What kind of audio recording was found on the Titanic. Unusual ways to raise the Titanic: scientists' versions. People wait in the rain for the arrival of the Carpathia in New York

In September 1985, under the leadership of the famous oceanologist Robert Ballard, an American-French expedition discovered one detail of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean - a steam boiler. Soon the remains of the ship itself were also found.
Thus ended the long-term search for the sunken legendary ship, which was carried out by independent researchers, but for some time was unsuccessful due to incorrect coordinates of the shipwreck.
The discovery of the remains of the Titanic opened a new page in its history of death. Only with time did the answers to numerous questions related to the disaster become known, and many facts that were considered irrefutable turned out to be, unfortunately, incorrect.
This post is dedicated to the Titanic, which rests at the bottom of the ocean at a depth of four kilometers. You will see modern photos Titanic and you can compare them with archival black and white photographs. This post will surely interest you with its mystery and mystery.

The Titanic sank in the Atlantic at a depth of almost 4 km. During the dive, the ship broke into two parts, which now lie on the bottom about six hundred meters apart. A lot of debris and objects are scattered around them, incl. and a pretty big piece of the Titanic's hull.

Nose model. When the ship fell to the bottom, the nose was very well buried in the silt, which greatly disappointed the first researchers, because it was impossible to inspect the place of impact on the iceberg without special equipment. The ragged hole in the body, which is visible on the layout, was formed from hitting the bottom.

Panorama of the bow, assembled from several hundred photographs. From right to left: the winch of the spare anchor sticks out directly above the edge of the bow, behind it there is a mooring device, immediately behind it is an open hatch into hold No. 1, from which the breakwater lines diverge to the sides. A fallen mast lies on the deck between the superstructure, under it there are two more hatches into the holds and winches for handling cargo. In front of the main superstructure, there used to be a captain's bridge, which collapsed during the fall to the bottom and is now guessed now only in separate details. Behind the bridge, a superstructure with cabins for officers, a captain, a radio room, etc., has been preserved, which is crossed by a crack formed at the site of the expansion joint. A gaping hole in the superstructure - a place for the first chimney. Immediately behind the superstructure, another hole is visible - this is the well in which the main staircase. To the left is something very torn - there was a second pipe.

The nose of the Titanic. The most button accordion object of underwater photographs of the ship. At the end, you can see a loop on which a cable was put on that held the mast.

The photo on the left shows the winch of the spare anchor towering above the bow.

Main anchor on the port side. It's amazing how he didn't fly down when he hit the bottom.

Spare anchor.

Behind the spare anchor is a mooring device.

Open hatch to hold No. 1. The lid flew off to the side, apparently when it hit the bottom.

There used to be the remains of a “crow’s nest” on the mast, where the lookouts were, but ten or twenty years ago they fell off and now only a hole in the mast reminds of the “crow’s nest”, through which the lookouts got on spiral staircase. The protruding tail behind the hole is the fastening of the ship's bell.

Board of the ship.

Only one of the steering wheels remained from the captain's bridge.

Boat deck. The superstructure on it in some places is either uprooted or torn.

The surviving part of the superstructure in front of the deck. Below on the right is the entrance to the front staircase of the 1st class.

Surviving davits, a bathtub in Captain Smith's cabin and the remains of a steamship whistle that was installed on one of the pipes.

In place of the main staircase, a huge well now gapes. There are no traces of the stairs.

Staircase in 1912

And the same perspective in our time. Looking at the previous photo, it's hard to believe that this is the same place.

Behind the stairs there were several elevators for 1st class passengers. Separate elements have been preserved from them. The inscription, depicted at the bottom right, was placed opposite the elevators and denoted the deck. This inscription belonged to deck A; the bronze letter A has already fallen off, but traces of it remain.

1st class lounge on D deck. This is the bottom of the main staircase.

Although almost all of the ship's wooden trim has long been eaten away by microorganisms, some elements are still preserved here.

The restaurant and the 1st class lounge on D deck were separated from the outside world by large stained glass windows that have survived to this day.

Remains of former beauty.

Outside, the windows are guessed by the characteristic double portholes.

Luxurious chandeliers have been hanging in their places for more than 100 years.

The once-splendid interiors of the 1st class cabins are now littered with debris and debris. In some places you can find preserved elements of furniture and objects.

