Text: Xiao Peng's brilliant notes
Editor|Xiao Peng's brilliant notes
[Preface]
When the Titanic first came out, it was known as "unsinkable", which was the most advanced cruise ship in the world at that time, and it was also the pride of the British White Star Shipping.
Naturally, its maiden voyage attracted the attention of tens of millions of people, and so on April 10, 1912, the giant ship set sail amid the gazes of countless eyes.
Many people waited for the horn of victory to reach New York Harbor, but in the end, the news of the ship's annihilation was ushered in, and countless people were killed in this catastrophe, and in the end, less than a third of the passengers survived.
Until now, what caused the tragic shipwreck is still a hot topic of discussion, and people have given countless conjectures, but it is still an unsolved mystery.
Regarding the Titanic, the word fate is talked about the most, because there are also many people on this ship who died because of accidents.
In fact, in addition to the people who accidentally got on the ship, there were also people who bought tickets but did not get on the ship temporarily, and at that time, there were 8 top rich people who bought tickets, but in the end they did not get on the ship, and avoided the disaster.
Then why did they not even get on the boat to avoid this earth-shattering shipwreck?
【Titanic Shipwreck】
In June 1911, the White Star Company published a bombshell news in an advertisement, saying that a new advanced luxury cruise ship was about to be put into operation, named after the titan of Greek mythology because of its epoch-making significance and value.
In April of the following year, on April 2, 1912, the ship was launched for sea trials, attracting the attention of countless people, and the admiration was endless.
When the ship was built, more than 2,000 steel plates were used to build the hull alone, and these steel plates were welded in a shingled way during the construction of the ship.
With an anchor weight of 16 tonnes and a standard displacement of 46,328 tonnes, its tickets were sold out two days before its maiden voyage.
In order to successfully complete the first voyage of this giant ship, the White Star Company let their ace captain lead the Titanic, and the two deputy captains are also very experienced veterans.
But no one was prepared when the accident happened, and in the early hours of April 14, this epoch-making giant ship hit an iceberg while crossing the North Atlantic Ocean and died at the bottom of the icy North Atlantic.
At that time, a ship from Newfoundland issued an iceberg warning to the Titanic, but the temporary change of course required a very complicated filing application, so they could only continue to move forward while raising their vigilance.
But in the middle of the night, the accident still happened, the lookout spotted the iceberg, and the first mate also ordered to avoid it at full speed immediately after receiving the news, but in the end the starboard side of the giant ship still hit the iceberg.
The cracked hull deck and the pressure imbalance combined with some welding technical problems caused the cracks to get bigger and bigger, and eventually all five watertight compartments were exposed to the surface of the sea, and more than 1,000 people escaped from the ship during the two-hour sinking process.
But there were not enough lifeboats on board at that time, and in the end only more than 700 people were rescued, and more than 1,500 people died in the icy waters.
These people are unlucky, but there are also 8 lucky people who were supposed to board the ship and even bought the ferry tickets, but in the end they did not get on the ship for various reasons, and saved their lives by mistake.
[Rich people who bought tickets but didn't get on the boat]
Someone made statistics on the ticket price of the Titanic at that time, and the third-class ticket price of this luxurious giant ship was about 5,000 yuan.
The cheapest ticket price for first class is more than 16,000 yuan, and the most expensive one even reaches 630,000 yuan, so those who can afford the ticket price are basically not idle people, and these 8 lucky people are also richer than the other.
The first is the famous novelist Dressay, because of the first voyage of the Titanic, Dressay felt that a lot of new things must happen during the journey, not only to see the world but also to inspire inspiration.
So he immediately booked a ticket for the Titanic, to personally experience the style of this epoch-making giant ship, but it happened that on the eve of sailing, he met a friend.
In order to have more time to talk with his friends, he gave up boarding the ship and talked with his friends all night, and it was this decision that saved his life at the moment of crisis.
The second is also a celebrity, that is, the famous radio inventor Marconi, the Italian inventor originally wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to go to the United States to relax, so he asked someone to buy a ticket for the Titanic.
