Titanic: The Unsinkable Ship

Credit: Walter Lord

The dramatic fate of the “unsinkable ship” is probably the best known event in the history of maritime disasters.  There was so much clout on the technological advances on this superstructure, that many firmly believed that this steamship would prove that man was invincible.  “Not even God can sink this ship”, many arrogant passengers said.  The marketing pamphlets said something similar to promote sales.

At the end of the day, the Titanic met its destiny.  At exactly 11:40 a.m., April 14, 1912, the luxury ocean liner Titanic, making her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, had a rendezvous with an iceberg in the calm, dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

She brushed the ice so gently that many on board didn’t notice it, but so lethally that she was instantly doomed.  In a very short time, totally unexpected by the ship’s crew, the Titanic floundered to the ocean’s floor two and a half miles down.  The clock struck 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912 when the ocean covered the majestic ship taking 1,502 souls down with her.

Only minutes before, Band master Hartley tapped his violin.  The ragtime ended, and the stains of the Episcopal hymn “Autumn” flowed across the deck and drifted in the still night far out over the water.  The passengers on the sixteen lifeboats rowing nearby heard the music, prayed and cried.

The ice that shaved the Titanic was perhaps 100 feet above the water.  When it collided with the vessel, some passengers heard “an unpleasant ripping sound…like someone tearing a long, long strip of calico.”  The berg scraped the ship a little higher than the Boat Deck.  “Then came that thud…the grinding, tearing sound…”  Put together, the fact showed a 300-foot gash, with the first five compartments hopelessly flooded.

About ten miles away Third Officer Charles Victor Groves stood on the bridge of the Leyland Liner Californian bound from London to Boston, but they decided to stay put.

The Titanic had sixteen wooden lifeboats on the Boat Deck and four collapsible lifeboats known as Englehardts lettered ABC and D.  Together the boats could carry 1,178 people.  On this Sunday evening, there were 2,297 people on board the Titanic.  Due to insufficient space on board the lifeboats, 1,029 people would drown in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.  The temperature of the water was 28 degrees F.

The Titanic carried 3,500 life belts and 48 life rings.  Useless in the icy water.  The majority of passengers that went into the sea, did not drown, but froze to death.  They didn’t stand a chance of surviving in the freezing waters.

The Carpathia, which was sailing from New York to the Mediterranean (Gibraltar, Genoa, Naples, Trieste and Fiume) turned around to rescue the survivors.  Its master was Captain Arthur H. Rostron, who had been at sea for 27 years—with Cunard for seventeen.  It was 58 miles away.  At 14 knots it would reach the wreck in about four hours.  At 4:10 a.m., April 15, 1912, the first survivor, Miss Elizabeth Allen was rescued by the Carpathia.  At 8:50 a.m., Carpathia heads for New York with 705 survivors.

Even though I had seen James Cameron’s picture, The Titanic, I decided to read two books written by Walter Lord about this unfortunate event, (e.g., “A Night to Remember” and “The Night Lives On”).  Last evening I finished the first one.  Today I will continue with the second one.  There is so much to learn from this catastrophe, now that we are building bigger and more advanced passenger vessels.  Maritime experts say these modern cruise ships are “too big to fail”.  Now, where have I heard that before?

To give you an idea of how well the book was written, I’ll share with you a brief excerpt of the Walter Lord’s book, “A Night to Remember”:

“In 1898 a struggling author named Morgan Robertson concocted a novel about a fabulous Atlantic liner, far larger than any that had ever been built.  Robertson loaded his ship with rich and complacent people and then wrecked in one cold April night on an iceberg.  This somehow showed the futility of everything and in fact, the book was called ‘Futility’ when it appeared that year, published by the firm of M.F. Mansfield.

Fourteen years later, a British shipping company named The White Star Line, built a steamer remarkably like the one in Robertson’s novel. The new liner was 66,000 tons displacement; Robertson’s was 70,000. The real ship was 882.5 feet long, the fictional one was 800 feet.  Both vessels were triple screw and could make 24-25 knots. Both could carry about 3,000 people, and both had enough lifeboats for only a fraction of this number.  But, then, this didn’t seem to matter because both were labeled ‘unsinkable.’

On April 10, 1912, the real ship left Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. Her cargo included a priceless copy of the Rubáiyat of Omar Khayyám and a list of passengers collectively worth two hundred fifty million dollars. On her way over she too struck an iceberg and went down on a cold April night.

Robertson called his ship the Titan; the White Star Line called its ship the Titanic. This is the story of her last night.”

