The Titanic Commutator Issue 254
THS Commutator No. 254, Summer 3rd Quarter, July to September 2026
Contents
Remembering Andrea Doria, Excerpts from “Saved” by William Hoffer
July 25, 1956, the beautiful Italian liner, Andrea Doria met her tragic fate after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm in a dense fog off Nantucket Island. 1,706 human beings at sea were forced the answer the ultimate question, “What if?”
Charles Parsons and the Birth of the Steam Turbine by Richard Maudsley
On Saturday 26 June 1897 over 160 ships from the British fleet were lined up off Spithead for the Review which formed part of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. They
formed lines stretching 25 miles in total. Imagine the commotion when into this scene
burst the white-painted steam yacht Turbinia, with its creator Charles Parsons aboard
Paul Louden-Brown, Maritime Historian By Orfhlaith Louden-Brown
The obituary is courtesy of Orfhlaith Louden Brown, Paul’s daughter
The Loss of Titanic By Harry Cozens-Hardy, contributed by Don Lynch
The following chapter is excerpted from the book, THE GLORIOUS YEARS, by Harry Cozens-Hardy originally published by Robert Hale Limited, London, 1953.
Sinking of the Lusitania Compiled from various newspapers
Lusitania sank on May 7, 1915 from a torpedo by a German submarine eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale. The Cunarder’s last voyage began on May 1 when she set out from New York to Liverpool on Saturday morning with 1,906 aboard.
The first intimation of danger was conveyed to the passengers on Friday morning about one o’clock when the vessel was some distance off the Irish coast. The ship suddenly adopted a zig-zag course and passengers said they saw a submarine on her port side. After a time this submarine disappeared altogether and an even course was resumed.
Titanic’s Only Complete Voyage By Edward Kamuda
From Ed Kamuda’s files: This account began after reading several letters from old friends who have since passed on. In describing events that took place between the time Titanic was at Belfast until leaving Southampton for New York, their own words knit together
those days in early April until noon on the 10th in 1912.
Thomas Andrews By Mark Chirnside
There is, inevitably, a historical focus on Titanic during this period. However, there was plenty of other work going on. One unwelcome task was having to complete extensive repairs to Olympic in October and November 1911, as a result of the Hawke collision on 20 September 1911. Harland & Wolff were working on plenty of other ships as well. This article explores some of the things that Thomas Andrews was involved with from November
1911 through to March 1912.
Covers: Two vintage travel posters
French Line C.G.T. Normandie
A liner from the Deutsche Afrika-Linien
