h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have no additional information to add at this time except to thank the author of this guide entry for writing it.
The time line, whilst detailing the facts to hand, nonetheless was quite chilling in it's retelling of the events up to and including the disaster. It was also interesting to know what happened at the trials afterwards, and details of the main players (for wont of a better term), in the tragedy.
I hope additional data and detail is added to this entry as time goes on.

WeirdHope

Why thank you very much!

I do intend to add more, which is why it is yet unsubmitted. I have a pile of notes here beside me on the expeditions to discover the wreckage of the Titanic, and that will become an extra section of the article. In addition, I'm going to try to find more bios of prominent passengers... especially those that have a cameo in the timeline. So far the only bios I've been able to find have been on the famous Americans, and I want to add something on Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon as well as the Countess of Rothes for international balance. And lastly, I haven't discovered anything concrete about the treatment of the 2nd and 3rd class passengers from the time of the accident to the time of the sinking... all I've found so far was a reference to the fact that they were treated unfairly, and another thing showing they arrived late to the boat deck. If they were locked below as suggested in the movie, I have yet to verify it.

No problem - credit where credit is due after all.

My interest is sparked by my father, who has collected several books on the subject over the years. I'll try and rustle a few off of him and post you some details if you like?

WeirdHope

AHA! See, you do have something to add.

Sure, I'd appreciate that.

Colonel, Sir,

My word, there's some work there.

I remember reading, somewhere, a long time ago that following several attempts with the CQD distress code, the wireless operators tried the new fangled SOS. Allegedly this was the first time that SOS was used in anger as it had only just been agreed internationally as an improvement on CQD.
Have you encountered this as a possibility? I'm not sure how to make progress on this, but I'll give it a go if need be.

Oops. Sorry,

Should have read the other posting first.

Actually, there may be some truth to your claim... but unless I can uncover something more concrete, there's no need to add that bit. The telegraph that I quoted was the first one they started sending, but both operators were hot on the job from the time the Captain learned the ship was doomed (about midnight) until the Captain relieved them of their post at around 2:10. They had two hours to send all sorts of messages, and an SOS could possibly have been one of them.

However, I have noticed that people romanticize the Titanic quite a bit, and attribute all sorts of spurious things to it, including those myths I mentioned in the othere thread. When I first learned of the concept of watertight compartmentalization aboard ships several years ago, the instructor made the claim that Titanic was *the* first ship to carry such a technology. However, historical investigation has revealed that military ships were already doing this, and Titanic's sister ship Olympic was built before Titanic with this same technology. It was one of the first luxury liners to carry this technology, but it was not the first ever, or even the first luxury liner. Anyway, my point is, claims made about the Titanic have to be taken with a grain of skepticism at first. That's why I want to get some reliable accounts of what happened below decks with the 2nd and 3rd class passengers prior to their belated arrival on the boat deck (sometime between 1:00 and 1:30am.

Hi, again,

looks like you were right to be sceptical on the CQD/SOS stuff, because a convention in Berlin in 1906 provided for SOS to replace CQD from 1st July 1908. This was signed by 27 countries - but as yet I don't know which - but considering the UK's dependence on maritime activity I would expect it to have been a signatory despite the reputation for being conservative. Why then, I ask myself, did they send CQD?

The authority I have found for this is:
http://pascalsimeon.free.fr/tsf.htm#SOS

Will try further.

Erm, Hi.

There is a recorded use of "SOS" in August of 1909 by, wouldn't you know it, an American ship - the SS Arapahoe, even though the US was one of the later countries to adopt SOS officially.
A much more detailed authority than the previously mentioned one (and I think worth a look) is:
http://metronet.com/~nmcewen/arc_current.html

The section on the discovery has been added. It seems that I can add nothing more to this, as I have run into a character limit in the text box (not sure if this is an H2G2 problem or a Netscape problem), so after a bit of a proofread, it's off to the editors with it.

Colonel, Sir,

I'd forgotten about the squabbling over the spoils. I think you were very restrained.

As for the proof read, dare I point out the similarity in the "Discovery" section: line 4 "Knawed" and third para SS(?) Knorr.
I'm sure that you would have noticed, but I like to show that I've been paying attention.

I tried to avoid putting initials like RMS and SS before the names of ships for a variety of reasons:

1) I am running out of characters. Netscape won't let me add any more.

2) I don't know the necessary letters for all the ships, and so it was best to have none at all.

Knorr is spelled correctly, but knawed is obviously not. Good catch... that one passed me by in the proofread.

Colonel, Sir,

Proof reading one's own composition must be one of the most difficult tasks known to mankind. That, and shaving using two mirrors so that your face is the right way round.

I wish you a fair wind with the submission.