Before the Titanic, all was quiet.  Afterward all was tumult.  That is why, to anybody who lived at the time, the Titanic more than any other single event, marks the end of the old days and the beginning of a new, uneasy era.  This huge vessel was in a certain way, a little encapsulation of the world.

“The luxury liner is such an exquisite microcosm of the Edwardian world, illuminating so perfectly the class distinctions that prevailed at the time.  These distinctions remained sacred even as the ship was going down.”

Furthermore, below you will find a YouTube video produced by James Cameron, dubbed “Titanic:  The Final Word” which explains the scientific facts surrounding the founder of this majestic ship and how it cracked in half before going under.  The data is mind-boggling.  If you enjoy reading about historic events and maritime themes in general, please click this link to enjoy the video.

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Green

Snapshot of the green areas of the Cinta Costera in Panama City, Panama. Being a tropical country, green abounds during the rainy season. It’s very refreshing to the eye, specially during a rough day in our daily rat race schedules. For those who work, that is. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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The Digital Revolution

Snapshot of three digital devices: two TV control devices and a wireless phone. All are examples of how our societies have been influenced by the digital revolution. Reality has been coded and transformed into “zeros” and “ones” in an upward spiral of digital information. Is this the Babel Tower of our times? Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

If you look around, it’s highly likely there is a digital device nearby.  Most of the time it’s a cellphone, tablet or laptop.  We are suffering from information indigestion, yet we crave for more.  Billions of digital content is flowing on a 24/7 basis on the web.  In fact, there are some people who live more in cyberspace than in their real homes.

The World Wide Web, The Web or The Cloud is covering us like a gargantuan blanket nurturing us with a zillion quantity of information.  Yep, the digital revolution has taken our societies by storm and the trend is most likely to continue until something else emerges and we plunge into another brand new era.

In a 1984 novel dubbed, “Neuromancer“, William Gibson used the term “cyberspace” and the word struck a cultural nerve.  Even as we speak, we are immersed in this ethereal cyberspace, together with billions of other human beings in almost every corner of the globe.

Gibson himself coined the term “cyberspace” in his novelette “Burning Chrome”, published in 1982 by Omni magazine. However, it was only through its use in Neuromancer that the term cyberspace gained enough recognition to become the de facto term for the World Wide Web during the 1990s. The part of Neuromancer usually cited in this respect is:

“The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games. … Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts. … A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding.”

See you next time in cyberspace.  I’m sure we will be there. Good Day.

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Quotes

“Writing is a struggle against silence.”—Carlos Fuentes

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The Man Behind the Dome of Basilica Maria del Fiore in Florence

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) Presumed portrait of the famous architect depicted in the painting “Resurrection of the Son of Theophilus” by Masaccio. Credit: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance.  His lifetime feud with Lorenzo Ghiberti sparked the miracle of the Renaissance —the rebirth—movement in Europe which changed the world of art forever.

Filippo is perhaps most famous for his discovery of perspective and for achieving successfully the construction of the gargantuan dome of the Florence cathedral—Basilica Maria del Fiore on March 25, 1436.

Florence was one of the wealthiest cities in Italy at the turn of the fifteenth century under the leadership of the Medici family who were well-known in all of Europe for patronizing the arts.  Its main cathedral was falling apart as a result of the wear and tear of time.  A replacement for the ancient and dilapidated Cathedral of Santa Reparata was the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Basilica of Mary of the Flower).  This new edifice was intended to be one of the largest and most elegant in Christendom.

The foundation stone for the new cathedral had been laid in 1296 and finished in 1436—a total of one hundred and forty years.  The designer and original architect was a master mason named Arnolfo di Cambio, the builder of both the Palazzo Veccio and the city’s massive new fortifications.

There was one problem with the design: the dome.  In a bold act of faith the city of Florence approved the construction of a building with a dome that nobody knew how to build.  Florence’s authorities said that in an Act of God someday, somebody would come along before the city and build the cathedral with its impressive dome.  The someday was 140 years later and the somebody was a controversial capomaestri, goldsmith and clockmaker named Filippo Brunelleschi.

The dome of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, octagonal in shape; had a base of 46 meters in diameter and 114.5 meters high.  Its weight is estimated to be 37,000 tons and 4 million bricks were used in its construction.  No masonry dome larger than Filippo’s great cupula has ever been built. The construction of the dome began in the summer of 1420, and finished in 1436, with the exception of the lantern.

The building of the dome was awarded to both Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, but Filippo immediately refused.  He was very reluctant to allow help, due to his lack of trust and fear of plagiarism.  Filippo was well-known in Florence for his talents in mimicry, chicanery, theatricality and the creation of illusions.  A very controversial and difficult man to work with, but with the mind of a genius.  In the end, Felippo Brunelleschi’s hot temper prevailed and early on he took over the reigns of the project.

