When Frankfort's Titanic authority Roland Herzel travels across the ocean and a storm hits, his mind immediately goes to the night that ill-fated ship sank.
"There was no moon. There were no waves to allow them to see the iceberg," that night in 1912, Herzel says. The captain, overconfident in his impeccable sailing record, failed to ask for help right away.
"When the rescue ship, the Carpathia, was notified, it was almost 60 miles away and it took three or four hours to arrive," he says.
Herzel will feature three artifacts pulled from the wreckage of the Titanic from his personal collection at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Paul Sawyier Public Library. He will also detail the night 1,517 passengers died as a result of the sinking of the Titanic on her maiden voyage. The presentation is part of the library's centennial celebration.
Other Titanic memorabilia from Herzel's collection are currently on display at the library. Herzel has crossed the ocean multiple times by ship and enjoys talking about his maritime experiences along with what he has learned about the Titanic.
When he's not researching his favorite ship or traveling himself, Herzel works at Investor's Heritage Life Insurance Company. He has also been playing the organ at South Frankfort Presbyterian Church for nearly 40 years.
Herzel's interest in the Titanic and other passenger ships began in 1955 when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean with his family from Israel by ship.
"We were trying to decide on which ship to come home and there were all these travel brochures," he says.
Herzel now owns over 400 of these brochures advertising ships' design features, deck plans and amenities.
"They represent an era which has passed, and it seems that once something is gone people become more interested in it," he says.
"What's most interesting about (the Titanic) is that her entire history is compressed into a mere five days. Her first voyage was her last," he says. The voyage began April 10 and ended on April 15, 1912.
"The Titanic was the last word in comfort," says Herzel. "Her owner, the White Star Line, had a reputation of great service and moderate speed." The ship was not fast-moving and though its designer deemed it unsinkable, "that was obviously less than accurate," Herzel says, noting the irony with a chuckle.
One of Herzel's most captivating stories describes the dramatic scene in which the musicians on board refused rescue and continued to play somber music as passengers cried for help in the ship's death throes.
Herzel also knows the current status of the ship, which was discovered in 1985.
"There is little oxygen so deep below the ocean's surface (over 13,000 feet) that the preservation of the site is phenomenal," he says. Aside from his research from the preserved ship, he has long cultivated a correspondence with an officer from the rescue ship.
The display at the library includes some of these facts and memorabilia that Herzel has collected.
"My sister actually organized the display," Herzel said. "Somehow she took a digital photograph of the model I have mounted in my TV room and made it look better, more real, than the model itself."