Belfast received permission from Queen Victoria to become a city in 1888. The massive City Hall was built from 1888-1901 as a commemoration.
Belfast was a large industrial city: ships, linen, ropes, tobacco, and aircraft which were all important in WWII. Belfast rivaled Detroit and Pittsburgh as a manufacturing hub.
Sixty-two linen mills were located near Belfast at high elevations to take advantage of water flowing downhill.
Harland and Wolff employed 35,000 at the height of shipbuilding. Now there are only 100 employees.
We have been to many exhibitions about the sinking of the Titanic. So I will report on things that I have not heard of or considered.
Harland and Wolff was the largest shipyard, and White Star, builder of luxury ships, contracted them to build the Titanic. It was to be large enough to carry emigrants but luxurious to attract the wealthy. The Titanic was the largest floating people mover in the world at the time.
It took only three years to build and only eight men died. This was before many safeguards were in place.
Once the outside was finished, three thousand men took 10 months to fit out the inside.
How does one get a 46,000 ton boat off the dry dock and into the water? It was dangerous work. Blocks of different colors with associated release times were chiseled and removed and tallow, oil, and soap were used to ease the friction.
Sinking
US Senator William Alden Smith demanded an immediate inquiry into the causes of the disaster to ensure greater safety for travelers by sea. Often a tragedy leads to improvements.
These were all issues and failures that led to the sinking of the Titanic together with the associated improvements:
- Adverse Weather Conditions.
- Formed in 1914, the International Ice Patrol monitors the position of icebergs.
- Unheeded Warnings. There was not a priority system for sending emergency telegraphs. Overworked operators struggled to keep up with passenger demand.
- Emergency messages take priority for all communications.
- Lack of Binoculars. The previous shift had removed them from the crows nest so they had to spot dangerous ice with the naked eye on a moonless night.
- Required equipment must be maintained.
- Increased Speed. Captain Smith wanted to break the speed record and thought that the ship could stop in time if an iceberg was spotted.
- Ships are required to reduce speed when icebergs have been spotted.
- Inadequate number of lifeboats. The requirements had not yet been updated. They had the required number of lifeboats for a ship that is greater than 10,000 tons. Titanic was 46,000 tons. The builders thought about including more lifeboats but White Star thought that it might make the passengers feel unsafe.
- Every vessel is required to have enough lifeboats for every person onboard.
- Low bulkheads did not reach high enough to prevent water flowing to an adjacent bulkhead.
- Design changes require that bulkheads extend above the water line so that adjacent bulkheads will not flood and tilt the ship.
- No Evacuation Plans. Drills were not conducted. Crew and passengers were not informed.
- Mandatory lifeboat drills are conducted before leaving port.
- One of the first lifeboats did not have a plug in the bottom so it was starting to take on the cold North Atlantic Water. The passengers stuffed their clothing in the hole.
- Unheeded distress calls. The radio operator of the closest ship had gone to bed. CQD means All Stations Distress. Flares are emergency signals and not used for celebrations.
- All sea vessels maintain a 24-hour radio communication station.
The only part of the Titanic to reach New York City were 13 lifeboats that were taken onboard Carpathia. The third class survivors were spared being processed on Ellis Island.
The search for bodies was harrowing. On April 20, 1912, five days after Titanic sank, Mackay-Bennett, a cable repair ship chartered by White Star Line, arrived at the wreck site. The captain compared the first sight of the bodies to ”a flock of sea gulls resting upon the water.” Small boats were lowered to pick up face up corpses. Only a fifth of the victims were ever found. Ships brought 209 bodies to Halifax and buried over 100 at sea. Wind and ocean currents had scattered the rest.
The Titanic’s Guarantee Group was an elite troubleshooting team sent by shipbuilders Harland & Wolff to monitor systems, record performance, and fix any issues during the ship’s maiden voyage. These men were chosen as a reward for hard work and dedication and tasked with overseeing unfinished work and testing equipment.
Her grandfather had been given coins to hold by his recently widowed father. He was going to NYC to start a new life and would then send for them once he was settled. Tragically, the father and the others in the Titanic Guarantee Group perished when the ship sank, and none of their bodies were recovered.
Belfast didn’t want to talk about it … for years.
In 1982, Robert Ballard, an expert in underwater archeology, approached the US Navy to fund Argo, an unmanned, underwater video camera sled, and his search for Titanic. The Navy was not interested in financing a search for the lost ocean liner, but they were interested in Argo. They agreed on condition that Ballard would use Argo to survey two of their lost nuclear-powered submarines – USS Thresher and USS Scorpion. After completing this secret mission, Ballard could use any remaining time to search for Titanic.
“Previous searchers had sixty days to find the Titanic, I would only have twelve.”
Just as his time had almost run out, Ballard and his team were overjoyed to find one of the boilers from Titanic standing upright on the ocean floor. As the crew celebrated, someone noticed it was nearly 2:20am – the exact time of Titanic’s sinking. Elation quickly gave way to contemplation. Realizing that they had come across Titanic’s gravesite, Ballard organised a memorial service for the dead.
Ulster Scots
Ulster Scots is an identity and a language. Ulster Scots is an oral language.
- Nebby – nosey
- Skelf – splinter
- Yahoo – an uncultured, loud, rowdy, or uncouth person
- Galoot – an awkward, foolish, or uncouth man
- Galavanting – to gad about, roam around for pleasure, or flirt
- Hillbilly – Billy is a friend.
Scottish people came from the Scottish lowlands to settle in northern Ireland at the request of Queen Elizabeth who was first cousin twice removed to James I who was already King of Scotland.
They were allowed to have tax-free land for 100 years . Many people (1 in 20) in this region today carry the Mc name meaning son.
Presbyterianism was not welcomed by the king because he was not the head of the church. Their leaders were elected from the congregation. They did not want to pay a tax for not being part of the Church of England.
Penal Laws even applied to Presbyterians as well as the Catholics. After 100 years the rent was due. In 1718 ships with 250,000 emigrated to other lands such as America. Many towns disappeared.
Four US Presidents have ties to the Ulster Scots: Woodrow Wilson, Ulysses S Grant, Chester B Arthur, and Andrew Jackson.
This was the earliest wave of immigrants from the island. From Ulster, they pushed into the Appalachians and were many of America’s pioneers.
Always looking for something unusual to try, I chose pigeon for my starter at dinner. Everyone else at my table had received their starter but not me. I wondered if they were up on the roof trying to coax a pigeon to join us. (By the way, it tasted like chicken … dark meat!)
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