On March 25, 1436, Pope Eugenius IV consecrated the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.

“Lately the blossoms of roses, a gift from the Pope,
Despite the cruel cold of winter.

Adorned the great edifice of the cathedral.
Dedicated in perpetuity to the Virgin of Heaven, holy and sanctified.”

On August 30, 1436, the cupula itself was consecrated—a full sixteen years and two weeks after construction had begun.  The consecration was made by the Bishop of Fiesole.

“What man, however hard of heart or jealous, would not praise Filippo the architect when he sees here such an enormous construction towering above the heavens, vast enough to cover the entire Tuscan population with its shadow, and done without the aid of beams or elaborate wooden supports.”—Leon Batista Alberti

The first stone of the dome’s lantern was consecrated by Saint Antoninus, the New Archbishop of Florence in March 1446. Filippo barely lived long enough to see the ceremony, for he died a month a month later on April 15, 1446, after what appears to have been a short illness. He was 69.  Filippo had dedicated almost one-quarter of his life to the construction of the dome, and in the process, together with Lorenzo Ghiberti, brought forth the most innovative era, Italy and the western civilization, has ever seen since the fall of ancient Greece and Rome.

Photograph of the dome of Florence’s cathedral Maria del Fiore built by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1436. Credit: Wikipedia Encyclopedia.

 

Fillipo’s work at Santa Maria del Fiore set architects on a different path and gave them a new social and intellectual esteem.  Largely through his looming reputation, the profession was transformed during the Renaissance from a mechanical into a liberal art, from an art, that was viewed as ‘common and low’ to one that could be regarded as a noble occupation at the heart of the cultural endeavor.  Unlike the builders of the Middle Ages, Filippo was far from anonymous, and his feat in raising the dome without a wooden centering was celebrated far and wide.  Latin poems were composed in his honor, books were dedicated to him, biographies written, busts carved and portraits painted.  He became the subject of myth.

Above all else, Filippo was praised from his ‘ingegno’, or ‘genius’, a term invented by the Italian humanist philosophers to describe a natural ability for invention.  Before Filippo’s time, the faculty of genius was never attributed to architects (or to sculptures and painters either, for that matter).

For Vasari, the capomaestri had been a genius sent from heaven to renew the moribund art of architecture, almost paralleling how Christ had come to earth to redeem mankind.  Yet Filippo was neither a god nor angel, but only a man, and his unquestionably brilliance, the writers of the Renaissance found their proof that modern man was as great as—and could in fact surpass—the ancients from whom they took their inspiration.”-–Ross King – Brunelleschi’s Dome:  The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence

I finished reading this informative book about Brunelleschi and his involvement in the Italian Renaissance this morning.  For fifteen days, I read in fascination, about one of the most brilliant eras of Western civilization.  If architecture, history, art, and human achievement is your cup of tea, I fully recommend this book.  It is available in the Kindle version and can be had for $9.99.  Good Day.

Suggested Book:  Brunelleschi’s Dome:  The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence

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Why are Plumbers Called “Plumbers”?

Surfing the Web, I recently found out about the origin of the word plumber which I think is very interesting and in hindsight, makes a lot of sense.   Plumbers (whose name comes from Latin “plumbum“, ‘lead‘) were employed at most cathedrals in the Middle Ages in order to rust proof iron or make lead tiles for steeples. In Spanish, lead is called “plomo” very similar to the Latin word “plumbum“. Thus “plumbers” are called “plomeros” in the language of Cervantes.

It has been known at least since the times of the ancient Romans, when architect Marcus Cetius Faventinus observed the “deformity” and “dreadful anemic pallor” of plumbers, that lead was a poisonous metal.  Regardless of this danger, plumbers continued to use lead for many years.

And now you know the story behind the profession of our indispensable plumbers.  What would we do without them, specially when our kitchen sinks or our toilets get obstructed?  Good Day.

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Dreaming of a New Car

Lately I’ve been having mechanical problems with my 2006 Toyota Corolla (automatic transmission).  The exhaust pipe has a weird sound which turns On and Off like an act of magic.  Taken it twice to the repair shop with no positive effects.  This bothers me greatly.  I’m allergic to uncomfortable noises.

The other problem was a faulty suspension sphere.  It was replaced, no problem, but the bill was as huge as Mount Everest.  My pocket went bananas.  Then there was a problem with the suspension system on the left side of the vehicle.  It’s still there.  My budget has been strained to the limit.  No alternative, but to hold out until the wallet recovers.

