Tantanic-10 points

Any audience who has watched the film "Wreck on the Ice" shot by the British Rank Film Company, and any reader who has a little knowledge of English textbooks, will be familiar with the name "Titanic". For more than seventy years, through the screen and textbooks, "Titanic", the name of the world's largest ship at the beginning of this century, has become synonymous with a large shipwreck in the history of human navigation. However, time has been merciless. Although it was once a catastrophic maritime disaster that shocked the world and was extremely tragic, it eventually became eclipsed by the passage of time. Until recently, an American exploration expedition team did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money and even risk His life was in danger, so he made two consecutive trips to the Atlantic Ocean in 1985 and 1986, exploring into a depth of 4,000 meters. Using the most advanced science and technology, he conducted positioning inspections of the "Titanic" and carried out Taking photos and publishing all the photos and adventure records made the name "Titanic" the center of attention of people around the world again.

Memory brings people back to three-quarters of a century ago, and everything reappears: the magnificent and extraordinary maiden voyage, the sudden and horrific disaster, and There are many true, false, absurd and bizarre legends surrounding the sinking of the "Titanic", and each one is a breathtaking and mysterious mystery...

Chapter 1: At Sea Xuan Palace "Titanic"

In March 1912, the British "White Star" Steamship Company built the world's largest luxury cruise ship with a market value of US$7.5 million at the time - The "Titanic" was launched. The ship had a total tonnage of 46,328 tons and a displacement of 66,000 tons. It was the only giant ship in the world with a tonnage of more than 40,000 tons at that time. Its hull has a total length of 269 meters, a front width of 28 meters, and a height of 11 stories. There are only three oars on the ship, and the length of the oar blade is 7 meters. The smallest oar weighs 22 tons, and the oars on both sides weigh 40 tons. The rudder alone weighed more than 100 tons. At the beginning of this century, this was indeed a first-class giant ship.

There are 16 waterproof chambers inside the hull of the "Titanic". This watertight chamber device can use electricity or manpower to minimize the damage caused by flooding. The shipping company claims that even if one or two of the 16 waterproof chambers are flooded, the hull will not sink. As a result, "Titanic" gained the reputation of "unsinkable ship". The luxurious equipment on the "Titanic" is beyond the standard: not only restaurants, bars, smoking rooms, entertainment venues, dance halls, but also swimming pools, concert halls, gymnastics rooms, courts and gardens, etc., it is like a small In the city, the third-class dining room alone can accommodate 550 guests dining at the same time, and more than a hundred chefs and waiters are waiting for the passengers to dine to the melody of waltz. Let’s talk about the cabin. It is decorated with gorgeous lights, thick carpets, and exquisite carvings on the ceiling, which dazzles the passengers. What’s more, next to the gangway leading to the promenade from its first-class cabin, there are also Equipped with three elevators, this is truly a "Palace on the Sea", a luxurious and charming palace on the water.

The owner of the giant ship, the "White Star" Shipping Company, has a strong domestic rival - the "Guna" Shipping Company. "Guna" built the "Manidania" in 1907, with a total tonnage of 31,938 tons and a speed of 29 nautical miles. In the early years, it had set a record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. This record has never been broken at that time. The "Titanic" built by the "White Star" Company was slightly slower than the "Monidania", but its equipment and luxury far exceeded it, and the "Titanic" also had It is known as the "unsinkable boat", so the ship owner secretly made up his mind to break the record of crossing the Atlantic created by his opponent.

On April 10, 1912, the port of Button, Shakespeare, England, was really crowded with people. The "Titanic" at sea was displayed in front of people with her graceful and gorgeous style. The colorful paper ribbons fluttered in the sky from the ship to the dock, shrouding the heads of passengers and travelers. The atmosphere was warm, but also quiet, because there were only a few seconds left to set sail. Everyone was waiting for the whistle of the ship. On the deck, there were groups of ladies with luxurious clothes and graceful figures. Standing tall and graceful, it adds to the graceful elegance of the Zhuanhua liner. Needless to say, this was a memorable maiden voyage. The passengers who were lucky enough to take this extraordinary maiden voyage were all delighted and indulged in the reverie of the grand welcome after arriving at their destination. What's more, these passengers were all famous British or American industrialists, wealthy people, and their families.

The whistle to set sail finally sounded, and thousands of heads were moving and cheering. The flash of the camera kept flashing, and the crowd on the shore waved their flowers, handkerchiefs, and hats, and danced and shouted in farewell. The farewell scene reached its climax. The "Titanic" slowly started, left the dock, and headed for the sea.

