Rare Titanic Photo.

[Jim Brady]

An article in todays Liverpool Echo of this rare picture which has been found and is going to auction and expected to make £3.000/£5.000.It was taken by the 4th mate on the C S Mackay Bennett.Bodies in sacks are piled 3 high on deck before being tipped overboard as the ships priest conducts a service.In yesterdays Daily Mirror similar story where it said "This picture blows away the myth that the burials were dignified"titanic-6115666.jpg.
Full story Liverpool Echo.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Read the same story Jim, guess it may not have been very dignified, but with nearly 400 bodies, it would have taken a long time for burial on an individual basis. At least these poor souls had a prayer read over them and ship's crew to mourn and witness their departure. Alas some of our forbears had to forego that small dignity. It would have been nice for the photo to have been 'presented' to the' Titantic' museum, but then again its current owner may be in dire straits and may need the money, we've all been there and some still are. Hopefully the purchaser will respect it for what it is and not hide it in some private collection. That picture brings to life the enormity of the tragedy much more than any other picture or film can.

[Captain Kong]

A very sad, sad photo.
It is amazing that some like those on the Mackay were buried [dumped] at sea and others were taken ashore and buried in Halifax and some repatriated back to England.
Wallace Hartley the band leader, who used to live in Bolton along with Captain Rostron and Captain Lord, all three on the same road, Blackburn Road. his body was found and then taken back to Liverpool and a Cortege transported him to Colne in Lancashire to where his parents lived and he was buried there.
.
I was on QE2 in 2008 when we arrived over the position of the sinking on the 96th anniversary.
We had a Service on deck, wreaths were thrown over and the US ICE PATROL plane flew over and dropped a wreath. The nearest ice berg was 25 miles away.
Cheers
Brian.

[leratty]

My wife & I had the opportunity to dive the Titanic via a Russian bathyscope off a Russian research vessel especially chartered. It was organised by a UK Co in I think mid 1980's from memory? Anyway the cost was US$30,000 each for one dive which took you down to her & then around + over her with ability to take photos, only one person at a time with two crew. The dive again from memory took eight or more hours from surface to ship then back again some dive huh? Yes a huge price but what a thrill, particularly as we are both even today wreck divers so to be able to have said "we have dived the Titanic"would sure have been a dinner stopper with other wreck divers. Unfortunately the project was challenged by some party in the US who said they owned the rights to her from the insurance Co so the UK Co pulled out much to our disappointment but our bank a/c stayed a little heavier.
We saw the trip advertised in a esoteric travel magazine & learned later that indeed some people were lucky enough to do the dive however we did not get the opportunity again sadly.

[Captain Kong]

Commodore Ron Warwick, Retd. of Cunard, did the dive on the TITANIC from the Russian ship..
I think it was $25,000, A birthday present, they had a few days on board the Russian and one couple went down and were married on board the TITANIC. Thats one for the wedding album. The trip took ten hours there and back. He showed the photos of TITANIC that he took, whilst on a trip on QE2. very interesting.
Cheers
Brian.

[leratty]

Brian tks for that. Trust a Cunard Capt. to be given that for a birthday present (: Quite right about the wedding on her now that would sure top anything anyone could say about "where were you married" bet there would have been some serious disbelievers when they were told? For me the dive I would most like to do would be the Bismarck located & filmed by the same party as the Titanic. We went to a lecture he gave in NY it was beyond amazing & the photographs along with film jaw dropping I recall even a old Wellington like boot still in good condition near her. I found it surreal that the wooden decks were still in good condition. The other dive I would love to have been part of was the recovery of the gold from HMS Edinburgh in the early days of saturation diving & carried out by a couple of Geordies who located her. One had a Posche waiting for himself when he docked back home. She lies in over 800' of freezing water, all with the assistance of the Dutch firm Smit who did it for part of the gold value. What a cutting edge dive-recovery & all with the Russian advisers on board too. There is a superb book on it called 'Stalin's Gold' if you can still get it a great read adventure beyond the norm.