After bumping into all these mechanical problems, my wife and I sat on the kitchen table to figure out if we could afford a new car and avoid future costly repairs.  We decided to go window shopping and find out what was available out there within our means.  A Hyundai Elantra model seems to be a good choice.  So we hopped into our Toyota and drove over to explore the characteristics of the South Korean Hyundai.

Below are several pictures of the dream machine and its price.  We haven’t made the final decision yet.  We would have to sell our current car and determine where to get the remaining unpaid balance.  We have to careful with this financial transaction.  Living with a retiree budget is like wearing a straightjacket, you don’t have much maneuvering space.  You’re stuck with what you earn, no COLAs (Cost of Living Allowance).

Snapshot of the front and lateral perspective of a Hyundai Elantra GL Semi full automobile, four doors and five passengers. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Notice the directional light on the lateral mirrors of the Hyundai Elantra. It’s a nice touch of class. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of Raúl Paredes S., the sales executive, who assisted us during our visit to Petroautos, S.A., the Hyundai’s dealer in Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

I’m not going to bore with the technical specifications of this beauty, except to say that it has a 1.6 lts motor, 16 valves DOHC, Dual CVT.  It has a power of 130 HP/6,300 rpm, electronic power steering, and automatic transmission. The warranty is five years or 125,000 kilometers—whichever comes first.

The price of the automobile is (drums rolling)…$19,495.00 including taxes.  Price includes tinted windows and a set of floor carpets.  There is also an extra charge of $167.16 to process the license plate with the Municipality of Panama.

I couldn’t close this blog post without thanking Mr. Paredes for an extraordinary sales performance during our visit.  All our inquires were fully answered and then some.  He even showed us around their installations, including the repair shop where service is given to their vehicles.  Everything was neat and organized.  We came out very well impressed with what we saw.

Now the ball is in our court.  Need to determine when and where the “greenbacks” will be coming from.  At this moment the project is placed inside “dream box”.  The next step is to make the dream come true.  That requires a lot of work and ingenuity as you probably know.  I can wait.  Over the years I’ve learned to be a patient man.  Good Day.

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The Menacing Missiles of the Middle East

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”—Plato

Photograph of a Fateh-110 (Conqueror) single-stage, solid-propellant, surface-to-surface Iranian missile capable of covering a range of 300 kilometers. On August 2012, Iran successfully test-fired the fourth generation of these deadly missiles. Credit: The New York Times.com

On the 3rd and 5th of May, 2013, Israel is reported to have hit shipments of Fateh-110 in Syria that were allegedly destined for Hezbollah.  Israel said it would not tolerate “game-changing weapons” falling into the hands of terrorists in Lebanon.  Israel’s Mossad is fully aware that the Syrians have started to restructure and modernize their ballistic missile forces.  They aren’t taking any chances, knowing that Syria has received more lethal and dangerous missiles from Iran and North Korea.

On Sunday, May 5, 2013, Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around Damascus, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

The attack is the second in three days.  The specific target was Fateh-110 missiles, which have precision guidance systems with better aim than anything Hezbollah is known to have in its arsenal.  The Fateh-110 or Conqueror, is a short-range ballistic missile developed by Iran and first put into service in 2002.  Iran unveiled an upgraded version in 2012 that improved the weapon’s accuracy and increased its range to 300 kilometers (185 miles).

An Israeli official said the air strikes are aimed at advanced “game-changing” weapons, but not chemical arms.  The target was a shipment of advanced, long-range ground-to ground missiles.   This solid-fuel missile could strike with pin-point precision, making it the most accurate weapon of its kind in Iran’s arsenal.  In the hands of Hezbollah, Fatah or Hamas  militants, it means highly consequential destruction to Israel’s urban centers.  Hezbollah is estimated to have 60,000 missiles in Lebanon, more than enough to deter Israeli attacks, and to strike back.  It is estimated that Hezbollah has 5,000 full-time fighters and as many as 15,000 in reserve.

Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive 34-day war in 2006 that left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead.  Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah’s arsenal has markedly improved since 2006, and now boasts tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of striking almost anywhere inside Israel.  Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons or other game-changing weaponry by the Syrian or North Korean regime to terrorists, specially to Hezbollah in Lebanon, specifically the Beqaa valley and the Gaza strip.

The Beqaa valley is no stranger to war.  The Allies and Vichy French fought here during the Second World War.  Most notoriously, the Israeli Army battled Yasser Arafat’s PLO, and later, the Syrian army in the Beqaa Valley in 1982.  It’s certainly a strategic area next to Israel that requires special attention by Israel’s military intelligence.  All military movements within this geographic area are well monitored by overhead drones and expensive spy satellites.

