Titanic...

 the tragic loss of an "unsinkable" ship

One of the most famous events in history is the tragic sinking of Titanic. The ill-fated
ship sank just four days after starting her maiden voyage from Southampton in England,
killing over two thirds of the passengers on board. These events have been made into
many films, books, and television documentaries as people still try to understand just what
happened and how a ship said to be "unsinkable" could have met such a fate.

The History of the Titanic

Titanic was made by the White Star Line company, who decided to build ships to a size and
level of luxury unlike anything before. The building of Titanic began in March of 1909 in
Belfast in Ireland. There was much publicity and the ship was famous even before it was
finished as news of its chandeliers, ballrooms and passenger rooms fitted with electric lights
and heating. 

When it finally set sail from Southampton to New York on April 10th, 1912 it had 2,224
passengers and crew members on board yet was only equipped with 16 lifeboats which would
only hold only 1,708 people. The White Star Line knew they should have had more but chose
not to as they didn't want the decks to look cluttered and spoil the look of the ship.

On 14th April, four days into its voyage, Titanic received five ice warnings yet failed to slow
down. When, at 11:40 at night a lookout spotted an iceberg but it was too late to turning
around and hit the iceberg. This collision ripped a 300 foot long hole in the ship
which immediately began filling the lower compartments with icy water.

It wasn't until forty-five minutes later that the first lifeboat was launched and by the time the
last boat launched there were still more than 1,500 passengers left on the sinking ship. At 2:10
AM the rear of the ship rose out of the water and due to its vast weight the ship then split into
two. Eventually Titanic completely sank. As there were not enough life jackets many
people tried to cling to anything they could find that would float. Eventually 1,522
people died from drowning or hypothermia. 

When news of Titanic's distress was known the first to try and help was
Arthur Rostron, an Englishman who was at the wheel of Carpathia. He was
58 miles away from the sinking vessel, and he knew that it would take
him almost 4 hours travel this distance. He sent a message saying he was
sailing fast and hard. Even though he would have to pass through the
same dangerous, icy waters Captain Rostron did not hesitate. Carpathia
was steaming as fast as the crew could make her go but the Titanic had
gone under quickly. He and his crew were able to save some people, but
by the time they had arrived just 710 people were still alive out of 2224.

The famous Carpathia was honoured as “the Titanic rescue ship”, but in
1918 Carpathia sank after being hit by 2 torpedoes fired by a German U
boat.

The tragedy of Titanic is often referred to today as the "greatest maritime

disaster in history." 
1.  The White Star Line was the company that built the Titanic, and was owned by J.P.
Morgan, an American tycoon.  It cost $7.5 million to build the Titanic.  It was the most
luxurious ocean liner of its time.  The price of a first class ticket cost each passenger $4,700
which was a HUGE amount of money for the time.  It would be about $57,000 today.

2.  As the Titanic was leaving the port, the suction it caused actually snapped the ropes of a
nearby docked ship, the S.S. New York.  Tugboats had to race to the scene to prevent the New
York from colliding with the Titanic. Some people felt this was a bad omen.

3.  There were six iceberg  warnings received by Titanic on the day of the collision. They
were all ignored by the wireless operator.  Unfortunately, that operator was preoccupied with
transmitting passenger messages. The night the collision occurred was moonless and the water
was still.  Both of these facts made it very difficult to see into the dark night and black ocean. 
The iceberg that the Titanic struck was not very big.  It did not even come up as high as the
bridge of the ship.

4.   The Titanic was traveling 22.5 knots. This was just .5 knot from her maximum speed
capability.  The ship was clearly traveling too fast for conditions.  The collision occurred at
11:40 P.M. on Sunday, April 14, 1912.

5.  The captain ordered the engines reversed which sealed the Titanic's fate. A ship as large as
the Titanic turned more quickly the greater her forward motion. Had the Titanic proceeded
ahead and turned, it is most likely that she would have avoided hitting the iceberg all
together.  The gash that the iceberg cut into the hull of the Titanic was between 220 to 245
feet long. The total length of the ship was approximately 882 feet.  Recent evidence shows
that an opening the size of a refrigerator is what allowed water to enter the ship.  Also, the
"watertight" compartments of the Titanic's hull were not actually watertight. They were open
at the tops, which made the disaster worse.  The ship could have stayed afloat if only four
compartments flooded, but five actually flooded.

6. A total of 1,503 people died, including passengers and crew. Only 705 people survived. 
Only 1 child from first class died, while 49 children from steerage died.  Many dogs were also
aboard the Titanic.  Two survived.  Charles Joughin was the only person to survive the ice
cold Atlantic water.

7.   Law required a ship the size of the Titanic to have 962 lifeboat seats. The Titanic had
1,178 seats, but 2,208 lifeboat seats were needed to get everyone off the ship.  Many of the
lifeboats left the ship only half full. There were 472 lifeboat seats not used. Not many people
went down with the ship.  Most of the people went into the Atlantic Ocean with life jackets
on.  However, the water temperature was only 31 degrees, so most people froze to death in the
water.

8.  The Carpathian was the ship that responded to the Titanic's distress call, but she was 58
miles and 4 hours away.

9.  Orders from the Captain were that, women and children were to board the lifeboats first.
One man, Daniel Buckley, disguised himself as a woman to get aboard a lifeboat.  The band
played music up to the last few minutes before the ship went under. None of the band
members survived.

10.  The Titanic lies 12,600 feet at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.  The two pieces of the
Titanic lay 1,970 feet apart from one another on the ocean floor.  The Titanic was
rediscovered on July 14th, 1986, seventy-four years after it sank.  Since the death of Millvina
Dean, May 31, 2009, there are no longer any living survivors of the Titanic tragedy. Millvina
Dean was just nine weeks old at the time of the Titanic's sinking.