Titanic-1912

[mozartfan1313]

A couple of days ago I went to the Science Centre here in Toronto to see the Titanic exhibit currently being shown. I've always been fascinated by the tragic circumstances surrounding the sinking on April 14th, 1912. Sure, the 1997 movie had a lot to do with peaking my interest in the topic, however, that was not the reason behind my going to see

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[gossfather]

Another thing that always got me about the ship is that there were a thousand different completely different stories going on at once. Like Douglas Spedden for example...

Master Robert Douglas Spedden was born in New York City on 19 November 1905, the only child of Frederic Oakley Spedden and Daisy Spedden. The family lived in Tuxedo Park, NY.

In late 1911, Douglas accompanied his parents when they sailed for Algiers on the Caronia. He was attended by his private nurse, Elizabeth Burns, whom he called "Muddie Boons," because he had trouble pronouncing her name. From Algiers the family moved on, first to Monte Carlo and later to Paris. In April 1912, at the end of their European holiday, the family and their servants boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg for the return home, Douglas, and presumably Muddie Boons, occupied cabin E-40.

Following the collision with the iceberg, Douglas was woken by Muddie who told him that they were taking a "trip to see the stars." The Spedden party made their way to the starboard side of the boat deck, where they boarded lifeboat 3. After all the available women and children had been loaded the men were then allowed to join their families. Douglas slept through the night. When he woke at dawn he saw the icebergs all around and exclaimed "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it." All survivors in Lifeboat 3 were rescued by the Carpathia.

In 1913, Daisy wrote and illustrated a storybook that she gave to Douglas for Christmas. "My Story" was told through the eyes of a toy bear, and describes the European travels, the sinking of the Titanic, and the subsequent rescue.

On 6 August, 1915, nine year old Douglas was struck by a car on Grindstone Neck, Winter Harbor, near the family's summer camp in Maine. It was one of the first recorded automobile accidents in the state. He died two died later from the concussion he sustained.

Survived one new invention of technology, but was to be killed by another.

Something that played on my mind for years and still does, was the fact that their were air-tight compartments in that ship, so when the ship sank, some people must've been still alive and aware, in that broken ship as it sank to the bottom of the ocean. The impact upon hitting the floor would likely have damaged the structure so they would've drowned then, or it's possible they'd be stuck in there until their oxygen ran out. A horrendous thought.

I'm jealous of that exhibition, would love to attend something like that. One thing, I never really understood why so many of the 'graves' were in Canada. Not there's anything wrong with that of course, just seems they were sort of in the middle of America and Britan and the majority of passengers were British. Maybe Nova Scotia had the most room!

[enchanted4est]

Thanks for posting the Spedden story. Very interesting.

[mozartfan1313]

What a fascinating story. That's so sad about that little boy. He managed to survive such a huge tragedy only to be killed a few years later. I had never heard of him before, so thanks for sharing. :)

Yeah, I've read about how the compartments at the bottom of the ship were air tight. I figured they either ran out of oxygen or they slowly had to tread water while it filled up and they slowly drowned. It chills me just to think about it. There was a section of the exhibit dedicated to the crew members, especially the ones who worked in the engine rooms at the bottom of the ship. There were some pictures and the men looked so young and worn out. I believe most of them were young Irishmen.

Has there never been a Titanic-related exhibit in England? From some other peoples posts on my journal it seems to have toured the States before coming to Canada. Perhaps it will be near you in the future?

I'll have to read up on it, but I think that the reason most of the grave sites are in Nova Scotia is because that was the closest place to the sinking. Nova Scotia is definately not a big place (I've been there), so I don't think they were laid to rest there because of a lot of room. I really do think that the Titanic was closer to Nova Scotia than it was to New York, which was the Titanic's destination. Another thing too, I think that most of the people buried in Nova Scotia were those who were unclaimed. It would have been too expensive to transport them back to their own countries.