The air force, which has been responsible for all launches from Israel, says there are six “observational satellites” in orbit, four owned by the state and two privately owned craft. These provide imagery and other data to the military’s Intelligence Corps, which has operational control of the satellites once they’re in orbit.

Only one of the six satellites, the high-resolution TecSar 1, which carries an advanced imaging system called Synthetic Aperture Radar, is able to send images at night and in bad weather. Deep in the ground at a military base in central Israel is the heart of the Israeli spy satellites operations. From this facility they are operated and in special rooms their images are being translated into working data.

Some foreign publications say that Israel has built a “Bank” of targets that are being monitored 24/7. These are of course Iran’s nuclear sites and the routes which are being used to transfer rockets and other weapon systems into Gaza and Lebanon. A senior Israeli official signaled on Wednesday, that Israel was considering further military strikes on Syria to stop the transfer of advanced weapons to Islamic militants, and he warned the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, that his government would face crippling consequences if it retaliated against Israel.

The Israeli official said: “Israel is determined to continue to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. The transfer of such weapons to Hezbollah will destabilize and endanger the entire region.” “If Syrian President Assad reacts by attacking Israel, or tries to strike Israel through his terrorist proxies,” the official said, “he will risk forfeiting his regime, for Israel will retaliate.”

American and Israeli political analysts agree that Israel has little motive to intervene in Syria’s civil war, but is deeply concerned about the transfer of advanced weapons, as well as the danger that Mr. Assad’s stockpiles of chemical weapons could be used against Israel.

It’s not a military secret that Hezbollah has anti-tank rockets (Fadjir-7), mortars and advanced missiles among its arsenal, plus thousands of well-trained fighters, all organized into platoons and companies.  The mullahs have also sworn to annihilate Israel, the eternal home of the Jewish people.  Many military analysts claim that Iran is building nuclear weapons to blow Israel out of the map.  This is against international law.  You can bet your bird that Israel will not wait long before it strikes Iran’s nuclear installations.  The big question is not “if” but “when”.

The Middle East is at this very moment, the most dangerous and explosive spot on the globe—anything can happen.  Nuclear bombs are nothing to play with, and yet this is precisely what is taking place—take a close look at Iran’s and North Korea’s nuclear programs.  Good Day.

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Family Bonds

Snapshot of my wife Aura, laughing with Paola, the youngest of The Twisters. Behind her hand is a childish smile. You can appreciate it better in her twinkling deep black eyes. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The price for a Bonlac yogurt is $0.62.  A taxi fare from Paola’s home to our house at Residencial El Bosque is $5.00.  The cost of quality time invested in your family is priceless!  Good Day.

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Habanera

Snapshot of a building with gravitas which houses the Ministry of Public Security in the old section of Panama City, commonly known as “Casco Viejo” which translate to Old Shell in English. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

I decided to process this snapshot in black and white since it reminded me of Habana, Cuba; thus the title of the blog post. The city is the center of the Cuban Government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses and over 90 diplomatic offices.

The name Habana could be based upon the name of a local Taíno chief Habaguanex. An alternate theory is that Habana is derived from the Middle Dutch word havene, referring to a harbor.

The hands of the clock stopped on January 1, 1959 when bearded soldiers rolled down into the city from the Sierra Maestra.   On January 8, 1959, Castro’s army entered Habana; proclaiming himself Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the Presidency, Castro—along with close aides and family members—set up home and office in the penthouse of the Havana Hilton Hotel, meeting with journalists, foreign visitors and government ministers.  The rest is history.

Since then, nothing has changed. We can still see 1950s Fords, Studebakers, Chevys, or DeSotos cruising through the streets of Havana.  It’s like looking at a MGM movie studio in Hollywood and stumbling into Al Pacino while he was working on the motion picture The Godfather.  Time is frozen in Cuba as well as in the old section of Panama City, Panama as these pictures eloquently express.

An invisible wall was erected by Fidel Castro and his cronies to hold Freedom hostage.  I know someday this wall will crumble down following the path of the Berlin wall in 1989.  You can bet your bird that this day will come and Cuba will again be a free country as it was meant to be.

I can almost see the gleefulness radiating on José Martí and Yoani Sánchez’s face, author of the blog Generación Y, as well as on the faces of millions and millions of free Cubans when this day finally arrives.  Free at Last! Viva Cuba Libre!  Good Day.

Original version of the photograph shown above in black and white. I’m sure you will agree me that the nostalgic spirit of Havana hovers above this scene. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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