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RMS Republic was a steam-powered ocean liner built in 1903
by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and was lost at sea in a
collision six years later while sailing for the White Star
Line. In her time, she was one of the largest, most modern
and luxurious passenger vessels afloat. History
White Star acquisitionThe ship was originally built in Belfast, Ireland for the
International Mercantile Marine's Dominion Line (a sister
company to the White Star Line) and was named ''Columbus''.
After two voyages with Dominion, she was sold to White Star
and renamed ''Republic'' (the White Star's original SS
Republic of 1872 had been sold over a decade earlier).
Collision with Florida
In early morning of January 23, 1909 whilst sailing from
New York City to Gibraltar and Mediterranean ports with 742
passengers and crew and Captain Inman Sealby in command,
Republic entered a thick fog off the island of
Nantucket, Massachusetts. The steamer reduced speed and
regularly signalled its presence by whistle. At 5:47 a.m.,
another whistle was heard and the Republic's engines
were ordered to full reverse, and the helm put
'hard-a-port'. Out of the fog, the Lloyd Italiano liner
Florida appeared and hit Republic amidships, at
about a right angle. Three passengers asleep in their cabins
on Republic were killed when Florida's bow
sliced into her. On Florida, three crewmen were also
killed when the bow was crushed back to a collision
bulkhead.[1]
The engine and boiler rooms on Republic began to
flood, and the ship listed. Captain Sealby led the crew in
calmly organizing the passengers on deck for evacuation.
Republic was equipped with the new Marconi wireless
telegraph system, and became the first ship in history to
issue a CQD distress signal.[2]
Florida came about to rescue Republic's
complement, and a nearby U.S. Coast Guard cutter responded
to the distress signal as well. Passengers were distributed
between the two ships, with Florida taking the bulk
of them, but with 900 Italian immigrants already onboard,
this left the ship dangerously overloaded.
The White Star liner Baltic, commanded by Captain
J.B. Ranson, also responded to the CQD call, but due to the
persistent fog, it was not until the evening that Baltic
was able to located the drifting Republic. Once
on-scene, the rescued passengers were transferred from the
cutter and Florida to Baltic. Because of the
damage to Florida, that ship's immigrant passengers
were also transferred to Baltic, but a riot nearly
broke out when they had to wait until first class Baltic
passengers were transferred. Once everyone was onboard,
Baltic sailed for New York.
Captain Sealby and a skeleton crew remained onboard
Republic to make an effort to save her. Crewmen from the
cutter tried using collision mats to stem the flooding, but
to no avail.[3] By
this time the steamers New York and Lucania
(from Cunard) had also arrived, and waited while an attempt
was made by the cutter to take Republic under tow.
This effort, too was futile, and on January 24, Republic
sank. At 15,378 tons, she was the largest ship to have sunk
up to that time.[4][5]
All the remaining crew were evacuated before she sank.
Rumored cargo
There are many rumours that the Republic was
carrying gold and/or other valuables when she went down. One
rumour is that she was carrying gold worth $250,000–$265,000
in American gold coins to be used as payroll for the US
Navy's Great White Fleet.[6]
Another theory is that she was carrying money for the relief
effort for the 1908 earthquake in Messina, Italy.[7]
A third theory, put forward by Captain Martin Bayerle, is
that she was carrying $3,000,000 in gold coins as part of a
loan to the Imperial Russian government.[8]
All of these values, of course, are in 1909 dollars when
gold was $20 per ounce. Today, the coin values would bring
the recovery to at least many hundreds of millions of
dollars, and some experts have estimated that the recovery
(with proper marketing of the recovered coins) could
approach $5 thousand million or more, making the Republic
salvage the largest treasure recovery of all time.[9]
Rediscovery
The wreck of the Republic was found by Captain
Martin Bayerle in 1981. She lies upright approximately
50 miles south of Nantucket Island[4][10]
at Latitude 40° 26' N, Longitude 69° 46' W in approximately
270 feet of water. Despite numerous salvage expeditions,
many ship and personal artifacts remain, and as yet none of
the rumoured treasure has been found.
The Salvage Continues
In 2005, Captain Bayerle's exclusive salvage rights to
the wreck were reconfirmed by the United States District
Court, District of Massachusetts.[11]
He plans to re-survey the vessel in 2007, and is planning a
major salvage for the summer of 2008. A 'section lift' of
the vessel is planned.[12]
References
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http://home.att.net/~rstinchcomb/newreck/republic.html
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rescue/filmmore/transcript/transcript1.html
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http://www.euronet.nl/users/keesree/allships.htm
- ^ a b Pickford, Nigel Lost Treasure Ships of the Twentieth Century, National Geographic Society, 1999 ISBN 0-7922-7472-5
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http://www.rms-republic.com/index1.html
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http://www.rms-republic.com/more_details.html
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http://www.rms-republic.com/more_details01.html
-
http://www.rms-republic.com/index1.html
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http://www.rms-republic.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=11
-
http://www.rms-republic.com/index1.html
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http://www.rms-republic.com/legal/
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http://www.rms-republic.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19
External links
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Republic_%281903%29
Buy Books on the Wreck of the RMS Republic at Amazon.co.uk
Buy Books on the Wreck of the RMS
Republic at
Amazon.co.uk
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