The scheduled voyage of the "Titanic" was to first go to France, then pass through Ireland, and its final destination was New York in the United States. The estimated sailing time is seven days one way.

Its last port call in Europe was at Queen Street Port in Ireland. When the "Titanic" set sail from Queen Street Port at two o'clock in the afternoon on April 11, there were 2,208 people on board, including 1,316 passengers and 892 crew members. At this time, the sea surface was as calm as a mirror, and the "Titanic" split the calm ocean surface and galloped forward on the Atlantic Ocean. People secretly estimated that if it could maintain this speed, it was entirely possible that the "Titanic" would set a new record The record of crossing the Atlantic Ocean won the "Atlantic Blue Ribbon" championship set by the maritime industry at that time. All the crew seemed very excited. The passengers didn't care about this. They just enjoyed this comfortable and pleasant sea trip with passion. When dinner time came, the gentlemen, ladies and ladies left the deck or walked out of the cabin one after another, gathering in the luxurious and elegant restaurant, which attracted people's attention. The ladies were wearing floor-length skirts, smiling gracefully and greeting each other, whispering pleasantries, with dazzling precious pearl necklaces surrounding their bare chests, and the diamond rings on their snow-white slender fingers even more shining. glow. There are first-class chefs here cooking delicious dishes one after another, and bringing them to the table in sequence. The gentlemen sip champagne and chat happily. All topics are inseparable from this luxurious ship and the good fortune. The sentiment of pride as a passenger on its maiden voyage. After dinner, as usual, the gentlemen and ladies danced to the accompaniment of the passenger ship's exclusive band. Some were intoxicated by playing poker, while others hugged beautiful women and expressed their love to each other coquettishly... At night, it quietly slipped onto the deck, and no one wanted to pay attention to it, because people were already intoxicated in this splendid "Xuan Palace on the Sea"

Chapter 2: The big surprise that shocked the world Shipwreck

April 14 - It has been five days since the "Titanic" left the port of Button, Shah Shan.

April is the season for icebergs in the Atlantic Ocean. These huge chunks of ice flow out of Greenland's glaciers and travel south to the Atlantic Ocean on the Gibraltar Current. Because the temperature at this time was suddenly warm and then cold, and most of these icebergs were hidden in the cold sea water. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to melt. Only a small part of them is exposed and wanders on the ocean surface. It is difficult to find them in the dark. If a speeding ship hits them, it will be tantamount to running aground on the rocks, which can cause capsize in an instant. Edward Smith, the experienced captain of the Titanic, was not unaware of this situation. In fact, he had already begun to worry about whether his ship would hit an iceberg if it drove so fast in this dangerous area. However, in order to win the "Atlantic Blue Ribbon" badge and overwhelm its competitor, the "Guna" steamship company, the chairman of the company accompanying the ship, Lerius Ismayi, insisted on traveling at high speed. The old captain had no choice but to Regardless of the possible danger, let the "Titanic" continue to maintain its original high speed-23 knots per hour!

On this day, at 9 a.m., the British cruise ship "Caronia" sailing in the area discovered an iceberg. It safely bypassed the iceberg and immediately sent it to the "Titanic" A telegram: "Ships heading west informed that there are icebergs in the waters at 42 degrees north latitude and 51 degrees west longitude." However, the telegram did not attract attention.

At 19:30 and 21:40 in the evening, the "California" and the "Mesaba" also discovered icebergs, and they both successfully detoured. 22:40. The "California" sent an urgent telegram to the "Titanic" warning of danger, but the "Titanic"'s telegrapher had no intention of listening to the telegram - he and his assistant had been here all day to With generous tips, he was busy sending personal telegrams to passengers, reporting on their leisurely life at sea and notifying them of the date of safe arrival at their destination.

At 23:40, there was a so slight and almost imperceptible sound that the crew member on duty at the foremast exclaimed: "The iceberg is right in front of the bow!" Upon hearing the news, the chief mate on duty immediately ordered: "Port side! Stop! Retreat at full speed!" But it was too late. Because the ship's speed was too fast, the "Qintanic" had hit the underwater part of the iceberg. Immediately - only 37 seconds after the first mate gave the order, A large crack nearly 90 meters long was opened on the right side of the ship, running from the forward peak cabin to the boiler room. The seawater surged in and violently crashed into the interior of the giant ship. Six of the 16 waterproof chambers were damaged. Although emergency measures were taken to close the watertight chamber devices, more than one-third of the total waterproof chambers were damaged and flooded, and the Titanic was in trouble. Escaped from doom.