A few more details. The door to the restaurant on D deck and a sign indicating service doors.

The stokers had their own "front staircase". In order not to meet passengers, a separate staircase led from the boiler rooms to the cabins of the stokers.

Hundreds of items are scattered across the ocean floor, ranging from ship parts to personal belongings of passengers.

Some pairs of shoes lie in a very characteristic position: for some, this place has become a grave.

In addition to personal belongings and items, large parts of the plating are also scattered along the bottom, which they also repeatedly tried to raise to the surface.

If the bow was preserved in a more or less decent condition, then the aft part, after falling down, became a shapeless pile of metal. Starboard.

Left side.

On the promenade deck of the 3rd class, individual details of the vessel are hardly guessed.

One of three huge screws.

After the ship broke into two parts, even steam boilers spilled to the bottom.

The engine room was just at the fault point, and now these giants, the height of a three-story house, are available to the gaze of researchers. piston device.

Both steam engines together.

The dry dock in Belfast, where the final painting of the ship's hull was carried out, still exists as a museum exhibit.

And this is what the Titanic would look like against the backdrop of the largest passenger liner of our time, the Allure of the Seas", put into operation in 2010.

Comparison in numbers:

The displacement of the "Allure of the Seas" is 4 times greater than that of the "Titanic";

Length modern liner 360 m (100 m more than the Titanic);

The greatest width is 60 m versus 28 for the Titanic;

Draft is approximately the same (about 10 m);

The speed is also almost the same (22-23 knots);

The number of the team is 2.1 thousand people (there were up to 900 on the Titanic, many of whom were stokers);

Passenger capacity - up to 6.4 thousand people (on the Titanic up to 2.5 thousand).

105 years ago, the only voyage of the Titanic began. We offer interesting real stories liner passengers.

On April 10, 1912, the British liner Titanic left Southampton Port for her first and last voyage. Four days later, after a collision with an iceberg, the now legendary liner crashed. There were 2208 people on board the ship and only 712 passengers and crew members managed to escape. 3rd class passengers buried alive at the bottom of the ocean, and millionaires choosing the best seats in half-empty lifeboats, an orchestra playing until the last moment and heroes saving their loved ones at the cost of their own lives... All this is not only footage from a Hollywood movie, but also real stories of passengers from the Titanic.

The real cream of society gathered on the passenger deck of the Titanic: millionaires, actors and writers. Not everyone could afford to buy a class I ticket - the price was $60,000 at current prices.

3rd class passengers bought tickets for only $35 ($650 these days), so they were not allowed to go above the third deck. On the fateful night, the division into classes turned out to be more tangible than ever...

Bruce Ismay was one of the first people to jump into a lifeboat. CEO company " white star Line", which owned the Titanic. The boat, designed for 40 people, set sail from the side with only twelve.

After the disaster, Ismay was accused of boarding a lifeboat, avoiding women and children, and of instructing the captain of the Titanic to increase speed, which led to the tragedy. The court acquitted him.

William Ernest Carter boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his wife, Lucy, and their two children, Lucy and William, and two dogs.

On the night of the disaster, he was at a party in the ship's restaurant. first class and after the collision, together with his comrades, he went on deck, where the boats were already being prepared. First, William put his daughter in boat number 4, but when it was his son's turn, they were in trouble.

Right in front of them, 13-year-old John Rison boarded the boat, after which the boarding officer ordered that teenage boys not be taken on board. Lucy Carter resourcefully threw her hat on her 11-year-old son and sat down with him.

When the boarding process was completed and the boat began to descend into the water, Carter himself quickly got into it, along with another passenger. It turned out to be the already mentioned Bruce Ismay.

Roberta Mahoney, 21, worked as a servant to the countess and sailed on the Titanic with her mistress in first class.

On board, she met a brave young steward from the ship's crew, and soon the young people fell in love with each other. When the Titanic began to sink, the steward rushed to Roberta's cabin, brought her to the boat deck and put her in the boat, giving her his life jacket.

He himself died, like many other crew members, and Robert was picked up by the Carpathia ship, on which she sailed to New York. Only there, in her coat pocket, did she find a badge with a star, which, at the moment of parting, the steward put in her pocket as a memory of himself.

Emily Richards sailed along with her two young sons, mother, brother and sister to her husband. At the time of the disaster, the woman was sleeping in the cabin with her children. They were awakened by the screams of their mother, who ran into the cabin after the collision.

