The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-08-12
Is DERELICT
The TITANIC?
BRITISH STEAMER LuCILINE
SIGHTS HULK STANDING ON END
WHERE LINER WENT DOWN.

Philadelphia, Aug. IL. - Much of
the mystery that surrounded the sink
ing Of the White Star liner Titanic,
with 1900 of her passengers. on April
10, 1912, may be dispelled by the dis
convey of a. wreck, believed to be part
OF the hulk of the ill-starred vessel,
standing on end in the Atlantic ocean
off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland,
practically in the spot where the dis
aster occurred. Captain Remnant of
the British steamship Luciline, which
arrived at Philadelphia from Bordeaux,
reported sighting the derelict n the
United States photographic Office has
begun an investigation to learn more
about the wreck. Lieutenant Com
mander Landenberger, United States
photographer stationed in this city,
attaches much importance to the re-
port.
Should the. vessel sighted by the
Luciline prove to be the remains of
the Titanic, the story of the mo
able wreck would be, rewritten. The
fact that, after more than a year, the
hulk stands vertically in the waves,
protruding eight feet or more above
the surface, would indicate that a.
submerged ledge Of rock had pre-
vented the wreck from going to the
bottom Of the sea. If such a ledge
exists-and evidences of one were re-
ported as long ago as 1928 then it
is probable that the laundering of tf e
Titanic was caused by the hidden ob-
struction ripping open her hull, as
much as by her collision with the
iceberg. It may be that the frozen
mountain was anchored IN the path
Of the big steamer by grounding on
tho SI1nkan rnoEc ., Shn,I1I t1ora tho.
cries rrovel to be facts, Captain
Smith, who was in command OF the
Titanic and persisted when his vessel
went down, would be absolved of the
charge Of la2X Of vigilance. Damage
suits against the International Mer,
camille Marine, based or the disas-
ter, would fall. leading admiralty
lawyers say, for the same reason.
Captain Remnant of the Luciline is
inclined to believe that what he saw
was the skeleton of the Titanic, or u
part of it. He reported hat on July 5,
in latitude 39.40. longitude 4S.19. he
sighted a comparatively old wreck,
standing vertically in the water, with
about eight feet of it's length extending
down in latitude 41.40, longitude SOFA.
The wreck was covered with a marine
growth Of comparatively recent form
alton, tending to show that it had been
in the water a little more than a year,
The derelict had the appearance,
Captain Remnant said, of being held
down by anchors in shoal water, and
of being buoyed UP by water-tight
compartments. He is of the opinion
that 1t is the forward part of the I'll
tanic, which, 1t was said, split in two
just before it sank.
Mariners say there is avery reason
to credit the existence of a submerged
lodi n Of rnnE- - + rr vnno~ tIz c-N -L -
the Titanic was destroyed. On vari-
Gus occasions three different obstruc-
tions of such a character have been
reported. The position occupied by the
wreck reported by the master Of the
Luciline is remarkably close to the
Hervagault in 1928, in latitude 41.02,
longitude 49.23. Breakers were again
reported in the same spot in 1927 and
in 1856 an obstruction, consisting of
three sunken rocks, with a long ledge,
was reported in latitude 40.27, longi-,
tude 1906. The calculation of the po-
sition of the grave of the Titanic, lati- |
tude 41.40. longitude SOFA, as we'll az
those of the sunke nrocks, are all APP
proximate, and probably are the same !
spot.
Lieutenant Commander Landenber-
ger, United States photographer, said
the matter is one of the utmost i'm
PtEtdIlCC. IlS dSSSt leu GIldI he RONSTH- |
men should dispatch a surveying YES
sci to the scene, of the disaster to es-
tablish or ,disprove at once the exist
ence of the sunken ledge. The fact !
that an old wreck was seen there, he
said, is an evidence that some such
menace to navigation exists in that
part of the ocean.
1t is thought that the sunken rocks
may be the pinnacles of mountains
whose base is the bed of the ocean.
Geographers assert that such peaks
exist in both the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. Many of the southern Pacific
islands, it is said, were formed by cor
al insects and in other ways, with the
summit Of a submarine mountain as |
the nucleus.