MTFCA Forum

Bangor University
Gina Martinez
Wed, September 28, 2022, 3:52 PM

"The remains of the SS Mesaba, the ship that sent an iceberg warning to the doomed Titanic, have been found lying in the Irish Sea...."

(Torpedoed by German submarine, WWI, 1918)

With the outbreak of WWI, the Titanic, if available, would have almost certainly have been comandeered by the British Navy and gutted, then re-fitted as a troopship with a capacity of around 3,000 men. Had she been torpedoed while carrying thousands of troops, which is not unlikely, loss of life would have been catastrophic. One of Titanic's 2 sister ships was torpedoed and sunk. The remaining one survived the war and was in regular service for about 20 years.

That was RMS Olympic ?

the Olympic.

Very cool to hear about Mesaba.

Very interesting information, thanks Pat for the story....n

I (vaguely) recall that one of the Jacques Cousteau episodes featured an elderly nurse who survived the sinking in the Agean. They took her down to view the wreck of the ship, which is not far below the surface. I don't remember if she was in some sort of vehicle or using SCUBA. I'd like to see the Jacques Cousteau programming return to TV. Lots of fluff and chitter-chatter from decades past is continually re-run on TV, but no Cousteau.

Something that most people don't know, the Titanic was not the first of the 3 to make the crossing to New York, it was one of her sister ships.

Violet Jessup?

"Another important moment was the visit of Sheila-Macbeth Mitchell (aged 86) who took a dive to the wreck inside the small 2-seat Soucoupe submersible, named Denise."

Macbeth-Mitchell had been a nurse aboard the Britannic when it was destroyed. The Cousteau episode was filmed during 1976. The wreck is over 200' below the surface. Cousteau actually entered the wreck.

hmhsbritannic.weebly.com › 1975-6-cousteau.html

What happened to the Carpathia? This was a milestone in radio communication.
Craig.

The worst ship disaster in history, with the greatest loss of life in peacetime or in time of war, was the German passenger liner, “Wilhelm Gustloff” carrying over 10,000 souls (must have been standing room only). It is estimated that 9,400, including 5,000 children died when it was torpedoed in the Baltic Sea by Soviet submarine S-13 on January 30, 1945. It was evacuating German refugees from Gdynia, composed of civilians, Nazi officials and Nazi troops, as the Red Army approached. It sunk in less than 40 minutes. Only one life boat was launch due to the boats being frozen in their davits. Those not killed by the explosions of the torpedos drowned and froze to death as the air temperature that night was 14 degrees F and the water was around freezing, with ice floes covering the surface. Jim Patrick

During the Great War (1914-1918), the Carpathia was converted to a troop carrier. On July 17, 1918, while in a convoy going from Liverpool to Boston to pick up troops and supplies, the Carpathia was sunk by 3 torpedos from a German U-boat. 5 died. The rest were rescued by the “HMS Snowdrop”. In 1999, it was discovered upright, in 500 ft. of water. Jim Patrick

Thanks James,
I didn't know that.
Craig.