Steam or air powered siren in Titanic (1953) movie

[Mathew Bailey]

Anyone know about the pitch of the steam or air powered whoop siren in the 1953 version of Titanic? Every second or so, in the video clip from this movie on You Tube, you would hear a near or above 1000 hz scream from it. Also, what steam or air powered siren is the kind heard in some of the Looney Tunes cartoons where you would hear several low pitched whoops then a high pitched scream?

[Whelen Rules]

I have seen this movie( I am a big History freak and I find the Titanic interesting) and I know the Steam whistle you are speaking of however I am oblivious to what kind it is. I do know that these were probably the fire alarms on the ship and I doubt that they were actually sounded during the sinking beacuse the main objective was not to start a panic.

[Daniel]

According to the records, no alarms or whistles were sounded at all after the iceberg's collision with the Titanic, except for the alarm bells signalling the closing of the watertight doors. These would have not been heard except in the vicinity of the doors. I don't believe that the ship had a steam siren. There was one gigantic three-bell steam whistle on the front stack, a somewhat smaller auxiliary whistle on the next stack, and dummy whistles on the other stacks. Parts of these whistles were dredged from the ocean floor, rehabilitated by the Kahlenberg company, and sounded in downtown Minneapolis several years ago.

Many American Naval vessels at that time and through WWII had steam sirens which were sounded in three or four quick blasts for a general alarm. Since the rotor was turned solely by steam, it would still be rotating after each blast to allow for a higher speed each time, hence each "whoop" reached a higher note than the last.

[Gents']

Parts of these whistles were dredged from the ocean floor, rehabilitated by the Kahlenberg company, and sounded in downtown Minneapolis several years ago.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8cxqchAlCQA