Dispatches from Home – The “Why” of Titanic.

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In 1865, the Sultana, a Mississippi riverboat loaded with Civil War wounded, exploded and burned; over 1,500 died. In 1914, the Empress of Ireland collided with another ship; 1,012 died. In 1915, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine; 1,200 died. In 1940, the Lancastria, part of the Dunkirk evacuation, was hit by the Luftwaffe and sank; over 4,000 died. In 1945, the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German liner evacuating fleeing German civilian refugees from the advancing Soviet army in the Baltic region, was sunk by a Soviet submarine; over 9,000 died, making it the greatest maritime disaster in history. Have you ever heard of these lost ships? Unfortunately, for the most part, they have lapsed into obscurity. But not the Titanic. Why, I wonder?

There have been many other man-made disasters before and after the Titanic, but it is virtually one of the few perpetually remembered and commemorated. However, it most compellingly illustrates what we can learn from our past mistakes. Why? The answer concerns the tragedy of presumption and choice, not just the hard, cold facts of the disaster itself.

The real Titanic story is a sad tale wrapped in a writhing web of ambition, overconfidence, denial, cowardice, and bravery. Simple human errors and unexpected and uncontrollable conditions also conspired to turn an outstanding human achievement into a great human tragedy. The Titanic sinking will continue to be remembered for its horror and what it can teach us about the drama and the dignity of real people choosing to make the ultimate decisions of their lives.

“The Titanic, name and thing, will stand for a monument and warning to human presumption.” That was Edward Stuart Talbot’s judgment, the Anglican Bishop of Winchester, England, in the sermon he preached the Sunday after the Titanic sank. The Bishop was right: presumption is the lingering epitaph for the Titanic and its ill-fated passengers and crew. We can honor this sad legacy by learning from it.

The Sultana was a Mississippi River side-wheel steamboat, which exploded on April 27 1865, killing 1,168 people in the worst maritime disaster in United States history.
The RMS Empress of Ireland was a Scottish-built ocean liner that sank near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada following a collision in thick fog with the Norwegian collier Storstad in the early hours of May 29 1914.
The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner that was sunk on May 7 1915 by a German U-boat 11 miles off the southern coast of Ireland
The RMS Lancastria was a British ocean liner requisitioned by the UK Government during the Second World War. She was sunk on June 17 1940 during Operation Aerial. Having received an emergency order to evacuate British nationals and troops.
The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German armed military transport ship which was sunk on January 30 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilian refugees from East Prussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Estonia and military personnel from Gotenhafen as the Red Army advanced. By one estimate, over 9,000 people died, which makes it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history.
The Titanic Memorial is a granite statue in southwest Washington, D.C., that honors the men who gave their lives so that women and children might be saved during the RMS Titanic disaster. The thirteen-foot-tall figure is of a partly clad male figure with arms outstretched standing on a square base. The statue was erected by the Women’s Titanic Memorial Association