The Infamous Plaque
R. Christopher Carr
Back in college, I picked up this juicy little bit of "history," but
I've never been able to verify its accuracy. According to a summary of
Irish history from one of my English classes, the Titanic was built in a
shipyard in Belfast that discriminated against Catholics and employed
only Protestant shipyard workers. These workers, snubbing their nose at
the disenfranchised Catholics, apparently welded a plaque to the ship's
hull below the waterline. It supposedly read, "Fuck the Pope." Since the
Protestants and Catholics made no secret of their hatred for one
another, the existence of this plaque was well-known to the Catholic
community. So you can well imagine how these Catholics reacted to news
of the Titanic's demise. Retribution and all that.
Is there anyone else out there who's heard this story? Better still, is
there anyone out there with documented evidence that this actually
happened. Please respond and correct.
Thanks,
Chris
PIERCEARRW
As a Catholic, I can tell you I've never heard of it. And it sounds more like
urban legend than fact. Then again ....
Eric Smith
This is a myth long associated with the Titanic, and completely false.
The actual story is that on the ship's hull a number was stamped, which
was 3909 04. This was said to have been chosen because when held up to
a mirror it spelled "NO POPE" (not your more colorful alternative).
There's no truth to this at all, however. There was never any such
number associated with the Titanic.
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Robert Elford
R. Christopher Carr <rcc...@swbell.net> wrote in article
<349841...@swbell.net>...
>the Titanic was built in a
> shipyard in Belfast that discriminated against Catholics and employed
> only Protestant shipyard workers. These workers, snubbing their nose at
> the disenfranchised Catholics, apparently welded a plaque to the ship's
> hull below the waterline. It supposedly read, "Fuck the Pope."
> So you can well imagine how these Catholics reacted to news
> of the Titanic's demise. Retribution and all that.
>
> Is there anyone else out there who's heard this story? Better still, is
> there anyone out there with documented evidence that this actually
> happened. Please respond and correct.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
Chris
That sounds like quite the story! I doubt there is much truth to it, but it
does resemble a story more widely known that is steeped in legend and the
macabre and all that.
It seems the Titanic was given a hull number (which apparently isn't a
significant number anyway) of 390904. If this number is held up to a mirror
it spells out the phrase "nopope". I've tried it and you really have to
tinker with the 4 to make it work. Legend has it that the Catholic shipyard
workers regarded this as an evil omen. In light of the subsequent events,
it does seem kind of spooky, but that's what makes a legend grow.
Keep those stories coming! It adds to the mystery. Hope I helped.
Rob Elford
JDzik
>It seems the Titanic was given a hull number (which apparently
> isn't a significant number anyway) of 390904. If this number is
> held up to a mirror it spells out the phrase "nopope". I've tried it
> and you really have to tinker with the 4 to make it work.
Yes, it looks more like "ho pope" to me, which I presume means that you are
laughing at a joke voiced by the pontiff. Not at all an anti-Catholic
action...
MRFLABBOY
That and the report that several outer skin pices had the numbered designation
of 1134 which supposedly spelled "HELL" backwards... more superstition...
Eric Smith
mrfl...@aol.com (MRFLABBOY) writes:
>That and the report that several outer skin pices had the numbered designation
>of 1134 which supposedly spelled "HELL" backwards... more superstition...
The number in the myth is 3909 04 which is supposed to spell "NO POPE"
when seen in a mirror. This is supposedly because the ship was built by
Irish Protestants.