Titanic

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
I was just watching the 1953 movie "Titanic" starring Barbara Stanwyck et.al.
Just when the crow's nest watch, sees the berg, and the Officer of the Watch yells...

Hard a Starboard!

And the Titanic turns to the Port.:confused:
I looked at the Admiral and remarked that was a BIG movie Blooper.
I said should have been "Hard a Port"!

Who is right?
Me or the Movie?

No web searches please.;)
Jim...

PS: If they had NOT seen the iceberg, they would not have sunk after hitting it at 11:40pm April 14, 1912, Head on collision, they would have survived.:(
 

Johann

.
Jun 3, 2004
513
Leopard 39 Pensacola
I think perhaps they were still using commands as would be given on a tiller steered vessel, so hard a starboard would mean turn to port.
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,932
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Some new evidence and research has been uncovered that shows why the Titanic sank as soon as she did. Quite interesting here:
 
Jan 5, 2017
2,390
Beneteau First 38 Lyall Harbour Saturna Island
Titanic did turn to port which swung the starboard side of the ship into the ice breaking several of the "water-tight" compartments. Maybe full astern would have helped but hitting an immovable object at 25 kts. is going to hurt anyway. Hind-sight is SO good, isn't it? A great read is "The Odyssey of C.H.Lightoellor" ( bet I spelled that wrong) who was the senior officer to survive the sinking.
 

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Titanic sank as soon as she did
True!
But here is the real reason for the collision and the lack of Response from the California.


Amazing mystery solved by the real eye witnesses.

Was the movie above a Bloober?
Jim...
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
My 2¢ and what I remember reading about that... I saw the same thing in the other Titanic and laughed. Then I read that back then, the wheel was indeed a tiller and the linkage as we know it today did not exist. So when he turned the wheel to port it actually turned the boat to starboard. Now, don't ask me to try and find what I read. It was too long ago. But I believe that is what I remember reading.

A sidenote. The radio operator used the new SOS instead of the standard CQ for the distress call. Something that I found interesting. Back then, CQ was apparently the call to make on Morse code for an emergency, however, it was decided that SOS was to be used. Could be wrong on that, but again, that is what I remember reading.
 
Jan 5, 2017
2,390
Beneteau First 38 Lyall Harbour Saturna Island
it was decided that SOS was to be used.
I remember reading that as well. First time for S.O.S. Other radio operators on other ships thought it was a drill or didn't know what it meant.
 
Apr 26, 2015
663
S2 26 Mid On Trailer
I think they said the same thing in the 1997 version Titanic movie also. Hard Starboard
 
Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
My 2¢ and what I remember reading about that... I saw the same thing in the other Titanic and laughed. Then I read that back then, the wheel was indeed a tiller and the linkage as we know it today did not exist. So when he turned the wheel to port it actually turned the boat to starboard. Now, don't ask me to try and find what I read. It was too long ago. But I believe that is what I remember reading.
I'm having a real hard time imagining that the Titanic had a tiller on her bridge...
 

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
I thought we weren't going to web search.:rolleyes:

The British had done this for years. Since Titanic was British registry, the movie was Correct.

It took Britain until 1933 to finally change to the Wheel , not Tiller, term, Joining the rest of the Maritime world.

The Movie was right!

The Titanic did sink.:laugh:

Jim...

PS:
The radio operator used the new SOS instead of the standard CQ for the distress call
They also used the newest color rocket burst!:(
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I'm having a real hard time imagining that the Titanic had a tiller on her bridge...
My bad. I should have said "tiller-like in operation". Meaning turn the wheel to starboard in order to move the boat to port.
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
23,143
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Great info guys for us amateur historians.

So the steerage was typical Brit naval architecture of the time. Back a$$wards?
 

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
I award @Johann the winner and @Brian D as close runner up.:)
Award is a medal by the SBO Trivia board and a free get out of Jail card by the SBO Police Bot.
________
here is the real reason for the collision
For those of you who don't want to watch that Nat Geo Movie...

The extreme calm and sudden cold created a Cold Mirage that bent the visible horizon and prevented the iceberg from being seen in time.:yikes:
Also that same mirage effect distorted the Morse Lamp signals from Titanic to the California and obfuscated the binocular image and thus proper identification of the 4 Stack Titanic.
Eye wittiness testimonies confirm this Unknown Cold Mirage.:clap:

Jim....
 

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
There was a big BLOOPER in that movie.
Underwater scene of the Titanic being ripped on the Port Side, not the Starboard Side.:snooty:

The most likely scenario was the impact busted the rivets and "plate to plate" seal. Actual Rivets taken from the wreck were found to contain higher Sulfur content than allowed. In addition to the Coal Pile fire in @Terry Cox post.
Jim...
 
Nov 6, 2006
10,093
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Roger Long, an SBO member (gone over to the dark side) was on one of the Titanic expeditions.. Roger posted some interesting stuff a few years back on the stuff that they saw.. I think Discovery Channel did the documentary that he appeared briefly in..
A good guy ! Roger took wife and I out for a day, sailing all around Casco Bay.. even though he'd been up most of the previous night helping in a search for some kayakers.. When they found them, the kayakers had been lost to hypothermia.. Put a somber pall on our trip but the day was a beauty and the scenery was outstanding .. (thread drift apparent!)