Titanic Revisited

Titanic's past and future collide.

It was a cold and frigid night this 14th day of April 1912. Captain Smith was keeping a close eye on possible icebergs near the majestic ship that he was in command. Over the past 24 hours, he had received countless ice warnings from other vessels that were traveling the same transatlantic route. “Mr. Murdoch, you are in charge of the ship. I am going to retire for the night,” Captain Smith stated, “wake me if an iceberg is spotted.”
         “Yes sir, I will.” With that, Captain Smith retired to his stateroom. First Officer Murdoch phoned the crow’s nest. “Mr. Lee, keep me appraised of any icebergs that are spotted.”, First Officer Murdoch commanded, “Remember, three quick rings on the bell if one is spotted.”
         The sea was calm, and the sky was crystal clear, and the stars were twinkling brightly. The air became quite chilly over the past few hours. Typically, if the lookouts were to spot an iceberg, the Titanic would have up to 30 minutes to react, but this night was anything but ordinary, by any means.
         When the lookouts spotted the infamous iceberg, it was too late; they didn’t have 30 minutes to react, they had just 37 seconds. “Iceberg, right ahead!” Mr. Lee rang the bell three times quickly, then yelling in the crow’s nest phone, “Iceberg dead ahead.”, First Officer Murdoch ordered, “Full stop!”. When Titanic didn’t seem to respond quick enough, he commanded, “Full reverse, hard to port!” The Titanic started to turn slowly to Port, but it was too late, the iceberg tore a gash below the waterline as she passed it, it was over, she was doomed.
         All of a sudden, a bright white light seemed to wash over Titanic, and a sudden jolt was felt throughout the ship, as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.
         It was a cold and bitter night, this 14th day of April 2019. The seas were calm, and in the clear cold sky, the stars were twinkling brightly. The United States Navy, along with the navies of the NATO allies, were preparing to participate in naval exercises that were to commence the next morning. Captain Jones, the senior officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, was contemplating how the conditions that night seemed to be the same as that night over 100 years earlier when the Titanic sank, he had no idea how that very thought would become real, as the night continued.
         Captain Jones entered the bridge. “How's everything going?”, he asked the officer on duty.
         “Very well sir, it seems quiet, for now.”, the officer replied.
         “Carry on.”, Captain Jones ordered.
         “Yes, sir.”
         “Radio Con,” the radio operator called out over the loudspeaker.
         “Con Radio,” Captain Jones replied over the bridge phone, “What do you got?”
         “There seem to be messages being broadcasted over the radio, but they're not normal signals.”
         “How so?”
         “It’s in morse code.”
         “Can you make out the message?”
         “Yes sir, the message is CQD, CQD, come at once, we are sinking. SOS, SOS, this is Titanic, we struck an iceberg and are sinking.”
         “Titanic?”, the captain queried, “Are you sure it's not a prank?”
         “I don’t think so Sir,” the radio operator replied, “Sonar is picking up a blip at the position that the Titanic was when it sank Sir.”
         Captain Jones was always interested in the Titanic, for as far back as he could remember, and his interest peaked at that moment. Was this real? Was this a prank? Since they were sailing just south of the island of Newfoundland Canada, not too far from the blips position, just mere minutes away, he decided to investigate.
         Captain Smith noticed an image that seemed to be small at first but was continually getting more substantial as it drew closer to Titanic. It was an odd shape, not a form of a ship that he was familiar with, but apparently, it seemed to be a ship.
         Aboard the Ronald Reagan, they could see an image of a ship, which seemed to have four smoke stacks, which the Titanic had. Beautiful, Captain Jones thought. “Sound the horn, one blow please.” Anyone could hear the sound miles away in this cold and frigid air.
         Captain Smith was elated to hear the horn from the mystery ship. “Mr. Murdoch, sound the horn.”
         “Yes, Sir.”
         “Full reverse!”, Captain Jones commanded when he heard the steam horn aboard Titanic. The Ronald Reagan was only sailing at half speed, approximately 10 knots, so it didn’t take her that long to slow down to a stop. Other naval ships were in the general area and were contacted by the Ronald Reagan about their discovery, and to come at once and help.
         One such ship to receive the messages from the Ronald Reagan is called the USS Gremlin, which is a dry dock ship that can submerge and raise a wounded ship, and bring it to port. They were not far from Titanic and came at once, and when the Gremlin arrived at the scene, they came alongside Titanic, the passengers and crew watching in astonishment as the center of the ship seemed to sink, and the bow and aft sections of the boat seemed to stay buoyant above the waterline. The Gremlin maneuvered around the Titanic, and the ship seemed to rise slowly. Towering walls surrounded her, much like a mother’s loving embrace.
         Soon, a flotilla of naval ships from the United States and Canada were on the scene, including Coast Guard vessels from both countries. Captain Jones and a select few Petty Officers aboard Ronald Reagan boarded a Chinook helicopter that would transport them to the Gremlin, and eventually, they will board Titanic via a gangplank that will be attached to the wounded ship. As the helo passed over Titanic, they were in awe of its beauty and grandeur. “Can you believe this Captain?”, one of the petty officers asked.
         “Not in a million years.”, Captain Jones responded. The helo touched down on the helipad, located on the aft section of the Gremlin. Captain Jones stepped out of the chopper and met the senior officer of the USS Gremlin, Captain Conrad. The Gremlin is not a naval warship; it's an independently owned vessel by a marine salvage company based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada that works with the United States and Canadian navies.
         How would we live? How would we survive, now that we exist over a hundred years in the future? Which were thought by many of passengers and crew aboard Titanic. After the team secured the Titanic, they advanced to the Port of New York.
         When Captain Jones walked over the gangplank, he stopped, and in keeping with naval tradition, which even existed in 1912, asked Captain Smith if he may board. Upon acceptance, he proceeded to board this magnificent ship, which he had a fondness for since his childhood. Everyone looked at him as if he were from outer space, even though he was wearing his commanding officer dress uniform and cover.
         “Welcome aboard,” Captain Smith said, “Obviously we somehow moved forward in time, since I, nor anyone else aboard this ship, has ever seen a warship such as yours. What is the date we are in, if I may ask.”
         Captain Jones replied, “It’s April 15th, 2019.”
         “Astonishing, we advanced 107 years into the future, but I cannot explain how.”
         “I agree Sir; I too have no idea how this happened, I know that it did. I will need to get you up to speed on what changes had happened over those years before we reach New York.”