TITANIC

[marconi beach]

On this day the Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 and sank the next morning. I have a styrofoam cup that was taken down to her and compressed to the size of a coffee creamer by the 6,000 PSI pressure at a depth of 12,418 feet. If anyone is interested I can share a picture of it.

 

[marconi beach]

On this day in 1985 Woods Hole found the Titanic. In 1985 we also found the Whydah bell silencing most of the doubters who claimed they wanted more evidence.

 

[Mackaydon]

Who actually found the wreck first: Barry or Rob?

Don in So Cal

 

[WoodsDigger]

On this day in 1985 Woods Hole found the Titanic. In 1985 we also found the Whydah bell silencing most of the doubters who claimed they wanted more evidence.

I heard Dr Ballard call his dad to tell him the news on a ship to shore radio phone call. I was a 16 year old amateur radio operator and short wave listener at that time. I called down the stairs...mom ! They found the Titanic. It was a pretty amazing day for me.

 

[marconi beach]

Who actually found the wreck first: Barry or Rob?
View attachment 2264023

Don in So Cal

Whydah was located by mag operated by Mel's mag guy Fay Fields I believe. Barry got the idea for mailboxes from Mel also. As for who made the first dive and found diagnostic
artifacts I can't say but both of them spent a lot of time underwater.

 

[Crow]

The Titanic was an amazing discovery, but that is one ship I am not interested in, not because it's not interesting. I just think the focus has always been too much on that event rather than other maritime tragedies.

For the general public, people fascinate over the story of the Titanic and the tragic loss of life so much so that it eclipses all other memories of ships that had a tragic loss of life. You ask a person in the street to name a ship with a tragic loss of life 98% will probably say Titanic. RMS Titanic (1912): ~1,517 deaths. The famous British passenger liner that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage.The sad thing there have been other ships with much higher recorded deaths. Other vessels with much higher death tolls are largely unknown or forgotten.

MV Wilhelm Gustloff (1945): ~9,300–9,400 deaths. A German armed military transport ship carrying refugees that was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea.

MV Armenia (1941): ~5,000–7,000 deaths. A Soviet transport and hospital ship sunk by German aircraft in the Black Sea.

Junyo Maru (1944): ~5,620 deaths. A Japanese freighter carrying Allied prisoners of war and forced laborers that was torpedoed by a British submarine.

Toyama Maru (1944): ~5,400 deaths. A Japanese troop transport ship sunk by an American submarine in the East China Sea.

RMS Lancastria (1940): ~4,000+ deaths. A British troopship bombed and sunk by German aircraft off the coast of France.

SS Kiangya (1948): ~3,000–4,000 deaths. A Chinese passenger ship that hit an explosion (likely a mine) in the Huangpu River.

MV Doña Paz (1987): ~4,385 deaths. An overloaded Philippine passenger ferry that collided with an oil tanker, making it the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.

So sometimes the narrative we have ingrained in psychology, as the memory of the Titanic has become a money spinner as these other vessels and tragic stories have not?

The most valuable Titanic artifact ever sold at auction is an 18-karat gold pocket watch belonging to Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's department store, which fetched $2.3 million (£1.78 million) in November 2025 at Henry Aldridge and Son.

John Jacob Astor IV Pocket Watch: A gold pocket watch belonging to the ship's wealthiest passenger sold for nearly $1.5 million in April 2024, with another timepiece from Astor fetching over $1 million.

Wallace Hartley's Violin: The violin played by the bandleader as the ship sank sold for $1.7 million (£1.1 million) in 2013

Survivor's Life Jacket: A rare surviving life jacket worn by first-class passenger and survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli sold for over $900,000.


