uge loss of life.[2] The second of a trio of superliners,[3] Titanic and her sisters were designed to provide a three-ship weekly express service and to dominate the transatlantic travel business for the White Star Line.[4] The Titanic, and her sister ship, Olympic, were introduced to the world in a New York Times article on April 23, 1908, almost four years before the sinking.[5]Built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland,[6] Titanic ranked as the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of her sinking.[7] During Titanic's maiden voyage (from Southampton, England[8] to Cherbourg, France,[9] then on to Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland[10] and finally New York City), she struck an iceberg at 23:40 (ship's time) on Sunday 14 April 1912, sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 on Monday 15 April,[11] having broken into two pieces at the aft expansion joint.[12]
The White Star line designed Titanic to compete with rival company Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania, luxurious ships and the fastest liners on the Atlantic.[13] Titanic and her Olympic class sisters, Olympic and the then upcoming Gigantic,[12][14] were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever to operate (the planned name Gigantic was changed to Britannic after the disaster). Titanic was designed by Harland and Wolff chairman William Pirrie, head of Harland and Wolff's design department Thomas Andrews, and general manager Alexander Carlisle, with the plans regularly sent to the White Star Line's managing director
J. Bruce Ismay for suggestions and approval. Construction of the Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co., began on 31 March 1909. Titanic No. 401 was launched two years and two months later on 31 May 1911. Titanic's outfitting was completed on 31 March the following year.Titanic was 882 feet 9 inches (269 m) long and 92 feet 6 inches (28 m) at the beam.[15] She had a Gross Register Tonnage of 46,328 tons, and a height from the water line to the boat deck of 60 feet (18 m).[16] She contained two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple-expansion, inverted steam engines and one low-pressure Parsons turbine.[17] These powered three propellers. There were 25 double-ended and 4 single-ended Scotch-type boilers fired by 159 coal burning furnaces that made possible a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h).[18] Only three of the four 63 foot (19 m) tall funnels were functional; the fourth, which served only as a vent, was added to make the ship look more impressive.[19] Titanic could carry a total of 3,547 passengers and crew and, because she carried mail, her name was given the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS (Steam Ship).
Contemporaries considered the Titanic the pinnacle of naval architectur
e and technological achievement,[citation needed] and was thought by The Shipbuilder magazine to be "practically unsinkable."[20] Titanic had a double-bottom hull, containing 44 tanks for boiler water and ballast to keep the ship safely balanced at sea[21] (later ships also had a double-walled hull). Titanic exceeded the lifeboat standard, with 20 lifeboats (though not enough for all passengers). Titanic was divided into 15 compartments. Dividing doors were held up in the open position by electro-magnetic latches which could be closed by a switch on the ship's bridge and by a float system installed on the door itself.[22]Fixtures and fittings
In her time, Titanic surpassed all rivals in luxury and opulence. She offered an onboard swimming pool, a gymnasium, a Turkish bath, libraries for each passenger class, and a squash court.[23] First-class common rooms were adorned with elaborate wood panelling, expensive furniture and other decorations.[24] In addition, the Café Parisien offered superb cuisine for the first-class passengers, with a sunlit veranda fitted with trellis decorations.[25]
The ship incorporated technologically advanced features for the period. She had an extensive electrical subsystem with steam-powered generators and ship-wide electrical wiring feeding electric lights. She also boasted two wireless Marconi sets, including a powerful 1,500-watt radio manned by operators who worked in shifts, allowing constant contact and the transmission of many passenger messages.[26]
Comparisons with the Olympic
The Titanic closely resembled her older sister Olympic but there were a few differences. Two of the most noticeable were that half of the Titanic's forward promenade A-Deck (below the lifeboat deck) was enclosed against outside weather, and her B-Deck configuration was completely different from the Olympic's. The Titanic had a specialty restaurant called Café Parisien, a feature that the Olympic did not have until 1913. Some of the flaws found on the Olympic, such as the creaking of the aft expansion joint, were corrected on the Titanic. The skid lights that provided natural illumination on A-deck were round, while on Olympic they were oval. The Titanic's wheelhouse was made narrower and longer than the Olympic's.[27] These, and other modifications, made the Titanic 1,004 gross tons larger than the Olympic.
Passengers and Crew
Main articles: List of passengers onboard RMS Titanic and List of crew members onboard RMS Titanic
The first-class passengers for Titanic's maiden voyage included some of the richest and most prominent people in the world. They included millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and his pregnant wife Madeleine;[28] industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim;[29] Macy's department store owner Isidor Straus[30] and his wife Ida;[31] Denver millionaire Margaret "Molly" Brown;[32] Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife, couturiere Lady Duff-Gordon;[33] streetcar magnate George Dunton Widener, his wife Eleanor and their 27-year-old son, Harry Elkins Widener;[34] Pennsylvania Railroad executive John Borland Thayer, his wife Marion and their 17-year-old son, Jack;[35] journalist William Thomas Stead;[36] Charles Hays, president of Canada's Grand Trunk Railway, with his wife, daughter, her husband, and two employees;[37] the Countess of Rothes;[38] United States presidential aide Ar
chibald Butt;[39] author and socialite Helen Churchill Candee;[40] author Jacques Futrelle, and their friends, Broadway producers Henry and Rene Harris; writer and painter Francis Davis Millet;[41] pioneer aviation entrepreneur Pierre Maréchal Sr.;[42] American silent film actress Dorothy Gibson,[43] White Star Line's Managing Director J. Bruce Ismay[44] (who survived the sinking) and, from the ship's builders, Thomas Andrews,[45] who was on board to observe any problems and assess the general performance of the new ship.