But before he set off, he hesitated, because he was a little afraid of socializing with strangers, and if he got on the boat, he would inevitably have to communicate with people, which was not his original intention.
So he simply gave up boarding the ship, but he never expected that this You Yu saved his life, and the other two were Morgan and Alfred.
Both of them had originally booked their tickets for travel purposes and were in stateroom, but they were in France at the time, and their departure date was approaching, but they had not finished sightseeing their sights.
They felt that there was a chance in the future, so they refunded the ticket and gave up boarding, successfully avoiding this catastrophe in which their survival depended on their lives.
The last four people are two wealthy couples, the first couple is the very famous "candy king" Hershey and his wife, because they have a very high social influence and background relationship, so it has become natural to participate in the maiden voyage of the Titanic.
But while waiting for the sailing, they accidentally lost their tickets, and they were already about to leave the ship, and they didn't have time to buy any more tickets, and they couldn't buy tickets, so they didn't board the ship by mistake.
The other couple, Mr. and Mrs. Frick, wanted to have another chance to have a good time, so they bought a ticket, but Mrs. Frick sprained her foot.
The doctor warned them to take good care of their injuries, otherwise it would be easy to leave sequelae, thinking about this, because they felt that health was still very important, so they gave up traveling.
This is really a thought of life and a thought of death, a choice made unconsciously and unintentionally, it is likely to be the moment when fate is changed, this may be life.
[6 Chinese survivors who successfully escaped]
I don't know if you know that on this huge ship, there are 8 Chinese passengers, and 6 of them are lucky to survive this magnificent disaster.
The rescue of the Chinese Fang Rongshan is arguably the most dramatic, in 1912, Fang Rongshan had been working on the ship for three or four years, sometimes as a stoker, sometimes as a cook.
When the accident happened, he had no choice but to jump off the boat, he couldn't wait for the lifeboat, so he resolutely chose a path that seemed destined to die, but the instinct to survive survived in the sea for a long time.
He kept swimming, and when he finally came out of his strength, he felt himself touch something hard, and he pushed it tentatively, but it didn't go away.
So he slowly climbed to the top, and finally in the silent darkness, he saw the light of rescue, and waited for hope.
In the movie "Titanic", when Jack and Rose parted from life and death, the inspiration was a Chinese survival record.
【Sightseeing Lost Contact Incident】
Although the epoch-making giant ship sank, the place where it sank has now attracted countless people to explore, hoping to find out what the real secret of the sinking that has been hidden for several years is.
The Titanic sank 600 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at a depth of 3,800 meters.
While fascinating, there are also many dangers lurking, and in June 2023, a five-person expedition team set off.
Among the five is the Guinness Book of World Records for British billionaire Hamish Harding, a passionate explorer who once bravely flew into space on a rocket.
The second is Stockton Rush, the founder of Oceangate, who boarded the submarine because it was in the business of giving customers an up-close look at the wreck.
The other two are a Pakistani tycoon and his sons, Shahzada Daoud and Surman, whose family is involved in a variety of fields, not only energy and petrochemicals, but also agriculture and telecommunications, and the rich man is also a director of the SETI Institute in the United States.
The last was the French submarine pilot Paul Naguolet, a retired member of the French Navy who had been actively involved in various scientific and technological expeditions before piloting the submarine.
The submarine, which was carrying people of all talents, lost contact after an hour and 45 minutes of diving, and the last signal was sent over the wreck of the Titanic.
Although the oxygen stored on the submarine was sufficient, it was only enough for them to survive for about 70 to 96 hours, so the rescue operation began quickly, but the location of the submarine was too remote.
The situation in the middle is unknown, even a special rescue submarine can only reach 2,000 meters of seabed, and all forces joined the rescue, but in the end nothing was found.
Experts have said that the remains of the Titanic may disappear in 2030, the power of nature is mysterious and great, and there are many complex factors in the adventure challenge of the deep sea, so it is really easy not to try.
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