Should we talk about why the passenger ship Titanic is so notorious? This ship, worth 7.5 million dollars, set off on its maiden voyage in mid-1912. On the night of April 14-15, it collided with a huge iceberg and sank. There were 2,208 people on board, and 1,504 of them died. A well-known dramatic film with Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as dozens of documentaries, were shot about this tragedy. The wreckage of the ship was found only in 1985 at a depth of 3,750 meters. Despite the fact that the tragedy occurred more than a hundred years ago, we are still learning new interesting facts about it. For example, a previously unknown photograph of the iceberg that sank the Titanic was recently found and is going to be sold at auction. This photograph was taken by an undertaker who was burying victims of the disaster. This is an excellent opportunity to tell how the victims of the disaster were buried.
People who died in the sinking of the Titanic were buried in different ways. Image source: russian7.ru
How the passengers of the Titanic were rescued
The discovery of a rare photograph of the iceberg that destroyed the Titanic was reported by the authors of the scientific publication IFL Science. Its author is John Snow, the chief embalmer at the John Snow funeral home & Co.
After the sinking of a passenger ship 640 kilometers from the Canadian island of Newfoundland, he was one of the first people to see hundreds of bodies of dead people. He sailed to the crash site on the Mackay-Bennett ship, which was pre-loaded with hundreds of coffins to accommodate the bodies of the disaster victims. There were also 100 tons of ice on the ship to preserve the bodies.
McKay-Bennett rescue ship. Photo source: thesun.co.uk
IMPORTANT:Several ships arrived at the crash site. Among them was also the ship “Carpathia”, which we talked about in this material.
They believed that hundreds of coffins should be enough. Only when they arrived at the place did they realize how many passengers had died as a result of the ship colliding with a huge block of ice.
Read also: Why did the Titanic sink? 5 most interesting theories
Funeral of the victims of the Titanic
The crew of the Mackay-Bennett ship managed to bring on board the bodies of 306 men and women. There were many victims, so it was extremely difficult to deliver all the bodies to land. Therefore, the funeral home had to decide which passengers should be taken with them and which ones should be buried right on the spot, thrown into the water.
There was no need to think long, and the crew decided to throw the bodies of third class passengers with the cheapest tickets into the water. Thus, the bodies of 116 victims of the Titanic remained at the wreck site and now lie somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Rescuing the surviving passengers of the Titanic. Photo source: flytothesky.ru
The Titanic's second class passengers were embalmed and wrapped in cloth. People from the first class, among whom there were many famous personalities, were treated most carefully. Their bodies were embalmed and then placed in coffins for the most careful transportation. There were many celebrities on board the infamous ship. For example, Isidor Strauss, co-owner of the largest American department stores Macy’s, died there.
The more careful treatment of first class passengers was not due to the fact that people in third class were valued less. The funeral home's decision was influenced by the fact that wealthy passengers were more likely to have insurance that could cover funeral costs. In order for the relatives of the victims to receive money from the insurance company, the body had to be identifiable. Therefore, the first class passengers were carefully placed in a coffin.
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Photo of the iceberg that sank the Titanic
While removing the bodies from the water, undertaker John Snow took a photo of the iceberg. No one can say with certainty that this is exactly that ill-fated block of ice. But the man clearly had reasons to photograph this particular iceberg. In addition, he left the note “Titanic” on the back of the photo, and then left the photo for his descendants.
Photograph of the iceberg that caused the Titanic to sink. Photo source: iflscience.com
At the end of April 2024, the rare photograph will be put up for sale. It will clearly be of interest to collectors of historical materials, so the auction organizers plan to receive from 5,000 to 8,700 US dollars for the photo.
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Unfortunately, many Titanic-related events end in disaster. In 2023, OceanGate sent an expedition to the sunken ship on the Titan submersible. On board were billionaire Hamish Harding, one of Pakistan's richest men Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleiman Dawood, explorer Paul-Henri Nargolet and OceanGate founder Stockton Rush. They all died because the submarine collapsed due to high pressure.