Happy, ‘er, Titanic Hitting an Iceberg Day?
By Ryan Erickson, on April 14th, 2011 | no comments yet and 2 reactions
Ok, I admit that the title is somewhat odd in nature; however, maritime professionals around that world will have to admit that if it were not for the profoundly devastating event that took place today (actually tonight and tomorrow morning) in 1912, changes to safety at sea may have been put on the back burner. Thus I proclaim this year’s remembrance of the RMS TITANIC, the 99th anniversary of it colliding with an iceberg and eventual sinking, a celebration of safety at sea.
From the pages of history it was today, 14 April 1912, at around 11:40 p.m. that the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg off Newfoundland while sailing on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. She sank a little over two hours later. There were 1,517 lost including 103 women and 53 children out of total passenger and crew of 2,207. Subsequently, certification and life saving devices were improved and an International Ice Patrol was created to patrol the sea lanes off Newfoundland and Greenland during the winter months. The Revenue Cutter Service took over the operation of the Patrol the following year1.
Today our children are still reading and learning about the sinking. In fact my eight-year old daughter just read a book on the sinking and was amazed at the number of people lost. I would have to agree with here; however, as noted, it’s because of this mass-loss situation that safety at sea has become what it is today. Don’t worry though- I’m not naive enough to think it’s perfect. One only need to read a few books (e.g. Deadliest Sea) to know that the commercial fleets are all but perfect.
As you stand around the water-cooler today bring up the fact that it’s the 99th anniversary of the TITANIC sinking; do people still care? I’m betting they do- but I’m also willing to say that the only thing they’ll know of it is that it’s a movie that Leonardo DiCaprio was in… :(
1 Via USCG History Archive; image from the Library of Virginia
