As the TITANIC sank, it broke between the 3rd and 4th funnel and spilled tons of bowls, dishes, and objects that were in the stern. Here are some of those things:
this top hat would have fallen from someone in the water
This bag would have belonged to the purser and is filled with valuables.
This is the very bell that was rung when the two lookouts spotted the iceberg!
These whistles would have fallen off one of the smokestacks
Thousands of dishes litter the sea bed. The image above is of dishes that would not be seen if the crate
or cabinet had not rotted away.
In the image above, you might be able to recognize a head board to a first class cabin, a wine bottle still sealed with a cork, and other things
The TITANIC had three propellers one in the middle, and two on the sides. The middle one had four blades which had less thrust so that it would not dominate the other two. The ones on the sides had three blades and had more thrust so that they would work together. The two on the sides were at least 38 tons and around 23 feet in diameter. The middle one was at least 22 tons and 16 feet in diameter.
They were made of pure bronze and could last for years without rusting. The blades of that time however, seemed to fall off easily. The Olympic dropped a propeller in the middle of the sea and had to wait for a couple of days to be towed back to shore. The propellers were driven by four turbine engines and a 10 foot long shaft.
The propellers' blades were so powerful, they could be used as giant saws to go through any building. The propellers of the other sister ship of the TITANIC; Britannic, was cutting through the lifeboats and human beings while the captain was trying to beach the BRITANNIC.
All except one of the TITANIC's propellers were buried in the silt when the stern hit the bottom of the ocean at 35 mph. Even today, the port propeller is in perfect shape and does not have a hint of rust (just mud and creatures).
Benjamin Guggenheim was born on October 26, 1865 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the Iron Baron: Meyer Guggenheim. Ben was inherited his fortune after his father died. He married Florette Seligmon in 1894. He later had three daughters named Benita Rosalind, Marguerita, and Barbara Hazel Guggenheim. They lived in New York but his business as President of the International Steam Pump Company kept him in Paris so he rented an apartment and came home on occasions. He was coming home on the TITANIC to see his family with his valet, Victor Giglio, his chauffer, Rena Pernot and mistress French singer, Leontine Aubert, and her maid, Emma Sagesser. Giglio and Ben shared B-28 while Aubert and Sagesser shared B-35. Both pairs slept through the collision with the iceberg and were woken up by their room steward, Henry Samuel Etches. After seeing the women away on boat No. 7, Ben and Giglio whom realized the danger went down into their cabins, took off their life jackets, and changed into their evening clothes. Ben later said when asked why he didn't have his life jacket on, he said "It was too uncomfortable: we have dressed now in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen. he later said to Steward Etches "If anything should happen to me, I'd like my wife to know that I have acted descently. Benjamin Guggenheim and Victor Giglio were last seen sitting in deck chairs sipping brandy and smoking their pipes as the deck listed beneath them. Their bodies were never recovered. Ben's three daughters inherited 450,000 dollars each.
Edith Louis Rosenbaum Russell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 12, 1879. She was a fashion writer, consultant, importer, buyer and stylist Edith Louise Rousen began her career abroad as a saleswoman in 1908 for the Maison Cheruit in the Place Vendome in Paris. Soon, she wrote for the magazine, La Derniere Heure a Paris which was published by Wanamaker Department Store’s Paris bureau and became a sketch artist for the Butterick Pattern Service.
In 1910, Edith was chief foreign correspondent to Women's Wear Daily, sending out weekly fashion marketing reports and occasional collection news to New York from the publication's Paris branch.
In 1912, Edith was operating a successful buying and consulting service based in Paris and designing her own popular retail line of clothes, called ”Elrose,” for Lord & Taylor in New York.
Meanwhile, Edith had created a name for herself as the first professional fashion stylist. The people she did largely entertainment celebrities included Broadway comedienne Ina Claire, Folies Bergere showgirl Mistinguett, and opera diva Geraldine Farrar.
Apart from her eventful public career, Edith had a notable and private life. In 1911 she was seriously injured in an automobile accident in France while driving with friends to attend the races at Deauville. The crash proved fatal for her fiance Ludwig Loewe, a wealthy German gun manufacturer.
Edith boarded the TITANIC to return to America. She was a bit on edge and didn't allow anyone to enter her room.
Edith later said this in an interview about the night of April 14:
"...In the library. The steward has just called out 11.30 'Lights out' so I gave him a few letters to post in the morning, told him I'd pay for the stamps, picked up a book and walked forward to my stateroom, which was on the same deck, A11.
As I got in my stateroom I switched on the electric light and I noticed a slight jar followed immediately by a second one and a third one which was quite strong enough to make me hold on to the bed post.
The boat came to a full stop. I walked forward to my window and saw a greyish white mass drifting by, was very much surprised and decided to take my fur coat and go out on deck to see what was all about. Well, I got out on deck I noticed a gentleman standing by the rail and several people and again, this greyish mass. I said "What on earth is that?" "That? Well, madam, thats an iceberg." "iceberg? I've always wanted to see one of those things since I was a child." "Well you're seeing a corker now. Theres 1/8th above the water and 7/8ths below and believe me, that's some iceberg." So, after that, we picked up bits of ice, played snowballs for a little while. It was very very cold, I asked one of the officers if there was any danger, he said "no" and I went back to bed."
Before she left, she locked all 19 trunks and then double checked. She got to the Boat Deck but then returned to her cabin to get her lucky pig which she had acquired in Paris. She got into Boat No. 6. After the TITANIC sank, she wound the pig's tail and it played music to drown out the cries of those in the water. It was used as entertainment for the children while awaiting rescue. Edith later filed two of the largest damage claims against the ship's owners, the first for financial loss of her merchandise importations and the other for personal injury.
Edith was American press attache to the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Francaise between 1914 and 1919. She also served as war correspondent for the “New York Herald” in 1916-17. In 1918 she changed her name to Russell owing to the French fashion industry's boycotting of German-name merchants and other people like that.
In 1923 Russell received a meritorious service award from the Associated Dress Industries of America and in 1925 was recognized for her work during World War I by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
Throughout the 1920s Edith Russell contributed fashion and society news to such magazines as “Cassell’s” in London and “Moda“ in Rome. Though semi-retired from her import business by 1934, she continued traveling, lecturing, and writing.
Her adventures during the next several years included dancing with Mussolini at a dinner party and breeding dogs for Maurice Chevalier. She also made life-long friends with the young British actor Peter Lawford and his parents and spent much time with them at their home in Palm Beach. She was later a godmother to Lawford’s children with the former Patricia Kennedy.
By the mid-1940s Edith Russell, whom had lived in New York and in Paris’ Champs Elysees, made her permanent home in London at Claridge’s and later at the Embassy House Hotel.
In 1953 Edith Russell was invited by Twentieth Century Fox Studios to attend the New York premiere of the film "TITANIC," starring Barbara Stanwyk, Clifton Webb, and Robert Wagner. She was interviewed by “Life” magazine during her stay in America and also met with historian Walter Lord who included her story in his best-selling book “A Night to Remember,” published in 1956.
Russell afterwards served as a technical adviser to producer William MacQuitty on his 1958 film adaptation of Lord’s book. She was portrayed in the movie as well and attended the premiere as MacQuitty‘s guest of honor.
She made the rounds of the press during the later 1950s and throughout the 60s, telling her account of the TITANIC sinking in numerous interviews in newspapers and magazines and on television and radio. The majority of her TV and radio appearances were with the BBC. She generally brought along her legendary musical pig which she played for audiences. She was made an honorary member of the Titanic Historical Society in 1963.
Until the mid 1960s Russell traveled frequently from London to Florence, Italy where she visited her long-time friend, Jeanne Sacerdote, formerly known as the couturiere "Jenny."
Despite her advanced age and physical frailty, Russell remained active and outspoken in her last years. She attended fund-raisers, gave luncheons and teas for visiting friends, tried unsuccessfully to interest publishers in her memoirs, and continued to be interviewed by reporters about the “Titanic.”
On 4 April 1975 Edith Russell died at the Mary Abbott Hospital in London, following a ten day illness. She was 96. (Some excerpts are from Encyclopedia Titanica).
In a dedication to Edith from her husband, he said this:
To Edith
Dedication of Autobiography
Through the long years
I sought peace
I found ecstasy, I found anguish,
I found madness,
I found loneliness,
I found the solitary pain
that gnaws the heart,
But peace I did not find.
Now, old & near my end,
I have known you,
And, knowing you,
I have found both ecstasy & peace
I know rest
After so many lonely years.
I know what life & love may be.
Now, if I sleep
I shall sleep fulfilled.
