The big piece cabin

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Jenn Quaile (Jenn)

Guest
is anyone sure of whom the cabin which is now being called the big piece belonged to ? i have heard a few different stories and would like to know for sure. i think that it was a great accomplishment for all titanic experts and fans that they have finally brung up an actual piece of the most famous ship ever. does anyone know where the big piece will finally be displayed permantly?
 
Jenn: I heard that the porthole of Mr and Mrs Douglas' cabin (C-86) is part of the big piece. Other sources affirm that it was the porthole of theatre impressario Henry Harris (C-83). I personally believe it was C-86. Hope I helped you.

Charles
 
If memory still serves me (and occasionally it doesn't!), I thought the "big piece" was identified as being from the starboard side which would mean cabin C-83. I thought the cabin was originally identified as being unoccupied but in that same area (C-81 or C-85?). Regards, Lou
 
Hi! I had the privilege of viewing the "Big Piece" when it was in Boston. They had a diagram indicating where on Titanic the piece was from. I don't remember exactly what cabin number it was, but it was definitely an unoccupied cabin. I also believe it was the starboard side. You also might try checking the RMS Titanic Inc. web site since they brought up the piece.

Tracey
 
On RMS Titanic inc. site, it is mentioned that Mr Haas and other researchers concluded that the Big Piece come from the area of cabin C-83 and C-85, respectively occupied by Mr and Mrs Henry Harris and Mr and Mrs Cummings. The portholes were from the private bathrooms of this section of the ship. Regards,

Charles
 
Hi!

Quite actually there was a lot of confusion about where the piece was from. Whilst still on the bottom, the piece was originally identified to be from cabins C82, 84, 86, 88 and 90. This is evidently not at all possible. The cabins were then thought to be from cabins C86 and 88 with the bathrooms in between.

Later when further research was done by Harland and Wolff experts, they concluded that the piece came from cabins C79 and C81 (with private bathroom facilities in between). Once the piece was actually recovered, that theory was confirmed. The piece actually came from the two cabins:
C79
C81

Hope this helps.

Daniel.
 
Daniel: You're right in saying that the cabins were C79 and C81. I've just seen a web site on sea exploration and salvage expedition from the Titanic, and their experts had the same conclusion as Harland & Wolff's. Best regards,

Charles
 
The Big Piece was once part of unoccupied First class staterooms C-79 and C-81. Also attached was a D deck partition that was once part of a glass storeroom in the first class pantry. Whats fascinating is that when the piece arrived at the Titanic exhibit in Boston, it still had quite a bit of paint, mainly black paint on the rivetheads. When the piece was sprayed with a conserving solution, one could touch the outer hull portion, and find their hand coated with rust and black paint fragments. All that paint has still washed away. Visitors were allowed to touch the Big Piece..

The D deck partition had a perfectly intact length of white paint. Also caked to the inner walls of the Big Piece were rusticle fragments, that often fell at the feet of visitors, and what the concervator later revealed is that behind the rust was quite a bit of intact wood, though random fragments...


Regards

Tarn Stephanos

click on my name, and youll see me hugging the Big Piece, at the Boston exhibit
 
In addition to cabins C-79 and c-81, the portholes of the bathrooms between are present too. There **WERE*** 2 pipes , one above each small bathroom porthole when the piece was put on display, but one vanished by the time the Big Piece was treated and conserved by conservator Joe Sembrat at "Conservations Solutions Inc", down in VA. I hate to say it, but the Longshoremen in Boston, who offloaded the piece to the exhibit, and the construction men in St Paul, who dismantled the tank in which the Piece was sitting; took more than souvenires.I noticed changes in the Piece before and after those exhibits.Rivets were missing,a bit of glass from a porthole was gone, a pipe was missing,etc...
Plus after the Atlantic City exhibit, the Big Piece was covered with coins tossed upon it, many of which reacted in a corrosive fasion with the steel of the Big Piece. Some of those coins are still wedged in nooks the conservator has not been able to access...
In Boston the firemarshal told me several longshoremen were at Boston General, having ripped their hands open in attempts to pluck rivets...Is there no respect??????

Id like to have the whole lot of them keel hauled...


Regards

Tarn Stephanos
 
The Big Piece is now in two sections...
There is "the Big Piece", consisting of the main C deck portion, and the "Mini Big Piece", consisting of the smaller D deck portion (including the D deck partition). It was cut at the end of the Boston Titanic exhibit, i think to make shipping it a bit easier. Since then, the two sections have been displayed in different cities-hopefully they will one day be reunited...

Joe Sembrat, the man who conserved the Big Piece did a stunning job. All that rust is gone, and the 2 halves of the Big Piece are covered with a protective black film. Sadly the once prominant white paint that survived on the D deck partition now looks dark brown under the protective coat.

Regards

Tarn Stephanos
 

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