The Richardses were miraculously able to climb through the window into the descending lifeboat No. 4. When the Titanic completely sank, the passengers of her boat managed to pull seven more people out of the icy water, two of whom, unfortunately, soon died of frostbite.

The famous American businessman Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida traveled in first class. The Strauss have been married for 40 years and have never parted.

When the ship's officer invited the family to board the boat, Isidore refused, deciding to give way to women and children, but Ida also followed him.

Instead of themselves, the Strauss put their maid in the boat. Isidore's body was identified by a wedding ring, Ida's body was not found.

Two orchestras played on the Titanic: a quintet led by 33-year-old British violinist Wallace Hartley and an additional trio of musicians who were hired to give Café Parisien a continental touch.

Usually two members of the Titanic orchestra worked in different parts of the liner and in different time, but on the night of the death of the ship, all of them united into one orchestra.

One of rescued passengers Titanic would write later: "Many heroic deeds were performed that night, but none of them could compare with the feat of these few musicians, playing hour after hour, although the ship sank deeper and deeper, and the sea crept up to the place where they stood. The music they played gave them the right to be included in the list of heroes of eternal glory. "

Hartley's body was found two weeks after the sinking of the Titanic and sent to England. A violin was tied to his chest - a gift from the bride. Among the other members of the orchestra, there were no survivors ...

Four-year-old Michel and two-year-old Edmond traveled with their father, who died in the crash, and were considered "orphans of the Titanic" until their mother was found in France.

Michel died in 2001, he was the last male survivor on the Titanic.

Winnie Coates was on her way to New York with her two children. On the night of the disaster, she woke up from a strange noise, but decided to wait for the orders of the crew members. Her patience snapped, she rushed about the endless corridors of the ship for a long time, getting lost.

Suddenly met by a member of the crew directed her to the boats. She stumbled on a broken closed gate, but just at that moment another officer appeared, who saved Winnie and her children by giving them his life jacket.

As a result, Vinnie ended up on the deck, where she was boarding boat No. 2, on which, literally by a miracle, she managed to dive ..

Seven-year-old Eva Hart escaped the sinking Titanic with her mother, but her father died in the crash.

Ellen Walker believes she was conceived on the Titanic before it hit the iceberg. “It means a lot to me,” she admitted in an interview.

Her parents were 39-year-old Samuel Morley, the owner of a jewelry store in England, and 19-year-old Kate Phillips, one of his employees, fled to America from the man's first wife, seeking to start a new life.

Kate got into a lifeboat, Samuel jumped into the water after her, but did not know how to swim and drowned. "Mom spent 8 hours in a lifeboat," Helen said. "She was wearing only a nightgown, but one of the sailors gave her his jumper."

Violet Constance Jessop. Until the last moment, the stewardess did not want to be hired on the Titanic, but her friends convinced her because they thought it would be a "wonderful experience."

Before that, on October 20, 1910, Violet became a flight attendant. transatlantic liner"Olympic", which a year later, due to unsuccessful maneuvering, collided with a cruiser, but the girl managed to escape.

And from the Titanic, Violet escaped on a boat. During the First World War, the girl went to work as a nurse, and in 1916 she got on board the Britannic, which ... also went to the bottom! Two boats with a crew were pulled under the propeller of a sinking ship. 21 people died.

Among them could be Violet, who was sailing in one of the broken boats, but again luck was on her side: she managed to jump out of the boat and survived.

Fireman Arthur John Priest also survived a shipwreck not only on the Titanic, but also on the Olympic and Britannic (by the way, all three ships were the brainchild of the same company). Priest has 5 shipwrecks on his account.

April 21, 1912" New York Times "published the story of Edward and Ethel Bean, who sailed on the Titanic in the second class. After the crash, Edward helped his wife get into the boat. But when the boat had already sailed, he saw that it was half empty and jumped into the water. Ethel dragged her husband into the boat.

Among the passengers of the Titanic was the famous tennis player Carl Behr and his lover Helen Newsom. After the disaster, the athlete ran to the cabin and brought the women to the boat deck.

The lovers were ready to say goodbye forever when the head of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, personally offered Beer a place on the boat. A year later, Karl and Helen got married, and later became the parents of three children.

