LOSS OF LIFE DUE TO ICEBERG COLLISION 



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Figure 6: Distribution of loss of life in iceberg collisions from 1803 to 2000 during which 



3377 souls perished 



in this reduced level of incidents the awareness of danger brought about by the shock effects 

 of the Titanic disaster, and the effectiveness of ice warnings given out by the IIP. 



3377 people have lost their lives in these incidents with almost half being in the Titanic alone 

 and this is graphically represented in Figure 6. The next highest loss of 480 occurred when 

 the City' of Glasgow went missing in ice in 1854. The largest loss of life since the sinking of 

 the Titanic was in the sinking of the Hans Hedtoft in 1959 after colliding with an iceberg off 

 Cape Farewell, Greenland on the return portion of her maiden voyage en route for 

 Copenhagen from Nuuk (Godthaab) when 95 people drowned. Figure 7 compares the 545 

 incidents, sorted by month, which occurred in the Noi1h Atlantic with the average monthly 

 occurrence of icebergs from 1900 to present. As one might expect, the distribution is very 

 similar, the most accidents occurring in the months in which the most icebergs occur though 

 it is not known how this is influenced by seasonal variations in the volume of marine traffic. 

 This demonstrates that icebergs pose a threat throughout all months of the year. The 55 

 Arizona was a well known ship in her tiine and provides one of the most spectacular cases 

 when in November 1879 she sailed full speed into a huge iceberg in foggy conditions and 

 drove her bow in 20 feet. She remained afloat with her 509 passengers and going part of the 

 way stem First, limped into St. John's where an early photograph was taken of her. As a Blue 

 Ribband winner her popularity increased as she became renowned as one of the safest ships 

 because what other ship could have withstood such an impact and stayed afloat! 



All the incidents which occurred around North America are summarized in Table 1 and sorted 

 by sailing vessels on one hand and steam and motor powered vessels on the other. Sailing 

 vessels are typically comprised of full square rigged ships, barks and brigs. Schooners were 

 classified as sailing vessels unless there was evidence that they were otherwise powered. The 



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