On 15 April 1912 the passenger liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton (UK) to New York City (US). Probably because she was the largest ship afloat at that time (and also the most luxurious), the voyage during which she sank was the maiden voyage, number of victims was enormous (1514 from a total of 2,223), and among the dead were some of the wealthiest people in the world, disaster has been highly publicized both then and later, Titanic becoming one of the legends of the modern era.
On 15 April 2012 Titanic entered under UNESCO protection, because "UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage applies to all traces of human existence having a cultural, historical or archaeological character which have been under water for at least 100 years". The purpose is to protect the wreck of commercial treasure-hunters and of its exploitation without discernment. The wreck was discovered on 1985, approximately 340 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland (Canada) 3,784m beneath the surface. Since then, thousands of artefacts have been recovered from the sea bed.
Titanic was the second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, all built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. The first, RMS Olympic, enjoyed a long and illustrious career of 24 years, between 1911 and 1935, but the third, HMHS Britannic, shared the fate of the Titanic, striking a mine near the Greek island of Kea on 21 November 1916, and sunk with the loss of 30 lives. They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912.
Although I believe that the deaths are not accounted for, I must say that the sinking of the Titanic isn't the greatest naval disaster ever happened, but (according to Wreck Site) is at number 32 in such a morbid list. Top of the list is the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff (9,343 deaths), torpedoed in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine on January 30, 1945, and in peacetime is the ferry Dona Paz, which collided it with a tanker on December 20, 1987 in Sibuyan Sea, of those about 4,000 passengers only 24 surviving.
This postcard was sent from Ireland on April 15, 2012, therefore exactly in the day in which, 100 years ago, the Titanic sank. Thank you very much, Fiona.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of the 6th series of definitive postage stamps of Ireland, Wild Flowers of Ireland, which replaced the 5th series, Birds, issued since 1997. The stamps were designed by the botanical artist Susan Sex.
2004.09.09
• Viola riviniana (0.04 EUR)
• Taraxacum officinale (0.05 EUR)
• Primula vulgaris (0.48 EUR)
• Bellis perennis (0.48 EUR) - It's on the postcard 3031
• Crataegus monogyna (0.60 EUR)
• Hyacinthoides non-scripta (0.65 EUR)
• Arum maculatum (2 EUR)
• Rosa canina (5 EUR)
2005.04.12
• Geranium sanguineum (0.01 EUR)
• Neotinea maculata (0.02 EUR)
• Ophrys insectifera (0.07 EUR)
• Dryas octopetala (0.10 EUR)
• Gentiana verna (10 EUR)
2006.02.20
• Ulex gallii (0.12 EUR)
• Centaurea nigra (0.25 EUR)
• Umbilicus rupestris (0.75 EUR)
• Echium vulgare (0.90 EUR)
• Digitalis purpurea (1 EUR)
2007.03.01
• Iris pseudacorus (0.03 EUR)
• Pinguicula grandiflora (0.55 EUR)
• Schoenus nigricans (0.78 EUR)
• Lythrum salicaria (0.95 EUR)
• Pinguicula grandiflora (N)
• Sisyrinchium bermudianum (N)
2008.03.03
• Armeria maritima (0.20 EUR)
• Sedum acre (0.50 EUR)
• Aster tripolium (0.82 EUR) - It's on the postcard 0182
2008.12.05
• Glaucium flavum (N)
References
RMS Titanic - Wikipedia
Sender: Fiona Naughton (direct swap)
Sent from Cobh (Ireland), on 15.04.2012
Photo supplied by Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
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