Category Archives: Trans-Atlantic travel

How Safe Is It To Cruise?

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How Safe Is It To Cruise?

By   Bruce  M.  Caplan

 

Shortly after two in the morning on April 15, 1912, the mighty Titanic—- the largest passenger ship in the world at the time, plunged to the bottom of the North Atlantic—-two and a half miles below the surface of the ocean. The world was startled to find that because the giant vessel didn’t have enough lifeboats, over two thirds of the passengers perished.

 

Author Bruce Caplan

Author Bruce Caplan

Today, many people have a fear of going on an ocean voyage, because of the Titanic’s demise.  Let me put your mind at ease.  The Titanic sank over a century ago and since then there have been very few luxury liner disasters with large cruise liners.

In 1915 the giant ship Lusitania sank in under 20 minutes.  This ship was sunk by a German torpedo and it was a wartime disaster. Regardless almost 40% of the passengers survived.

Jump to 1956 and you have a collision between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm.  The Andrea Doria sinks, but the only passengers who perish are the ones that die in the immediate collision.  The survival rate is 97%!

Jump to the year 2012, a century after the Titanic.  The Costa Concordia has a collision on a reef, off  the coast of Italy.  The survival rate is over 99 and a half percent.

To sum it up, in over a century of cruising, (Not including ships below 20 thousand tons.) there have just four major cruise ship catastrophic events.  The Titanic  (1912) where over two thirds of the passengers perished. The Lusitania (1915) where just below 40% survived.  The Andrea Doria with a 97% rate of survivors and most recently the Costa Concordia with a survival rate of over 99%.  That’s a fantastic record considering that there’s thousands of luxury cruises each year.

One last thing to remember, and that is that everyone on the Titanic would have survived if they just had enough lifeboats.  Shortly after the Titanic sank, the maritime laws were changed to make it mandatory that all ships have enough lifeboat capacity to save everyone onboard.

Happy Sailing!

 

Bruce Caplan's book, The Sinking of The Titanic has sold more than 150,000 copies.

Bruce Caplan’s book, The Sinking of The Titanic has sold more than 150,000 copies.

Travel from east coast ports to Halifax where the recovered dead of the Titanic are buried

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The Grandeur of the Seas is just about twice the size of the Titanic. Sailing from Baltimore it travels to Halifax several times in the fall with stops in Portland and Bar Harbor then on to St. John and Halifax. The bodies of about 150 deceased from the Titanic are buried there. An excellent maritime museum contains many Titanic items. THE PRIVATEER CLAUSE photo

The Grandeur of the Seas is just about twice the size of the Titanic. Sailing from Baltimore it travels to Halifax several times in the fall with stops in Portland and Bar Harbor then on to St. John and Halifax. The bodies of about 150 deceased from the Titanic are buried there. An excellent maritime museum contains many Titanic items. THE PRIVATEER CLAUSE photo

The Seven Seas Navigator is a small luxury cruise ship steaming out of the harbor at Halifax, Canada. All major lines include itineraries to Halifax. The Privateer Clause photo

The Seven Seas Navigator is a small luxury cruise ship steaming out of the harbor at Halifax, Canada. All major lines include itineraries to Halifax. The Privateer Clause photo

There is plenty to do in Halifax beside going to the Titanic graveyard or touring the excellent museum. Sailing on day charters or whale watching...and then there is shopping!

There is plenty to do in Halifax beside going to the Titanic graveyard or touring the excellent museum. Sailing on day charters or whale watching…and then there is shopping!

Shipping of all types passes by in Halifax harbor, one of the largest natural harbors in North America. The Privateer Clause photo

Shipping of all types passes by in Halifax harbor, one of the largest natural harbors in North America. The Privateer Clause photo

So, exactly how did they get that ship in the bottle? Models of ships and nautical gear telling the story of not only Titanic but of the evolution of sailing the seas fills the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

So, exactly how did they get that ship in the bottle? Models of ships and nautical gear telling the story of not only Titanic but of the evolution of sailing the seas fills the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

This is a gibbet where mutineers and pirates were hung in racks like this after they hanged by the neck until dead (hung if you prefer). Their corpses were left to rot for years and circled the harbor for the birds to pick at as a warning to seafarers not to resort to piracy or mutiny. This poster and a life-size corpse greet visitors to the museum in Halifax. The Privateer Clause photos.

