A
Aaron_2016
Guest
Is 2.20am really the time the Titanic sank or simply the time she 'disappeared' from most of the survivors' view? Perhaps the stern was still afloat for a considerable time after she broke. Survivors heard horrific screams that lasted about 10 minutes after the ship had 'disappeared' but survivor Thomas Dillon told a British reporter that nobody could scream in the water because it was so cold. Lady Duff Gordon said there were terrible screams during the sinking but also absolute silence after she sank. Other survivors described how the screams stopped immediately after the ship sank. I believe a large number of people heard the screams after the lights went out and assumed the ship had sunk, when they were possibly still on the floating stern which had keeled over and was rocking violently in the dark. This could also explain why the lifeboats refused to return to the scene. They feared of being pulled in by the suction as the broken stern went down. The officers could not admit she broke, so they instead said it was too dangerous because the people might swamp the boat. They probably could see the outline of the stern and realized it was too dangerous to row back.
The survivors would one minute see a giant ocean liner all beautifully lit, and the instant they heard an explosive sound and turned their shoulder, they would see darkness, and possibly assumed the ship had sunk at that very moment, without realizing the stern had broken, canted over, turned around, and was hiding what little light she had left against the backdrop of millions of stars stretching the horizon - hence their belief that she sank around 2.20am when in reality the stern may have been afloat for a long time after that as watches stopped long after 2.20am.
A report from 1912 said that Frank Prentice was on the stern and dropped into the water when the ship's lights went out. He later gave an interview and said before he left the ship the stern had settled back and seemed to bob like a cork and then he dropped into the water. He showed his pocket watch which stopped at 2.21am - the moment he slid into the water while the stern was still afloat. Some survivors said the stern was afloat for at least 5 minutes. Some heard explosions before she sank while others heard explosions after she 'disappeared'. I think the term disappeared could be misleading as that was not the moment she actually sank. We also have survivors who said there was an explosive sound as the stern rose up to take her final plunge, while other survivors heard heard two explosive sounds and judged them to be 10 to 20 minute apart, which could suggest the stern was afloat for as long as 10 minutes (assuming the first explosion was the break and the second was the moment the stern rose up to take her final dive). There are also some survivors who thought the ship sank with her lights still on - hence their belief that the ship had sunk the moment the lights went out, or to put it better, the moment she seemed to disappear. I believe the stern was likely still afloat for a considerable time after she broke, and that the 2.20am time of sinking might be incorrect.
.
The survivors would one minute see a giant ocean liner all beautifully lit, and the instant they heard an explosive sound and turned their shoulder, they would see darkness, and possibly assumed the ship had sunk at that very moment, without realizing the stern had broken, canted over, turned around, and was hiding what little light she had left against the backdrop of millions of stars stretching the horizon - hence their belief that she sank around 2.20am when in reality the stern may have been afloat for a long time after that as watches stopped long after 2.20am.
A report from 1912 said that Frank Prentice was on the stern and dropped into the water when the ship's lights went out. He later gave an interview and said before he left the ship the stern had settled back and seemed to bob like a cork and then he dropped into the water. He showed his pocket watch which stopped at 2.21am - the moment he slid into the water while the stern was still afloat. Some survivors said the stern was afloat for at least 5 minutes. Some heard explosions before she sank while others heard explosions after she 'disappeared'. I think the term disappeared could be misleading as that was not the moment she actually sank. We also have survivors who said there was an explosive sound as the stern rose up to take her final plunge, while other survivors heard heard two explosive sounds and judged them to be 10 to 20 minute apart, which could suggest the stern was afloat for as long as 10 minutes (assuming the first explosion was the break and the second was the moment the stern rose up to take her final dive). There are also some survivors who thought the ship sank with her lights still on - hence their belief that the ship had sunk the moment the lights went out, or to put it better, the moment she seemed to disappear. I believe the stern was likely still afloat for a considerable time after she broke, and that the 2.20am time of sinking might be incorrect.
.
Last edited by a moderator: