A Night to Remember

by Scott Monty April 14, 2015

"heard of it first by that strange wireless" [LION]

Today at 11:40 p.m. we remember that it was exactly 103 years ago the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and took 1,517 souls with her by the time she sank at 2:20 a.m.

The reason it is relevant to Sherlockians is that there are some loose connections worthy of mention. The first is that there were two Marconi wireless radios aboard, staffed by Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. As you observed, the opening quote noted that there was a wireless mentioned in "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," in which Holmes recounted,

"It was my old housekeeper who heard of it first by that strange wireless by which such people collect the news of the countryside."

Contrary to popular belief the sinking of the Titanic was not the first time the SOS signal was used (it came into use in 1908), but Bride mentioned to Phillips, who had been using the more popular British CQD signal, that he should use SOS as it might be the last time he would have the opportunity to do so.

The second connection, is William Seil's Sherlock Holmes and the Titanic Tragedy: A Case to Remember, which was also a nod to Walter Lord's famous recounting of the tragedy in A Night to Remember

. In the Sherlock Holmes pastiche, we find the great detective and his faithful colleague on board the doomed liner following an agent on his way to the U.S. with secret submarine plans. While fanciful, it was a quick and fun read.

For those of you who may be interested in this sort of thing, the Titanic Historical Society (THS) has been in existence since 1963. The late founder Ed Kamuda owned a jewelry store in western Massachusetts, where you can find the Titanic Museum, Membership in THS includes complimentary admission to the museum and a subscription to the quarterly publication, The Commutator. In addition, the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, MO and Pigeon Forge, TN has all sorts of artifacts and a passenger experience that brings visitors onboard through the eyes of a first, second or third-class passenger.

If history is any guide, this evening you'll be able to follow the Twitter account @TitanicRealTime, which takes viewers on the voyage and disaster tweet by chilling tweet. Some examples are below.

#captain I have told all those in the wireless cabin to leave and look out for themselves. There is nothing more they can do.
— TitanicVoyage (@TitanicRealTime) April 15, 2014

#crew Good God, people are jumping from the ship into the sea. They will all perish in the ice cold water…
— TitanicVoyage (@TitanicRealTime) April 15, 2014

#BoatNo1 All the lights have now dimmed, pure darkness. Only screams can be heard…
— TitanicVoyage (@TitanicRealTime) April 15, 2014

As the fateful anniversary is upon us, please take some time to remember the souls of all of those brave men, women and children who perished aboard the Titanic and the icy waters of the North Atlantic 103 years ago. While the tragedy may have been avoidable, it will stand as one of the greatest lessons of all time of man's hubris in the face of nature, and will forever remind us that we need to plan for the worst possible contingencies despite our confidence in our own technological advances.

They did not die in vain.

Image credit: Wikipedia

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