Photo of Titanic at Queenstown by McLean

Yuri Singleton

Yuri Singleton

Member
I'm looking closely at the nice broadside photograph of Titanic made by Mr. McLean aboard the tender America in Queenstown Ireland. My copy appears on page 71 of THE LAST DAYS OF TITANIC: Photographs and momentos of the tragic maiden voyage . What has captured my attention is the tiny little speck at the top of the forth funnel. I think this speck is a person peering out from the top of the funnel. Probably the same person seen in the photograph by Mr. Whyte which more clearly shows a white shirted person looking down from the top of the forth funnel upon the mass of passengers gathering at the stern. This person at the top of the funnel was later thought to be a bad omen.

Does anyone else see the same speck on the McLean photo as I do? Is this a second picture of Mr. Bad Omen?

Yuri
 
Yuri,
Check the thread "Funnel Face" further down in this section.

Funnel Face

Just started into a new book, by Stephen Spignesi, called "The Complete Titanic", and have read a couple of interesting items so far, and id like to share a few for group consumption..."One odd story told about the Queenstown stop involved the ships 4th funnel-a nun functioning funnel used only...
www.encyclopedia-titanica.org www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Josh.
 
Thanks Josh, I read the entire thread. Very interesting. But I see an object at the top of the fourth funnel in a different photograph. I would like someone to let me know if they also see this dark speck in other copies of this photograph. If the speck is real, it could be a second photo of the man who climbed the funnel to have a look around.
By the way, in my copy of the Whyte photo, the one that clearly shows Titanic's stern from a very close distance, I can see that the man at the top of the funnel has a white jacket on and his right arm and shoulder is visible laying across the top of the funnel rim.
Can anyone else verify this? Use a magnifying glass if possible.

Yuri
 
Yuri:
These tired old eyes cannot make out the speck you are talking about on page 71 of "The Last Days of the Titanic." Okay, I do see a very miniscule impression. But, there is also a small dot above the forward end of the second funnel.

Because the picture on page 73 was taken from aft of the portside, it doesn't seem possible that the same "Bad Oman" guy would be visible from the starboard side, as pictured on page 71. The geometry just doesn't seem right. Unless, of course the "Bad Oman" guy moved around so that he was always in sight of the America, which is possible. It seems like Mr. McLean would have mentioned something in his notes, though, just like Mr. Whyte did, if he saw the stoker.

The similar starboard side pictures on pages 75 and 92 don't indicate a stoker, either.

Here's a question for you. The pictures on pages 71, 73, and 75 show the flag flying off the stern, but it's missing on the page 95 photo. Why?
 
Mike,
Upon closer examination, it would appear that the two pictures are identical. The only reason I can see for the missing flag is that the photograph on page 92 was re-touched to eliminate the cloudy sky above Titanic and in the process the flag was ERASED.

Yuri
 

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