April 15, 2013 (Monday)
“This is a marvelous ship and I feel very disappointed I am not to make the first voyage” – David Blair, who was originally going to be Second Officer on Titanic.
On this date, April 15, 1912, the British passenger liner, the RMS Titanic, sank on her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City. A total of 1,502 people died in the disaster aboard a ship that had been declared, “unsinkable.” The Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time. She had 2,224 people aboard when she set sail.
Although 101 years have passed since the sinking, most people instantly recognize the name of the ship and can tell you the basic facts about the accident.
On September 1, 1985, the Titanic was found on the sea floor, using sophisticated equipment unavailable until now. It has been explored and photographed inside and out, after lying undisturbed for 73 years. It is now rapidly deteriorating.
Books, plays, songs, poems and works of art have been made about the awful event, and numerous films and television productions have interpreted the event in various ways. A very popular film was produced in 1997, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The first film appeared in the very same year the ship sank, 1912. Click here for a list.
Click on this line to view image of New York Times report
The wreckage of the ship was found 13.5 miles southwest of the coordinates last reported by the sinking vessel, and lie at a depth of 12,600 feet–almost two and one-half miles, just off the coast of Newfoundland.
The pieces of wreckage are strewn over a third of a mile, and rapid deterioration would make raising it a futile effort; besides it is an international mass grave site and therefore protected. The world will simply wait until it becomes one with the ocean.
Devotional Thought:
(James 4:13-14 NLT): “Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” Life is uncertain. You could find yourself face to face with God at any moment. Are you prepared? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31).