Although it sank 110 years ago during its first voyage, the RMS Titanic is emerging in the imagination of today’s audience as it once did.
Stories about the great ocean liner White Star Line have moved smoothly from traditional media – books and movies – to social media, where they continue to conquer.
The Titanic hit an iceberg on its way to New York. It sank 700 nautical miles (1296 kilometers) east of Halifax on April 15, 1912.
Roger Marsters, curator of the Halifax Atlantic Maritime Museum, says the Titanic’s connection to Halifax was almost accidental, as it is the continent’s closest port from which recovery can take place.
Roger Marsters is the curator of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Ocean. (Craig Paisley / CBC)
The Titanic captured the collective imagination before the 1997 James Cameron film, Marsters said. But by tying the star lovers to a story of arrogance and extravagance, the film captures the events in the imagination of the audience.
“We have people from all over the world who come to Fairview Lawn and Mount Olivet to visit the graves of people they have never met and never known, but with whom they feel a strong connection because of the powerful, imaginary grip of the History of Titanic, “he said.
Rafael Avila shares information about the Titanic on his social media platforms such as The Titanic Man. (© 2017 Stephen James Hutchinson)
Like the harbor where bodies were brought in after the tragedy, Halifax is home to 150 of the Titanic’s tombs – the largest in the world.
Marsters said the history of the Titanic seems to be refreshing with each generation. From the museum’s point of view, this is a way to attract new people to maritime history.
Rafael Avila, a 32-year-old social media figure better known online as the Titanic, spends his time presenting interesting facts about the Titanic and correcting inaccurate information about the ship he sees online.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, left, are shown in the movie Titanic. (Paramount Pictures / Associated Press)
His TikTok channel has over 600,000 subscribers and almost 34 million likes.
Avila said he was seven in 1997 when he saw a documentary about a sunken ship and asked his father what it was about.
Tomb of the Titanic at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax. (Vernon Ramesar / CBC)
His father told him that it was a famous ship that was one of the largest in the world and was brand new when it sank.
Fascinated by the story, Avila said he persuaded his parents to take him to see the popular film in December of that year, and that solidified his interest.
Avila said the history of the Titanic was largely forgotten in the years after the sinking.
The book A Night to Remember, published in 1955, and a subsequent film in 1958 revived interest, he said.
The release of Cameron’s film led to an exponential increase in interest, according to Avila, and then it moved to the field of social media.
“He represented all these different things, greatness, hope, opportunity and then to collapse with something as simple as an iceberg,” Avila said. “It was like a theater playing in the middle of the ocean.
Historian and writer Bob Chaulk has written two books for the SS Atlantic. (John Tatry / CBC)
Toronto-based Avila has said she has never been to Halifax, but knows she will visit one day to see artifacts and visit the Titanic’s tombs in person.
Although the Titanic is undoubtedly the most famous of them, three ships associated with the company have left an indelible mark on the countryside.
In 1873, the SS Atlantic crashed into a rock near Prospect Bay, killing about 550 people.
According to Bob Chaulk, author of two books on the SS Atlantic, the ship bound for New York had 950 passengers on board.
Chaulk said the chief engineer determined a week after the voyage that there was not enough coal on board. The captain decides to turn to Halifax to refuel, which will be a fatal decision.
The victims of the SS Atlantic were rescued from the rubble on April 1, 1873 (Archive of Nova Scotia [William Notman photograph, W.R. MacAskill accession no. 1987-453 no. 3249])
Of the four deck officers, Chaulk said, only one had sailed to Halifax before.
As the ship approached Halifax at night, the ship ran aground on a rock that was quite close to shore. The ship’s bow rose on the rock and the stern sank immediately, Chaulk said.
As it happened in the early hours of the morning, Chaulk said most passengers were below deck and women and children slept below deck in the stern area.
Some of the victims of the remains of the SS Atlantic were buried in a mass grave in Terence Bay. (Archives of Nova Scotia / W.Chase, ng. №: N-0719)
No woman survived the disaster and only one child was saved.
“It was [3 a.m.]some of them just drowned in their beds, didn’t even get out of bed, “he said.
Chaulk said the real miracle for him was that 400 people survived. He said this was largely due to the heroic efforts of Lower Prospect and Terrence Bay residents, who undertook rescue efforts.
A monument to the victims of the SS Atlantic was erected in Prospect in 1915 (CBC)
To this day, it remains the worst shipwreck in Nova Scotia’s history and the second worst in Canada’s history since the Empress of Ireland, according to Chaulk.
In 1917, the former White Star Line SS Runic had the greatest impact on the history of Nova Scotia.
From its launch date in 1889 until the sale of the ship in 1895, it served to transport cattle and passengers to the White Star Line.
On December 6, 1917, the ship, then renamed SS Imo, collided with the SS Mont-Blanc ammunition ship in the port of Halifax, causing an explosion that killed 1,600 people and caused extensive damage.
Victorian tourists visit the site of SS Atlantic in Terence Bay, NS (Archive of Nova Scotia [W. Chase no. 32/neg. no.: N-0720])
Marsters said the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Ocean has artifacts and exhibits from the three ships of the White Star Line.
He said that in a sense, the story of the three ships is also a story of how the people of Nova Scotia reacted to the tragedy.
“These three well-known ruins of the White Star are indicative of wider maritime processes, which means that for hundreds of years the people living in Mi’kma’ki, the people living in Nova Scotia, have always stood aside to help people in danger at sea, “he said.
“I think this is a legacy that continues today and that is valuable to continue to cultivate.”
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