Today, almost one hundred years later, people still remember the sinking of the ‘Titanic’. One of the biggest websites devoted to the Titanic is ‘webtitanic’, not only does it tell you about the journey and what happened, it has a list of everybody in each lifeboat, prices of the journey, deck plans and equipment on board. Other sources that include information about the Titanic are further websites such as www.anesi.com/titanic.htm and http://titanic.gov.ns.ca/, films like ‘The Titanic’, made in 1997 and there are books such as ‘Titanic: A Journey Through Time’ and ‘The Titanic Disaster’. It was in 1985 that a joint French and American team located the remains of the Titanic on September 1, 1985, after a 56-day search. The Titanic rested some 2.5 miles (4 km) beneath the ocean surface and about 350 miles (563 km) from the coast of Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic. People argue over lots of things about the ‘Titanic’ some of the things they argue about are ‘what else apart from the iceberg was to blame’, was it ‘Captain Smith’s fault?’ as he ignored iceberg warnings sent from over vessels. Also people blame the SS California for turning off their radio; by doing this they couldn’t hear the Titanic’s distress signal and they could have saved most of the people. They argue about these things as everybody has their views. ‘The Titanic’ film made in 1997 was all about the Titanic’s journey across the Atlantic. It also tells of a relationship between a third class passenger Jack (Leonardo Di Caprio) and a first class passenger Rose (Kate Winslet) as it progresses. The film tries to include some facts but if it just showed what happened then the audience would not be as large as it was. This film was a huge success.
The event is still used as an example of how over confidence or ‘big headedness’ can lead to the downfall of something, even those deemed indestructible. The sinking off the Titanic has been compared to other sunken ships. One of these is The USS Ponaganset which was left in cold water and spit in two. The reason for this is that the steel used goes brittle in less than fifty degrees Fahrenheit which could be why the Titanic was gashed so easily by the iceberg. Also all the hype about the Titanic being unsinkable gave it a name it had to live up to and sadly it did not.
The sinking of the Titanic and the terrible consequences meant that new safety measures were brought in concerning sea travel. Requirements include such points as a supply of enough lifeboats for all on board and also staff are now trained to deal with lifeboat emergency situations.
When looking at the story of the Titanic we also become aware of other aspects of life in the early part of the 20th century. The different classes aboard the ‘Titanic’ were all treated differently especially when it came to getting into the lifeboats. Evidence of this is in the film ‘Titanic’ when all the second and third class passengers are blocked from coming up to the deck while the first class passengers are getting into the lifeboats, and eyewitness accounts confirmed this. This is also shown by the lifeboat listings. There were different classes on board as not everybody could afford first or second class prices and first class passengers didn’t want to have to dine with third class passengers, and it was the same when getting into the lifeboats.
In conclusion I believe that the sinking of the Titanic is historically significant because it was trying to break the transatlantic crossing whilst on its maiden voyage but it all went terribly wrong. I think that the unfortunate result was not all the fault of the iceberg. It was a mixture of decisions made by Captain Smith, engineers work, and the iceberg. This unhappy story has affected many things including how ships are built, sailing rules, ice berg watching etc. The sinking of the Titanic provided lots of historical interest and information and if it had not happened we would not have learnt from it. Therefore it must be significant.
