Another Titanic mystery possibly solved

[Fubar512]

One of the mysteries surrounding the sinking of the Titanic revolves around how much warning the ship had that an iceberg lay directly in it's path. In theory, on a clear night, the 'berg should have been visible as a dark mass against the backdrop of the night sky, while it was still several nautical miles away. 

 

Evidence now points out the 'berg was rendered invisible due to refraction (caused by an atmospheric inversion layer), resulting in "cold-water mirages".  This video, from the Smithsonian channel, delves into this:

 

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/full-episodes/titles/20641/titanics-final-mystery

[FalconC45]

Yea, I've seen that happen on a real hot day on lake erie, the effect stretched a cargo ship. it looked like a cruise ship until i looked in my bics.

[Fubar512]

Yea, I've seen that happen on a real hot day on lake erie, the effect stretched a cargo ship. it looked like a cruise ship until i looked in my bics.

I've witnessed the "giant ship" effect, and I've also seen the "shrinking ship" effect while running offshore.  Inversion layers are quite common here during the spring and early summer, before the water temperature gets above the ambient night-time temperature on land.

[Wrench]

I thought it had been solved years ago....

 

 

[Fubar512]

I have it from reliable sources that Godzilla never emerged with red anti-fouling paint on his dorsal spines or back.  However:

 

The iceberg suspected of having sunk the RMS Titanic. This iceberg was photographed by the chief steward of the liner Prinz Adalbert on the morning of April 15, 1912, just a few miles south of where the “Titanic” went down. The steward hadn't yet heard about the Titanic. What caught his attention was the smear of red paint along the base of the berg, indication that it had collided with a ship sometime in the previous twelve hours. This photo and information was taken from "UNSINKABLE" The Full Story of RMS Titanic written by Daniel Allen Butler, Stackpole Books 1998. Other accounts indicated that there were several icebergs in the vicinity where the TITANIC collided.

 

 

Source:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Titanic_iceberg.jpg

[FalconC45]

I've witnessed the "giant ship" effect, and I've also seen the "shrinking ship" effect while running offshore.  Inversion layers are quite common here during the spring and early summer, before the water temperature gets above the ambient night-time temperature on land.

 

There is a theory that the ship that was semi close to the Titanic during the "golden hour" before she went down, the ship captain thought the Titanic was a cargo ship. His reputation was ruined after that though.

 

Falcon