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| Photo by Jamila Estanislao |
When we hear the word "Titanic," what comes to most people’s minds is the tragic ending of Rose and Jack’s love story as the Titanic ship sank into the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. We often picture their adventures on the ship, their romantic moments, and most especially, the part where Rose lies on the wooden debris as she watches Jack’s lifeless body sink into the sea. However, the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic ship shouldn’t be solely remembered as the story of Jack and Rose—it is much more than that.
Every year on April 15, we observe Titanic Remembrance Day. This year marks the 111th year since the sinking of the Titanic ship that claimed the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew aboard.
Designed by a naval architect named Thomas Andrews, the Titanic ship which was 883 feet long, built to be "unsinkable" and contained 16 hull compartments, was deemed to be the fastest ship in the world. Undoubtedly, it was considered as one of the largest and most luxurious ships at that time.
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| Image from The Bettman Archive |
On April 10th, 1912, the Titanic started its voyage across the Atlantic Ocean with Southampton, England as its starting point. Four days after starting its voyage, the Titanic struck an iceberg which caused huge damage to the ship and resulted in the rupture of five of its hull compartments, causing water to enter the ship leading to its sinking on the early morning of April 15.
As much as the collision primarily caused its sinking, the ship’s flawed structure further worsened the situation. The flaw within the design of its watertight compartments played a critical role in the sinking of the Titanic. The height of the walls which separated the bulkheads in the watertight compartments was inadequate which enabled the water to pour from one compartment to another. Another major flaw was the lack of lifeboats which greatly contributed to the loss of many lives.
Various lives, stories, memories, and dreams sank with the Titanic and it is important to remember them as real people who experienced this real tragedy instead of remembering them as background characters to the story of Jack and Rose.
We remember Charles Joughin, a member of the crew who, even though he consumed a great amount of alcohol to generate his body heat and to combat the bitter cold, did not forget his duty as a shipman and continued to help numerous passengers.
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| Image from Encyclopedia Titanica |
We remember Margaret Brown, a philanthropic socialite who helped the crew search for more survivors and who later on helped raise funds to help the said survivors.
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| Image from Molly Brown House Museum |
We remember one of the youngest survivors of the Titanic, Eva Hart, who later on used her voice to bring more attention to the vessel’s lack of sufficient lifeboats and to speak up against the retrieval attempts of the Titanic, saying that the Titanic should be treated with respect as it is now a gravesite.
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| Image from Encyclopedia Titanica |
Let us remember all of them—survivors and those whose lives were lost, passengers and crew, the upper and the lower class, men, women, and children. Let us recognize the intensity of this tragedy rather than looking at it solely as the tragedy that took the life and the romance between fictional characters.
Unfortunately, similar tragedies occurred later on, such as the sinking of the MV Doña Paz on December 20, 1987, in the Philippines which took the lives of 4,386 people, and the sinking of the MV Sewol on April 16, 2014, in South Korea that took more than 300 lives. As we recognize the tragedies' intensity, let us also raise awareness and promote adequate safety measures on vessels to avoid the same tragedies from occurring.
On this day, let us remember, commemorate, and honor the victims of the sinking of the Titanic. Let us recognize that they too had dreams, stories, hopes, and wishes. They were real people.
