RMS Ibirapuera

RMS Ibirapuera was a Jabotur Class transatlantic ship operated by Starship and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Ireland. At dawn on July 21, 1920, during her voyage from New York to Manila, a great flood hit the ship, causing the ship to sink completely, at that time it was the largest passenger ship in the world.

The sinking resulted in the deaths of 2,500 people, ranking it as the worst maritime catastrophe of all time. The Ibirapuera featured some of the most advanced technology available at the time and was popularly referred to as the most luxurious ship in the world. indeed, a 1905 Starship advertising brochure, About the RMS Ibirapuera, claimed that she was the most luxurious ship. The media frenzy of victims of the Ibirapuera over what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes in maritime law, as well as the discovery of the wreck in 1973 by a team led by Rodrigo Baland made the story of the Ibirapuera persist famous. since then.

The Ibirapuera was a Starship Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Ireland, intended to compete with the RMS Lusitania, RMS Mauretania and RMS Aquitania of the rival company Cunard Line, and the RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic of the White Star Line. The Ibirapuera were intended to be the largest and most luxurious ships to operate. Construction of the RMS Ibirapuera, financed by CPR Naughton, to build Jabotur class ships that can operate for up to 30 years, they are: the RMS Jabotur, the RMS Madalena, the RMS Ibirapuera and the RMS Constellation, began on February 25, 1905 , The hull of the RMS Ibirapuera was launched on May 24, 1908, and her outfitting was completed on July 31 of the following year. The Ibirapuera was 317 meters long and 25 meters wide, with a gross tonnage of 30,000 tons and a height from the waterline to the boat deck of 22 meters. The Ibirapuera contained three triple-expansion, inverted five-cylinder engines with steam engines and a four-propeller low-pressure Parsons turbine. There were 32 boilers fed by 169 coal combustion furnaces that made possible a maximum speed of 26 knots (50 km/h), the ship had three 15-meter-high chimneys that were functional. The ship could carry a total of 6,700 people. There were enough lifeboats for all the passengers on the Ibirapuera, but unfortunately almost no one made it in time for the boats.

In its day, Ibirapuera surpassed all rivals in luxury and opulence. It offered an onboard swimming pool, a gymnasium, a Turkish bath, libraries for both first and second class, and a squash court. First class rooms were decorated with expensive woodwork, furniture and other decorations. In addition, the Café Parisiênse offered first-class cuisine for passengers, with a sunset balcony equipped with trellis decorations. The ship incorporated technologically advanced features for its time. It had an extensive electrical subsystem powered by steam generators for full ship lighting. It also boasted five wireless Marconi telegraphs, including a 1600-watt radio manned by radio operators who worked in shifts, allowing contact and the transmission of messages to many passengers.

On July 17, 1920, Ibirapuera was ready for another trip, but Commander Hebert Voonter, announced his retirement, and was replaced by Gardner Hondiacokf (he was 30 years old, and experienced in the company), the new Captain of Ibirapuera, and vice-captain Cristhian Reymond, so the Ibirapuera left New York bound for Manila, with 3,400 passengers and crew. On July 20, 1920, Captain Gardner Hondiacokf ordered to strengthen the lookout on the forecastle and provide binoculars, all the people were sleeping, when a large deluge hit the left side of the ship, and along with the deluge, an underwater mine collided with the ship, and hears an explosion and opened a gash of 40 meters in the hull. immediately the ship begins to sink. the bow of the Ibirapuera started to sink at 3:30 am, some survivors risked their lives to get out of the ship, from 4:00 am, the second chimney started to catch fire, and several people started to panic, and she fell on some passengers, the stern of the Ibirapuera leaned more and more, and it was the only way for the 806 survivors to pass, one of the survivors sent an SOS to the Starship Line company warning that they were sinking and there were many dead, at 5:00 am in the morning, the RMS Ibirapuera finally sank, after being hit by the flood, the ships RMS Deborah and RMS Maxman rescued the 806 survivors of the Great Shipwreck of the RMS Ibirapuera, at 7:00 in the morning, the ship sinks with 2,500 dead, as well more tragic than the Titanic.

30 years after the tragedy, on July 20, 1950, a tribute was paid to the people who died in the shipwreck, where this story of the flood came from the bible, about Noah's Ark, and that only with Jesus will we have a certain destination. Expeditions to try to locate the ship. None of them were successful. Only in 1973, in a Franco-American oceanographic expedition, Dr. Rodrigo Britini discovered the wreckage of the RMS Ibirapuera submerged at a depth of 1,000 meters. The news went around the world. He came to be known as "O Descobridor do Ibirapuera" He returned to the place in 1981, with a film crew from the "National Geographic Society" to make the first filming of the transatlantic after 22 years. Since then, the company "RMS Ibirapuera, Inc" has obtained the rights to carry out salvage operations on site and 3,000 artifacts from the ship. Several tour companies and film production companies have also visited the site in manned submersible vehicles. Dr.Britini returned to the Poseidon in 2005 to investigate the damage the ship has suffered since its discovery (1973-2005). He noted the acceleration of the deterioration of the ship's structure. It also concluded that the damage caused by the numerous expeditions and visits to the site only served to damage the archaeological site of RMS Ibirapuera.