Titanic's Pianos

[Sy Zabrocki]

>From Sy Zabrocki	

Have you seen the movie Titanic? It's awesome. They've earned high marks for realism but maybe they haven't earned an A+. In one scene, for maybe less than three seconds, is pictured a wrecked grand piano underwater. All the keys appear to be unevenly lifted off the keyframe pins. Well that seems consistant with a wrecked piano.

I can't remember if this scene pictured the wrecked piano as the Titanic's bow tilted downward or if the scene was at the bottom of the ocean. All heavy equipment broke lose and crashed downward. The pianos probably suffered damage even before the ship went down.

The Titanic is at 13,500 feet and it was stated water pressure at this depth is something like 3,000 pounds per inch. (Not exactly sure about the 3,000 figure.) So here is the question. What would happen to the soft wood of the keys at this depth? Imagine putting a piano key in a hydraulic press at 3,000 pounds. It would probably be crushed. What would happen if the pressure was applied on all sides? Would the soft wood be reduced to a smaller size? So what would happen to other various wood componets of the piano in the Titanic? The rim, frame, pin block and some cabinets parts could probably remain intact. Maybe a 5/16 inch thick soundboard might compress to maybe 1/8 inch. The water pressure would be 3,000 psi on both sides.

If the key sticks crushed, then the ivories would probably come off. The ivory could probably take the pressure. Consider the felt hammers. Under this immense pressure the hammers diminsions would probably less than one half their size. It's hard to comprehend just how the pressure would effect the wood and felt. Maybe some of you physics buffs can enlighten us.

Books about the disaster state there were five grand pianos on the Titanic. The movie shows a person playing an upright piano. We all know the strung back of a grand piano is a durable almost undestructible item. It's likely the strung back could survive the crash to the bottom. The strings could not probably maintain tension very long. Water would attack the non-waterproof glue used in those days. The pin block plies would soon separate. Also the frame glue joints would probably come undone. One by one the strings would zing downward giving the fishes of the sea a few sour notes. 

Over 1,500 people lost their lives in this tragedy. Yet I found myself sitting there mourning the loss of these pianos. The ship was on it's maiden voyage. All these pianos were new and probably the finest pianos available. The cabinets were probably exquistely designed for the various salons and areas of the ship. 

Well that all happened over 85 years ago. All that remains of these pianos is probably the plate. 

The movie Titanic is 3 hours and 12 minutes long. If the piano scene was at the bottom of the ocean then maybe we won't give them an A+ for realism.

Sy Zabrocki--RPT