By Ray Hershel

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (abc40)-- April 15th marks the anniversary of one of the most deadly peacetime maritime disasters in history.

It was 97 years ago in the early hours of the morning, that the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg just hours earlier on the night of the 14th.

More than 15-hundred lives were lost. Some 700 people survived.

Edward Kamuda of Indian Orchard is the founder and president of the Titanic Historical Society and Museum.

Kamuda says his interest in the Titanic came after reading a book in school, "I read a short story called the "Great Ship Goes Down" in the Myrtle Street School here in Indian Orchard."

His father owned the local theater "The Grand" and a year later played the first Titanic movie with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwick.

From then on Kamuda started collecting addresses of survivors and memorabilia for the museum. And some of those early items came from an unlikely source, "One fellow died in New York and all his Titanic material was thrown in the city dump by the landlady, "I decided it was high time to form a society that would save all the precious artifacts."

Ed Kamuda says the tragedy of the Titanic could have been averted. One of the most valuable items in the museum is a radiogram that warned about two icebergs in the area, "Unfortunately this wireless message was never delivered to the bridge because the wireless operators were so busy at the time and had that message been delivered to the bridge, history would have changed because Titanic hit one of those two icebergs."

 The Titanic Historical Society and Museum is located at 208 Main street in Indian Orchard.