This blog is dedicated to the R.M.S. Titanic and its sister ships Olympic and Britannic, with a focus on the technical and historical, along with a variety of other Titanic and related content.
Please do not delete credits/sources and explanatory text from my posts.
This is not a blog for the 1997 film, however, I will post things from movies on occasion.
Recently there was a viral TikTok video spreading the Titanic switch conspiracy theory. It’s now deleted, but it got over 12 million views with many outlets sharing it and repeating its claims. This theory pops up regularly and its arguments are absurd, so I used the TikTok video as my excuse to finally talk about it.
The Trumpeter 1/200 Titanic + Pontos Detail Up Set
A model kit company in China, Trumpeter, recently started selling its new 1/200 scale Titanic kit. As some of you may know, Titanic: Honor and Glory had a hand in some corrections done to the model, with me helping on many of those corrections. The complete kit is massive, with the boxes being almost as tall as me and the hull being nearly 4 feet, 5 inches long. It consists of very well-molded and well-fitted parts, a detailed hull, and includes some basic photo-etch parts, decals, and an LED lighting set. Out of the box, the kit can make for an excellent and quite accurate Titanic model, though you’ll want to do your own LED setup if you want it to look more accurately lit.
If you’re interested in purchasing a Trumpeter base kit (with everything you need for a complete and detailed 1/200 Titanic), you can get one from a number of retailers, or if you’re in the mainland USA, you can order one from the THG store for $450: https://www.titanichg.com/storemain/trumpeter-200
To compliment the Trumpeter kit, a Korean company called Pontos has started selling a detail set. Whereas the Trumpeter kit is big, the Pontos set is focused entirely on the tiny things. 13 sheets of photo-etched metal parts, several baggies of turned brass parts, masts, brass propellers (including an option for a 4 or 3 bladed center propeller), and laser-cut decks made of real wood. The level of detail contained in the Pontos set is beyond anything you’ll get in the average kit or the Trumpeter itself, right down to the exact patterns of stained glass in the smoke room windows, the bells, every detail of the Crow’s nest, lifeboat plaques, funnel riveting, and detailed lifeboat interiors (including oars).
If you’d like to take your Trumpeter kit to the next level with the Pontos set, you’ll have to jump through a few hoops first. From what I’ve gathered, the Pontos set isn’t being widely sold. To get one, you have to be on this Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/495723057755975/ - and follow directions given there for ordering the Pontos set. The set is $180 and not easy to order, but if you’re willing to go through the pain, it’ll be worth it.
One would need to take their time with this kit, whether or not they use the detail set, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. I may even 3D-print and build a nice display case for it. Are any of you considering getting the Trumpeter Titanic?
While walking around the vendor space of the Rhode Island Comic Con recently, I happened to look down and what do I see? A framed Titanic photo signed by Millvina Dean, the youngest and last Titanic survivor, with a COA and photo from when she was signing that batch of prints. Now I just need to figure out where to hang it.
These are the numbers for Titanic’s total, deceased, and saved passenger counts. These numbers are based on the latest and best research from multiple researchers who all came to the same numbers. This accounts for those who were picked up by boats but then died shortly after, and people picked up from the water. These numbers are the correct numbers.
Anything, be it Wikipedia or the media, saying…
At least 1,500
Over 1,500
1,500
2,200
2,229
705
700
710
…or any number other than the three above is incorrect.
“The obvious question you might come up with at this point is, “why can’t you just put out the fire?” That’s because of the incendiary nature of coal. In general, a coal fire is extremely difficult to deal with under the best circumstances. If you had all the resources in the world and a good deal of space to work, they can be impossible to put out. Aboard a ship in tight quarters, it gets even more difficult.
An example of the difficulties with a coal fire would be the coal fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania. This fire broke out in a mine in the Northeast United States and has proven impossible to put out. How impossible you ask? It’s been burning since May 27, 1962.”
Holy shit
“Another issue that has always caused confusion was the Titanic’s speed. It was running at full speed when crossing the Atlantic Ocean, even when there were warnings of icebergs in the area. There were rumors that the ship was trying to break some kind of speed record, but the Titanic was not built for speed. This mammoth ship was a luxury liner. Molony indicates that this could have been caused by the fire-fighting activities.
In order to fight the fire, the stokers had been shoveling the burning coal into furnaces to burn the fire away. If the stokers had been shoveling as much coal as possible that could be the reason for the speed of the ship. As excess coal was burnt, the engines would work harder, generating speed. The stokers had been shoveling coal into the furnaces nonstop for 3 days fighting the fire during the maiden voyage. Molony thinks this is the reason why the ship was going at full speed when it hit the iceberg.”
Wow that makes *so much sense.*
I saw this article and just assumed it was political satire. What the fuck.
Ditto. What the fuck.
(
DuPage County Register, 26 Apr 1912, Fri, Page 7
- I found this in the Snopes article on the subject)
Dilleys’ report was in newspapers in 1912; how did this not get into the massive cultural memory of the Titanic? I’ve heard accounts of how it sunk at least 10 times and never about this.
Because it was covered up.
Oh, not this bunker fire bunkum again.
I won’t bother going into detail about any of the claims this theory makes as I already made a post about the bunker fire, which you can read here. And for those who want more detailed information from top Titanic historians and a more in-depth analysis of the fire and especially the cover-up claims, check out the article “Titanic: Fire and Ice (Or What You Will)”:
The fire likely wasn’t as big or raging as the accounts or claims suggest. Bunker fires were smoldering, slow-burning affairs.
The damage to the watertight bulkhead was likely limited to a minor bit of scorching or deformation, if that.
The bunker did not collapse during the sinking. It was likely a weaker, non-watertight bunker door, rather, that gave way after water spilled over the bulkhead into said bunker and filled it up.
The mark isn’t visible in all photos from the time.
The mark is nowhere near the fire (see below).
There wasn’t a coverup. The fire was discussed at the British inquiry and the story’s been known about since it happened. The fact that some of you haven’t heard of it just means that some of you hadn’t heard of it.
The one thing I will address here in any detail is that photo which Titanic “expert” Senan Molony and others claim is a scorch or heat deformation mark caused by the coal bunker fire. The photo that isn’t reproduced in the Fire and Ice article due to Molony’s copyrights on the photo, which is handy when you don’t want criticism. The photo which I’m more than happy to reproduce here. This one:
The mark also appears in this photo:
It would seem to slightly change shape between photos - the only two that ever show a “mark,” but never mind that. Let’s focus on the photo most used, this time with some vital information overlaid:
Blue shows where the water line is. Red shows the line of red paint on the lower hull. Yellow shows the decks. Green shows the approximate fore and aft bounds of the mark if you drew them vertically along the hull, taking into account the hull contour. And orange shows the outer bounds of the mark itself.
Okay, okay, so where is this mark in relation to the ship’s interior? If you project those details onto a profile view, you get this:
The mark is located well above the waterline, even above the antifouling line, along F and G Decks, below the forward well deck and a little aft of it. What actual rooms are in this area, you ask?
On F Deck, a bunch of 3rd class cabins. On G Deck, the Post Office, 1st Class Baggage Room, and some 3rd class cabins. It even crosses a watertight bulkhead. Funny, if this area was on fire, there are no accounts from any 3rd class survivors, crew, or anybody else to suggest that, nor any signs of broken portholes with flames shooting out of them or burning behind them in the photos.
So where is the bunker supposed to be? Well the grey area on G Deck is an upper coal bunker, but that’s not where the fire was, and even if it was, it wouldn’t be responsible for the mark. So where is the fire?
Down there, way under the waterline, near the bottom of the forward bunker of boiler room 5. It’s supposed by some that heat transfer through the bulkhead could have also caused smoldering coals in the aft bunker of boiler room 6, but that will never be known.
