As the Titanic decays, expedition will monitor deterioration
July 1, 2021 | 4:25pm | Updated
The Titanic is disappearing. The iconic ocean liner that was sunk by an iceberg is now slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria: holes pervade the wreckage, the crow’s nest is already gone and the railing of the ship’s iconic bow could collapse at any time.
Racing against the inevitable, an undersea exploration company’s expedition to the site of the wreckage could start this week, beginning what’s expected to be an annual chronicling of the ship’s deterioration. With the help of wealthy tourists, experts hope to learn more about the vessel as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks spawn.
“The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions, said Friday from a ship headed to the North Atlantic wreck site.
The 109-year-old ocean liner is being battered by deep-sea currents and bacteria that consumes hundreds of pounds of iron a day. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate.
Since the ship’s 1985 discovery, the 100-foot forward mast has collapsed. The crow’s nest from which a lookout shouted, “Iceberg, right ahead!” disappeared. And the poop deck, where passengers crowded as the ship sank, folded under itself.
This 2004 photo provided by the Institute for Exploration, Center for Archaeological Oceanography/University of Rhode Island/NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, shows the remains of a coat and boots in the mud on the sea bed near the Titanic's stern. AP
Re: The Titanic
Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:27 pm
by Time_Traveller
wjfox wrote: ↑Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:16 pmAs the Titanic decays, expedition will monitor deterioration
July 1, 2021 | 4:25pm | Updated
The Titanic is disappearing. The iconic ocean liner that was sunk by an iceberg is now slowly succumbing to metal-eating bacteria: holes pervade the wreckage, the crow’s nest is already gone and the railing of the ship’s iconic bow could collapse at any time.
Racing against the inevitable, an undersea exploration company’s expedition to the site of the wreckage could start this week, beginning what’s expected to be an annual chronicling of the ship’s deterioration. With the help of wealthy tourists, experts hope to learn more about the vessel as well as the underwater ecosystem that shipwrecks spawn.
“The ocean is taking this thing, and we need to document it before it all disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate Expeditions, said Friday from a ship headed to the North Atlantic wreck site.
The 109-year-old ocean liner is being battered by deep-sea currents and bacteria that consumes hundreds of pounds of iron a day. Some have predicted the ship could vanish in a matter of decades as holes yawn in the hull and sections disintegrate.
Since the ship’s 1985 discovery, the 100-foot forward mast has collapsed. The crow’s nest from which a lookout shouted, “Iceberg, right ahead!” disappeared. And the poop deck, where passengers crowded as the ship sank, folded under itself.
This 2004 photo provided by the Institute for Exploration, Center for Archaeological Oceanography/University of Rhode Island/NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, shows the remains of a coat and boots in the mud on the sea bed near the Titanic's stern. AP
It's so sad to see a piece of memorable history getting eaten by bacteria since 1912.
Re: The Titanic
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2022 12:30 pm
by Beene1967
I agree, this is very sad to watch. History just disappears before our eyes. It's good that now we can document it in color!
Some rich guy should make a 1:1 replica of the Titanic. I bet Jeff Bezos could have done it for less money than he spent building her personal megayacht.
Unreal Engine 5 demo of the Titanic when it was completed
Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 5:27 pm
by Tadasuke
If you are like me more interested in the freshly completed RMS Titanic in all its glory, instead of looking at its wreck, then here's the Unreal Engine 5 demo for you: https://titanichg.com/project-401
It encompasses 50% of the entire ship. Below you can watch the 1st class space (18 minutes):
For a comparison, 67 years earlier this was the state of the art ocean going steamer (40 minutes):
Titanic could accommodate up to 833 people in the First Class, 614 in the Second Class and 1006 in the Third Class. I don't think that people today would be willing to pay money to have a Second or a Third Class experience. There is no necessity to do that and it wouldn't be fun. So replicating Titanic 100% accurately would create lots of space left unused in practice (unless if was heavily modified). It is possible to do of course, but is it a good idea? Titanic was state of the art in 1912, not in the 2020s (it is obviously less safe and more polluting than modern large ships).
People would have a better time booking a ticket for a modern cruise ship and looking (especially using VR goggles) at Unreal Engine 5 recreation of the old ocean liner in high resolution. Real money could be spent improving the lives of people living today. Some useful infrastructure for example. Would a permanently anchored Titanic replica pay for itself? I don't know. For me, high-resolution (especially 360°) videos or well-done virtual ship environments would be enough. With that, you don't have to fly all over the world to visit all the interesting ships out there. Although, I would do that if I had a lot of money.
