Titanic's funnels

[Mr. Robin Bradford]

I heard somewhere say that when the Titanic was found, the funnels were not found in the debris field. An explanation that was given was that they rolled away on the ocean floor. Can anyone comment on this as to whether the funnels were found in the debris field or did they simply roll away? I don't see how four funnels could just simply roll away.

 

[Jeremy Austin]

well correct me if i'm wrong but the funels were
completly aluminum and,there are aluminum eating bateria and lot of them what happens when tons of
aluminum mix with trillions of aluminum eating
bateria 'DO THE MATH'

 

[Mr. Robin Bradford]

Jeremy thanks for your input. I just imagined the funnels were constructed of the same steel as the remainder of the titanic. I just find it amazing that no traces of the huge funnels were found when scores of other items of different compositions are still somewhat intact. I have seen artifacts brought from the service and other objects on the ship composed of metal still somewhat intact and identifiable such as the metal cord that holds the chandelier. Its just odd that something that large can just disintegrate!

 

[Pat Cook]

Just a note here.

I don't have the resources handy but I believe on the Britannic (sister ship) which sank a few years later they DID find detached funnels, collapsed but relatively intact.

Also, I know of at least one megaphone (rumored to be Captain Smith's), also made of aluminum, that was recovered as I saw it at an exhibition in Dallas, Texas.

I had always heard that the funnels left the Titanic as it broke up and not after it hit the ocean floor.

Hope this is of some help.

Best regards,
Cook

 

[Mr. Robin Bradford]

Thanks Cook for your response. I was thinking maybe when the funnels broke away, they sank into the mud and were completely covered with silt,etc, since the funnels were extremely large and heavy. The debris field is strewn with many objects of various weights and sizes, so why are these not covered by mud/silt? I do not buy that they rolled away either. For an object to roll, they would have to be perfectly round and the funnels were not round. It is apparent that they must have been consumed by organisms on the ocean floor, but it looks as if traces of them should still be there since other aluminum pieces and other metals are still present. Perhaps the main piece of wreckage sits on one or two funnels. It is just something to think about.

 

[Mike Herbold]

On page 180 of Robert Ballard's book "The Discovery of the Titanic" you will see underwater pictures of funnel items, including the base of the no. 4 funnel, some four-foot-high steam whistles, and some water-main pressure pipe. Pages 215 and 216 have maps of where the funnel items were found in relation to the stern section.

Suggest you read this book thoroughly. Ballard gives good explanations as to why some very big items were not found until after their dives when, with the help of Ken Marschall, they started to examine the tens of thousands of photo images.

 

[William Conrad]

I'd just like to say that our knowledge of the world's oceans isn't that detailed. People have only been able to dive to really deep depths from the mid 20th century onwards...

I've read that corrosion rates can sometimes vary between different waters and different depths. Not only that, being covered in sea bed mud seems to protect and preserve things.

Apart from a bit of funnel base found in the debris field (see the latest version of Dr Robert Ballard's book 'Discovery of the Titanic'), there were never any traces of the Titanic's flimsy funnels ever found. It's most likely that the thin metal has long since corroded away to nothing...

 

[Mr. Robin Bradford]

Thanks. I didn't realize the funnels were made of such thin metal.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Jeremy, I suspect you have a few wires crossed on your sources of information. The funnels were manufactured of steel at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard,and the bacteria which are slowly eating away at the hull are iron eating. The reason the funnels didn't survive as long is due to the metal being thinner. Since all they were needed for was to remove exhaust gasses from the boilers, they hardly needed to be made of the same inch thick plate as the hull.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Mike Herbold]

Michael McCaughan's "The Birth of the Titanic" also has a lot of these same funnel pictures.

 

[William Conrad]

Hello Mike Herbold,

Yes, wasn't it a coincidence that we posted our replies at the same time? I was surprised myself...

Thanks for the book reference. Also, I agree with you about the funnels being flattened out. I can remember seeing pictures of a period ship (Britannic maybe, I can't remember) where the funnels looked like squashed toilet rolls!

 

[WestRail642fan]

Hello Mike Herbold,

Yes, wasn't it a coincidence that we posted our replies at the same time? I was surprised myself...

Thanks for the book reference. Also, I agree with you about the funnels being flattened out. I can remember seeing pictures of a period ship (Britannic maybe, I can't remember) where the funnels looked like squashed toilet rolls!

yes its Britannic who's funnel is next to it, funnel no.4 i believe

 

[WestRail642fan]

if i remember right, they found the top of funnel no.2 near the stern when they mapped the full wreck site, they knew it was a funnel by the the fact that a steam whistle was present


the red circle is the funnel

 

[Charley Smith]

Now if only someone would bring up a piece so we'd have a sample of 'White Star Buff'.....

 

[Bob Read]

Charley: In determining the color White Star Buff we have the next best thing in the ships of the Shaw, Savill and Albion line. You can read about it here: http://www.titanic-cad-plans.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Narrowing-the-range-of-WSB.pdf