In conclusion, the mark was nowhere near the fire, as the fire was 50+ feet away, behind 1-3 watertight bulkheads depending on where you pin the fire and mark, far below the waterline while the mark is well above it, and in a location such that, if there was a blazing inferno there, there would have been utter panic aboard Titanic as smoke filled the ship and flames threatened the entire vessel, nor would there have been any mail left for the postal workers to save when the ship started sinking.
Additionally, some very smart person from CNN or possibly the very good Titanic expert Senan Molony also ran the above photo as further proof of the fire, claiming it shows another scorch mark/damage on the hull.
Convincing, right? Well, if you take more than 3.72 seconds to think about it and then look at the rest of the photo, you’ll find…
…that it’s actually the angled front of a coal barge in shadow, tied up next to the ship along with other coal barges with the same angled bows. Even if it was a mark, it’s STILL nowhere near the fire location.
So if the mark’s not fire damage, what is it? Is it actually there on the hull?
Once it’s actually studied closely, the most likely explanation is that it’s a reflection of the wharf that’s nearby as Titanic was pulling away from it. The hull was slightly reflective and easily would have reflected things to a viewer at the right angle, such as in the photos. The mark appears to follow the contour of the hull, appears to change place, and is not in any other photos but the two taken as Titanic is near the wharf, further cementing its reflective and transient nature.
Molony himself was seemingly aware of the possibility that the mark was a mere reflection quite some time before ‘Titanic: The New Evidence’ aired in January 2017 and the frenzy began. In his book ‘Titanic Unseen’ published in March 2016, you’ll find this:
I guess he didn’t listen to expert opinion. It would have saved him from making a bunch of money on a documentary and getting a ton of attention.
While this blog has had the rare update to descriptions and whatnot, this is the first time in almost 8 years that it’s gotten a whole new layout, look, and overhaul, including a cleaning-out of old junk posts and reblogs.
As any remaining longtime followers may note, I haven’t updated or posted much outside of rare THG and other reblogs for a long time, going months at a time without posting anything. There are a few reasons for this. Part of it is because I’ve not paid as much attention to Tumblr since the site overall seems to be declining and I’ve just lost interest. On top of that, I’ve been rather busy and preoccupied.
Perhaps the biggest reason,m though, is my involvement in Titanic: Honor and Glory. When I started this blog, I intended to post a lot about Titanic itself. This would have included my CGI work, research-related things, facts, etc. Back then, I didn’t have a lot of material to go on, and the project - when it was in the form of Lost in the Darkness and early on as Honor and Glory - was much more open for me to do other Titanic things. This all changed as we became more serious and professional and took on some of the world’s top Titanic historians as consultants. Nowadays, we have access to some of the best research and, quite frankly, I’ve seen some pretty amazing material that’s not been seen by many. Most of that material comes with the caveat that it not be spread. Along with the increasing need to keep many elements of our Titanic recreation work under wraps in order to avoid our work being copied/stolen and competitive for the completed game, and that fact that it and any work I may do myself may rely on confidential material, it’s meant that I am extremely limited in what I can share here. Essentially, my safest bet is to publish things that show only released material and reblogs of other people’s things, and approved THG posts.
That doesn’t mean I can’t show/post anything, but it’s very difficult to keep track of what’s safe to show and what isn’t, and the more risky things would require approval. So, for now, I will probably just post the usual, while possibly picking up my management of the THG Tumblr page which has also seen neglect lately.
Thanks for sticking around, and please continue to do so!
In this post, I will be looking at the story of Malinda Borden, a black passenger claimed to have died on the Titanic, and the various claims within the story. The standard response from many Titanic enthusiasts and historians is to just brush this off with “hoax” or “not true.” That’s not really good enough. When I heard about this, I wanted to dig as deep as I could to see what I could find. The short answer is: The story is not true, it’s entirely fabricated. For the reasons why, and in-depth analysis for the claims, please continue reading. If there are any updates, I will add them to the end of this post as they come.
