Titanic and Halifax

The storyline from the doomed ocean liner Titanic has captured the imagination of individuals all over the planet because the day it sank. Halifax, in Nova Scotia, Canada is really a largely unknown section of Titanic history. 

Following the Titanic sank, the White Star Line chartered four ships from Canada to look for survivors. Two the strategies, the MacKay-Bennett and also the Minia, were from Halifax. 

From the 328 bodies recovered coming from the disaster site, 119 were so badly damaged or deteriorated they had been buried at sea. Leftover 209 were brought to Halifax for identification, where possible. 150 of these people were buried in one among three Halifax cemeteries, depending on religion (Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish ), giving Halifax perhaps one of the largest concentrations of Titanic passenger burials in the planet. 

The Maritime Museum from the Atlantic in Halifax houses the biggest collection of wooden Titanic artifacts in the planet with their permanent exhibit, Titanic : The unsinkable ship and Halifax, which opened in 1998. 

Perhaps one of the centerpieces from the collection is really a wooden deck chair, perhaps one of the only intact ones in the planet known to match those in photos from the ship. A grandchild of Reverend Henry W. Cunningham gave the chair towards the museum. Reverend Cunningham received the chair in recognition for their services in conducting most of the sea burials for Titanic victims. 

Probably the most moving items on display is that the log of wireless operator Robert Hunston, from Cape Race, Newfoundland. It‘s a condensed log of all of the distress calls coming from the ocean liner the night it sank. Reading the log brings home the reality from the disaster and also the amazingly short time during which it occurred. 

For additional info on Halifax’s role inside the Titanic aftermath, visit the city’s Titanic web site at http : / / www. halifax. ca / history / titanicmain. html.