This is a gibbet where mutineers and pirates were hung in racks like this after they hanged by the neck until dead (hung if you prefer). Their corpses were left to rot for years and circled the harbor for the birds to pick at as a warning to seafarers not to resort to piracy or mutiny. This poster and a life-size corpse greet visitors to the museum in Halifax. The Privateer Clause photos.

The museum is worth every cent of admission. Those who cherish walking will find it takes about 15 to 30 minutes to hike there from the cruise terminal. A taxi ride for four is about twenty dollars.

The museum is worth every cent of admission. Those who cherish walking will find it takes about 15 to 30 minutes to hike there from the cruise terminal. A taxi ride for four is about twenty dollars.

Great models, paintings and artifacts are everywhere in the museum.

Great models, paintings and artifacts are everywhere in the museum.

The last Corvette of the Canadian Navy from WWII is on display in Halifax harbor for public tours.

The last Corvette of the Canadian Navy from WWII is on display in Halifax harbor for public tours.

Full speed ahead, damn the icebergs!

Full speed ahead, damn the icebergs!

The Naval and maritime history of Canada is rich and proud.

The Naval and maritime history of Canada is rich and proud.

Cunard Line has a major terminal in Halifax.

Cunard Line has a major terminal in Halifax.

This statute honors Samuel Cunard the founder of the steamship line. No one will ever see a similar statute to Samuel Carnival or whoever founded Carnival unless that guy erects it himself.

This statute honors Samuel Cunard the founder of the steamship line. No one will ever see a similar statute to Samuel Carnival or whoever founded Carnival unless that guy erects it himself.

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Halifax is a large port with lots of cruise ships and freighter traffic.

Halifax is a large port with lots of cruise ships and freighter traffic.

Trains leave Halifax to destinations across Canada. When the Titanic hit the iceberg a special train was sent to Halifax from New York to retrieve all the survivors. That train came back empty.

Trains leave Halifax to destinations across Canada. When the Titanic hit the iceberg a special train was sent to Halifax from New York to retrieve all the survivors. That train came back empty.

All aboard for Alaska.

All aboard for Alaska.

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Did the iceberg “hit the Titanic”?

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The iceberg which may have sunk the Titanic. Which hit which?

The iceberg which may have sunk the Titanic. Which hit which?

There are many theories being put forward over the past few years as to why there were so many icebergs in the North Atlantic that fateful April night in 1912 when the Titanic collided with one and sank. While the information ranges from assertions by modern scientists and researchers that there were more icebergs due to a really cold winter and spring, the article below which was published in LIVE SCIENCE proclaims that 1912 was an average busy season for bergs.  The article goes on to say that the iceberg “hit the Titanic”. As there was no known type of motorized or sail propulsion for the iceberg to guide or power itself and plenty of evidence to show that the Titanic had multiple engines working hard to push the ship along at about 21 knots with a crew on duty in the bridge to steer the ship, it was the Titanic that “hit” the iceberg and caused the disaster.  Had the lookout been doubled, had the lookouts had the use of binoculars and missed the iceberg, it is clear from the history of the White Star line that the luxury liner would have arrived in New York.
News articles which proclaim the iceberg “hit the Titanic” are equivalent with reports in the news that say that a train hit a man or a train hit a truck.  Unless a train had been shown to have jumped off its tracks and raced through a field, down a highway and stalked a truck and collided with it, usually the train is where it is supposed to be and the truck generally is either parked on the tracks, drives around crossing gates or otherwise runs into and strikes the train. The responsibility for discerning the true facts of any story, including the story of the Titanic, rest with the reader.  Therefore, with the wonderful methods of learning now available through the internet, keep on digging into the story and if you wish to believe the romance and fiction, then by all means suspend disbelief and enjoy. If you wish to learn the truth, keep digging from multiple sources.  — Ken Rossignol

From Live Science: Old Coast Guard records are throwing cold water on a long-standing explanation for the loss of the Titanic: the suggestion that the fateful journey took place in waters bristling with icebergs, making 1912 an unlucky year to sail the North Atlantic.

Instead, more than a century of Atlantic iceberg counts reveals 1912 was an average year for dangerous floating ice. The findings also contradict a popular notion that the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier on Greenland’s west coast birthed the Titanic’s deadly ‘berg. Instead, a computer model suggests that one of the glaciers at Greenland’s southern tip released the iceberg that hit the Titanic on April 14, 1912, drowning more than 1,500 people in the frigid ocean.