Edward John Smith is the captain of the Titanic, who was very popular with both crew and passengers. At 2:13 am, just 10 minutes before the ship was completely submerged, Smith returned to the captain's bridge, where he decided to meet his death.

Second mate Charles Herbert Lightoller was one of the last to jump off the ship, narrowly avoiding being sucked into the ventilation shaft. He swam to the collapsible boat B, which was floating upside down: the Titanic's pipe that broke off and fell into the sea next to him drove the boat away from the sinking ship and allowed it to stay afloat.

American businessman Benjamin Guggenheim helped women and children into lifeboats during the crash. When asked to save himself, he replied: "We are dressed in our best clothes and are ready to die like gentlemen."

Benjamin died at the age of 46, his body was not found.

Thomas Andrews - first class passenger, Irish businessman and shipbuilder, was the designer of the Titanic ...

During the evacuation, Thomas helped the passengers into the boats. Last time he was seen in the first class smoking room near the fireplace, looking at a painting of Port Plymouth. His body was never found after the crash.

John Jacob and Madeleine Astor, the millionaire science fiction writer, were traveling first class with their young wife. Madeleine escaped on lifeboat number 4. The body of John Jacob was raised from the depths of the ocean 22 days after his death.

Colonel Archibald Gracie IV is an American writer and amateur historian who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Returning to New York, Gracie immediately began writing a book about his voyage.

It was she who became a real encyclopedia for historians and researchers of the disaster, thanks to the large number of names of stowaways and 1st class passengers who remained on the Titanic contained in it. Gracie's health was badly damaged by hypothermia and injuries, and he died in late 1912.

Margaret (Molly) Brown is an American socialite, philanthropist, and activist. Survived. When panic arose on the Titanic, Molly put people into lifeboats, but she herself refused to sit there.

"If the worst happens, I'll swim out," she said, until eventually someone pushed her into the number 6 lifeboat that made her famous.

After Molly organized the Titanic Survivors Relief Fund.

Millvina Dean was the last of the surviving passengers of the Titanic: she died on May 31, 2009 at the age of 97 in a nursing home in Ashurst, Hampshire, on the 98th anniversary of the liner's launch.

Her ashes were scattered on October 24, 2009 in the port of Southampton, from where the Titanic began its first and last voyage. At the time of the death of the liner, she was two and a half months old.

On April 14, 1912, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg on the course of the liner on which he served. Unfortunately, it was already too late: a minute later the ship received holes and began to sink under the water. And after another two hours, it broke into 2 parts and sank. Of the 2,224 people, only 712 managed to escape.

About half an hour passed after the collision, when the captain ordered the lifeboats to be launched and a distress signal sent out. But the passengers refused to evacuate the ship, because it did not look like a wreck, the push was not felt, everything worked and there were no signs of an impending tragedy. Therefore, the boats sailed from the Titanic half empty.

Only an hour and a half later, the passengers realized the scale of the disaster. Panic ensued, and fighting began for seats in the boats. The advantage during the evacuation, of course, was received by travelers of the first and second class, and among them, first of all, women and children. Those who bought third-class tickets had practically no hope of salvation.

Seven vessels responded to the distress call.

The ship "Carpathia" managed to come to the rescue. It was he who picked up 712 survivors. At that time, there were still many people in the water who kept afloat, but the people in the boats were afraid to approach the crash site.

Titanic in 1912.

The iceberg that the Titanic is believed to have collided with.

Frederick Fleet, 24, was the first person to spot an iceberg on the course of the Titanic.

Survivors from the Titanic approach the steamship Carpathia.

Survivors aboard the Carpathia.

The survivors wrap themselves in warm clothes aboard the Carpathia.

People wait for news at the door of the White Star Line shipping company in New York.

People wait in the rain for the arrival of the Carpathia in New York.

The Titanic's boats have been returned to the pier owned by the White Star Line.

Survivors of the crew of the Titanic.

The survivors of the first class service personnel are in line for interrogation.

The four Pasco brothers managed to survive the shipwreck.

Relatives wait for Titanic survivors at Southampton railway station.

Relatives await survivors in Southampton.

Southampton. Survivors waiting.

Meeting survivors of a shipwreck.

The surviving crew member hugs and kisses his wife, who came to meet him in Plymouth.

A crowd in Devonport gathered to listen to the story of one of the survivors.

Issuance of monetary compensation to surviving passengers.

Cameraman Harold Thomas Coffin is being interrogated in New York.

