The stories associated with the great ocean liner White Star Line have been seamlessly moved from traditional media – books and movies – to social media where they continue to capture. The Titanic hit an iceberg as it sped toward New York. It sank 700 nautical miles (1,296 kilometers) east of Halifax on April 15, 1912. Roger Marsters, curator of the Atlantic Maritime Museum in Halifax, says the Titanic’s connection to Halifax was almost accidental, as it was the nearest mainland port from which recovery could be made. Roger Marsters is curator of the Atlantic Maritime Museum. (Craig Paisley / CBC)
The Titanic had a hold on the collective imagination before the 1997 James Cameron film, Marsters said. But, by connecting lovers who intersect with stars in a story of insult and exaggeration, the film determined the events in the audience’s imagination. “We have people from all over the world coming to Fairview Lawn and Mount Olivet to visit the graves of people they have never met and have never met, but with whom they feel a strong connection because of the strong, imaginative grip of Titanic.” , he said. Rafael Avila shares information about the Titanic on his social media platforms as Titanic Guy. (© 2017 Stephen James Hutchinson)
As the port where the bodies recovered after the tragedy were transported, Halifax is home to 150 Titanic tombs – most of them in the world. Marsters said the history of the Titanic seems to be renewed with each generation. From the museum’s point of view, it’s a way of bringing new people into naval history. Rafael Avila, a 32-year-old social media personality best known on the internet as Titanic Guy, spends his time presenting trivial facts about the Titanic and correcting inaccurate information about the ship he sees online. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, left, appear in the movie Titanic. (Paramount Pictures / Associated Press)
The TikTok channel has over 600,000 subscribers and almost 34 million likes. Avila said he was seven in 1997 when he saw a documentary about a sunken ship and asked his father what it was about. Titanic Tombs at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax. (Vernon Ramesar / CBC)
His father told him that it was a famous ship that was one of the largest in the world and was brand new when it sank. Fascinated by the story, Avila said he persuaded his parents to take him to see the popular film in December of that year, and this boosted his interest. Avila said the Titanic’s history was largely forgotten in the years after the sinking. The book A Night to Remember, published in 1955, and a subsequent film in 1958 sparked interest, he said. The release of Cameron’s film led to an exponential increase in interest, according to Avila, and then moved to the social media realm. “It represented all these different things, greatness, hope, opportunity and then collapsing with something as simple as an iceberg,” Avila said. “It was like a theater playing in the middle of the ocean.” Historian and author Bob Chaulk has written two books on the SS Atlantic. (Jon Tattrie / CBC)
Toronto-based Avila said he has never been to Halifax, but knows he will one day visit to see objects and visit the Titanic tombs in person. Although the Titanic is arguably the most famous of these, three ships associated with the company have left an indelible mark on the province. In 1873, the SS Atlantic crashed into a rock near Prospect Bay, killing at least 550 people. According to Bob Chaulk, author of two books on the SS Atlantic, the ship bound for New York had 950 passengers. Chaulk said the chief engineer determined a week after the voyage that there was not enough coal on board. The captain decided to go to Halifax for refueling, which would prove fatal. SS Atlantic victims rescued from shipwreck on April 1, 1873. (Nova Scotia Archives [William Notman photograph, W.R. MacAskill accession no. 1987-453 no. 3249])
Of the four deck officers, Chaulk said, only one had sailed to Halifax in the past. As the ship approached Halifax at night, the ship ran aground on a rock quite close to shore. The bow of the ship climbed the rock and the stern sank immediately, Chaulk said. Because it happened in the early hours of the morning, Chaulk said most of the passengers were under the deck with women and children sleeping under the deck in the stern area. Some of the victims of the SS Atlantic wreck were buried in a mass grave in Terence Bay. (Nova Scotia / W.Chase archives, no. N-0719)
No woman survived the disaster and only one child survived. “It was [3 a.m.]”Some just drowned in their beds, they didn’t even get out of bed,” he said. Chaulk said the real miracle for him was that 400 people survived. He said this was largely due to the heroic efforts of the Lower Prospect and Terence Bay residents who made a rescue effort. A memorial to those lost in the SS Atlantic was erected at Prospect in 1915. (CBC)
To this day it remains the worst shipwreck in Nova Scotia history and the second worst in Canadian history after the Empress of Ireland, according to Chaulk. In 1917, the former White Star Line SS Runic had by far the greatest impact in the history of Nova Scotia. From the date of its launch in 1889 until the sale of the ship in 1895, it was used to transport animals and passengers for the White Star Line. On December 6, 1917, the ship, then renamed SS Imo, collided with the SS Mont-Blanc ammunition ship in the port of Halifax, causing an explosion that killed 1,600 people and caused extensive damage. Victorian tourists visit the SS Atlantic site in Terence Bay, NS (Nova Scotia Archives) [W. Chase no. 32/neg. no.: N-0720])
Marsters said the Atlantic Maritime Museum has artifacts and exhibits from all three White Star Line ships. He said that in a way the story of the three ships is also a story of how the Nova Scotians respond to tragedy. “These three well-known White Star wrecks are indicative of a wider range of maritime activity which meant that, for hundreds of years, the people of Mi’kma’ki, the people of Nova Scotia, were always there to help them. people. “They are in danger at sea,” he said. “I think it is a legacy that continues today and that it is valuable to continue to cultivate.” MORE TOP STORIES