This is a long post, so I’m putting most of it under a cut. Given the nature of the story, its claims, and the sensitive issues it involves, it may be triggering. Continue at your own discretion. With that in mind…
This post has been making the rounds on Facebook lately. For those who don’t know the Titanic story beyond what they remember from the movie, it might seem plausible, but is it true? What’s the full story? Where did it come from? What’s the evidence? Let’s jump down the rabbit hole!
At what point in time did people realize the Titanic split before it was completely submerged? Around the time Ballard discovered the wreck? I notice that's not usually portrayed in earlier media about the sinking.
That depends. There were always people who knew or at least strongly believed Titanic broke apart. Survivors who saw it with their own eyes. Others, including most historians, refused to believe that. When one survivor later tried to talk about how she thought Titanic broke in two during a convention, she was rushed aside like she was saying something crazy. That’s generally why pre-1985 media don’t show Titanic breaking apart. I guess you could say everybody realized Titanic split in 1985 when the wreck was finally found in two pieces. It was absolute proof and nobody could deny it, then.
The R.M.S. Olympic arrives in New York on her maiden voyage, June 21st, 1911.
During the voyage, Olympic encountered rough seas, causing her fresh paint to peel off in places on the hull. While maneuvering into the dock in New York, the Olympic also scraped the corner of the pier, which created a streak along the hull. People on the upper decks and down on the pier can be seen trying to get a look at that particular incident.
Source: The Library of Congress - Bain News Service
A photo of Olympic, sister ship to Titanic, sitting in the Thompson Graving Dock in Belfast, Ireland. This view shows some of the detail of the underside of the hull, the rivets and shell plating, and the scale of the propellers.
Titanic’s Grand Staircases were adorned by many carvings. Most of those carvings were either absent in Demos 1 and 2 or represented by flat images. No longer! Demo 3 includes these relatively small but important details, from the carvings around central panels to the carvings on each newel post, as well as designs around doorways, arches, on the pineapple finials, and a new architrave design.
Titanic: Honor and Glory - Demo 3 - Light Fixtures
Titanic was an electrified ship. Miles of cables and many distribution panels ensured that every part of the ship was electrified. Thousands of bulbs and light fixtures provided light throughout the passenger and crew accommodations. The type of light fixture depending on the design or the room or its necessity. Crew and lesser spaces had more standard fixtures, but those will not be focused on here. Nor are all fixtures from First Class shown here. This is just a selection of fixtures from the demo, many of them improved in detail or with better glass shaders since the earlier demos.
Grand Staircase Dome Chandelier, 50 bulbs
D Deck Candelabrum, 21 bulbs
Restaurant Chandelier, 10 bulbs
Reception and Dining Saloon Fixture, 5 bulbs
Restaurant Sconce, 3 bulbs
Dining Saloon Alcove Fixture, 1 bulb
Grand Staircase Cut Glass and Beaded Fixtures, 3 bulbs each
Titanic: Honor and Glory - Demo 3 - Grand Staircase Details
Titanic’s two Grand Staircases were focal points of passenger traffic in First Class. They were a sort of landmark for finding your way around and an necessary means of access. Each deck had its own little features, every location was different in some way. Of course, they were also beautifully fitted with countless carvings and decorative features. Here is a selection of some of those features, including many new carvings and details that have been added in Demo 3 which were not there in previous demos.
Titanic: Honor and Glory - Demo 3 - Visible Area Teasers
In addition to the explorable areas in Demo 3, there are a number of areas you can see from afar as well. These include but are not limited to:
First Class Smoke Room
First Class Barber Shop
First Class Enquiry Office
First Class Pool
Starboard Private Promenade
Working Crew Open Space at the forward end of Scotland Road
Crew Dormitory
Crew Lavatory
C Deck forward First Class Corridors
B Deck forward First Class Corridors
Some of these areas are more directly visible, some can be seen through doors, while others are more obscured. Other visible and even accessible areas not shown here include several First Class cabins, D Deck forward corridors, an aft section of Scotland Road, a portion of the upper levels of the forward Grand Staircase, and the promenades on A Deck.