Michel Marcel Natravil was born on June 12, 1908 in Nice, France to Marcelle and Michel Natravil. Edmond Roger was born on March 5, 1910. Marcelle and Michel always fought and were never happily married. In early 1912, the couple finally separated and when they went to court, Marcelle got the children. This made Michel upset. When he decided to go to the New World of America he kidnapped the children and while waiting for the TITANIC in Southampton, England he used the name Louis M. Hoffman. He used that name on the ship also and never let his children out of his sight once except when he asked Betha Lehmann to watch them for a few hours. When asked about his wife, he said that she was deceased. No one knows what happened after the iceberg struck except that he put them on Collapsible D and stepped back. His body was recovered and they found a revolver in his pocket. They found out his true identity by papers in his pocket. Michel Jr. and Edmond only understood French and not one of the survivors knew their names so they were labeled the TITANIC ORPHANS by the newspapers and were taken care of by a fellow survivor until their mother recognized them in the papers and came to get them on the Oceanic. They returned back to France where she took care of them. Marcelle escaped the publicity after Michel and Edmond graduated from college and ran away to Australia where she lived under an assumed name. Michel later recalled the TITANIC and said "A magnificent ship!... I remember looking down the length of the hull — the ship looked splendid. My brother and I played on the forward deck and were thrilled to be there. One morning, my father, my brother, and I were eating eggs in the second-class dining room. The sea was stunning. My feeling was one of total and utter well-being." I don't recall being afraid. I remember the pleasure of going 'plop' into the lifeboat." Michel became professor of philosophy and was present when they raised a large portion of the TITANIC'S hull. He visited his father's grave in Nova Scotia for his first and last time. He died on April 18, 2001 at the age of 92. Edmond became an architect and joined the French in WWII. He was taken prisoner of war but escaped. He died in 1953 at the age of 43 from some unknown disease that he picked up in the prison.
George Dunton Widener was born on June 10, 1861 in Philadelphia to Hannah Josephine Dunton and wealthy businessman Peter A.B. Widener. His family came to America in 1752 and fought in the American Revolution. The Widener family was one of the only ones that suffered little or no loss of land nor money from the war. They had been successful ever since. George began as a hard working grocer and then joined his father in business. He became director of the Land Title Bank and Trust Company, Electric Storage Battery Company, a brick company, the Portland Cement Company, and a company which built the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia. George Widener took an active interest in charity, was Director of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, and a member of many social clubs including the Philadelphia Country Club. He married Eleanor Elkins on November 1, 1883. Together they had Harry Elkins Widener, George Eleanor Widener, and George Dunton Widener Jr. When PAB moved into his magnificent Lynnewood Hall Estate in Elkins Park, George, Eleanor, and their children moved with him. George was senior warden at St Paul's Episcopal Church, Elkins Park, and chair of the Board of Commissioners, Cheltenham Township. For the next nine or more years he, Eleanor and their children lived at Lynnewood Hall, attended by dozens of servants. After purchasing a car (French Renault) in Europe, the Wideners were returning home on the TITANIC. Harry, whom was with them, had bought some priceless and rare books at an auction. They met their friends, the Thayers whom lived a short distance from them and their son Jack, (see Jack Thayer) was close to Harry's age. On the night of April 14, 1912, the Wideners hosted a dinner party in the which was very enjoyable. But for most of the people attending, it would be the last party that they would ever have. In the sinking of the TITANIC, Mrs. Widener and her maid had boarded a lifeboat but when Billy Carter had inquired why Harry had not boarded, Harry replied, "stick to the big ship and take a chance". Eleanor sent George to fetch her pearls but when he got back, Eleanor's boat was almost all the way down. George, his valet, and Harry died in the disaster. None of their bodies were ever found. Mrs. Widener refurbished St. Peter's Episcopal Church. In Harvard (the college that Harry was attending), a library was built and named after him. There are 3,500 books and a small shrine in there. The library even today puts flowers there.
Edith Evans was born on September 21, 1875. Her great-grandfather had come to America from England and had built and amassed a huge estate and fortune. Her grandfather had become a fur trader and collected paintings (a few, he donated to the Metropolitian Museum. his daughter, (her mother, Angeline) married Cadwalader Evans whom was a successful stock broker in New York. Edith's father died of kidney failure when she was three. He left her, her sister Lena (aged 6) and her mother. Edith's mother always made sure they went to church and were sincere in all that they did for the Lord. This made Edith and her sister grow strong in the Holy Spirit. Edith had gone to see her cousins in France and was returning home on the TITANIC getting on the ship at Cherbourg and was in cabin E-29 in 1st class. She was very social on board and became friends with the Strausses whom were also from New York. She was carrying over 6,000 dollars in jewels. She was asleep when the iceberg struck. Around 12:00, she was woken up by a steward and told to go up on deck. She and her friend, Caroline Brown were waiting and when they approached the lifeboat, it was the very last one. The officer told them that only one more could board the boat. Edith pushed Caroline forward saying "She has children!". Archibald Gracie came up and said, "We'll get you into the next boat Miss Evans". Nothing is known about her after that. Her body was never was never recovered. There was a plaque in memory of her saying, "In gratitude to God For the memory of EDITH CORSE EVANS who in the midst of life gave herself up for others on the TITANIC XV April MCMXII trusting in Him who hath made the depth of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over Love is Strong as Death." When her family came to her house, they found a will that she had made earlier that year at the age of 33. No one knows why. Perhaps she had known that she was going to die. Edith was one of eight 1st class women that died in the sinking.
