- 1904 Project SS Norge 2004 -
SS Norge - Titanics predecessor
Dansk
Deutsch
- In remembrance of the sinking of SS Norge in 1904, an official 100 Year Memorial diving expedition with participants from Great Britain, Denmark and the United States has been arranged to commence in spring 2004. The diving expedition has been endorsed by relatives of the survivors from the disaster. The diving expedition consists of divers from Great Britain, Denmark and America and is lead by British historical researcher and diver Kevin Heath. The danish divers from No Limits Diving will be participating in the exploration of the wreck and in producing video footage for a tv-documentary.
- In the morning on June 28, 1904 the Norge hit the ground in the waters off Rockall. The tiny Rockall lies 280 miles off the nearest coast of Scotland and is one of the most isolated places in the world. Here the SS Norge and more than 600 living souls found its final resting place.
- Shortly after the ships Captain decided to get clear of the obstacle by reversing the ships course. Thus the engine was set on “Full reverse” and the Norge soon began to move again. But this only made things worse. Much worse. The collision, which happend with such an impact that the stern was lifted a few feet above the water, resulted in tearing a long hole in the ship. When the ship was clear of the ground, the water soon began to enter the ship through the damage to the stern. The 8 life boats would be able to rescue 251 persons and the life raft could hold 30 persons. In other words; if the life boats and the raft were filled in accordance to specifications, there would leave 514 persons onboard the sinking ship without any means of being saved. This was a prequel to the Titanic drama that happened only 8 years after the sinking of the Norge. Had the Titanic constructors taken into consideration the lessons learned from the SS Norge sinking, and accepted that a sufficient number of life boats were essential for rescuing passengers, it is more than likely that a lot more of the passengers from the Titanic would have been saved.
- Less than 20 minutes after the Norge hit the ground, the ship slipped beneath the surface. The screaming and calls from the many people who were washed off the ship and into the sea soon died out. More than 600 persons drowned or died as a result of immersion into the cold Atlantic. About 150 of these were Danish citizens. The sinking of the SS Norge is still the worst Danish civil maritime disaster and the story of the SS Norge is the story of the Danish Titanic.
nolimitsdiving (c) 2004