“I think the question of whether this was an unusual year has been laid to rest,” said Grant Bigg, an environmental scientist at the University of Sheffield and lead study author, adding, “1912 is not an exceptional year.”  READ MORE

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Adriatic, Biggest Ship Yet Built, to Start It in May

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The Britannic was the third in the Olympic series, after the Titanic, and was appropriated by the British government as a hospital ship.

The Britannic was the third in the Olympic series, after the Titanic, and was appropriated by the British government as a hospital ship.

This press release was carried in newspapers to herald the launch of the new White Star liner Adriatic:
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SHE WILL CARRY 3,000 SOULS
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And Have a Turkish Bath, Plunge, and Orchestra Aboard—Line to
Liverpool to Stay.
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With the putting in commission next May of its new steamship Adriatic, which will be not only the largest steamship in service anywhere in the world, but the finest product of marine architecture yet designed, the White Star Line announced yesterday the inauguration at that time of a new line between New York and ports in the English Channel. The line has
decided to improve its facilities by transferring the British terminal of its Wednesday mail service to Southampton, the eastbound steamers calling at Plymouth and Cherbourg, and westbound ships at Cherbourg and Queenstown. This new line will be known as the United States and Royal
Mail Service.

A Turkish bath

A Turkish bath on the proposed Titanic II

This does not mean that the regular Wednesday sailings between New York and Liverpool, via Queenstown, are to be discontinued. The sailing day for this route will be changed to Thursday and will be maintained by the steamers Baltic, Cedric, Celtic, and Arabic.

The Channel service will be opened by the new Adriatic, which is to sail from Liverpool on her maiden voyage an May 8 and will sail from this side on May 22. Besides the 25,000-ton Adriatic, the new service will include the steamers Oceanic, Teutonic, and Majestic. In establishing
the new route, the White Star Line was influenced not only by the growing popularity of the Channel ports as a convenient and comfortable route by which the traveler may reach London and Paris, the objective points of a large majority of transatlantic travelers, but also to a
great extent by recommendations from many thousands of its patrons in America who have come to look with favor on the Channel route.

The new line means that the steamers of the White Star Line will touch at nearly all of the great tourist ports of Europe. The New York-Mediterranean service will be kept up by the steamers Republic and Cretic, while the fortnightly service between Boston and Liverpool will
be maintained by the Cymric and the Republic. The International Mercantile Marine Company, of which the White Star Line is a subsidiary company, has materially strengthened its European connections by the new departure.

When the new Adriatic is turned over to the company by the builders, Harland & Wolff of Belfast, in April, she will mark a new epoch in transatlantic travel. Not only does she combine in hull and engines every improvement and every invention—with the exception of turbines—which have been devised for the safety of vessels and the comfort of the oceangoing traveler, but in every detail she is the combined result of the experience of the managers and the builders. For her interior decorations the line will employ the most famous decorators, outfitters, and upholsterers of Europe.

The newest of all new features to be introduced in other respects is well-equipped Turkish baths. which will vie with the finest establishments of the kind ashore. There will be, in addition to the hot, temperate. and cooling rooms, a large plunge bath and an electric bath. Another innovation is the introduction of an orchestra, the first ever placed on an Atlantic British passenger-carrying steamer.

The German lines were the first to furnish music for the entertainment of their passengers. The Red Star Line to Antwerp followed suit. and then the French Line. The French Line, however, made a step in advance, for, while the other lines selected a band from among their own
stewards, the French line placed on its vessels orchestras from the hotels of Paris.

The Adriatic is 725 feet long, 75 feet 6 inches beam, and about 50 feet deep. Her gross tonnage is 25,000 and her displacement over 40,000 tons She has nine steel decks, and is divided into twelve watertight compartments. The total number of. steel plates used in her hull is
about 20,000 and the rivets are estimated at nearly two million and a half. Her cables are three and three-eighths inches in diameter, and weigh nearly ninety tons, and her anchors weigh about eight tons each.

The general arrangements of the ship are similar to those of the Baltic and other vessels of that type. The first-class dining room will seat 370 persons. It is to be paneled in the fashion of Charles II and painted in ivory white and gold. Over the middle of the room will be a dome made with leaded glass of white and yellow, and under the dome will be paintings of scenes in Switzerland, Italy, Yellowstone Park, and the Rhine country. The same scheme of decoration has been carried out in the second-cabin saloon, though less elaborately.

When filled the Adriatic will have on board 3,000 souls. She will be fitted with Marconi wireless and a submarine signaling apparatus.

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