1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: in history in this episode, one for me and one 4 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do 5 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: say so myself. One with the show. Welcome to this 6 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: day in history class. It's July six. Richard the First, 7 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: also known as Richard the Lion Heart, inherited the throne 8 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: on the State in eleven eighty nine after the death 9 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: of his father, King Henry the Second. In his younger years, 10 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: Richard had not really expected to be the king. He 11 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: was born on September eleven fifty seven. His mother was 12 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he was one of eight children, 13 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: including four sons who survived empathy. In addition to Richard, 14 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: the boys were Henry, Jeffrey, and John, and Henry was 15 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: ahead of Richard in the line to for the throne, 16 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: So Richard sort of assumed his brother was going to 17 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: be king. These brothers, though they had so much squabbling 18 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: amongst themselves. The kingdoms had various holdings in England and France, 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: and King Henry divided them up among his sons. He 20 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: sort of had this idea that his sons should each 21 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: have something they were in charge of. Divided everything up 22 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: that way, but he didn't really let his sons run 23 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: the territory they were theoretically controlling. He also didn't really 24 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: communicate with them all that well about anything that he 25 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: was doing, so there was a lot of infighting among 26 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: the brothers over turf. None of them really trusted their 27 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,320 Speaker 1: father at all. And then Richard's older brother, Henry, who 28 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: was sometimes called Henry the Younger King, rebelled against his 29 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: father in eleven seventy three, and when he did that, 30 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: Richard and Jeffrey joined him, so at this point they 31 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 1: were actually all on the same side instead of fighting 32 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: with each other. Their rebellion, though, was not successful. Eventually 33 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: they had to back down and ask for their father's pardon. 34 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: Henry the Young King tried again, but he failed and 35 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: he died in eighty three. This put Richard next in 36 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: line for the throne, but his father was still trying 37 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: to figure out who should be in charge of what 38 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: in their kingdom. He wanted the youngest John to have 39 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: something of his own. John's lack of a kingdom had 40 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: earned him the nickname Lackland, so King Henry wanted John 41 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: to have Aquitaine, but Richard did not like that idea 42 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: at all. He really didn't trust that if he let 43 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: John have Aquitaine, he would actually get what had previously 44 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: belonged to his brother Henry. Plus, Richard was a lot 45 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: more connected to the French territory than to the English territory. 46 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: So Richard joined forces with Philip the second of France 47 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: and pestered his father until his father died an early death. 48 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: By that point, King Henry had formally recognized that Richard 49 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: would follow him on the throne, so after his father 50 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: died on July six, then Richard inherited the throne. He 51 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: was formally crowned on September three. There was actually a 52 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: way of anti Semitic violence in England after this coronation, 53 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: that including a massacre and the destruction of a predominantly 54 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: Jewish neighborhood by a Christian mob. There were rumors that 55 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: Richard himself had ordered this, but when he heard about it, 56 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: he was outraged. Once he was king, though Richard the 57 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: Lion Hearts rule was less about ruling more about crusading. 58 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: He wanted to join the Third Crusade. He made the 59 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: money to do it by selling public offices, including sheriffdoms. 60 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: So if this sounds kind of familiar and you're not 61 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: already familiar with twelfth century military and political history, a 62 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: lot of this is in retellings of the story of 63 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: Robin Hood. There's obviously a whole lot more about Richard 64 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: the Lion Hearts, life and reign, but almost none of 65 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: it was spent in England. He was king for a decade, 66 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: and he spent less than six months of it in England. 67 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: In spite of this, he was very popular. He was 68 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: no not only for his battlefield skill and his political cunning, 69 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: but also for writing songs and poems, and of course 70 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: there's his famed courage, which is why he earned the 71 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: name Lion Heart. He died on April six from an 72 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: infected wound from a crossbow bolt. This bolt was not poisoned. 73 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: Researchers figured that out when settying the remains of his heart, 74 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: and research that was published. His younger brother, John, the 75 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: one who Richard had refused to give rule over Aquitaine, 76 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: became king. Thanks so much to Eve's Jeff Cope for 77 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: her research work on today's episode and Tatari Harrison for 78 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: her audio Skills and all these episodes. You can subscribe 79 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google 80 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: Podcasts and wherever else you get your podcasts, and you 81 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: can tune in tomorrow for a posthumous pardon. This Day 82 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I Heart Radio. Hi, 83 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: I'm Eves, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 84 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers history one day at a time. 85 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: Today is July. The day was July six, the Piper 86 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: Alpha oil rig one and ten miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland, exploded. 