On the night the Titanic sank, its nearly identical sister ship, the Olympic was 500 miles away.
When the crew received the message that a disaster was unfolding, the captain propelled the Olympic at full speed toward the Titanic in a bid to help.
On the second half of Wednesday's Up to Date, author and expert Wade Sisson talks about the three sister ships -- Olympic, Titanic, Britannic (originally named Gigantic, but later changed to de-emphasize the size) -- built around the turn of the century. He'll give us perspective about that infamous April night when the second ship went down ... and the first ship set off on a journey to save the survivors.
Hear More: Sisson speaks at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Kansas City Library, Waldo branch, 201 E. 75th St., Kansas City, MO. Click here for more information.
Wade Sisson became fascinated with the Titanic in sixth grade when he wrote a book report about Walter Lord's classic A Night to Rememberhttps://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=starwarstoymu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0805077642, which recounts the Titanic's sinking in vivid detail. When he learned about the Titanic Historical Society, he joined the organization in the months before the Titanic wreck was discovered in 1985. Before an exhibit of Titanic artifacts came to Kansas City in 2000-01, Wade taught a Titanic history class for a local university's community outreach program, and when the exhibition arrived, he served as a volunteer exhibit guide every weekend. Five years ago, he realized that he wanted to read more about the Olympic's role in the events of April 14-15, 1912, but couldn't find anything more than footnotes in the written record. So, he set out to research and write Racing Through the Night.