The first person to realize the seriousness of the situation was Captain Smith. He estimated that the "Titanic" could only last for more than two hours at most, so he resolutely ordered all personnel to wear lifebuoys and immediately set off. Transfer to the lifeboat, but the passengers still refuse to get on the lifeboat. They hesitated because they were afraid of braving the biting cold wind and jumped on the boat that was undulating in the waves. They were reluctant to leave the warm and gorgeous Xuan Palace on the sea, and they couldn't believe that such a huge and huge palace on the sea. A giant ship known as the "unsinkable ship" will sink in one or two hours. The pair of hulls began to shake greatly, and the furniture in the cabin slid as the hull tilted, making a violent vibration. The glassware shattered and flew in all directions with a sharp clatter.

The passengers were panicked and rushed to the corridors, decks, stairwells, etc. in a hurry.

At 0:15 a.m. on the 15th, the "Titanic" sent out the SOS distress signal for the first time. Half an hour later, a signal flare was sent out, and the lifeboat began to be lowered into the dark sea. Nearly half of the frantic passengers were rushing to grab the lifeboat. However, there was too much to eat. Because I blindly believed that this was an "unsinkable boat", there was not enough life-saving equipment - there were more than 2,000 passengers, but only 20 lifeboats were prepared - so it was far from being able to rescue all the passengers. At this time, shrill howls and desperate sobs filled the entire ship. Some people calmed down after reaching this desperate situation. The men decided to put the women and children on the lifeboat first, while they themselves stayed on the ship. Captain Smith also stayed on the ship with other men, determined to survive with the "Titanic".

At 2:10 in the morning, all the lights on the "Titanic" were extinguished. In the starry night sky, the outline of the deformed hull was still clearly visible to everyone. The passengers who were lucky enough to get on the lifeboat, with the help of the faint starlight and the reflection on the sea, watched the giant boat tilt slowly, and then the stern gradually tilted up, revealing the blades. Finally, the hull finally became vertical, and Because of this attitude, the hull sank faster.

At 2:20, the "Titanic", known as the "unsinkable ship", was buried on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean with 1,513 passengers and crew. There was a whirlpool on the sea surface, but it disappeared after a while. The sea became calm again, as if nothing had happened.

According to the final survey statistics, the total number of people rescued from the lifeboats was only 695, which was only one-third of the total number of people.

Chapter 3: Is there really a prophet in the world?

"The world's largest luxury liner 'Titanic' sank" - as soon as this unfortunate news spread, people immediately It caused a great shock all over the world. However, when readers who have read Morgan Robertson's novel "The Act of Fiction" recall the plot of the novel, or when readers who read this novel for the first time understand its content, the surprise they feel is far away. It far exceeds the shock caused by the sinking of the "Qintanic" to people. A question immediately popped up in people's minds: Is there really such an efficacious prophet in the world? Because "Fictional Acts" also describes a tragic shipwreck, and the details of this accident are so similar to the sinking of the "Titanic" in real life that they are almost exactly the same.

Please read a passage from the novel "Acts of Fiction":

In April 1898, on the Port of Burton in Shakespeare, England, a luxury liner was about to embark on her journey. On its maiden voyage, this luxury ship with a total length of 240 meters and a displacement of 75,000 tons is not only known as the largest passenger ship in the world, but also boasts that it is a passenger ship.

"Unsinkable". However, when this "unsinkable ship" began its maiden voyage via the Atlantic Ocean to New York. Unfortunately, it hit an iceberg and sank. There were 3,000 people on board, but there were only 24 lifeboats. Therefore, after the ship sank, most of the crew and passengers

sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship.

From the above passage, it is not difficult to find many coincidences between the two shipwrecks:

The shipwreck described in the novel occurred in April 1894. The "Titanic" sank in real life also in April, but moved 14 years later;

The giant ship in the novel also started its maiden voyage from Button Port, Shah Shan, and its destination It is also New York, and the location of the accident is also on the Atlantic Ocean;

The tragedy in the novel also occurred because it hit an iceberg during the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank and there were not enough lifeboats, resulting in the death of many passengers. This is consistent with " The reasons for the "Titanic" incident are actually the same;

In addition, the giant ship in the novel also wanted to set a new sailing record across the Atlantic Ocean, which is not the same as the "Titanic" in reality. And together;

On the night of the incident, the ships sailing around the "Titanic" telegraphed five times to the "Titanic" to warn it that there were icebergs drifting around it, but it turned a deaf ear and continued Driving at a high speed of 23 nautical miles finally led to misfortune. The giant ship in the novel also traveled at a high speed of 25 nautical miles, which was only 2 nautical miles different from the "Titanic".

