An old photo of RMS Titanic by my great-grandfather.

[PADDY]

None of you will have seen this shot of the famous Titanic, as my Great Grandfather (who was a seaman and was lost at sea, but not on the Titanic) took this photo, when she lay at berth in Belfast docks in 1912 (where she was built). This is another 'wee' momento that I treasure. Call me sentimental, but I love family heirlooms that reach out to our past.

 

[ITG]

Yeah, Mikey, seems Middletons were in the middle of everything in history, huh?

Paddy, that means you'll need to have a camera at your side at all times in case you come across such a historic moment in today's modern times so you can pass the photo along to your grandkids. Is that your grandpa in the pic too (one of the 2 shadowy figures)?

 

[Wild Root]

Wow, how cool is that photo! I say rare stuff for sure. Not many photos around of the old RMS TITANIC. She was such a lovely ship! As a young man at age 9, I loved that ship and its history. Very sad but, very interesting at the same time.

I used to draw pictures of her and some are rather good for a 9-10 year old. I'll see if I can dig some out and post them for you all to see.

Thanks for sharing that photo. I'm like you, I love my family history! One thing I would like to share is that my Grandfather saw Glenn Miller wile he was serving in with 8th as a radio tec. He took photos and I have some of them that I will post soon. Ah, the good times! I wish my Grandfather told me about that time he had.

Photos will soon come.

Root.

 

[Brad A. Cox]

It is hard for me to believe that a ship that size could break in two and fall to the ocean floor. All the life that was lost that night is so unreal. The speed of something that size when it slammed into the ocean floor could never be realized just by thought alone. A single picture can tell a thousand stories for all that died so that they may never be forgotten.

 

[Michaelson]

Unknown photos like this give me the chills. To see something as historical and mythical as the Titannic in an unpublished, privately owned photo is something. Thank you VERY much for sharing.

My wife and I went to the Titannic display when it was in Nashville, TN for our 25th anniverery (not a reflection of the union, mind you ), and that was a moving experience for me.

Once again, I appreciate you sharing this photo. High regards. Michaelson

 

[Ken]

I remember watching TV a few years back and seeing a guy who went to my school on the Antiques Roadshow (this was before these kinds of programs became 'fashionable'). He had found in his attick 2 tickets for the Titanic that his grandfather had bought but for whatever reason couldn't go. I forget the value the expert quoted but I am sure it was pretty high.

There is I beleive a good titanic society in Belfast Paddy

Ken

 

[Wild Root]

Wow, how cool is that! TITANIC Tickets! Yeah, those would be going for a few bucks! Wish I could have seen that one.

Root.

 

[MDFrench]

Thinking about the Titanic gives me the creeps. It has ever since I read "The Night Lives On" when I was in the third grade.

Shudder....

 

[MikeyB17]

On closer examination I thought for a second this might be the 'Olympic', 'Titanic's sister ship, as the promenade decks didn't appear to be enclosed (The Olympic's weren't), but if you look closely the decks are enclosed but the plating hasn't yet been painted-this must've been taken right at the end of her fitting-out, just prior to completion-it wasn't done till then.

 

[Wild Root]

Good point Mike! Some forget that the TITANIC had family.

You know your stuff.

Root.

 

[MikeyB17]

Nice of you to say so, Root..

But it ain't quite the case-my other expensive hobby is mixed-gas wreck diving, so I have a lot of books on the subject, and as the Titanic is one of the most famous wrecks ever, naturally I've got several about her! Her other sister ship, Britannic, was sunk in the Adriatic whilst in service as a hospital ship in WWI. She's been dived on a few occasions, though she lies at 120M (nearly 400 feet). Boy would I like to dive her! Scootering around that massive wreck in fantastic visibility-the stuff of dreams to the likes of me! Mind you, a while back if you had the cash you could do a submersible dive to the Titanic-the cost was in the thousands of pounds-in one of the MIR submersibles used in the James Cameron film-don't know if they still do that, but a hell of a thing to say you'd done!

 

[jamespowers]

My guess is that it was before the ship was finished. You are quite right.
Another thing that I do not see is the name on the front of the ship. You might not be able to read it from that distance but you would at least see there was some type of lettering there. There appears to be none. I guess there was even more painting to be done.

Regards to all,

J

 

[up196]

Lucky lady

Some forget that the TITANIC had family.

Violet Constance Jessop was a stewardess for White Star Line, serving in RMS Olympic when the Olympic had a collision with the HMS Hawke. She transferred to RMS Titanic for the maiden voyage of the new ship and survived the disaster. With the outbreak of the Great War, she volunteered as a nurse (pictured) and served in, yes, you guessed it, HMHS Britannic. She served in all three of White Star's "Titanic family" and survived the sinkings of two of them.

 

[Michaelson]

She was also onboard the 3rd sister ship (was it the Olympic? I know they changed it's name when the Titannic sank) when it ran over and sank the NYC lightship at the mouth of the New York Harbor in the 30's. I do believe that, knowing what we know NOW, if I had known it THEN, if I'd have seen her name on the ships roster, I'd have changed travel plans... Regards. Michaelson

 

[MikeyB17]

Yes Michaelson, that was the Olympic. It was the Britannic which was renamed after the Titanic disaster-she was originally to have been called Gigantic. Athough the White Star Line denied this,apparently there are posters in existence showing the ship with her previous name-she was still under construction when Titanic sank.

 

[Michaelson]

Thank you! I thought that was right, but it's been a while since I've 'refreshed' those brain cells. I saw a History Channel special a few years ago about the 3 sisters, and as I recall, it was on the last voyage of the Olympic that she ran over the lightship and occured as she was coming in for the last time. They sold off the ship for scrap, and couldn't get ANYONE interested in her heavy woodwork and Edwardian decor, as it reminded folks of their 'grandmothers house' (a quote from the program)...that is until a small hotel offered pennies on the dollar for a lot of the furbishings. So,somewhere in NYC there is a small hotel that has an entire entry room from the Olympic installed in total as a lobby, complete with chandaliers, statues, and all the heavy dark woodwork. Everything else was scrapped. Regards. Michaelson

 

[Wild Root]

Cool info! Well Miss Molly Brown, you just got beaten! She may have survived the TITANIC but this lass has survived on all the other ships and lived to tell about them all. Wow how cool is that.

Thanks for telling us about her.

Root.

 

[up196]

More on Violet Jessop

Violet Jessop lived to the age of 84, and had spent a total of 42 of those years at sea. She died of congestive heart failure in 1971. She once stated that her thick, auburn hair contributed to her survival of the Britannic sinking. Unlike Titanic, where she was lowered in one of the lifeboats, she had to jump from Britannic and was sucked under the keel, where she struck her head. Many years later she went to her doctor complaining of headaches, and he discovered that at one time, presumably beneath the Britannic, she had sustained a fractured skull, but the blow had been cushioned by her hair and was less severe that would have been suspected.

 

[Wild Root]

Wow! What a girl! Now, think of what that really must have been like! Being sucked under water by the force of a sinking ship and then hitting your head on the hull of an ocean liner! The chill of the water and just the ciaos of it all! I have been on boats before crossing from LA to Catalina and I just look into that water and think: Boy, I’m I glad I’m on this tub and not in the drink! One of my fears is to be stranded in the open ocean! Scary!!!

She gets my total respect!

Root.

 

[Midnight Palace]

I can't see the attachment?