Her Name, Titanic

by Charles Pellegrino

"NOT EVEN GOD HIMSELF COULD SINK THIS SHIP? On the evening of Sunday, April 14, 1912, the awesome ocean liner Titanic-the majestic queen of the White Star fleet-struck an iceberg and quickly vanished into the frigid blackness of the North Atlantic. Seventy-three years later, a dedicated group of scientists set sail in search of the sunken behemoth-an incredible mission that uncovered shocking secrets buried two miles below the ocean's surface. In Her Name, Titantic, Dr. Charles Pellegrino combines two enthralling adventures in re-creating with breathtaking immediacy the terrible night the great ship went down...and offering a riveting, first-hand account of a remarkable expedition-and the miraculous scientific technology-that helped shed astonishing new light on the greatest seagoing disaster of the 20th century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Maritime

283 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Charles Pellegrino is a scientist working in paleobiology, astronomy, and various other areas; a designer for projects including rockets and nuclear devices (non-military propulsion systems), composite construction materials, and magnetically levitated transportation systems; and a writer. He has been affiliated with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand National Observatory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, NY; taught at institutions including Hofstra University and Adelphi University Center for Creative Arts; a member of Princeton Space Studies Institute. Cradle of Aviation Museum, space flight consultant; Challenger Center, founding member. After sailing with Robert Ballard to the Galapagos Rift in the immediate aftermath of the discovery of the Titanic (in 1985), Pellegrino expanded from the field of paleontology “into the shallows of archaeological time.”

Reviews

[Peter Colclasure · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books growing up. I read it repeatedly throughout middle school and fancied myself a Titanic buff, watching National Geographic documentaries and idolizing Robert Ballard and failing to assemble a thousand-piece 3-foot Titanic model, and playing the CD-ROM game Titanic: Adventure Out Of Time, which was kind of like MYST on a ship. I even spent time at my local library in Merrill, WI, researching the life of Daniel Coxon (known as Popcorn Dan due to his employment as a popcorn vendor), a Merrill resident, who died on the Titanic. He only had one arm. Makes it difficult to swim.

Then James Cameron’s Titanic hit theaters, at which point my enthusiasm for the doomed ship cooled. I suppose the movie Titanic was the iceberg that sank the Titanic of my Titanic interest.

The thing is, I loved the movie. It brought the ship to life! While other filmgoers may have been misty-eyed at the sweaty car bonking of Kate and Leo, I was more enthralled by the giant turbines in the engine room. A different sort of thrusting.

But after the movie came out, EVERYONE was into the Titanic, and this interest of mine that had felt personal and niche was overwhelmed by the mass phenomena of Leo-fever. I suppose it’s the same feeling when the scrappy local indie band you love signs to Geffen Records and puts out an auto-tuned single used in a Nissan commercial. I was 16 and my interests were moving on to other things anyway.

But lately I’ve been getting into the Titanic again. Over the last month, I’ve watched two documentaries and started reading Ghosts of Titanic, which is the second of Charles Pellegrino’s trilogy about the ship.

Ghosts of Titanic is not a great book. I’ll write a full review after I finish it, but it’s scattered and disorganized and presents some inaccurate science, which I fact checked against my microbiologist wife (who has PhD). Then I learned (thanks Wikipedia!) that Pellegrino, who continually refers to himself as “Charles Pellegrino, Ph.D.” throughout the text, does not in fact have a PhD. Apparently he went through a doctoral program at the University of New Zealand but his thesis was rejected. He blames it on “anti-American bias” in the early ‘80s, but the university said it’s because his thesis was actually bad. The result is that he never got his PhD but spent the next few decades telling everyone he did. Lying about having a PhD is lame.

So, halfway through Ghosts of Titanic, I took a break to re-read Her Name, Titanic. And this book is great! Even if the author, whom we know to lie about having a Ph.D., presents some urban legends as fact, such as the story of Frank Towers. I think the reason this book is so good and the sequel isn’t, is because this book is a narrative rather than a forensic file. It tells a story. Fake doctor or not, Pellegrino is an immensely talented writer when he wants to be, and the chapters that fictionalize the sinking of the Titanic are captivating. The connections he draws between the sinking of the Titanic and later technological disasters, like the Challenger explosion, are profound. His portrayal of Robert Ballard is humane and touching and accurate. His asides into space exploration are interesting.

Her Name, Titanic is a gripping, coherent narrative. It’s logically organized and flows well, telling the parallel stories of the sinking of the ship and its discovery 70 years later. Stephen King gave a blurb for the jacket: “Hypnotic!” So it’s kind of weird to me that the follow-up is a rambling, sprawling mess.

I fully intend to read the third book in the trilogy. We’ll see if that’s any better.

If you have any interest in the Titanic though, I’d say this one is must-read.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is more about those who found her and the ship involved than the Titanic herself. It was a very interesting and respectable look at the wreckage and the finding and the original thoughts that went into her find

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another good read by the author of the wonderful GHOSTS OF THE 'TITANIC' (it looks as if this one came out before that one). Runs you through the sinking of the ship, some of the more awful and even some funny moments connected to the sinking, and what went into finding the wreckage 77 years later. Makes a very apt comparison to the events surrounding the 'Challenger' explosion. Pellegrino should know, because he dealt directly with both.