In addition, the ship in the novel is also equipped with three oars. It is also called "the largest luxury passenger ship in the world" and also has the reputation of "unsinkable ship". What's even more surprising is that the name of the giant ship in the novel is "Titanic", which is only one word different from "Titanic"!

How can all these coincidences not leave a deep impression on people and cause strong shock.

As a result, a novel that was unknown and unremarkable 14 years ago became a best-seller overnight after the sinking of the "Titanic" and was called " "The most astonishing prophetic novel in a century" was written by Morgan Robertson, a writer who was a sailor and immediately became famous and suspected of being an efficacious prophet.

It stands to reason that Morgan Robertson is now in a good position to steal the show. However, shortly after the sinking of the Titanic, Robertson committed suicide in Adolescent, New Jersey. When the news came, everyone was shocked. No one knows the real reason for his suicide. Is it because the plot of the novel is so similar to reality that it caused the sinking of the "Titanic"? Or did Robertson blame himself too much because of his sense of guilt, which led him to commit suicide? Does Morgan Robertson really have the ability to predict the future? As of now, no one is sure of the truth, and it leaves people with a mystery.

Chapter 4: Dreams can predict the future

Dreams - a complex combination of physiological and mental phenomena of a person, have been playing a mysterious role in human life since ancient times. . Because the content in dreams is sometimes so wonderfully consistent with what has happened or will happen in life, people can't help but be amazed and confused by dreams. After the sinking of the Titanic, several stories related to dreams were circulated.

At that time, long before the "Titanic" set sail, there had been quite a craze among the British upper class surrounding the purchase of tickets for the "Titanic". Those gentlemen and young ladies, as well as wealthy businessmen and wealthy businessmen, are all lucky enough to win a ticket on the Titanic's maiden voyage. Tickets for the "Titanic" have doubled in value and are extremely difficult to buy.

At this time, John Oyo, a famous British industrialist, had to rush to the United States for business transactions. He tried every means and tried many methods to finally get a ticket for the "Titanic". This happened on March 23, 1912.

However, a strange thing happened: just ten days before the "Titanic"'s maiden voyage, John Oner had the same unlucky dream for two consecutive nights. In his dream, he saw the "Titanic" sinking in the vast ocean. Many passengers, including adults and children, were ruthlessly thrown into the sea... After waking up, Ona felt extremely uneasy. After thinking about it again and again, he decided to quit. Ferry tickets. After the news of the Titanic's disaster came, he felt deeply grateful and said that two nightmares saved his life.

Coincidentally, Charles Morgan, a church pastor living in Winnepec, Canada, also had nightmares about a giant ship sinking into the sea. It was the afternoon of the day when the shipwreck occurred. In order to think about the content of the evening service speech, Pastor Morgan felt a little tired and dozed off. Faintly, he had a dream and saw a horrifying sight: a magnificent ship sailing on the night-shrouded sea. Suddenly the sky became darker and thicker fog filled the air. The giant ship suddenly collided with the iceberg in the thick fog. The crowd on the deck suddenly became chaotic, and everyone rushed to get on the lifeboat. The screams for help and crazy howls resounded through the night sky. Finally, the giant ship turned from tilted to vertical, and soon sank to the bottom of the sea. At this time, a hymn song was suddenly heard from the sea, and the pastor woke up amid the hymn song. That night, after the service, the pastor truthfully told the believers present what he had seen in his dream. After hearing this, everyone sang hymns in unison. It is said that the sinking of the "Titanic" occurred just a few hours after this hymn.

However, there are also cases where people died on board the ship even though they had predicted it would sink, such as W.J. Stitt, a famous journalist in London. Stitt had told Morgan Robertson very early on The shipwreck described in the novel "Acts of Fiction" has been criticized and criticized, pointing out that it was entirely due to the lack of lifeboats on the ship that caused such a huge tragedy. Stitt himself once wrote a short story that considered the structure! It tells the tragic story of a scheduled passenger ship that hit an iceberg. What's even more surprising is that Stitt also had a nightmare, in which he saw himself standing on the deck of a sinking ship without a lifejacket, watching helplessly as the lifeboat left him. What's even more bizarre is that he clearly remembers that the name of the sunken ship was also called "Titanic". After the sinking of the Titanic, Stitt's friends recalled that several fortune tellers had told Stitt that he had "water troubles" several years before the incident. One of them even said something miraculous: "You will take a boat to the United States. But I have already seen a thousand people calling for help at sea, and you are one of them." Stitt did not believe the prophecy of nightmares. He ignored the fortune teller's warning and bought a ticket to board the Titanic, only to die in the belly of the fish.