Boilers were very important in ships during that time and they worked like steam engines on locomotives and had a hundred men shoveling coal into the boilers a mile a minute and getting a work out. The whole idea of a boiler, of course, is to boil water into steam for propulsion. In designing a boiler, there are two ways to do this. One way is to pipe the water through the hot exhaust gases from the fire, through a series of tubes, and heat the water that way; this is termed a water-tube boiler. The other way to do it is exactly the opposite: fill the boiler with water, and pass the hot exhaust gases through the water and out to the funnel uptakes via a series of tubes. This is termed a fire-tube boiler, the most common type of which (on ships) was the Scotch marine boiler. Stokers worked on shifts and got 10 hours of rest. To pass the time away, they would sing, tell a narrative, converse, and things like that. There were 29 boilers although in all 10 were open during the voyage.
These are things a stoker must know: "Laying fires - We will describe a normal case of raising steam in a three furnace tank boiler in which, to insure a gradual increase in the temperature of the various parts, and to diminish, as far as practicable, the stresses due to their expansion, the time allowed is rarely less than eight hours. The three furnaces would often be lighted together, and no fixed rule can be given as to the absolutely best procedure in this respect, but the practice of first lighting one furnace only, and after an interval dealing with the others, is perhaps the best plan, and this will be described.
A measured quantity of coal is placed on the floor plates in front of each of the boilers which are to be used; the bars of each furnace should then be “primed” i.e. covered throughout with a layer of average sized pieces of coal. One furnace, usually the lowest, is next “wooded” i.e. pieces of firewood, arranged to facilitate the access of air to all parts, are placed at the furnace mouth over a bed of oily waste, shavings, etc. The wood is next “topped” - i.e. the space between the wood and the furnace crown is filled with pieces of hand picked coal.
"Lighting fires - To light the fires, the oily waste, etc., is kindled; at the same time the furnace door is left wide open, and the ash pit doors closed, so that a good draught is insured through the fire, and the flame is carried over the coal laid on the furnace bars and tends to ignite it. Both the furnace and ash pit doors of the other furnaces are kept closed to prevent the access of cold air. Lighting the fire in one furnace tends to set up circulation in the water, and promotes uniformity of temperature throughout the mass.
As the fire burns it is continually topped with hand picked coal, and after about two hours there will be a fairly substantial fire at the mouth of the furnace. After this has been done, it is usual to light one or both of the wing fires from the fire in the central furnace. These fires are made at the front of the bars and constantly topped with hand picked coal, the furnace and the ash pit doors of these furnaces being arranged similarly to those of the middle furnace. If only one wing furnace is lighted at first, the other would be similarly treated about one hour afterwards.
"Spreading fires - After about four hours the center fire is “spread” - i.e. the fire, which till now has been at the front of the furnace is spread over the partially ignited coal on the remainder of the bars, after which, this furnace door is closed and ash pit door opened, to admit the air underneath the furnace bars and promote the combustion of coal throughout. The other fires are similarly treated at about the fifth or sixth hours, at the discretion of the person in charge."
Stokers were paid 27 english pounds each month. There were several water fountains where if a stoker were extremely parched, they could get a glass of water. Most of the stokers did not survive the sinking. Imagine having to go from the 98 degrees of extreme heat to water 28 degrees fahrenheit. One of the first recognizable features of the debris field leading to the discovery of the TITANIC wreck was a boiler.
starboard anchor of The starboard anchor of the OLYMPIC being either raised or lowered
How the center anchor was raised and lowered
The TITANIC had 5 anchors; two on the stern and three on the bow. The anchors were of course used to hold the ship in place as either passengers were boarding or they were loading cargo. The anchors weighed 15 1/4 tons (34,188 pounds) each.
The center anchor was pulled up and lowered down by the crane which is seen as a sideways triangle on the bow and raised and lowered the center anchor by a series of pulleys. A rope was used on the crane since in could not support the weight of a chain. The rope itself was made of very thin strips on metal which was stronger and could not easily snap as the string rope for the center anchor of the Maurentania did.
The starboard and port anchors of the bow and stern were held by chains and were raised and lowered the way a normal ship today does. The chains themselves weighed 108 pounds per feet and were 175 fathoms long (1 fathom = 1/2 mile). Today, the anchors on the bow are out waiting to be lowered.
this top hat would have fallen from someone in the water
This bag would have belonged to the purser and is filled with valuables.
This is the very bell that was rung when the two lookouts spotted the iceberg!
These whistles would have fallen off one of the smokestacks
Thousands of dishes litter the sea bed. The image above is of dishes that would not be seen if the crate 
In the image above, you might be able to recognize a head board to a first class cabin, a wine bottle still sealed with a cork, and other things
Around 40 tons of coal fell out of the ship
This would have been the arm rest to one of the benches on the poop deck
