RMS Atlantic - Legacy

Legacy

RMS Atlantic was the second liner commissioned by White Star (Oceanic being first) but carried the notoriety of being the first White Star Line steamer to sink. (The company had previously lost the clipper RMS Tayleur in Dublin Bay in 1854.) Other White Star Line ships lost in the North Atlantic include SS Naronic, RMS Republic, and RMS Titanic.

Today, most of the ship lies heavily fragmented under 40 to 60 feet of water. Artifacts recovered from several salvage operations are on display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia and also at the SS Atlantic Heritage Park and Interpretation Center, in Terence Bay, Nova Scotia. A monument to the wreck is located at the mass grave near the interpretation centre in the Terence Bay Anglican Cemetery, while a smaller monument marks a second mass grave at the Catholic cemetery.

When the 1929 film Atlantic was released, everyone knew it was a thinly disguised story about the Titanic sinking in 1912. Though this film was based on a stage play it also was made only seventeen years after the actual Titanic sinking and many in the public especially survivors and their families felt uncomfortable with a direct reference to Titanic. The producers of the film decided to release the movie under the title Atlantic or Atlantique. However few probably remembered that there had been an actual White Star Line ship lost called Atlantic back in 1873.