This story was very popular at the time. However, the most important thing about the story is that the person involved in the story, Stitt, is no longer alive. Therefore, no matter how vividly the story is told, its credibility is elusive to the discerning eye. Known

Chapter 5: "The Mummy's Curse" - a more bizarre legend

For our contemporary people, the sinking of the "Titanic" is no longer a legend. Why is a mystery, especially after Dr. Robert Ballard led the American diving expedition to explore the Atlantic Ocean twice and released the photos and expedition records in 1985 and 1986, "Titanic" The cause of the sinking of the 1988-1998 ship is already clear: it hit a huge piece of ice drifting from the Greenland glacier into the Atlantic Ocean. In an era when sonic detection had not yet been invented, it was indeed inevitable for ships traveling at night on the vast sea to hit these ice blocks. What's more, the speed of the "Titanic" at the time was so high - 23 nautical miles. After such a huge iceberg impact, Cutting, the hull was cracked by up to one third, and no matter how big the ship was, it could not escape the fate of capsizing.

However, most people at the beginning of this century did not understand the above facts. They thought that the "Titanic" was not only the largest ship in the world, but also known as the "unsinkable ship", so even if it hit an iceberg It should be safe and sound. So after the sinking of the "Titanic", people began to speculate whether there were other unknown hidden secrets. Such an extremely bizarre legend - "The Mummy's Curse" spread like wildfire.

It is said that around 1900, a group of archaeologists unearthed a sarcophagus in an ancient tomb in Egypt. The so-called curse was engraved on the sarcophagus: "Anyone who encounters this sarcophagus will be , everyone will suffer." Archaeologists are committed to archaeological research, and no one will pay too much attention to the content of this spell, so the work will continue. When they opened the sarcophagus, they saw a mummy that had survived for thousands of years. So scholars transported the sarcophagus to the UK together with the mummy in the coffin, and displayed it in the British Museum for people to visit. Not long after, an archaeologist who was one of the members of the archaeological team suddenly died suddenly and inexplicably; and then those archaeologists also died one after another inexplicably. In view of the strangeness of the situation, the museum authorities decided to hide the sarcophagus out of sight for further investigation. Ten years have passed and the research still has no clue. A wealthy American industrialist was very interested in this matter and was willing to pay a high price to buy the sarcophagus and mummies from the museum. After several negotiations, the industrialist finally purchased the thousands-year-old mummies and sarcophagus. When he decided to transport the sarcophagus and mummy back to the United States, it happened to be that the Titanic was preparing for its first voyage to the United States. The industrialist thought that this was good luck, so he entrusted the Titanic to transport it. . When the news of the Titanic's disaster at sea spread, people who had visited the sarcophagus and mummies suddenly realized that he had spoken the full text of the spell engraved on the sarcophagus. Its last sentence was exactly: "Anyone who encounters this Everyone in the sarcophagus will die and will be swallowed by the sea."

Chapter 6: Not the end - another strange premonition

After the sinking of the "Titanic". In 1935, an incident similar to the "Titanic" incident occurred, but with a comic color. This time, an irregular mail ship set sail from Canada from west to east, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and sailing to the United Kingdom. The man on duty was a 23-year-old young seaman named William Rivers, who stood on the ship and looked out. Because it happened to be April, he couldn't help but think that the shipwrecks in the book "Fictional Behavior" and in reality all happened in this season and in this sea area. And now it's midnight, and I can't calm down as I think about it. Although the ocean was calm at the time and the mail ship was sailing normally, the scenes that kept popping up in his mind gradually expanded into a premonition. Although he felt sleepy, he still watched nervously with his bloodshot eyes for any signs of danger ahead. The sea surface is still so hazy and there is no sign of anything. In this case, of course he couldn't call the police loudly, which would cause ridicule from his friends, but he couldn't remain silent at all. He was confused and hesitant.

Somehow, he suddenly clearly remembered the exact date of the "Titanic" disaster—April 14, 1912. It was also the day of his own birth. It was a coincidence that made him shudder. So he called out the alarm loudly, and the helmsman received his call signal and immediately sounded the alarm: the engine retreated at full speed, and the ship suddenly stopped in a sea of ??waves. The crew rushed to the deck. ah! A huge iceberg stood directly in front, only a few meters away from the ship.

Before long, more icebergs swarmed up the river and gathered around the irregular mail ship, and the ship was surrounded. The distress signal was sent to Newfoundland, and an icebreaker came. It took nine days to clear a channel through the iceberg. The mail boat was saved.

What is shocking is that the name of the mail ship is "Titanic", which is only a verbal difference from "Titanic".