The survivor gives the woman an autograph.

"Orphans of the Titanic" Michel (4 years old) and Edmond Navratil (2 years old). The only adult accompanying them - their father - died, and the brothers, due to their age, could not be immediately identified.

The nurse holds the newborn Lucien Smith in her arms. His mother Eloise became pregnant with him during their honeymoon aboard the Titanic.

According to the testimonies of the surviving passengers of the first and second class and the information leaked to the press, there were many treasures on board the Titanic. According to the estimates of the managing director of the Andrews shipyard, on which the giant steamship was built, the "cost" of the liner's passengers, among whom were collectors, millionaires and very wealthy people, was about 250 million dollars. These passengers carried with them expensive antique paintings, things, diamonds and gold.

Of course, the paintings, as well as the priceless manuscript of Omar Khayyam's "Rubai", the rarest, magnificently preserved mummy of the Egyptian soothsayer from the time of Pharaoh Amenhotep I (belonged to the archaeologist and Lord Canterville), - all this irretrievably perished in the abyss, but gold bars, diamonds and gold jewelry, undoubtedly remained in the safes and cabins of the Titanic.

After the famous submariner R. Ballard discovered the Titanic in 1989 in the Atlantic, at a depth of 3750 m, three expeditions visited the place of death - two American-French and one Russian.

In a special document, it was specifically stipulated that nothing from the property of the Titanic would be raised to the surface by expeditions. Therefore, even the gutta-percha baby doll, after being photographed, was carefully put in place. The expedition members strictly followed this order, although sometimes they found unique items. In one of the dives, for example, a golden candlestick was found in a cabin crushed by the water column. And he, too, was returned to the Titanic.

The main purpose of these dives was to survey the place of death and the nature of the destruction of the hull. As it turned out, the hull of the liner broke. The stern part of it, where there was no hole and where a giant air cushion formed, broke off and sank a little later, separately from the bow.

American underwater mini-robot "Jason" carefully penetrated into interior spaces"Titanic" and took several hundred pictures. Crystal and gilded chandeliers under the ceiling have been preserved there; columns, once sheathed with expensive species of trees; staircase of the main salon; first-class cabins with English porcelain baths; bottles of champagne, Chinese sets with the emblem of the famous shipping line "White Star" ("White Star") with a star inside a red triangle - the object of desire of many collectors. An ancient Greek bronze sculpture of Diana was found, apparently belonging to Margaret Brown, a millionaire from Denver, transporting rare items purchased in different countries. Taking command of one of lifeboats, she at the last moment ordered to throw it all overboard.

However, a second French submarine expedition received permission to retrieve items from the cabins and bring them to the surface. Apparently, some interesting arguments of the French played a role, convincing lawyers to extract from the bottom of the ocean both scientific data and objects of legal significance.

For example, during the investigation and at the trial, examining the circumstances of the sinking of the Titanic, some passengers claimed that while the Titanic was sinking, individual members of the crew robbed personal safes in the cabins. This was a serious allegation to be investigated.

Titanic Indeed, "Jason" was able to examine some of the office space and passenger cabins, including the one that, according to an eyewitness, was robbed. The Jason operator managed to turn the handle of the safe with the help of a manipulator, in part this indicated that the lock of the safe was really open, but the massive steel door, covered with a thick layer of rust, did not succumb!

Nothing was reported to the press about the safes located in the service rooms and Captain Smith's cabin. It is only known that the French raised 1,412 items to the surface, some of which were handed over to the museum, something went to private collections and sold at auction for a lot of money, and some items were returned to their previous owners, which, alas, by 1991 remained in only a few people are alive.

Russian underwater expedition from the Institute of Oceanology named after P. P. Shirshov, equipped with a deep-sea manned submersible "Mir", together with the Canadian company "SHAH", the American company "OCEAN IMAGE" and the National geographical society The United States in 1991 made seventeen deep-sea dives at the site of the sinking of the Titanic.

"Mir" managed to shoot a unique film, which received the highest rating from experts and is being studied.

According to experts' reports, the Titanic sank deep into the bottom silt. The bow of it, where the 95-meter wound from the iceberg that ruined the liner should be, was buried too deeply due to the huge weight of the hull. This sad circumstance did not allow to examine the hole. It was only possible to establish that the starboard side plating was strongly pressed inward and rivets burst along the side.

