Titanic In the News Again

101 years after its sinking, the Titanic is still in the news. As regular readers of this space already know, the Titanic is one of my many obsessive interests, and I still find it fascinating.

Here is a never-before-released photograph of some of the ship's victims being buried at sea. It's a somber scene.

In the article, someone is quoted as saying, "This picture blows away the myth the burials were dignified.” But I disagree. There is nothing inherently undignified about a burial at sea, and given the limited space and limited means of preserving the bodies, I can't really reproach those who chose to bury the dead in this fashion.

That's not to say that there aren't many indignities, moral and personal, about the sinking: the rigid class hierarchies, the heartless way the White Star Line treated both the surviving crew and the families of the dead crew, the fact that many third-class passengers were locked below decks, the lack of sufficient lifeboat space, the first-class passengers who claimed whole lifeboats for themselves (though granted, in the early stages of the sinking, many people did not realize the seriousness of the situation; some saw taking to the boats as more of a lark than anything else).

But a solemn burial at sea, with bodies carefully wrapped and seemingly respectfully handled, a minister on hand to offer sacred rites, an apparently reverent crew of witnesses: I see no indignity here.

*Here Kelly removes her metaphorical hat and offers a moment of silence "for those in peril on the sea."*