Crow

 

[AstralDruid]

I think i have asked this before, but it bugs me, when does a tragic loss of life become an archaeological/historical commodity ?
At what stage does grave robbing (which is exactly what this is) become acceptable ? . Who decides when a mass grave is allowed to be pillaged and desecrated ?. I just returned from a trip to Norway, and inside a museum (places i rarely visit due to my views) was a skeleton of a Viking (supposedly), with bits and pieces found in the same area... I mean this is all in very bad taste.. am I alone in this regard ?
As mentioned by Crow in the post above,, it is a money making and crowd pleasing operation and a sick one at that, my opinion.

 

[Jose The Goon]

Who actually found the wreck first: Barry or Rob?
View attachment 2264023

Don in So Cal

"Who actually found the wreck first: Barry or Rob?"
Don, you know as well as anyone, that any claims concerning
treasures and/or shipwrecks, & pirates, should be taken with a grain of salt. Embellishment always seems to be a factor.
My answer to your question would be; "neither".
Edward Rowe Snow, who dove on the wreck site in the 1940s,
is the go-to guy if you want to know anything about East Coast
facts, stories & lore. Unfortunately, he died in 1982, but he left many books and articles. He had a daily column in The Patriot Ledger that I used to read religiously every day.
Heck, I knew where the Whydah was before either Barry or Bob, just never had the desire or wherewithal to go scratching around out there, especially because most of any treasure was taken by the locals from 1717 onward. The ship sank about a hundred yards offshore & the locals in Wellfleet & the people in neighboring towns had a field day for years. After all, the ship didn't get covered in 5 feet of sand immediately after it went down. A couple of Bellamy's pirates even made it alive to shore.
I did detect Marconi Beach and others in Eastham years ago when it was not restricted and found nothing. People did find a coin or two, here & there, but the bulk of the treasure made many local residents very wealthy years ago. ..............When Clifford first started (JFK Jr. was one of his divers)
he set up a small "museum" in P-Town that held a few coins, some iron objects & a cannon, that was said to "maybe" be filled with gold coins, and an old shoe. I was not impressed.
But, whoever found the ship's bell, now that is impressive, and a great find.
For you and others interested, this is a link to Edward Rowe Snow's WIKI page. I have some articles that I copied from his books & his column, but I have to dig them out. I'm sure I have the part of his book that mentions "locating" and diving on the Whydah. I'll try to find them & post them. CHEERS !
LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rowe_Snow

 

[marconi beach]

"Who actually found the wreck first: Barry or Rob?"
Don, you know as well as anyone, that any claims concerning
treasures and/or shipwrecks, & pirates, should be taken with a grain of salt. Embellishment always seems to be a factor.
My answer to your question would be; "neither".
Edward Rowe Snow, who dove on the wreck site in the 1940s,
is the go-to guy if you want to know anything about East Coast
facts, stories & lore. Unfortunately, he died in 1982, but he left many books and articles. He had a daily column in The Patriot Ledger that I used to read religiously every day.
Heck, I knew where the Whydah was before either Barry or Bob, just never had the desire or wherewithal to go scratching around out there, especially because most of any treasure was taken by the locals from 1717 onward. The ship sank about a hundred yards offshore & the locals in Wellfleet & the people in neighboring towns had a field day for years. After all, the ship didn't get covered in 5 feet of sand immediately after it went down. A couple of Bellamy's pirates even made it alive to shore.
I did detect Marconi Beach and others in Eastham years ago when it was not restricted and found nothing. People did find a coin or two, here & there, but the bulk of the treasure made many local residents very wealthy years ago. ..............When Clifford first started (JFK Jr. was one of his divers)
he set up a small "museum" in P-Town that held a few coins, some iron objects & a cannon, that was said to "maybe" be filled with gold coins, and an old shoe. I was not impressed.
But, whoever found the ship's bell, now that is impressive, and a great find.
For you and others interested, this is a link to Edward Rowe Snow's WIKI page. I have some articles that I copied from his books & his column, but I have to dig them out. I'm sure I have the part of his book that mentions "locating" and diving on the Whydah. I'll try to find them & post them. CHEERS !
LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rowe_Snow

Snow was a legend and is required reading for anyone interested in New England wrecks. Clifford has a new museum now in West Yarmouth directly behind Captain Parkers restaurant. That is where the bell is displayed along with hundreds of other artifacts.

