|
The loss of the White Star Liner RMS Titanic needs no introduction for anyone alive today. On its maiden voyage in 1912 the great vessel suffered irreversible damage, after a glancing blow from an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on 14 April 1912 opened five water-tight compartments to the in-rushing sea. At 2:20 a.m. the following day, 15 April, the technological marvel of the Edwardian Age sank.
The disaster — now acknowledged as one of the landmark events of the early 20th century — created immediate and immense public attention. Back in 1912, however, radio, television, long-distance telephone service, cell and satellite phones, video-cameras, the Internet — all the telecommunications marvels that we take for granted in today's 'wired world' — simply did not exist.
Instead, telegraphy provided breaking news about the Titanic; newspapers and periodicals subsequently developed in-depth features; on-location photography provided a few visual records; and a limited range of official documentation was created to give identity to the 1,518 souls lost in the catastrophe.
In the nearly ten decades since the night of 15 April 1912, many of these now-rare examples of contemporaneous disaster journalism and official reportage have found their way — much like flotsam — to the Nova Scotia Archives, where their significance and value is well understood. We are pleased to present them here in virtual format, so that the memory of those who died in Titanic's catastrophic end will not be forgotten.
Planning a visit to Halifax? Find out more about the city's Titanic heritage and about the popular exhibit onsite at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, by visiting http://titanic.gov.ns.ca/.
|
print version
