Birmingham’s connection with the infamous sinking of the Titanic disaster revealed in trip to the cinema
ACME Whistle’s managing director, Simon Topman, stands next to the flypress used to create the ACME 470 Clicker
Today marks the 114th anniversary of the world’s most famous maritime disaster – the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
The infamous passenger liner sank in the North Atlantic on April 15 1912, at 2.20am after striking an iceberg less than three hours before.
And Birmingham had a pivotal connection with the ship, with one of the city’s inventions helping to save lives from the ‘unsinkable’ Olympic-class liner.
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But that link was not realised by the firm’s present team until a discovery in a cinema.
ACME Whistles, based in the Jewellery Quarter, supplied whistles to the White Star Line ship before it made its disastrous maiden voyage from Southampton to Cherbourg and then to Queenstown, now Cobh, in Ireland, before heading to New York – a destination it never reached.
But the Birmingham firm’s current bosses did not realise its connection to the disaster until its manging director, Simon Topham, watched the Titanic film in full with his children.
He said: “As the film approached its climax, Rose had watched her newfound lover sink beneath the Atlantic, and then she picked up a whistle and blew it.
“It was heard by sailors searching for survivors and she was rescued.
“I just knew the original used had to be an ACME whistle.
“Could it have been that we supplied whistles to the Titanic?
“I missed the rest of the film, rushed back to the factory, and there, inside an ancient, oil-stained ledger, was a complete record of everything we had supplied since 1870.
“Sure enough, we had supplied 30 whistles to the White Star Line for use on the Titanic in 1912.”
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While ACME whistles were used in the film and Kate Winslet seen blowing one in one of the final scenes, the Brummie firm only realised its connection after watching the film in full.
Bosses had no idea one of its historic products were featured on screen in one of the biggest grossing films of all time, and still fourth on the all-time list.
From the factory records, Mr Topman then uncovered the original tooling and records still preserved in the Birmingham workshop.
He said: “From that ledger, I went to the oak pigeonholes in the press shop and found the original tooling used to make those whistles.
“We then remade 50 perfect replicas using the original tools and machinery that would have been in use at the time, in the same workshop.
“It was our own Titanic discovery that we had been completely unaware for decades that we had made that connection all those years ago.”
Whistles played a vital role aboard Titanic, used by officers to signal commands, help people, coordinate lifeboats and maintain order during the evacuation.
Historical accounts suggest Fifth Officer Harold Lowe used an officer’s whistle during the sinking, with the ACME Thunderer widely believed to be the type used at the time.
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Ben McFarlane, Head of Sales and Marketing at ACME Whistles, said: “We’re still in the same building as when the original whistles supplied for the Titanic were made, and we’re still using some of the same machinery, which is something quite special for Birmingham and its heritage as the City of a Thousand Trades.”
Founded in 1870, ACME Whistles moved into its Jewellery Quarter factory in 1909 and would have supplied the White Star Line shortly afterwards.
The company remains in the same Barr Street premises today, still using the original workshop, fly presses, tools, dies and traditional hand-finishing techniques passed down through generations.
