How cool is this? When he's not making films about killer cyborgs and tall blue people, James Cameron has carried out some superlative deep ocean explorations- his work on the Titanic and Bismarck wrecks alone leaves everyone else's efforts miles behind- so I'm not in the least bit surprised that he wanted to take a peek seven miles down in the Mariana Trench. That said, I'm not sure what he'll have seen, beyond lots of mud and perhaps a few butt-ugly fish!
"You never had the things you thought you should have had, and you'll not get them now..."
I bet he sees at least one old coke can and a shopping trolly.
Novie, when Onyx came over from Liverpool the Submariners Association asked for some help in mooring her up so we volunteered. I'm not involved with her I'm afraid and she isn't open to the public as she is berthed within BAE Systems yard. I do believe there is a virtual tour on the internet however. HMS Onyx - Homepage—BAE Systems UK Education ... www.baesystemseducationprogramme.com...
Here's a quote from an article I came across today, about the Titanic. I think maybe they made a mistake and published this 3 days too late:
What’s left to say or do with Titanic? Well, Ballard has an idea. “They now have a particular type of epoxy paint where these robots can literally apply paint underwater,” he says. “When I came on it for the first time, we came upon the bow and around the starboard side, and on the bottom, past the bilge keels, all of a sudden we saw pink paint with no corrosion and no growth. The antifouling paint they’d put on a hundred years earlier was still working." “So, you could easily, and within a matter of days, clean and paint the hull of Titanic. It would be a piece of cake. I’m actually applying for a permit to do that, because the hull is what’s holding this ship together.” And you thought watching paint dry was boring. “Painting the Titanic” — coming soon to a documentary channel near you.
In the old days, it was easy when you were a Titanic enthusiast- Ballard was the hero, and anyone else messing with the wreck was a villain. But I'm afraid for me that Ballard's OTT holier-than-thou stance has worn a little thin, and this isn't the first time he's come out with this absurd 'paint the hull' scheme.
Does he seriously think that painting the outside of the ship will make a blind bit of difference to the stability of such an enourmous, fractured structure? What about every last nook and cranny on the inside of the thing? And let's not forget how publicly enraged Ballard was when his French former colleagues used a soft brush to help reveal the ship's name on the port side of the bow in '87. Why is it suddenly okay for him to talk about cleaning and painting the whole damn thing?
On a happier note, who's been following some of the magnificent new photo mosaics of the wreck that have been released?
The stern-
880titanic001.jpg
Starboard side of the bow section-
RMS_Titanic_starboard.jpg
Starboard side of the stern section-
titanic_MM7985_rmst_Stern_005.jpg
The rear of the bow section-
AIVL-Titanic-Bow-Aft-Onlooking_750_218693.jpeg
There's a new take on the sinking/break up been done in association with James Cameron for National Geographic-
-and a lovely simple way of explaining the break up from Cameron himself-
I'm more a supporter of the 'low angle' break-up theory myself, but that apart I think he's got that spot on.
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"You never had the things you thought you should have had, and you'll not get them now..."
I must admit, that "Bananna peel theory" does put it into the easiest to understand terms while still being, for the most part, accurate.
Loving the new CGI Shallow angle B/U too............. What else does the sinking of Titanic hold in the 100th (Centenery) year I wonder?
Just cos my username is Thunderer, doesn't necessarily mean I SHOUT !! "A vehicle is designed to be used, restored or otherwise" A personal response on the question "you have just restored it, why use it?"
thunderer wrote:What else does the sinking of Titanic hold in the 100th (Centenery) year I wonder?
Well, there are moves to place the hull under the protection of UNESCO, amidst fears that visits by submersibles are causing damage. For heaven's sake, the thing is broken in half and scattered over several square miles of seabed 4000 metres down! I don't think a few bumps from a submersible are going to significantly affect the chances that it'll fix.....