Gizmodo Australia » titanic

RMS Titanic Naval Tragedies Are Coming To A Poolside Near You

Jack Loftus — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Rejoice, for the super rich have found a way to recreate the terrible Titanic tragedy in their over-sized luxury bath tubs.

Or, if you’re interested, this remote control RMS Titanic is a mere $US2,500 away.

What do you get for that lofty sum? Well, aside from the inevitable date with an ice cube you’re already planning in your heads right now, you’ll get a six-foot 1:150 scale model that’s been hand crafted from 300 pieces over the course of 400 man hours.

Some of those 300 pieces sound pretty impressive too, like the real mahogany and cedar used in the superstructure and detailing. The three propellers guide this Titanic lite around at 5mph for up to three hours. [Hammacher Schlemmer via OhGizmo]

Hunt for Titanic Was Cover for Secret Sunken Nuke Sub Dives

Gizmodo US Edition — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:00:00 +0000

According to newly declassified info and the lead scientist himself, Dr Bob Ballard, the successful search for the Titanic wreck was actually part of a secret hunt for two sunken cold war American nuclear submarines. The USS Thresher and USS Scorpion had both foundered in the 1960s, and the Navy needed to know what had happened to their reactors over the years. When Dr Ballard approached them in 1982 for funding to find the Titanic with his new deep-diving robot submersible, the Navy saw the opportunity and granted him the money on the condition he first inspect the two wrecks.

Ballard agreed, and in 1984 set off to investigate. Thresher had been the most advanced attack sub of its time, but in 1963 had an accident during testing that left it without power. Ballard’s robotic survey discovered that it had sunk so deep it imploded, turning into thousands of pieces. His 1985 search for the Scorpion—which had disappeared in 1968 with 99 crew, and was thought to be a victim of a Soviet attack—revealed such a large debris field that it looked “as though it had been put through a shredding machine.” The survey data revealed the most likely cause of the loss of the sub was one of its own torpedoes going rogue and hitting the sub after firing.

Once the two wrecks had been visited, and the radioactive threat from both was established as small, Ballard was able to search for Titanic. Due to dwindling funds, he had just 12 days to do so, but he used the same debris-field search techniques he’d used for the two subs, and, of course, it worked. [The Times via Danger Room]

Titanic DNA Fountain Pens Made With Real Wreckage

Gizmodo US Edition — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Last year we brought you news that designers Romain Jerome were making wristwatches out of parts acquired from Titanic herself, and now they’re doing it again, this time with a fountain pen. The Titanic DNA pen has a steel band made from genuine wreck-salvaged rusty metal mixed with other steel from the shipyards that originally made the ill-fated ship.

Furthermore, the entire pen has a nautical design with rivets, propellers and funnels dotted about. The theme continues even inside, where a ship’s wheel-shaped gear operates a propeller that pushes ink to the nib, all visible through a little sapphire-glass porthole.

There’re only 88 in existence, and considering the Titanic metal, and the gold and palladium elsewhere in the construction, we can only imagine that the price would’ve surprised even Titanic’s owners. [Vialuxe via Born Rich]