maritime disaster

The recent disaster of the OceanGate Submersible Titan that took the lives of the  five people on board renewed interest in the April 1912 disaster of the Titanic. We thought it would be a moment in which we could introduce many of you to the story, the ongoing story, of the RMS Titanic. The Titanic sunk on its Maiden voyage from England to the United States taking the lives of over 1500 passengers. 

It had been deemed unsinkable by the White Star Line, who owned and engineered the vessel due to its compartmental , double hull. But it would be proven wrong by an iceberg that ripped across the the compartments and leaving the ship unable to stay afloat. It was another of the warnings from fate not to believe in the arrogance of our own creations. 

Some could argue that as a species we never seem to learn that lesson. That may also be the lesson of the submersible known as the OceanGate Titan. Its founder, Stockton Rush, believed in an experimental carbon based pressure chamber, but many of the experts in the field of deep diving submergence questioned both the shape of the pressure chamber, the experimental alloy being used and the three different types of metal in use. That overtime it could give way and in the depths of the Ocean where they were diving a disaster could strike, like an implosion estimated to have occurred at 1500 miles an hour. 

This is the story of two disasters and we let the survivors and the news agencies tell the story of both the Titanic and the Titan. It is at both gripping and sad, as we must both admire these pioneers of innovation that have made our world safer, more assessable, and allowed us to learn about the world in ways unimaginable in previous generations.  But also we need to heed the warnings of the past that the arrogance of man must never ignore the warnings of an often unforgiving universe. 

We dedicate this Special Edition episode to the memories of Hamish Harding, Shaltzada Dawood, Suliemon Dawood, Stockton Rush,  Paul - Henri Nargeolet and the over 1500 victims of the first Titanic disaster.

And we thank National Geographic,  BBC, British Bathe, CBS, NBC, ABC ,  and FOX News for their coverage. 

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Alexia (@TitanicTalkline) is with us today to talk about White Star's previous worst disaster - the sinking of the SS Atlantic near Halifax in 1873.

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Sources:

Baber, Mark. "Capt Digby Murray." Encyclopedia Titanica, 1 Nov 2007. https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/community/threads/capt-digby-murray.25551/

"Captain's Statement." SS Atlantic History. www.ssatlantic.com/ssatlantic/history/?c=13

Groff, Meghan. "Remember This? The sinking of SS Atlantic on April 1, 1873." CityNews, 1 Apr 2019. https://halifax.citynews.ca/remember-this/remember-this-the-sinking-of-ss-atlantic-on-april-1-1873-1331345/

Kavin, Kim. "What Really Happened the Night the Atlantic Sank?" Soundings, 16 Feb 2022. https://www.soundingsonline.com/news/what-really-happened-the-night-the-ss-atlantic-sank

"SS Atlantic: A Captain's Fateful Decision." The Maritime Executive, 31 Mar 2016. https://maritime-executive.com/article/ss-atlantic-a-captains-fateful-decision

Turner, Timothy PD. "SS Atlantic (1870)." Titanic and Co. https://www.titanicandco.com/whitestarline/oceanicclass.html#atlantic

Welcome to Season Three of Beyond the Breakers!

We are starting the new year by talking about the 1982 sinking of the mobile offshore drilling unit Ocean Ranger in the Hibernia Field of the Grand Banks.

Sources:

Collier, Keith. "The Loss of the Ocean Ranger, 15 February 1982." Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage, October 2016. www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/economy/ocean-ranger.php

Dodd, Susan. The Ocean Ranger: Remaking the Promise of Oil. Fernwood Publishing, 2012

Heffernan, Mike. Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster. Creative Publishers, 2009.

Higgins, Jenny. "Response to the Ocean Ranger Disaster." Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage, August 2018. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/ocean-ranger-disaster-response.php

Moore, Lisa. February. Black Cat, 2009.

Royal Commission on the Ocean Ranger Marine Disaster

USCG Marine Casualty Report - Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) Ocean Ranger

Further Reading:

Babaian, Sharon. "View of Evidence From a Disaster: The Ocean Ranger Collection at the Canada Science and Technology Musuem" 

Dodd, Campbell, and Dalziel. "The Ocean Ranger Disaster taught us much but lack of action by governments, corporations still fails workers." Saltwire, 14 Feb 2022. https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/opinion/commentary-the-ocean-ranger-disaster-taught-us-much-but-lack-of-action-by-governments-corporations-still-fails-workers-100693052/

A bright, sunny New York morning turned to disaster in a matter of moments - and it would be the city's most deadly disaster for almost a hundred years. This heartbreaking disaster literally decimated a community, with a death toll of over a thousand, mostly women and children.

Drawing from contemporary reports and eyewitness accounts, I'll tell the story of the General Slocum disaster.

Visit www.greatdisasters.co.uk for the full transcript and more.

Check out the Great Disasters Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - let me know what you think of the show.