Have any of the funnels been located?

[Dan Kappes]

Before the wreck was found, people thought some or at least one of the funnels would still be on the ship, like in this early painting by Ken Marschall.

And in Clive Cussler's 1976 novel Raise the Titanic!, the fourth funnel has fallen over across the aft boat deck, and it is removed by submersibles before the Titanic is raised. It can be seen on this book cover.

You can also see the alleged 300-foot gash caused by the iceberg and the holes thought to have been made by the boilers crashing through the ship, all myths debunked by the discovery of the wreck in 1985.

For the 1980 film adaptation of the novel, all the funnels except the second one are intact.


On the real wreck, the funnels are no longer on the ship, but have any of them, or some remnants of them, been found in the debris field?

 

[Kyle Naber]

Before the wreck was found, people thought some or at least one of the funnels would still be on the ship, like in this early painting by Ken Marschall.
View attachment 42919
And in Clive Cussler's 1976 novel Raise the Titanic!, the fourth funnel has fallen over across the aft boat deck, and it is removed by submersibles before the Titanic is raised. It can be seen on this book cover.
View attachment 42920
You can also see the alleged 300-foot gash caused by the iceberg and the holes thought to have been made by the boilers crashing through the ship, all myths debunked by the discovery of the wreck in 1985.

For the 1980 film adaptation of the novel, all the funnels except the second one are intact.
View attachment 42921

On the real wreck, the funnels are no longer on the ship, but have any of them, or some remnants of them, been found in the debris field?

Yes. There’s a few fragments of the funnels scattered across the field, but they’re almost unidentifiable compared to what they looked like before the disaster.

 

[IanMcD]

To the best of my knowledge the funnels are long gone. They seem to be the among the first things to disintegrate on a shipwreck. The funnels of the Britannic, Lusitania and even the funnel of a more recent wreck such as the Andrea Doria are gone as well.

 

[IanMcD]

Always thought it was odd that the model ship used in Raise the Titanic still has the first funnel still attached to it when it is so well documented that it fell during the sinking.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Before the wreck was found, people thought some or at least one of the funnels would still be on the ship....

Here are the remains of the 2nd funnel.

I think the film 'Raise the Titanic' had chosen to show the 2nd funnel missing, as there were a number of survivors who only saw the 2nd funnel falling over before the lights went out. e.g.

Survivor Percy Keen said: "It appeared to us that when the ship listed heavily to port the engines fell out and crashed through the side. The second funnel broke off, and killed a number of people in its fall."

Survivor Thomas Ranger believed the ship broke "About the second funnel from forward."

Survivor Jack Thayer said - "The second funnel seemed to be lifted off, emitting a cloud of sparks."


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[Dan Kappes]

Always thought it was odd that the model ship used in Raise the Titanic still has the first funnel still attached to it when it is so well documented that it fell during the sinking.

Maybe the filmmakers thought the first funnel missing would make the ship look bad, so they opted to have the second funnel removed. Until the wreck was found, people weren't sure whether some funnels would have stayed on the wreck or not.

But I wonder if the filmmakers knew that the first funnel collapsed during the sinking when the bridge went under, but they deliberately chose to keep the first funnel and lose the second one for the film.

In the deleted opening sinking sequence, the second funnel is shown collapsing. This was later used in an episode of the 1980s sci-fi TV show Voyagers! It seems to be based on the sinking scenes in the 1953 film, although in that film, no funnels collapsed during the sinking.

 

[Dan Kappes]

Here are the remains of the 2nd funnel.



View attachment 42922


View attachment 42923



I think the film 'Raise the Titanic' had chosen to show the 2nd funnel missing, as there were a number of survivors who only saw the 2nd funnel falling over before the lights went out. e.g.

Survivor Percy Keen said: "It appeared to us that when the ship listed heavily to port the engines fell out and crashed through the side. The second funnel broke off, and killed a number of people in its fall."

Survivor Thomas Ranger believed the ship broke "About the second funnel from forward."

Survivor Jack Thayer said - "The second funnel seemed to be lifted off, emitting a cloud of sparks."


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Yeah, you can see the second funnel seem to jump up a bit and then collapse in the real time sinking video on YouTube.

At 2:37:20.

