Ken seemed worried about a facet of the detail:
<< Here’s another good foc’sle mystery: Why is Titanic’s anchor crane facing forward today? The result of the sudden braking force when she plowed into the bottom? I don’t think so. There are several photos showing Olympic’s crane in the same
attitude while in the graving dock at H&W, etc. (see inside the cover of Simon Mills’ Olympic: The Old Reliable). Did Titanic’s crew realign it purposely during the voyage at some point? Why? Are all my sinking paintings screwed?! >>
Pass the following on to Ken, no reply required.
The crane swing didn't need to be cause by braking on impact. The mainstays to the foremast are the heaviest on the ship and were found draped to port on the wreck. They rose between the stays for the crane. If the mainstays fell to port, they would have torn out the starboard crane stays as they pulled down on the port stays, probably ripping off the block, and spun the crane farther to port. That better explains both why the crane swung to port and why the crane block and stays are gone. If it was secured facing forward, the crane stays and block should still be there. It think your sinking paintings are safe.
Regrad
Roy Mengot
Posted on Nov 1, 1998, 12:47 PM from IP address 208.194.209.165