Legends and myths

Legends and myths

Main article: Legends and myths regarding RMS Titanic

The Titanic has gone down in history as the ship that was called unsinkable.^[i] However, even though countless news stories after the sinking called Titanic unsinkable, prior to the sinking the The White Star Line had used the term "designed to be unsinkable" and other pre-sinking publications described the ship as "virtually unsinkable".^[208] Another well-known story is that of the ship's band, led by Wallace Hartley, who heroically played on while the great steamer was sinking. This seems to be true but there has been conflicting information about which song was the last to be heard. The most reported is "Nearer, My God, to Thee", though "Autumn" has been mentioned.^[58][j] Finally, a widespread myth is that the internationally recognised Morse code distress signal "SOS" was first put to use when the Titanic sank. While it is true that British wireless operators rarely used the "SOS" signal at the time, preferring the older "CQD" code, "SOS" had been used internationally since 1908. The first wireless operator on Titanic, Jack Phillips, sent both "SOS" and "CQD" as distress calls.

Memorials and monuments

Main article: Memorials and monuments to the RMS Titanic victims

Memorial to Titanic's engineers in Southampton, England, unveiled in 1914

The Titanic disaster was commemorated though a variety of memorials and monuments to the victims, erected in several English-speaking countries and in particular in cities that had suffered notable losses. These included Southampton, Liverpool and Belfast in the United Kingdom; New York and Washington, D.C. in the United States; and Cobh (formerly Queenstown) in Ireland.[211] Individual British victims of the disaster are commemorated in a number of places, notably Captain Smith in Lichfield,[212] wireless operator Jack Phillips in Godalming[213] and musician Wallace Hartley in his home town of Colne.[214] Most of the bodies recovered after the disaster are buried under simple black granite headstones in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[215] Two towns in Australia, Ballarat and Broken Hill, built memorials to the ship's musicians.