Titanic Moments

Alas! One of our favorite people is leaving the Reference Department at the Mississippi Library Commission for other climes. (Never you mind that the clime in question is just down the street!) As a tribute to this momentous occasion, I thought we would send her off with a few nuggets on her favorite subject: The Titanic.

• The first oddity I ran across mentions that the Titanic, contrary to popular belief, was not the first ship to use SOS as a distress signal. That distinction goes to a ship called the Azaoahoe. It ran into trouble back in August of 1909, a full 2 1/2 years before the Titanic's disaster in April of 1912. (SOS Oxford)
• Another peculiarity regarding the distress calls that went out April 15? SOS being a fairly new distress signal, the Morse code operator, Jack Phillips used "CDQ," an older signal, at first. Another operator suggested he try "SOS" because "this might be your last chance to send it." (Fran SOS) Ahhh, prophetic last words...
• Many people know that the Titanic had two sister ships: the Olympic and the Britannic. Both ships were requisitioned during World War I. The Britannic served as a hospital ship. She struck a mine in 1916 and sank, thankfully losing only 30 out of over 1,000 people. The Olympic had quite a different life. Serving as a troop carrier, the Olympic was fired upon twice by a submarine in 1918. Instead of trying to outrun the sub, the captain turned the Olympic and rammed the submarine, gashing a hole in it and sinking it. (http://www.titanic-whitestarships.com/) Seems that the captain was determined to keep at least one of the trio afloat!

Although I'm sure that Brandie had prior knowledge of my Titanic nuggets, I had fun tracking them down for her. We all wish her the best of luck at her new job. We know it won't turn out anything like the Titanic!

Fran, Y. (n.d). SOS: the signal that has saved thousands turns 100. Times, The (United Kingdom). Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
"‘SOS’" The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. Ed. I. C. B. Dear and Peter Kemp. Oxford University Press, 2007. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Mississippi Library Commission. 14 June 2011 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t225.e2271
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/RMS_Titanic_3.jpg
http://www.titanic-whitestarships.com/Britannic1_1914.htm
http://www.titanic-whitestarships.com/Olympic_1911.htm