Friday, April 13, 2012

The Ship That Couldn’t Sink

Stöwer_Titanic

 

When the Titanic set out on it’s maiden voyage from Southampton, England on April 10th, 1912 she was the largest passenger ship afloat.  Words such as unrivalled, magnificent, and unsinkable were often spoken when describing her.  No one expected that just a mere five day later she would end up the the bottom of the icy waters of the north Atlantic.  In just two hours and forty minutes after striking an iceberg, the lives of 1,514 passengers and crew were lost making Titanic one of the worst peace time maritime disasters.

Over the past one hundred years, much has been written about the disaster.  I believe that Filson Young said it best in his book Titanic:  “There is nothing that man can build that nature cannot destroy and far as he may advance in might and knowledge and cunning, her blind strength will always be more than his match. But men easily forget this, they wish to forget it; and the beautiful and comfortable and agreeable equipment of this ship helped them to forget it.”

6 comments:

Deanna said...

And the world will always find fascination in disasters such as this. I guess it is just the way we are wired.

I like the quote. It is so true!

Steve Skinner said...

Deanna, The book was written in 1912 just months after the sinking; it's still relevant today.

Paul said...

And 'man' needs a good healthy does of humility every now and again, or maybe even more frequently!

Steve Skinner said...

Paul, I agree!

Earl said...

Don't you love it when someone makes an absolute statement about something. It's like a set-up for a joke with the punch line is on it's way when exactly what was said would or wouldn't happen does. :-) Take care, Steve!

Steve Skinner said...

I agree Earl; the experts are never wrong!