Shipwrecked-Britains sunken history

[John Arton]

Anybody watch this program on BBC4 last night (it was on late).?
Fascinating insight into how Victorian values changed the lives of seafarers and how the women and children first ideal came into being along with the notion that if you were shipwrecked at sea and ended up in a lifeboat, after any food ran out it was acceptable to perform cannibalisation on the youngest survivor in order that the rest may survive. If you did not see it go to BBC Iplayer and watch it, its a truly fascinating program.
Wonder what they would think today if shipwrecked seafarers cast adrift on the ocean performed cannibalisation in order to survive?
rgds
JA

[cappy]

they have cannlbals on the big ships john ........they call them crutch cannibals ......I believe

[Ivan Cloherty]

I saw it John, an interesting programme, but I was left with the feeling that non-seafarers would now think that ship wrecks no longer happen after the narrators comments that ships didn't get into trouble anymore because they were able to predict storms and avoid them, so loss of life was now infintissimal compared to pre Victoriana. British loss of life has decreased at sea because we don't have the number of ships now that we did in those era's, where-as we had thousands plying the oceans we are now lucky to muster a hundred and most of those are realistically undermanned. Fortunately we can separate the wheat from the chafe but doubt the general public could, even if they could be bothered to watch it, but as you say an interesting programme .

[happy daze john in oz]

It was only last century when an aircraft came down in snow somewhere and to survive canabalism was practiced.


But i do agree modern ships are a lot safer, unless of course they have an Italian captian!!

[Chris Allman]

Wonder what they would think today if shipwrecked seafarers cast adrift on the ocean performed cannibalisation in order to survive?

You mean they dont, are you having a larff, you will be saying there is no Santa next

[Captain Kong]

It is only meat with the same texture and taste as Pork, The big problem in a lifeboat is you would have to eat it raw, No fascilities there to Roast the meat. Then it would be quite tasty.
. .
, Where`s the axe................
Brian

[Ivan Cloherty]

Bet there's a few on here eaten raw meat and they weren't even hungry

[leratty]

Oh Cappy!

[Lou Barron]

Just as well the Jerrys picked us up I would not have welcomed being a drift in the lifeboat with no food only a rump steak off the second mate would not have appealed to me

[Graham Evans]

The real reason we now have so few shipwrecks is simple, most British ships are lying on the huge mountain of scrap iron on the banks of the Mersey at Canada Dock.