Disaster, opulence, and the merciless ocean: why the Titanic disaster continues to enthral

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The “unsinkable” ship that sunk on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg is arguably the world’s most well-known boat.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
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https://theconversation.com/disaster-opulence-and-the-merciless-ocean-why-the-titanic-disaster-continues-to-enthral-208200https://theconversation.com/disaster-opulence-and-the-merciless-ocean-why-the-titanic-disaster-continues-to-enthral-208200
Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 22, 2023
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Tags: 
Technology, White House, World war, Meal, Attention, Social media, White, Salmon, Downing Street, Man, Animal, Nature, The New York Times, Time, Risk, Knowledge, Endeavour, Voyeurism, SCUBA, News, Memory, Shipbuilding, Film industry, Restaurant, Whaling, Private investigator, Guardian, Titan, Atlantic Ocean, Titanic
Geotags: 
SANTA MARIA, RHODE ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND, NEW YORK, US, PINTA, UK, AMERICAS
Summary
Key Points: 
  • The “unsinkable” ship that sunk on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg is arguably the world’s most well-known boat.
  • The disaster inspired songs and multiple films in the twentieth century, including James Cameron’s 1997 epic romance, which long reigned as the highest-grossing film of all time.
  • More recently, Titanic exhibitions that invite visitors to examine relics and explore the ship’s recreated rooms have attracted huge crowds in New York, Seville and Hong Kong.

Opulence and immigrants

    • The first is its opulence.
    • The White Start Line that built the Titanic advertised the ship as the most luxurious ever to set sail.
    • If their ilk were the only people on board the Titanic, the ship would arguably have faded quickly from memory.

The power of the sea

    • At the bottom of the Atlantic, it serves as a visceral reminder of the indomitable sea’s awesome power.
    • The same two factors - the excess of the voyage, and its defeat by the sea – are now driving the current global interest in the Titan submersible disaster.
    • And then there is the intriguing mystery and power of the sea.

The limits of human knowledge

    • The site allows viewers to scroll from the sea surface to the sea floor, diving down past images of various marine animals that inhabit different oceanic depths.
    • At 114 metres is an orca, and 332m marks the the deepest depth a human has ever reached using SCUBA gear.
    • As the sea seems to have swallowed yet another ship, we are reminded of limits of human knowledge and mastery over the ocean.
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