87 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: One hundred and sixty seven people died in the disaster. 88 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: A consortium including Occidental Petroleum, Texaco, Britain International, Thompson and 89 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: Texas Petroleum owned Piper Alpha and it was operated by Accidental. 90 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: The Piper Alpha platform was located in four hundred and 91 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: seventy four ft or one hundred and forty four meters 92 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: of water in the North Sea. Oil and gas pipelines 93 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: connected the platform to two other production platforms called Claymore 94 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: A and Tartan A, and a manifold compression platform known 95 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: as MCP one. Piper Alpha produced hundreds of thousands of 96 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: barrels of oil every day. More than any other in 97 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: the world at the time. The Piper Alpha platform separated 98 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: the fluid produced by the wells into oil, gas and condensate. 99 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: The oil was pumped through a pipeline to the Flata 100 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: Oil terminal in Orkney, The condensate was injected back into 101 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: the oil to be sent to shore, and the gas 102 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: was sent through a pipeline to the Manifold compression platform. 103 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: The production deck level of the platform was made up 104 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: of four modules. Module A was the wellhead, B was 105 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: the oil separation module, C was the gas compression module, 106 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: and D was the power generation and utilities module. There 107 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: were firewalls between the modules, but they were not blast resistant. 108 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: The main production areas had a fire and gas detection system. 109 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:55,719 Speaker 1: On July six, one condensate injection pump Pump A, was 110 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: out of operation for maintenance. Pump B was an operation. 111 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: Three jobs were supposed to be done on Pump A, 112 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: preventative maintenance, repair of the coupling, and re certification of 113 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: a pressure safety valve. That day, the relief valve was 114 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: removed for testing, and by the time the day shift 115 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: was over the job was not done. The relief valve 116 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: was not replaced, but this was not communicated to the 117 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: night shift personnel. After Pump B went down at around 118 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: nine pm, the lead production operator decided to start pump A, 119 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: but about five minutes later alarms started going off. Around 120 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: ten pm, just as the operator put his hand out 121 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: to cancel the alarms, there was an explosion in the 122 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: gas compression module of the Piper Alpha platform, blowing the 123 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: production operator across the room. Gas condensate leaking from the 124 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,559 Speaker 1: pump ignited. Almost immediately after the explosion, a pool fire 125 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: broke out in the oil separation module. A pool fire 126 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: is a diffuse usuan flame where a layer of volatile 127 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: liquid fuel evaporates and burns. The oil pool fire created 128 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: a plume of smoke that enveloped the platform at the 129 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: production deck and above. The spreading fire got to over 130 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: seven hundred degrees celsius or about degrees barrenheight. The offshore 131 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: installation manager sent a may day signal. Though there was 132 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: a firewater system, the sprinkler heads did not work properly 133 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: because the explosion had disabled the main communication system. The 134 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: platforms attached to Piper Alpha continued producing and pumping oil 135 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: for a while. Since there was so much smoke, the 136 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: lifeboats were not accessible, so people tried to escape using 137 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: other methods. Some climbed down knotted ropes to the sea, 138 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: others jumped into the sea from higher heights, including the 139 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: Hella deck. Nearby vessels sent fast rescue crafts to the scene. 140 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: Though about fifty nine people survived the disaster, one dred 141 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: and sixty seven died. It was the deadliest offshore oil 142 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: disaster ever. The platform was destroyed and by the next 143 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: morning only the wellhead module remained. The fire burned for 144 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: three weeks before Oil will fireman Paul neil A Dare 145 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: extinguished it. Scottish Judge William Cullen led an inquiry into 146 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: the causes of the disaster. The Culin report was released 147 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,719 Speaker 1: in November of nine. It found that Occidental did not 148 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: have proper safety and maintenance procedures and that the condensate 149 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: leak was caused by the maintenance work happening on a 150 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: pump in safety valve. It also recommended new procedures for 151 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:48,439 Speaker 1: training workers, operating equipment and designing platforms, as safety management staff, 152 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: communications and safety systems have proved inadequate in the disaster. 153 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: The disaster exposed problems with offshore regulations and led to 154 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety two offshore Installations say D case regulations 155 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: in the UK. I'm Eves Jeffcote and hopefully you know 156 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: a little more about history today, thank you did yesterday. 157 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at 158 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: t D i h C podcast. Thank you so much 159 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: for listening, and I hope to see you again tomorrow 160 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: for more tidbits of history. For more podcasts from I 161 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,559 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 162 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.