR PARENTS and even their PARENTS couldn't say 'hey get the frack out of there! don't just sit!' So the parents are also complicit. That whole event makes me so darned angry.
Titanic was a tragedy, but there have been far WORSE tragedies that get little to no attention in comparison and it makes zero sense. I think the whole 'the passengers stayed in the fireproof lounge of Dona Paz and were literally roasted like a Thanksgiving turkey' was at least more worthy of attention.
I'm betting this incident wouldn't be in headlines if it hadn't had Titanic in its name or being referenced as Titanic Sub
Titanic was a tragedy, but there have been far WORSE tragedies that get little to no attention in comparison and it makes zero sense. I think the whole 'the passengers stayed in the fireproof lounge of Dona Paz and were literally roasted like a Thanksgiving turkey' was at least more worthy of attention.
I'm betting this incident wouldn't be in headlines if it hadn't had Titanic in its name or being referenced as Titanic Sub
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my only other obsession with boats like the Titanic was the sinking of the Lusitania. Erik Larson (one of my favorite authors) wrote a book Dead Wake. its about the tragic events that unfolded with the sinking of the luxury liner, Lusitania.
www.barnesandnoble.com
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania|Paperback
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania“Both terrifying and enthralling.”—Entertainment...
www.barnesandnoble.com
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
Be prepared for the whole 'but it was in wartime' excuse like my reference to the Wilhelm Gustloff, which still is the worst maritime disaster in history, with over 9,000 dead, and despite popular opinion, were not Nazis, but women and children and many civilians attempting to escape the brutal invasion of the Red Army, which if you read into it, was not that different from Nazi occupation, only in their case, the innocent women and children who were victimized brutally by the Red Army were not the participants in the war at all, and were unfairly blamed for it by the Russians. They tried to escape only to be torpedoed and it sank in 50 minutes.
I consider the Red Army to be as bad if not worse than anything Hitler had done. When you're supposedly the ones who 'liberate' the country and win the war, you have zero right to start brutalizing the innocent. The war was already ending, only Japan hadn't surrendered yet, but Hitler was dead, and it was over. They didn't have to become the very savages that the Nazi propaganda against them claimed.
There was recent discovery though that the secondary explosion onboard Lusitania was in fact a boiler explosion as all steam pressure was lost in that instant, all power gone. So in a way it disproves the long-running theory that it was carrying munitions. In fact, if it were carrying munitions, it'd have likely become the fiery hellscape of Dona Paz.
I consider the Red Army to be as bad if not worse than anything Hitler had done. When you're supposedly the ones who 'liberate' the country and win the war, you have zero right to start brutalizing the innocent. The war was already ending, only Japan hadn't surrendered yet, but Hitler was dead, and it was over. They didn't have to become the very savages that the Nazi propaganda against them claimed.
There was recent discovery though that the secondary explosion onboard Lusitania was in fact a boiler explosion as all steam pressure was lost in that instant, all power gone. So in a way it disproves the long-running theory that it was carrying munitions. In fact, if it were carrying munitions, it'd have likely become the fiery hellscape of Dona Paz.
svim
Extreme Android User
Apparently OceanGate has other submersibles besides Titan, and even have plans to buy/build more. The loss of Titan and one of the founders is a really significant setback but with businesses like this with so much accumulated wealth in its coffers the odds are after all the resulting attention fades off they'll just continue on.
OceanGate - Wikipedia
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of bolting them in from the outside, so no chance of escape were possible, even if they had recovered it to the surface. I mean who designs a literal tin can like that where the only method of operation is via a glorified PlayStation controller? What could possibly go wrong?!
Apparently nobody learned their lesson from the Kursk disaster.
Apparently nobody learned their lesson from the Kursk disaster.
svim
Extreme Android User
Well opening the hatch while the submersible is that deep in the ocean isn't going to be a very good option. It's just not like in a movie where they might have popped the hatch off and just swam up to the surface. Nobody had any self-breathing gear anyway, and the sub would have just immediately flooded, And then the water pressure at those depths would kill them all within seconds. Kursk was a military nuclear submarine, manned with a full, trained crew and weaponry, Titan was just a submersible intended to be used for tourism-based excursions. Making direct comparisons between the two is a bit of a stretch.
Lots of people are in disbelief about something like a PlayStation controller to steer the submersible but that's apparently all that it needed. Titan had no navigational equipment so it couldn't actually locate anything, that was all provided by the mother ship it needed to be tethered to, and it only had rudimentary propulsion to move itself around. A simple joystick with big directional buttons, like on a PlayStation Controller, is all that's required. A more complicated, and much pricier, controller might look better in photo ops but is functionally the same.
As for what could go wrong, When a PlayStation Controller might fail, it was reported there were spares on hand as a precaution, so it could be easily replaced right there. If Titan was using a more complicated, pricier, more customized controller and that failed, it's game over. The mission gets scrubbed and they have to resurface because a trained technician would be required to service the controller. Why is simple and appropriate a bad thing while complicated and overkill better?
Lots of people are in disbelief about something like a PlayStation controller to steer the submersible but that's apparently all that it needed. Titan had no navigational equipment so it couldn't actually locate anything, that was all provided by the mother ship it needed to be tethered to, and it only had rudimentary propulsion to move itself around. A simple joystick with big directional buttons, like on a PlayStation Controller, is all that's required. A more complicated, and much pricier, controller might look better in photo ops but is functionally the same.
As for what could go wrong, When a PlayStation Controller might fail, it was reported there were spares on hand as a precaution, so it could be easily replaced right there. If Titan was using a more complicated, pricier, more customized controller and that failed, it's game over. The mission gets scrubbed and they have to resurface because a trained technician would be required to service the controller. Why is simple and appropriate a bad thing while complicated and overkill better?
This whole thing was a s**t show from the start.
Worth a watch :
Worth a watch :