It was sensational that after a thorough study of the film and photographs, some experts said that the iceberg only crushed the giant's body and could not rip open the massive steel skin!

Then the question arises: what caused the sinking of the Titanic? Perhaps, subsequent deep-sea expeditions will give an answer to this.

The Titanic, along with its safes and buried treasures, is apparently destined to rest on the ocean floor for a very long time. There are already fears that sooner or later amateur divers will be able to get to his cabins. Within a few years, they will be able to build both deep-sea vehicles and unique search electronic equipment. And the depth of 3750 meters will not be a serious obstacle for them.

Expedition to the Titanic

Concerning further fate"Titanic", that is, projects for turning it into an International maritime museum. Even now it is possible to conduct interesting research on it in terms of the laws of corrosion of various metals and ecology. And after some ten years on multi-seat submarines deep-sea vehicles will be able to show the floodlit "Titanic" to numerous tourists and lovers of underwater archeology.

The sinking of the Titanic claimed the lives of 1,517 of the 2,229 passengers and crew (official figures vary slightly) in one of the worst maritime disasters in world history. 712 survivors were brought aboard the RMS Carpathia. After this disaster, a great resonance swept through the public affecting attitudes towards social injustice, radically changed the way passengers were transported along the North Atlantic Passage, the rules for the number of lifeboats carried on board were changed passenger ships and the International Ice Reconnaissance was established (where merchant ships crossing the North Atlantic continue, using radio signals, to transmit accurate information about the location and concentration of ice). In 1985, a major discovery was made, the Titanic was discovered at the bottom of the ocean and became a turning point for the public and for the development of new areas of science and technology. April 15, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic. It has become one of the most famous ships in history, her image has remained in numerous books, films, exhibitions and monuments.

Crash of the Titanic in real time

duration - 2 hours 40 minutes!

British passenger liner The Titanic leaves Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. The Titanic was called to Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland, before heading west towards New York. Four days in transit, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 pm, 375 miles south of Newfoundland. Shortly before 2:20 am, the Titanic broke up and sank. More than a thousand people were on board at the time of the accident. Some died in the water within minutes from hypothermia in the waters of the North Antaltic Ocean. (Frank O. Braynard Collection)

The luxury liner Titanic, in this 1912 photo, as she left Queenstown in New York, on her ill-fated last flight. The passengers of this ship were included in the list of the richest people in the world, such as millionaires John Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim and Isidor Strauss, as well as more than a thousand immigrants from Ireland, Scandinavia and other countries seeking a new life in America. The disaster was greeted around the world with shock and outrage over the huge loss of life and violation of the regulatory and operational parameters that led to this disaster. The investigation into the sinking of the Titanic began a few days later and led to a significant improvement in maritime safety. (United Press International)

A crowd of workers. Shipyard Harland and Wolf shipyard in Belfast, where the Titanic was built between 1909 and 1911. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury and was the most big ship afloat on her first voyage. The ship is visible in the background of this 1911 photograph. (Photo Archive/Harland & Wolff/Cox Collection)

Photo taken in 1912. In the photo, a chic dining room aboard the Titanic. The ship has been designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an onboard gym, swimming pool, libraries, upscale restaurants and luxurious cabins. (Photo archive of The New York Times / American Press Association)

1912 photograph. Second class canteen on the Titanic. A disproportionate number of people - over 90% of those in second class - remained on board because of the "women and children first" protocols followed by lifeboat loading officers. (Photo archive of The New York Times / American Press Association)

Photo April 10, 1912, it shows the Titanic leaving Southampton, England. The tragic sinking of the Titanic took place a century ago, one of the causes of the death, according to some, of the weak rivets used by the ship's builders in some parts of this ill-fated liner. (Associated Press)

Captain Edward John Smith, commander of the Titanic. He commanded the largest ship at that time making its first voyage. The Titanic was a massive ship - 269 meters long, 28 meters wide and weighing 52,310 tons. 53 meters separated from the keel to the top, almost 10 meters of which were below the waterline. The Titanic was higher above the water than most city buildings of the time. (The New York Times Archive)

First Mate William McMaster Murdoch, who is regarded as a local hero in his hometown Dalbeattie, Scotland, but in the film, the Titanic was portrayed as a coward and a murderer. At the ceremony, on the 86th anniversary of the ship's sinking, Scott Neeson, executive vice president of film producers 20th Century Fox, presented a check for five thousand pounds (US$8,000) to Dalbeattie School as an apology for the painting to an officer's relative. (Associated Press)