Re: Unreal Engine 5 demo of the Titanic when it was completed
Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 6:11 pm
by funkervogt
Tadasuke wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 5:27 pm
Titanic could accommodate up to 833 people in the First Class, 614 in the Second Class and 1006 in the Third Class. I don't think that people today would be willing to pay money to have a Second or a Third Class experience. There is no necessity to do that and it wouldn't be fun. So replicating Titanic 100% accurately would create lots of space left unused in practice (unless if was heavily modified). It is possible to do of course, but is it a good idea? Titanic was state of the art in 1912, not in the 2020s (it is obviously less safe and more polluting than modern large ships).
For the glory of being able to say you were on the Titanic replica, passengers might be willing to pay for Second and Third Class rooms. However, given modern expectations, I think most of those big, shared bedrooms would be subdivided into smaller bedrooms meant for sole passengers and couples.
It would probably make sense to keep one steerage area exactly as it was, for passengers who wanted the authentic "poor immigrant" experience. There would be events there like the Irish music dance that Jack and Rose went to in the movie. I think you could find enough people who would pay to spend a few days living like that.
A Titanic replica could make money doing cruises and being open for paid tours while docked. Tons of people would also want to rent it for special events like weddings.
about Titanic lifeboats
Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 6:34 pm
by Tadasuke
Here's some not well known truth about the Titanic:
Re: The Titanic
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:31 am
by wjfox
My Dad's latest blog –
Were there any animals on board the Titanic when she sank?
Now there's a great new video (from Oceanliner Designs) on how the 66 000 tons ocean liner's engines looked like, how they worked and how they were operated by the hard-working human workers.
Titanic had 29 boilers - 24 double ended and 5 single ended, 159 furnaces, two four-cylinder steam reciprocating engines and one low pressure turbine engine. The turbine, which drove the center propeller (out of three total propellers visible in the black&white photo above), utilized the exhaust steam from the other engines. This design recycled the exhausted steam, instead of wastefully venting it up the funnels, which improved efficiency.
First Official Mission to Titanic Wreck Since OceanGate Sub Disaster Kicks Off by Tom Hale
July 12, 2024
Introduction:
(IFL Science) A new expedition to the wreck of the Titanic is all ready to go, marking the first journey to the sunken site since the infamous OceanGate submersible accident of 2023. But don’t fret, the upcoming project will explore the seabed using robotic subs with no risk of deadly implosions.
Simply named the Titanic Expedition 2024, the mission will set sail onboard the Dino Chouest on July 12, according to a post on X.
The project is being led by RMS Titanic, Inc., a US-based company that won the sole salvage rights to the Titanic after a high-stakes legal battle. It will be their ninth journey to the shipwreck, where they hope to image and map the site in the finest detail yet using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
"We want to see the wreck with a clarity and precision that's never before been achieved," David Gallo, oceanographer and co-leader of the expedition, told BBC News.
They also hope to take new photographs of the wreck to see how much it has degraded since their last expedition in 2010.
Striking images reveal depths of Titanic's slow decay
1 September 2024
It was the image that made the Titanic's wreck instantly recognisable - the ship's bow looming out of the darkness of the Atlantic depths.
But a new expedition has revealed the effects of slow decay, with a large section of railing now on the sea floor.
The loss of the railing - immortalised by Jack and Rose in the famous movie scene - was discovered during a series of dives by underwater robots this summer. The images they captured show how the wreck is changing after more than 100 years beneath the waves.
[...]
“The bow of Titanic is just iconic - you have all these moments in pop culture - and that's what you think of when you think of the shipwreck. And it doesn't look like that anymore,” said Tomasina Ray, director of collections at RMS Titanic Inc, the company that carried out the expedition.
“It's just another reminder of the deterioration that's happening every day. People ask all the time: ‘How long is Titanic going to be there?’ We just don't know but we're watching it in real time.”
Titanic scan reveals ground-breaking details of ship's final hours
1 hour ago
A detailed analysis of a full-sized digital scan of the Titanic has revealed new insight into the doomed liner's final hours.
The exact 3D replica shows the violence of how the ship ripped in two as it sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912 - 1,500 passengers lost their lives in the disaster.
The scan provides a new view of a boiler room, confirming eye-witness accounts that engineers worked right to the end to keep the ship's lights on.
And a computer simulation also suggests that punctures in the hull the size of A4 pieces of paper led to the ship's demise.
"Titanic is the last surviving eyewitness to the disaster, and she still has stories to tell," said Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst.
