This is the most amazing story I have ever heard. That a person could live a long life, and come across something that they had never heard of before. Apparently it is true, and it was kept a secret for over 100 years. At least it sounds possible and it’s something to consider.
If you have ever seen 100 of tons of coal stored, it is stored in several different bins. Therefore if one bin catches fire, it can be contained to that one bin. Also it is kept damp by dousing it with water regularly. One day those in charge of keeping the coal supply smelled a strong oder. A worker at the top felt it and it was damp. But apparently bunker number 6 was smoldering and then it was burning.
When they asked the foreman, what should they do, he said the one thing they can’t do is tell the people because it might cause a panic. Fireman were called and they did not like what they saw. The fireman worked in 4 hour shifts but could not contain the blaze. Finally they called for fire boats to assist. Yes I mean boats because it was the Titanic that was burning.
The Titanic had been launched May 31st, 1911, and it sailed from Southampton April 10th 1912. Apparently it took a year to get it ready to sail. I wonder how they got all of this coal down below the deck. The fire was discovered a day before launch on April 9, 1912, and was extinguished at midnight on April 15th, 1912, when it hit an iceberg and broke in two.
I have never even heard of this before. Didn’t even know that it was a theory, that it could have been involved. Several of the survivors in the engine room said that the fire might have been a cause of the accident.The place that the iceberg ripped a hole in was part of the hull that had been weakened by fire. I have never even heard about this, and I have read much about the Titanic over the years.
Of the 2,240 people on the ship only a little over 700 survived. The fact that anyone survived was a miracle. The wireless telegraph had just been invented, and they were able to find the telegraph operator and put out an SOS. There was a ship closer but it’s telegraph room has been shut down for the night.
The ship, Lusitania, was about 10 miles away, and she heard the SOS and rescued those that were saved. The inventor of the telegraph, Guglielmo Marconi had turned down free passage on the Titanic, choosing to go on the Lusitania leaving 3 days earlier. He was killed when riding the Lusitania a second time in 1915 when it was sunk by a German U-boat.
I guess you learn something everyday. I thought I knew everything about the Titanic, but I guess you can always learn something new.
—James Neuhouser