It is believed that it was this iceberg that caused the accident of the Titanic on April 14-15, 1912. The picture was taken aboard the Western Union ship, Mackay Bennett, commanded by Captain DeCarteret. McKay Bennet was one of the first ships to reach the site where the Titanic sank. According to Captain DeCarteret, it was the only iceberg at the site of the sinking when it arrived. It is assumed, therefore, that he was responsible for this tragedy. A glimpse of a collision with an iceberg caused the Titanic's hull plates to buckle inward in a number of places on her board and opened five of her sixteen watertight compartments into which water gushed in an instant. Over the next two and a half hours, the ship gradually filled with water and sank. (United States Coast Guard)

Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partially filled. This photo of a lifeboat from the Titanic approaching the rescue ship Carpathia was taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden and was on display in 2003, an exhibition of photographs that relate to the Titanic (bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, by Walter Lord). (National Maritime Museum / London)

Seven hundred and twelve survivors were brought aboard from lifeboats on the RMS Carpathia. This photograph taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden shows the Titanic lifeboat approaching the rescue ship, the Carpathians. The photograph was part of an exhibition in 2003 at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England named after Walter Lord. (National Maritime Museum / London)

Although the Titanic had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, she lacked enough lifeboats to hold all those on board. Due to outdated maritime safety regulations, she carried only enough lifeboats for 1,178 people - a third of her total passenger and crew capacity. This sepia photograph depicting the recovery of the passengers of the Titanic is one of the memorabilia about to go under the hammer at Christies in London, May 2012. (Paul Tracy / EPA / PA)

Members of the press interview Titanic survivors coming off the rescue ship, Carpathians, May 17, 1912. (American Press Association)

Eva Hart is portrayed as seven years old in this photograph taken in 1912 with her father, Benjamin, and mother Esther. Eva and her mother survived the sinking of the British liner Titanic on April 14, 1912, but her father died in the crash. (Associated Press)

People stand on the street waiting for the arrival of Carpathia after the sinking of the Titanic. (The New York Times / Wide World Photo Archive)

A huge crowd gathered in front of Star Line's White Office at Lower Broadway in New York to receive last news on the sinking of the Titanic on April 14, 1912. (Associated Press)

The editors of The New York Times at the time of the sinking of the Titanic, April 15, 1912. (Photo archive of The New York Times)

(Photo archive of The New York Times)

Two messages were sent from America by insurers to Lloyds in London in the mistaken belief that other ships, including Virginia, were coming to the rescue when the Titanic sank. These two commemorative messages are due to go under the hammer at Christies in London in May 2012. (AFP/EPA/Press Association)

Laura Francatelli, and her employers Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon and Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon, standing on the rescue ship, Carpathians (Associated Press / Henry Aldridge & Son / Ho)

This vintage seal shows the Titanic shortly before leaving for its maiden voyage in 1912. (New York Times Archive)

A photograph released by Henry Aldridge and Son/Ho auctioned in Wiltshire, England on April 18, 2008 shows an extremely rare Titanic passenger ticket. They were auction handling the complete collection of Miss Lilian Asplund's last American Titanic Survivor. The collection consists of a number of important objects including a pocket watch, one of the few remaining tickets for the Titanic's maiden voyage and the only example of a direct emigration order the Titanic thought to exist. Lillian Asplund was a very private person, and because of a terrible event, she became a witness that on a cold April night in 1912, she rarely spoke about the tragedy that claimed the lives of her father and three brothers. (Henry Aldridge)

(National Maritime Museum / London)

Breakfast menu aboard the Titanic, signed by survivors of the disaster. (National Maritime Museum / London)

The nose of the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean, 1999 (Institute of Oceanology)

The image shows one of the Titanic's propellers at the bottom of the ocean during an expedition to the site of the tragedy. Five thousand exhibits planned to be auctioned as a single collection on April 11, 2012, 100 years after the sinking of the ship (RMS Titanic, Inc, via The Associated Press)

Photo August 28, 2010, released for the premiere of the exhibition, Inc-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, shows the starboard side of the Titanic. (Premier Exhibitions, Inc. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)

Dr. Robert Ballard, the man who found the remains of the Titanic almost two decades ago, returned to the site and calculated the damage from visitors and hunters for the "souvenir" of the ship. (Institute of Oceanography and Archaeological Research Center / University of Rhode Island Grad. Schools of Oceanography)

The giant propeller of the sunken Titanic lies on the floor in North Atlantic in this undated photograph. The propeller and other parts of the famous ship were seen by the first tourists to visit the wreck in September 1998.

