Shipwrecks - Time Capsules of Human Civilization

Titanic's Missing Pieces?

Now that the new discovery of the keel sections of Titanic have been publicly released, it is time for the Titanic enthusiasts to mull over the information. Although a discovery of this magnitude answers several questions, it poses even more questions about its interpretation. The naval architect, Roger Long gave a very plausible explanation of how two relatively intact keel sections could be found in a newly discovered debris field east of the main bow and stern sections of the wreck site. I find that I have so many questions to address regarding his potential scenario of the sinking. At times I found myself talking to the television and saying "No way!". 

Obviously I was not the only one that was saying something similar. Parks Stephenson, one of the show's technical experts that was portrayed at Woods Hole and member of the marine forensics panel of the Society of Naval Engineers, has a different take on the data retrieved from the discovery. His views can be found on his web site at Marconigraph.com and his analysis of the sinking seems more logical to me. That is not to say it is right or wrong, but I am more comfortable with his thoughts at the present time.

I am very grateful to David Concannon and Robert Williams for setting this whole investigative theory into an active hunt for the new evidence. In 2003, both Robert Williams and Fred McLaren spent their entire dives doing "sand sweeps" outside the perimeter of the main sections of Titanic in pursuit of keel pieces. Even though they had limited success, their time spent on the bottom ruled out sections that needed to be explored. I am sure that the limited amount of dives available to the latest research team can owe these researchers a debt of thanks for narrowing their search pattern.

As the new evidence is being "digested" by the many interested Titanic enthusiasts, including me, there will be many new and ingenious interpretations of the new discovery. For further analysis of the bow and stern sections of the ship, please visit our corporate web site and in the text of the homepage, select Educational Services for photographs of the wreck site from this year's scientific research Titanic exploration. I certainly need more information to satisfy my own curiosity. This new evidence does not rule out the grounding theory but certainly assists in a more accurate portrayal of speculation about Titanic's sinking. I think that Roger and Parks explanations, both very different, are a wonderful foundation for further research and study. I commend all of these individuals for putting together a thoroughly enjoyable evening that will be talked about for years to come!

Collision at Sea - Andrea Doria / Stockholm Questions

Many questions about the collision of the Andrea Doria and Stockholm have remained unanswered for 50 years. Back in the late 1950's, a prominent marine engineer named John C. Carrouthers, who was contracted by the US Navy to investigate marine accidents, concluded that misreading of the radar by the young third officer on the bridge of the Stockholm was the fatal error. As the world's nautical experts had an opportunity to look at all the evidence, they have felt that the misreading of the radar was highly probable as the fatal mistake. Mr. Carrouthers produced many research papers in prestigious professional journals that chronicled the mistakes that both ships made during their approach. He concluded emphatically that the fatal mistake was made by the Stockholm. Unfortunately, the treasure-trove of information that he provided extensively in these professional journals never really made it to the public mainstream media. Here is a brief Q&A about some of the major issues dealing with the collision of these two fine ships:

"You have wrote that the reason for the collision was a misreading of the radar at the bridge of the Stockholm. That is understandable. Is this the main reason for the collision? I have read that the guilt could not be proved, neither for the captain of the Andrea Doria nor for the captain for the Stockholm. Is this correct? "

There were many small errors made by both ships that contributed to the collision. Each small error concatenated to become bigger errors. However, the biggest error that fateful evening of 7/25/56 was the mis-reading of the radar by the young third officer Carstens. As far as guilt for the collision, there was none that was attributed. There were pre-trial depositions that were taken, in contemplation of a full trial, but both ship owners, deciding that it would not be in their best interests to have a long, drawn-out trial, settled their differences with their common insurers. Therefore-it never went to trial to decide who was at fault. Informally, the mariners in the US went over all the testimony; and understanding the laws of the sea figured that either the Stockholm bridge officer was mistaken about the radar. These mariners have always believed that the radar misreading was the reason. Every decision that Carstens made on the bridge from 20 minutes before the collision to the collision time suggest that he thought that the Doria was much further away. It made the most reasonable and logical sense for this theory. Back in those days, the radar rings were not illuminated and the range of the scale of the OD was done manually by moving a switch. It is believed by these experts that Carstens thought that he was on a different range (15 mile) when in reality he was on another range(5 mile). In order to verify what range you are on in the night, a small flashlight is used. However, Carstens has vehemently denied this, but computer projections of the collision prove out, with very little doubt that the reason for this collision was the radar mis-reading by Carstens.

