Rob Lawes
Member
That is the strangest sounding whistle I've heard. It sounds like a recording of a duck being dropped on to a set of bagpipes, being played back very slowly.
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Aaron_2016
Guest
The weather was foggy during her arrival. Perhaps the whistle was a modified sound that way during fog?
I believe the buildings in the video are in lower Manhattan. The tallest one in view is the Woolworth building. I believe the cameraman was somewhere near the old Central Railroad Terminal in New Jersey.
The cameraman I believe was somewhere here, looking almost directly east towards Lower Manhattan and the Woolworth building.
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I believe the buildings in the video are in lower Manhattan. The tallest one in view is the Woolworth building. I believe the cameraman was somewhere near the old Central Railroad Terminal in New Jersey.
The cameraman I believe was somewhere here, looking almost directly east towards Lower Manhattan and the Woolworth building.
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David G. Brown
RIP
Beware -- in Olympic's day sound on film was complicated and expensive business. The film was almost certainly shot silent and a stock sound effect added during editing. There was no other cost-effective way. Today, we can't imagine not recording audio and video simultaneously, but that was not the case even as late as WW-II. You could be hearing that duck dancing a hornpipe on a bagpipe, or something similar.
-- David G. Brown
-- David G. Brown
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Aaron_2016
Guest
Sounds pretty authentic to me. The Olympic video was from 1934. Many newsreels from Movietone, Fox, and Hearst were recorded outdoors. e.g. Outtakes of a couple sailing on the Leviathan in 1929. They had to make multiple takes as he kept making mistakes and audio in the background kept interrupting the newsreel. Pretty funny.
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Aaron_2016
Guest
Here is excellent footage of the Aquitania leaving New York in 1930.
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Georges Guay
Member
Distance ... 3 cables !
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Mark Baber
Staff member
Moderator
Member
I see this part of the Hudson from my office window in Jersey City. Some comments.
The ESB and Chrysler are in Midtown. They're not visible in this video.
It's actually closer to a mile wide, about 5,000 feet or so.
That's about right, although depending on the angle the camera was pointed, it could be a bit north of there, in the Paulus Hook/Exchange Place area shown on the map. The Woolworth Building is a directly across from Exchange Place and a bit north of the World Trade Center, which isn't in the photos you posted. The CRR terminal is south of there.
Georges Guay
Member
Sorry Mark, but according to the rastar marine chart, at my first location the Hudson is 0.46nm or 2,796.8 ft and at the good one, the Hudson is 0.69nm or 4,195.2 ft.
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Mark Baber
Staff member
Moderator
Member
Remember that the Hudson shown in the video is wider than the Hudson as it is now Everything west of West Street, which is shown on the map Aaron posted, is landfill added to lower Manhattan beginning in the 1960's-70's as part of the construction of the World Trade Center.
Georges Guay
Member
Good point Mark! I agree that the channel was close to 5,000 feet wide. The Olympic would have then been filmed from a distance of 5 to 6 cables off. Hoping not to be wrong again ! 
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Mark Baber
Staff member
Moderator
Member
No problem, Georges. We're all wrong sometimes.
;-)
Much of the land on both sides of the Hudson in that area is fill, to the point that FEMA's map of the Hurricane Sandy flooding in downtown Jersey City almost exactly matched maps from the 1700's. What was dry land then did not flood; what was under water then (either always or sometimes, depending on the tide) flooded.
;-)
Much of the land on both sides of the Hudson in that area is fill, to the point that FEMA's map of the Hurricane Sandy flooding in downtown Jersey City almost exactly matched maps from the 1700's. What was dry land then did not flood; what was under water then (either always or sometimes, depending on the tide) flooded.
B-rad
Member
Idk, the video, but at the time of Olympic the fairway opposite the Chelsea piers was 2,750ft across before the proposed extension of the piers in order to accommodate the Olympic class vessels (which was never really done, just 100ft floating docks tagged onto the piers), and the Aquitania, which limited the width to 2,650ft.
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Mark Baber
Staff member
Moderator
Member
That's the distance between the pierhead lines, not the shorelines, and a fair distance north of downtown. The river's wider downtown.
Georges Guay
Member
That must have been quite a whistle symphony to berth such a vessel to one on these constricted docks with the assistance of 5 or more tugs!!!
Whistle signals to be used between tug and tow
a) Signals to or from a towing vessel ahead:
Tow ahead – one prolonged blast followed by three short blasts.
Tow to port bow – one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts
Tow to starboard bow – one prolonged blast followed by one short blast.
Cease tow – one prolonged blast followed by six short blasts in succession.
b) Signals to or from towing vessel astern:
Tow astern – three short blasts.
Tow to port quarter – two short blasts.
Tow to starboard quarter – one short blast.
Cease tow – six short blasts in succession.
c) Signals to all towing vessels:
Hold in position – one prolonged blast followed by one short blast followed by one prolonged blast followed by one short blast.
Let go – one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts followed by one prolonged blast.
Whistle signals to be used between tug and tow
a) Signals to or from a towing vessel ahead:
Tow ahead – one prolonged blast followed by three short blasts.
Tow to port bow – one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts
Tow to starboard bow – one prolonged blast followed by one short blast.
Cease tow – one prolonged blast followed by six short blasts in succession.
b) Signals to or from towing vessel astern:
Tow astern – three short blasts.
Tow to port quarter – two short blasts.
Tow to starboard quarter – one short blast.
Cease tow – six short blasts in succession.
c) Signals to all towing vessels:
Hold in position – one prolonged blast followed by one short blast followed by one prolonged blast followed by one short blast.
Let go – one prolonged blast followed by two short blasts followed by one prolonged blast.
B-rad
Member
After some digging, the Engineering and Contracting Vol. 43 (1915) places the smallest width at 2,725ft and the largest at 5,400ft.
The Report of the Chief of Engineers US Army prt.1 (1912) reads:
The width of the river in this section, measured to the Manhattan shore, 3,900 feet, gradually decreasing to 2,750 feet at West Fifty-ninth Street; then widening to 5,400 feet at Spuyten Dnyvil Creek, whence it maintains a uniform width to the northern boundary of New York City.
Of course these are well before the video, and I cannot find any figures closer to the video, but its a ball park, right along with what was mentioned.
The Report of the Chief of Engineers US Army prt.1 (1912) reads:
The width of the river in this section, measured to the Manhattan shore, 3,900 feet, gradually decreasing to 2,750 feet at West Fifty-ninth Street; then widening to 5,400 feet at Spuyten Dnyvil Creek, whence it maintains a uniform width to the northern boundary of New York City.
Of course these are well before the video, and I cannot find any figures closer to the video, but its a ball park, right along with what was mentioned.
