Documentary Review: Titanic: How It Really Sank

Titanic: How it Really Sank, National Geographic, 2012,
This is a story about many things coming together to cause a tragedy.  It is told with narration to reenactment, (this includes reenactment of a 1912 hearing) interviews with experts, and some original footage.  The Titanic was compromised before it set sail, even though it was called "unsinkable."  A few things were changed about the design.  The bulkheads were lowered, especially those midship.  The bulkhead at the stern of the ship still was full, but the others barely extended above the water line.  The ship was made of steal, a newer and stronger material.  Where the rivets were put in by machine, they were usually steel rivets.  However the machine could not reach everyplace, and men put in pig iron rivets.  It was discovered this rivets were class three, rather than the better quality class four.  The witnesses to the breech, mach those investigating conclude that the steel was not torn, but the rivets gave way and the tear was at the seems.  That the iceberg was so far south was an anomaly.  However the ship had been warned about icebergs being farther south than usual.  An early message reached the Captain, and he delayed turning the boat due west for 20 minutes and as a result, it traveled farther south, and was then headed directly for the iceberg.  Another urgent message never reached the Captain who had left the deck.  A third was ignored.  This would have told them they were headed directly for he iceberg.  The wireless operator was too busy delivering messages of the wealthy on ship to deal with these urgent messages.  The iceberg was this far south as the Gulf Stream was traveling farther south than usual, which allowed the ocean currents form the north to travel farther south.  There was an iceberg watch, however they were hampered because the binoculars were locked away an no one had the key.  A last minute staff changed resulted in the key to the locker with the binoculars being taken off the ship.  Lastly, the boat turned enough to avoid a head on collision, but the glancing blow proved to be more deadly.  Had the Titanic struck head on, chances are it would have survived.  The bulkhead was higher and would have prevented a catastrophic inundation of water.  If the Titanic would have sunk, it would have been slower and allowed rescue.  With the breech along the side, where the bulkheads had been lowered, the water was able to overflow the bulkheads, and flood more compartments.  The finally tragedy was the lack of sufficient life boats.  48 life boats were required for all the passengers.  However, only 16 were required by law.  That is how many there were, because the designer did not think passengers wanted to look at life boats.

Biographical Book Review: Heroine of the Titanic

Heroine of the Titanic: The Real Unsinkable Molly Brown, by Elaine Landau, Clarion Books, New York, 2001.

There are several myths or misnomers about Molly Brown that are corrected with this book.  The first is her name.  Molly is not her name.  Her name is Margaret, and she did go by Maggie.  They only place she was referred to as Molly was in the media. 

 

Her maiden name was Margaret Tobin.  She grew up in Hannibal, and was a bit of a Tom-boy.  When a young adult she moved to Leadville to live with her brother.  She determined to marry a wealthy man so she could help her father.  While in Leadville she met J.J. Brown who worked in the mining industry.  He was not a wealthy man, but finally she decided better to marry someone you love rather than a wealthy man you don’t love. 

 

J.J. Brown studied mining and applied himself.  He made an investment in the Little Jonny Mine.  After investing heavily in this silver mine, they changed it over to a gold mine, one of the richest in history, and J.J. was suddenly extremely wealthy. 

 

This lead to the family moving to Denver we the purchased a home close to the Capitol building.  They decorated this with lions on the outside.  They were not given entrance to the upper echelons of Denver society, but their social situation was not as bad as that depicted in the movie.  They gave parties that were well attended, but because the media were often invited, they never were part of the “Sacred 36.”  However it is not certain if she really wanted to be.  Margaret enjoyed travel, and spent considerable time in Europe.  On the other hand J.J. felt more at home in Leadville with his old friends.  They separated, but never considered divorce because of their religious convictions.  They would never reconcile.

 

Of course Margaret is most known for her exploits on board the Titanic, and adrift in the ocean.  Many of the sailors were young and ill prepared.  It was she who took charge of their life boat and returned to look for survivors.  She also was instrumental in helping get reparations and donations to many of the women who lost their husbands on the Titanic.  She felt the ocean liner owed something to these people.  She was active in politics, and ran for congress.  She was one who struggled for suffrage for women.

 

She spent and donated money freely during her life.  There was not much left by the time she passed away.  When her husband died there was a conflict between she and her two children as to who should manage the estate.  She did live her life in comfort, but died in the East rather than the West and is buried on Long Island, New York with her husband.