 

[philber]

The Titanic was an amazing discovery, but that is one ship I am not interested in, not because it's not interesting. I just think the focus has always been too much on that event rather than other maritime tragedies.

For the general public, people fascinate over the story of the Titanic and the tragic loss of life so much so that it eclipses all other memories of ships that had a tragic loss of life. You ask a person in the street to name a ship with a tragic loss of life 98% will probably say Titanic. RMS Titanic (1912): ~1,517 deaths. The famous British passenger liner that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage.The sad thing there have been other ships with much higher recorded deaths. Other vessels with much higher death tolls are largely unknown or forgotten.

MV Wilhelm Gustloff (1945): ~9,300–9,400 deaths. A German armed military transport ship carrying refugees that was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea.

View attachment 2264068

MV Armenia (1941): ~5,000–7,000 deaths. A Soviet transport and hospital ship sunk by German aircraft in the Black Sea.

View attachment 2264062

Junyo Maru (1944): ~5,620 deaths. A Japanese freighter carrying Allied prisoners of war and forced laborers that was torpedoed by a British submarine.

View attachment 2264063

Toyama Maru (1944): ~5,400 deaths. A Japanese troop transport ship sunk by an American submarine in the East China Sea.

View attachment 2264064

RMS Lancastria (1940): ~4,000+ deaths. A British troopship bombed and sunk by German aircraft off the coast of France.

View attachment 2264065

SS Kiangya (1948): ~3,000–4,000 deaths. A Chinese passenger ship that hit an explosion (likely a mine) in the Huangpu River.

View attachment 2264066

MV Doña Paz (1987): ~4,385 deaths. An overloaded Philippine passenger ferry that collided with an oil tanker, making it the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.

View attachment 2264067
So sometimes the narrative we have ingrained in psychology, as the memory of the Titanic has become a money spinner as these other vessels and tragic stories have not?

The most valuable Titanic artifact ever sold at auction is an 18-karat gold pocket watch belonging to Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's department store, which fetched $2.3 million (£1.78 million) in November 2025 at Henry Aldridge and Son.

John Jacob Astor IV Pocket Watch: A gold pocket watch belonging to the ship's wealthiest passenger sold for nearly $1.5 million in April 2024, with another timepiece from Astor fetching over $1 million.

Wallace Hartley's Violin: The violin played by the bandleader as the ship sank sold for $1.7 million (£1.1 million) in 2013

Survivor's Life Jacket: A rare surviving life jacket worn by first-class passenger and survivor Laura Mabel Francatelli sold for over $900,000.


Crow

I would say more people would name the Titanic vs these other ships with vastly higher casualties because the Titanic isnt simply a story about mass deaths, its about the allure and image of what the Titanic represented - "unsinkable", luxurious, world class, state of the art. None of those other ships carry the same panache and hyped up sensationalism as those other tragedies. After all, this involved truly "important" people! They were rich, see? So they really, really mattered and we must not forget them! Not like those "average Joe" peons on the warships defending the right of the rich to remain rich.

 

[philber]

I think i have asked this before, but it bugs me, when does a tragic loss of life become an archaeological/historical commodity ?
At what stage does grave robbing (which is exactly what this is) become acceptable ? . Who decides when a mass grave is allowed to be pillaged and desecrated ?. I just returned from a trip to Norway, and inside a museum (places i rarely visit due to my views) was a skeleton of a Viking (supposedly), with bits and pieces found in the same area... I mean this is all in very bad taste.. am I alone in this regard ?
As mentioned by Crow in the post above,, it is a money making and crowd pleasing operation and a sick one at that, my opinion.

When does it become acceptable? When the established "authorities" say so. Try the same thing on your own, and yeah, you're a grave robber because you're not part of the official crowd.