Titanic and its tragedy has been a phenomenon which has marked itself in the history. After leaving Southampton, England, on April 12, 1912, it was after four days that the ship struck an iceberg, leading to its sinking. Jamie Dendy who is the head librarian for research and instruction at the Northeastern University, spoke about the materials preserved in the library, since 1912, that highlights this tragic history.
When you analyse the old newspapers narrating the incident before the disaster, there was a coverage made on the unique style and excellent engineering which was carried out in making the ship. Soon after the disaster, the loss of lives that was portrayed was biased. The heavy loss of the upper-class personalities and aristocrats was paid more attention to. There was a detailed account of 10 pages in ‘New York Times’ about the route of the voyage but the details of the sinking and how it happened was not written or mentioned.
A popularly accepted reason behind the sinking of Titanic is the water tight compartments in the ship. The compartments were all flooded and hence the ship did not stay afloat. An article titled “Did the moon sink the Titanic?” is published by the Sky and Telescope Magazine. According to this article, the researchers blame an astronomically high tide that caused the arrangement of icebergs, proving it fatal for the navigators of the ship.
To know more about the occurrence, Dendy was asked if there are any resources which can be accessed in the libraries, to which he answered that the Snell Library has first-hand newspaper accounts, online historical newspapers, and books describing the cultural history and the engineering techniques behind the Titanic’s design. Also, the University’s archives and Special Collections includes the papers of the Radio Operator who had received the distress call from the Titanic.
Even though there are researches and theories published on account of the history, various snippets of the real truth remain hidden in the incidents buried deep in the ocean. More theories and discoveries are yet to take place in this field and the world is yet to know the whole true story.
Akshara Palshetkar
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