The Sinking of the Titanic

IF YOU HAVE WONDERED WHETHER SUNKEN SHIPS HAVE BECOME UNDERWATER MER MUSEUMS. THE ANSWER IS: Yes, and the Titanic is one of them.

Listen to the sad hymn while reading about the true occurrence.

One hundred years ago, the ship that couldn’t sink sank. It’s the centennial
anniversary of RMS Titanic’s ill-fated end on its debut transatlantic crossing. On April 10, 1912, the Titanic, largest ship afloat, left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City. The White Star Line had spared no expense in assuring her luxury. A legend even before she sailed, her passengers were a mixture of the world’s wealthiest
basking in the elegance of first class accommodations and immigrants packed into steerage.

She was touted as the safest ship ever built, so safe that she carried only 20 lifeboats – enough to provide accommodation for only half her 2,200 passengers and crew. This discrepancy rested on the belief that since the ship’s construction made her “unsinkable,” her
lifeboats were necessary only to rescue survivors of other sinking ships. Additionally, lifeboats took up valuable deck space. At the time of her construction, the Titanic was the largest ship ever built. She was nearly 900
feet long, stood 25 stories high, and weighed an incredible 46,000 tons.

With turn-of-the century design and technology, including sixteen major watertight compartments in her lower section that could easily be sealed off in the event of a punctured hull, the Titanic was deemed an unsinkable ship. According to her builders, even in the worst possible accident at sea, two ships colliding, the Titanic would stay afloat for two to three days, which would provide enough time for nearby ships to help.

On April 14, 1912, however, the Titanic sideswiped a massive iceberg and sank in less than three hours. Damaging nearly 300 feet of the ship’s hull, the collision allowed water to flood six of her sixteen major watertight compartments.

She was on her maiden voyage to the United States, carrying more than 2200 passengers and crew, when she foundered. Only 705 of those aboard the Titanic ever reached their destination. After what seemed like a minor collision with an iceberg, the largest ship ever built sank in a fraction of the time estimated for her worst possible accident at sea. Continue reading

At anchor off Cobh

Save the Mermaids

By Henn Kim

ATTENTION Wreck Divers! A Mer Girl waits for you. Put on your imagination.

Photo Scotty’s Action Sports network

By Mermaid Serenity

In the USA: The Graveyard of the Atlantic gets its name from the estimated 2000 shipwrecks scattered along the North Carolina coastline. Consistently voted #1 Wreck Diving in North America by Scuba Diving magazine’s Readers’ Poll, many of these historic vessels are accessible to divers.

Some of the most impressive wrecks are the World War II casualties – vessels fallen prey to Hitler’s U-boat fleet as they traversed the offshore waters. Tankers, cargo ships, British fishing trawlers and even German submarines, form impressive underwater monuments to this tumultuous segment of our maritime heritage. Among others, a World War I gunboat, a late 18th-century schooner, and an early 20th-century luxury liner exist in North Carolina’s unparalleled collection of dive-able history.

Additionally, thanks to the continued efforts of the NC Division of Marine Fisheries Artificial Reef Program, local fishing organizations and the Carteret County Artificial Reef Association, North Carolina is home to a plethora of vessels sunk purposefully as artificial reefs. Like their historical counterparts, these sites host a vast array of marine life making for thoroughly enjoyable diving experiences.

Want to know details about the sites before you see them? Click on the sites you want to see or just scroll through and check them all out! Here: https://www.olympusdiving.com/en/ship-wreck-diving