 

[Kyle Naber]

I think the film-makers knew the funnels wouldn't be intact and on the ship. They're simply too thin and dainty considering water on the outside of them is what made them collapse in the first place. It just is more recognizable to the general public that the ship would have its funnels.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Maybe the filmmakers thought the first funnel missing would make the ship look bad, so they opted to have the second funnel removed. Until the wreck was found, people weren't sure whether some funnels would have stayed on the wreck or not.

I agree. I think the filmmakers just wanted to retain the Titanic's original beauty and magnificence by presenting the raised wreck in great condition, with her iconic funnels towering high above to emphasise her enormous size.

Sadly, if they did succeed in raising the wreck she would probably look like this. Not very glamorous for the Hollywood cameras.


Pictures from 'Drain the Titanic'.


Raising the Titanic - The cold truth of reality.

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[Rancor]

It is interesting how before the discovery of the wreck most people assumed the hull would be sitting virtually intact upright on the bottom with the funnels and masts still attached.

 

[Dan Kappes]

Yeah, the inquiries concluded that the Titanic sank intact, even though a few survivors said it split in half. I guess more survivors thought it sank intact, and it was hard for most people to believe in 1912 that a ship could break in two.

Here's what people thought the wreck looked like before it was found in 1985.

 

[Kyle Naber]

Actually there were more survivors that believed it had broken apart than who swore it sank intact. Most people were under the belief that something destructive had taken place due to the explosive sounds but couldn’t say for sure that it had broken in half.

 

[Aaron_2016]

I think the general consensus at the time was that British ships were strong and built to last. In 1912 the idea that their latest and greatest achievement had broken apart on her maiden voyage would be difficult for many to accept. It would also look bad in the eyes for future investors in a competitive world, especially with Germany in the race to build the greatest ships in the run-up to the war. The ever-demanding customers wanted to know they could depend on White Star liners for safe travel. If the Inquiry had accepted that she broke apart then it would create a negative impact on sales, and open up a serious debate i.e. Did she sink because she was broken on the surface, or did she break apart as she was going down? If that question could not be answered with the limited resources and testimonies they had, then it would create a wedge of doubt among future investors and the paying public would avoid White Star ships built at Harland and Wolff and possibly cripple the economy of British shipbuilding as they would no longer have the respect of the public, and also gain the humiliation from competitors in France and Germany who would use the breaking of the Titanic as a prime example of bad shipbuilding in a time of wide spread propaganda.

They might even have recalled several ships to have their hulls re-enforced with more steel which would delay the industry in an effort to convince the public their ships were safe, and the expense and delay would possibly allow her competitors to take over and give them the upper hand during the outbreak of war as American investors would support German shipbuilding instead of British. I think all of this was floating in the minds of the senior figures at the Inquiry with possibly internal involvement from the British government. It was essential to suppress all stories regarding the breaking of the ship once the Inquiry had reached its conclusion. There seemed to be virtually no reports of the ship breaking in two after the British Inquiry was over. Either the public had grown tired of the subject and stories were never published, or the stories were suppressed and a media blackout on the subject was initiated. e.g. If the London Times wanted to run the story after the Inquiry then they would face libel damages for running a story that the Inquiry stated was false, and the media would focus more on the funnels falling rather than causing friction by mentioning the ship breaking apart.

Just my two cents.


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[Robert T. Paige]

I think the film-makers knew the funnels wouldn't be intact and on the ship. They're simply too thin and dainty considering water on the outside of them is what made them collapse in the first place. It just is more recognizable to the general public that the ship would have its funnels.

Just a question on the materials of the funnels. Were the funnels made of thinner metal than that of the rest of the ship (Quote "simply too thin and dainty" ? )
Also was there some kind of a "stove pipe" within the funnels and the design of the funnels was large as more pleasing to the eye and more impressive than just a smaller "stove pipe." ? I'm basing this on pictures of smaller ships which show just small round "stove pipe" looking "funnels".

In the old "Titanic Adventure Out Of Time" Video Game, there seemed to be quite a lot of room inside the dummy funnel. You had to climb up the inside of the dummy funnel to get to the top in the game.

Also a note from the conversion of RMS Queen Mary to Queen Mary Hotel. When the funnels were being removed, there were reports that they fell apart because the metal had been so corroded over the many years of service ....."The funnels were just being held together by the paint.".....

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[Kyle Naber]

The funnels weren’t the strongest feature on the ship by any means. The last two funnels fell simply because the stern had rolled to port.