(Ralph White/Associated Press)

The 17-ton part of the Titanic's hull rises to the surface during an expedition to the site of the tragedy in 1998. (RMS Titanic, Inc., via The Associated Press)

July 22, 2009, photo of the 17-ton part of the Titanic, which was raised and restored during an expedition to the site of the tragedy. (RMS Titanic, Inc., via The Associated Press)

A gold-plated American Waltham pocket watch, owned by Carl Asplund, in front of a contemporary watercolor painting of the Titanic by CJ Ashford at the Henry Aldridge & Son Auctions in Devizes, Wiltshire, England, April 3, 2008. The clock was recovered from the body of Karl Asplund who drowned on the Titanic, and is part of Lillian Asplund, the last American survivor of the disaster. (Kirsty Wigglesworth Associated Press)

The currency, part of the Titanic Collection, is photographed at a warehouse in Atlanta, August 2008. The owner of the largest trove of artifacts from the Titanic is offering a huge collection for auction in a single lot in 2012, on the 100th anniversary of the most famous shipwreck in the world. (Stanley Leary/Associated Press)

Photographs by Felix Asplund, Selma and Carl Asplund and Lillian Asplund, by Henry Aldridge and Son Auctions at Devizes, Wiltshire, England, April 3, 2008. The photographs were part of Lillian Asplund's collection of Titanic-related items. Asplund was 5 years old in April 1912 when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage from England to New York. Her father and three siblings were among the 1,514 dead. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press)

Exhibits at the "Titanic Artifact Exhibition" at the California scientific center: binoculars, comb, dishes and a broken incandescent lamp, February 6, 2003. (Michel Boutefeu/Getty Images, Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)

Glasses among the wreckage of the Titanic were among the choicest artifacts of the Titanic. (Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press)

Golden Spoon (Titanic Artifacts) (Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press)

A chronometer from the Titanic Bridge is on display at the Science Museum in London, May 15, 2003. The Chronometer, one of more than 200 items salvaged from the wreck of the Titanic, was on display at the launch of a new exhibit commemorating its ill-fated maiden voyage along with bottles of perfume. The exhibition took visitors on a chronological journey through the life of the Titanic, from its concept and construction, to life on board, and its immersion in Atlantic Ocean in April 1912. (Alastair Grant/Associated Press)

Logo meter to measure the speed of the Titanic and a hinged lamp. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Artifacts of the Titanic displayed in the tools mass media preview only, to announce the historical sale is complete. a collection of artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic and showcasing highlights from the collection at sea by Intrepid, Air & SpaceMuseum January 2012. (Chang W. Lee / The New York Times)

Cups and pocket watches from the Titanic are displayed during a Guernsey auction press conference, January 5, 2012. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images, Brendan McDermid/Reuters Michel Boutefeu/Getty Images-2)

Spoons. RMS Titanic, Inc. is the only company authorized to remove elements from the ocean floor where the Titanic sank. (Douglas Healey/Associated Press)

Gold mesh purse. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

April 2012 edition of National Geographic magazine (on line version available on iPad) you see new images and drawings from the wreck of the Titanic that remains on seabed, gradually breaks up at a depth of 12,415 feet (3,784 m). (National Geographic)

Two propeller blades peek out from the darkness of the sea. This optical mosaic is assembled from 300 s high resolution images. (COPYRIGHT © 2012 RMS Titanic, Inc; Produced by AIVL, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Making sense of this tangle of metal presents endless challenges to professionals. One says: "If you interpret this material, you must love Picasso." (COPYRIGHT © 2012 RMS Titanic, Inc; Produced by AIVL, WHOI)

The Titanic's two engines lie in a gaping hole in the stern. Wrapped in "rusticles" - orange stalactites made of iron - that eat the bacteria of these massive four-story structures, the largest moving man-made objects on Earth at the time. (COPYRIGHT © 2012 RMS Titanic, Inc; Produced by AIVL, WHOI)