"Report of a Formal Investigation into the Sinking of the HMHS Britannic"

[Michail Michailakis]

Hello,

I'll try to update the "Enigma" section this week.Thanks for the sources Mark.

Regarding the water column,the official inquiry uses its absence in order to defend the mine theory.So I guess a mine causes a different kind of effect.I'm no expert of course.

It seems very improbable having identified the cause of the explosion from inside the ship.I think Coe just took for granted the accounts of the rest of the crew members.

Some news:I've managed to identify (without any doubt) the building seen in the photos of the survivors in Athens.It's the "Actaion" hotel that hosted the nurses.I used a large photo of the hotel found in a bazzar yesterday.I spent about 25' searching boxes with old pictures but my patience was rewarded.

Two days ago,I wrote to the Cousteau Society asking for information about the whereabouts of the items retrieved from the wreck.They replied yesterday and they asked me to send more details in order to help them.I've sent a list and a brief description of the items.The material of the expedition is currently stored somewhere.Let's see what will come out of this.I hope they're somewhere in Athens

Regards,
Michail

PS:Remco,would you like me to e-mail to you the 3D photos and the drawings in order to inform me about the corrections?

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Hi Michail,

I'm hoping some mariners will chime in about the mine point.

Glad you found the picture of the hotel.

Also I am glad the Cousteau society replied; when I wrote to them asking for information for my book, I never heard from them.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello,

There are shows about minesweepers on the television sometimes, and when detonating one of those things, it creates a 'bit' of a watercolumn.
Suppose a WWI mine also creates one, but lower?
Anyone?

Nice work with the hotel!
Must be great to live close to places with Britannic history, it allows some classical research.

Hmm, great to hear that the Cousteau society really wants to look into it.
But hearing that the things are currently stored somewhere does raise some doubts though...it is after all Titanic's sistership, making it nice museum pieces.
Keep those fingers crossed!

About the drawings, I have my drawings stored on the computer so a description of the ones you'd like to use is enough.
Please send those 3-D ones though, I don't have those stored.

Regards,
Remco

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Whether you get a water column from a mine depends on how much explosive is in the weapon and whether or not it's close to the surface. The old fashioned bottom moored mines with the protruding horns were weapons which were of World War One vintage in design if not in the time they were actually built. Quite a few of these were used by Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and with 300 pounds of explosive inside, you get a water column when the damn thing goes off! (Ask the Samual B. Roberts and the Tripoli.)

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Michail Michailakis]

The Cousteau Society replied again

.

The larger items were given to the Greek Ministry of Culture and then distributed among various greek museums .However it's possible that some items were given to the museum at Monaco as a loan or as gift,since Cousteau was the director there.

Apart from the items seen on "Britannic",they were also retrieved bits of coal and an alarm clock (taken by survivor Sheila Mitchell).I asked for a more detailed list.

Research will be continued here in Athens.I've already checked the Maritime Museum.They have nothing

Regards,
Michail

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Wow, Michail,

I hope your research continues well.

Hi Remco, Michael,

I think we know the depth of the mines in Kea, but I don't think I've ever seen any references to explosives unfortunately.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hmm, seems that I missed a couple of messages...sorry for this late reply!


Nice work Michail!
Wonder what more items Cousteau brought up.

What would they mean with an alarm clock..?
One of those things that you'd like to throw out of the window early in the morning?

I'll surf the Internet some more to see if there is anything new about WWI mines.

Regards,
Remco

 

[JEANY SANCHEZ]

how many people died in the HMHS BRITANNIC is the Britannic the sister of the Titanic?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

The Olympic, Titanic and Britannic were all considered sister ships in that they were built to the same basic design. The Britannic may be more properly considered a half sister as she was 18 inches wider and had a more powerful propulsion plant.

According to the last paragraph in This Timeline, 30 people lost their lives.

 

[Matthew Cooper]

I have a theory what if a torpedo hit Britannic but failed to explode and than than Britannic hit's a mine which does explode.

 

[Mark Baber]

CSN&Y, Déjà Vu

We have all been here before,
We have all been here before.

 

[chrisshaw]

Britannic sinking

Hello,

Why did the Britannic sink at all when she could stay afloat even with her first six compartments flooded? Some say she had a couple watertight doors open. How could this happened or do you even agree?

Tell me what you think,

Chris Shaw

[Moderator's note: This message was originally a separate thread in a different topic. MAB]