Thinking the unsinkable

THE remains of a shipwreck would sometimes appear far out in the muddy bay where I grew up. I remember asking a teacher about it and her reply went along the lines of, “I don’t know, some boat that sank, I guess.”

Raised on a diet of stories about the Titanic and Mary Rose, I couldn’t quite understand how anyone could be so unconcerned about a real, wrecked ship right under their noses.

I realised there were lots of wrecked ships around but what made some interesting and consigned others to be forgotten beneath the waves? TITANIC’S TRAGIC TWIN: THE BRITANNIC DISASTER (BBC2) offered some answers, while highlighting the absurdities of fate. The Britannic was constructed in the same Belfast shipyard as its famously doomed sister, Titanic.

Save for a few modifications (made after the Titanic sank), it was an identical twin, drafted to serve as a hospital ship when the First World War began.

With its design tweaked to render it truly unsinkable (as opposed to Titanic unsinkable) the Britannic was in the Mediterranean, close to the Greek island of Kea on November 21, 1916, when it hit a mine. It sank, with significant loss of life, although much of that was due to its crew members setting forth in lifeboats without the Captain’s orders and being mown down by the ship’s propellers as it tried to reach land.

It’s hard to imagine what the Master, Charles Bartlett, must have gone through after sinking with his vessel, being rescued half-drowned and then learning about this awful, avoidable tragedy.

The same goes for seaman Archie Jewell and stewardess Violet Jessop, who’d survived the disaster on board the Titanic, only to sink again in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean. They both lived to tell the tale although, incredibly, Jewell sank for a third, fatal time before the war ended.

In his fate, perhaps, there’s a clue why this rich, fascinating and awful tale has hardly ever had an airing.

It was 1916 now and two years into the bloodiest conflict in history. Another 30 deaths would have gone almost unnoticed.

A year into my relationship with miniature schnauzer Bob, I’m still firmly calling myself an ‘owner’. I may suffer the odd moment of canine-related soppiness but I am not my dog’s “daddy”, nor do I believe dog-rearing is anything like child-rearing.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PUPPIES (Channel 5) is challenging that increasingly shakily-held viewpoint, as a second series of the adorable ob-doc (should that be ob-dog?) show explores the terrible teens of the domesticated-wolf world.

Last night we met those who had become uncomfortable with their ungainly limbs, found they couldn’t be bothered to do anything, or who suddenly found themselves obsessed with the opposite sex.

This was all so like yours truly at a certain age I’m wondering if I’ve been kidding myself. I know my dog isn’t human but perhaps I’m a dog?

You couldn’t fail to be charmed by this show, or to reach for the tissues as you met traumatised field terrier Rory, who’d been rejected from three families before ending up at a doggie foster home.

All this unhappy adolescent needed to remedy that hang-dog gait and drooping tail were treats, pats and encouragement.

If only that worked for people.