"I have read that both ships recognized the danger, while the distance was about 12 miles. There is another point that I cannot understand: Why did the Andrea Doria change her course to portside? Normally – so I have learned for my license for sport boats – the ships should be passing portside to portside. So the normal reaction of the Andrea Doria should be to change to starboard? Can you explain to me the consideration of Captain Calamai to change to the wrong side?"

The Doria has always thought that the passing would be starboard to starboard. You are correct in your rule of navigation referring to normal passing of port to port-especially in a head on passing. However, you must understand that the Doria felt that they were on the starboard side ALWAYS and by going starboard to get into a position for a port to port passing would of had the Doria pass right across the bow of the Stockholm. As you know the port to port rule is only applied if the ships were in a head to head basis and would not be applied if it would put the ship in PERIL - and apparently the Doria officers felt that trying to align the Doria in a port to port passing would put the ship across the bow of the Stockholm and into peril.

   

As the Doria was going forward, assuming a starboard to starboard passing, it would be natural for the ship to steer to the port to open the distance between the two ships. Changing course to starboard would of placed the Doria in the Stockholm's path!

"I have inquired about the following years of the Stockholm until now to include multiple name changes.  In 2002 she received the name “Caribe.” Do you know whether this ship is still working today? And – do you own current printable photos of this ship? "

The Stockholm has had many names since she left the ownership of the Brostrom concern's Swedish-American Lines. In 1960, she was sold to the East Germans as a union cruise vessel called Völkerfreundschaft.  The Stockholm was sold to Italian interests in 1989. Ironically, it was given a refit in Genoa, the Andrea Doria's home port. When it first arrived, the press called the Stockholm the "ship of death." It was later gutted and given a new design resembling a modern cruise ship. Previously named the Italia I, Italia Prima, Valtur Prima and Caribe, the Stockholm currently sails as the Athena and is registered in Portugal.

Comparing Titanic's Decay with the Empress of Ireland, Lusitania, Britannic and Andrea Doria

Although Titanic is deteriorating while subjected to the natural force of the Atlantic Ocean, it has been preserved relatively well throughout the past ninety-three years. More recent shipwrecks, like the ill-fated Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria which sank in 1956, is in much worse shape structurally than Titanic. The Doria lies in 260 feet of water about 40 miles southwest of Nantucket Island. The relatively shallow depths, strong currents, aluminum-alloy- based superstructure and weather conditions have battered the Doria to the point where the top five deck levels have fallen down to the bottom of the ocean. With its entire superstructure gone, the Doria is now a huge steel hull with all of its once-beautiful infrastructure lying next to it on its starboard side in a vast heap of metallic wreckage.

It is important to put the decay of Titanic in the context of other contemporary twentieth century ocean liner shipwrecks. These once-opulent liner shipwrecks like the Lusitania, the Empress of Ireland and Titanic’s sister, Britannic have all sunk in different parts of the world and been exposed to a variety of different environmental factors. Despite their environmental differences, all of these fine liners are in relatively similar states of deterioration to that of Titanic. Judging by these many differences in environmental conditions, the fact that their states of deterioration are similar may prove to be a mere coincidence.

Titanic Scientific Studies - Time Estimates for Decay

There are several other scientists looking at the deterioration of Titanic, other than myself, and they have come up with some fascinating projections. This projection estimate was published in 2000 by two Canadian scientists, Roy Cullimore and Lori Johnson out of the University of Regina and DROYCON, Inc. and was looking specifically at the rusticles.

The table below summarizes the potential losses of iron from the bow section under various conditions of rusticle growth formation:

Estimated Time (calendar year, AD) Frame For the Losses of Iron
from the Steel Bow Section, RMS Titanic

Percentile Steel Loss under various Growth Conditions

Growth Rate	10%	20%	30%	40%
Extreme	2020	2026	2034	2045
High	2032	2048	2056	2068
Moderate	2050	2068	2088	2106
Low	2098	2212	2326	2440

Lori has been part of several expeditions, most recently with James Cameron's trip to Titanic in 2005. What has been observed lately on Titanic is that there is an exponential deterioration in Titanic and these projections may be accelerated. We have been using our data from 2003 as a baseline and following out the deterioration throughout the past few years. In 2005, we spent almost 7 hours on the wreck and we were quite surprised to see all the additional deterioration that has taken place. I look forward to see Lori and Roy's latest projections!

Prototype Car of the Future Lost on the Andrea Doria - Norseman

One of the "casualties" of the Andrea Doria sinking has received quite a bit of attention in the past decade; however, this casualty was not a person but a beautiful automobile called the Norseman. The Norseman was a special prototype car that was a joint project of Chrysler and Ghia. It is thought that the complete development of this automobile cost more than $100,000 1956-dollars. Normally, all passenger cars were placed in the garage section of the Andrea Doria that is slightly aft of the collision point where the Stockholm impaled the Doria underneath the bow wing bridge. These cars would have been placed on to the Doria by use of a crane and meticulously parked in the garage and arranged strategically for stability. However, the Norseman was no passenger vehicle and was specially packed and treated with extra care. The Norseman was put into a wooden crate and placed in the number 2 cargo area. While looking for a lost diver, I had an opportunity to see the Norseman for myself in the cargo hold. The crate had disintegrated and the car was in very, very poor condition. The ocean's salt water invaded the Norseman's metal and most of the car is rust, corrosion and a heap of indistinguishable junk. The tires are still there and have assisted to its identification.

I have been back to the cargo area several times (it is pretty scary in the cargo hold because the ship is lying on its starboard side) and visited the Norseman on a couple other occasions. I contributed to an article authored by a New York Times reporter that appeared in the Hemmings Motor News in the early 1990's. In 1996, a website in Germany translated part of this Hemmings article and added additional information. The link to this article is: http://riekmann.prohosting.com/magazin/chrysler_norseman/chrysler_norseman.htm
I have been interviewed about my dives to the Norseman several times since the original Hemmings article appeared. I have not been back to this cargo site since 1994 and with all the decay that the wreck has had over the past 10 years, it is doubtful if I will ( or anyone else) ever get a chance to see the remains of the Norseman again.

The Current State of Decay on the Bow of RMS Titanic

In late July 2005, following our successful scientific research expedition to RMS Titanic on the Russian research vessel Akademik Keldysh, I was very eager to start my analysis of the high-quality, digital photographic data of this historic shipwreck. My major research goals and objectives were the thorough examination of significant physical morphological changes in particular sections within the bow over time. I am very concerned about several areas on the bow that have gotten alarmingly worse since I last visited in 2003. The following paragraph is a brief synopsis from our scientific report that will be published as part of the proceedings from the American Academy of Underwater Sciences annual conference that will be held next month.

The officer's quarters of  RMS Titanic, especially on the port side, are sagging very noticeably and bulging in several places. If this section falls then the Marconi room will be severely compromised. The plating on top of the Marconi room is very thin and starting to show significant rust pits or holes in this plating. The starboard hull gash where at least 4 decks are exposed to open sea is another area of concern. This gash is widening and small cracks and fissures within the outer portions of this area is extending forward. Several of these cracks were not observed two years ago so I know that this is an area for dynamic change. Finally, the aft section of the bow section is sagging much more than 2003 and many of the items in this area are sliding down towards the boilers.

Once these results are officially presented to the public, the latest scientific research paper and its associated PowerPoint presentation will be available to the public at the Nautical Research Group Corporate web site under the Educational Services link.