[mariah✰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles Pellegrino is a vibrant storyteller, though his stories come at the cost of historical accuracy. More of an in-depth look at Ballard's discovery and subsequent expedition to the wreck than a look at the historical sinking - it makes an excellent companion to Ballard's own book, though of course has been heavily dated with the discoveries and theories since.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book. Quick read.

[Brian Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book centers at least as much on the author's experiences, which are very interesting, and his thoughts as it does on the Titanic itself. There are side trips of conjecture about exploration on moons of other planets and an interesting parallel between the Titanic and the Challenger disaster. Both had elements of overconfidence that contributed to what went wrong. How often will this repeat itself?

Another interesting thing brought out was the science fiction works of Morgan Robertson who wrote his book _Titan_ about a ship like the Titanic that was unsinkable but sank like the Titanic on its first voyage, with many uncanny similarities. It was written before the Titanic sailed and there was actually a copy of this prophetic science fiction work on the Titanic during that fateful cruise! Bone-chilling! The same author wrote another science fiction book about a world war that featured Japanese planes bombing Hawaii on a December morning. Robertson died in 1915 in poverty.

I learned a lot I didn't know about oceanography and about the Titanic. The book is very worthwhile reading as it is a first-hand account of the finding of the Titanic and the author's best attempt to describe the indescribable emotional upheaval they went through when they did. There are also a lot of description of what went on in the lives of the passengers and crew of the Titanic during this disaster. The book flips back and forth in time between the events leading up to the discovery and exploration of the Titanic 2 1/2 miles deep in 1986 and the April 15, 1912 events of the Titanic.

If you are wanting a history of the sinking of the Titanic alone, this book isn't it. But, if you want a look at that event with the perspective of those who found the wreck in recent times, this is a great read. It comes with helpful illustrations to better understand what the author is talking about. Without them, I would likely have had difficulty following the narrative.

[Richard Jespers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of the Titanic’s story since I was a child. I read every magazine article, every book I could find on the subject—even as an adult I collected books. I watched every film, fiction or documentary. This book, though dated now in some ways, does combine two strands: 1) the eyewitness details left behind by those who were there to witness the sinking, travelers, crew members, children—always the more interesting story, to me. Pellegrino also unveils the narrative of how oceanographer Robert Ballard locates the Titanic’s remains and visits them in a, for the time (1988), innovative “submarine” equipped with cameras. The most astounding part of Ballard’s story seems to be that he is so overcome with emotion on seeing the pristine quality of certain artifacts left behind—china, passenger shoes, and other memorabilia—that he has no desire to lift any of it for souvenirs. Rather, he disguises the exact location from journalists and the world, so that the site might remain what it has since it all came to rest in the icy North Atlantic floor, and that is a place of memorial. Of course, others do locate the ship and make a commercial venture of it, but Ballard’s stance must be the higher ground.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at page 60.

This was really 3 books in one and I think the author would have been better off writing 3 separate books, rather than trying to fit them all into this.

You have:

The story of the Titanic sinking
The story of finding the Titanic with Robert Ballard
The story of young “Bob” Ballard and how he started out

This is all told in alternating chapters, which had no real flow between them and came across as very disjointed. There’s also space bits interspersed, with talk of the Challenger disaster and the Apollo 1 mission, which didn’t seem much related to the Titanic disaster. Although there is a funny story about one of the workers (Frank Towers) on the Titanic, who survived that, survived the sinking of the Empress of Ireland and was reported to have shouted “What now!” when the torpedo hit the Lusitania.

I would give this book a miss, there are better books out there about the Titanic.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit outdated now, it has some interesting information and is written in an easily digestible way

[Karl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Huh?

[Michael Murdoch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engagingly haunting - although broken into snippets and articles, the format does not distract from the history lover's yearnings. Moreover, Pellegrino leaves you with the greatest gift a writer can give, he leaves you wanting more.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pellegrino is a very good author, although he does tend to involve himself in the story more than I'm comfortable with. Even so, I would recommend this to anyone interested in the Titanic, Bob Ballard, or both.

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. I wanted to learn more about the discovery of Titanic and not so much of the vessels that were used to find her wreckage. I did enjoy the parts that go back to 1912 though when people were on board.

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has its share of errors of analysis, but I liked the purple prose and Pellegrino's love of technology coupled with Titanic's constant reminders of technology's limitations. This is a passionate book.

[Matt Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so interesting, when Pellegrino isn't talking about himself. There are some great charts, graphs, photos, and illustrations, but strangely enough, not enough about Titanic itself.

There are better books out there about the unsinkable ship, and less outdated ones too.

[Cws]

XOS-363.123

[Wsprag · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome book! Great insights into that terrible night and the finding of the wreckage. I highly recommend to everyone.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(found original read date in diary)