Second-class passengers included Lawrence Beesley,[46] a journalist who wrote one of the first-hand accounts of the voyage and the sinking. Father Thomas R.D. Byles, a Catholic priest, was on his way to America to officiate at his younger brother's wedding.[47] Michel Navratil, a Frenchman, was kidnapping his two sons, Michel Jr. and Edmond, and taking them to America. Sylvia Mae Caldwell, who later married the founder of State Farm Insurance George J. Mecherle,[48] was traveling with her first husband, Albert, and their young son, Alden, to Roseville, Illinois.
Both J. P. Morgan and Milton S. Hershey[49] had plans to travel on the Titanic but canceled their reservations before the voyage.
In 2007 scientists using DNA identified the body of an unknown child recovered shortly after the incident as Sidney Leslie Goodwin, a nineteen-month-old boy from England. Goodwin, along with his parents and five siblings boarded in Southampton, England, as third-class passengers.
Disaster
The ship incorporated technologically advanced features for the period. She had an extensive electrical subsystem with steam-powered generators and ship-wide electrical wiring feeding electric lights. She also boasted two wireless Marconi sets, including a powerful 1,500-watt radio manned by operators who worked in shifts, allowing constant contact and the transmission of many passenger messages.[26]
Comparisons with the Olympic
The Titanic closely resembled her older sister Olympic but there were a few differences. Two of the most noticeable were that half of the Titanic's forward promenade A-Deck (below the lifeboat deck) was enclosed against outside weather, and her B-Deck configuration was completely different from the Olympic's. The Titanic had a specialty restaurant called Café Parisien, a feature that the Olympic did not have until 1913. Some of the flaws found on the Olympic, such as the creaking of the aft expansion joint, were corrected on the Titanic. The skid lights that provided natural illumination on A-deck were round, while on Olympic they were oval. The Titanic's wheelhouse was made narrower and longer than the Olympic's.[27] These, and other modifications, made the Titanic 1,004 gross tons larger than the Olympic.
Passengers and Crew
Main articles: List of passengers onboard RMS Titanic and List of crew members onboard RMS Titanic
The first-class passengers for Titanic's maiden voyage included some of the richest and most prominent people in the world. They included millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and his pregnant wife Madeleine;[28] industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim;[29] Macy's department store owner Isidor Straus[30] and his wife Ida;[31] Denver millionaire Margaret "Molly" Brown;[32] Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife, couturiere Lady Duff-Gordon;[33] streetcar magnate George Dunton Widener, his wife Eleanor and their 27-year-old son, Harry Elkins Widener;[34] Pennsylvania Railroad executive John Borland Thayer, his wife Marion and their 17-year-old son, Jack;[35] journalist William Thomas Stead;[36] Charles Hays, president of Canada's Grand Trunk Railway, with his wife, daughter, her husband, and two employees;[37] the Countess of Rothes;[38] United States presidential aide Ar
chibald Butt;[39] author and socialite Helen Churchill Candee;[40] author Jacques Futrelle, and their friends, Broadway producers Henry and Rene Harris; writer and painter Francis Davis Millet;[41] pioneer aviation entrepreneur Pierre Maréchal Sr.;[42] American silent film actress Dorothy Gibson,[43] White Star Line's Managing Director J. Bruce Ismay[44] (who survived the sinking) and, from the ship's builders, Thomas Andrews,[45] who was on board to observe any problems and assess the general performance of the new ship.Second-class passengers included Lawrence Beesley,[46] a journalist who wrote one of the first-hand accounts of the voyage and the sinking. Father Thomas R.D. Byles, a Catholic priest, was on his way to America to officiate at his younger brother's wedding.[47] Michel Navratil, a Frenchman, was kidnapping his two sons, Michel Jr. and Edmond, and taking them to America. Sylvia Mae Caldwell, who later married the founder of State Farm Insurance George J. Mecherle,[48] was traveling with her first husband, Albert, and their young son, Alden, to Roseville, Illinois.
Both J. P. Morgan and Milton S. Hershey[49] had plans to travel on the Titanic but canceled their reservations before the voyage.
In 2007 scientists using DNA identified the body of an unknown child recovered shortly after the incident as Sidney Leslie Goodwin, a nineteen-month-old boy from England. Goodwin, along with his parents and five siblings boarded in Southampton, England, as third-class passengers.
Disaster
On the night of 14 April/15 April 1912 the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, with great loss of life. The United States Senate investigation reported that 1,517[51] people perished in the accident, while the British investigation has the number at 1,490.[52] Regardless, the disaster ranks as one o
f the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history, and is by far the best known. The media frenzy about the Titanic's famous victims, the legends about what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes to maritime law, Walter Lord's 1955 non-fiction account A Night to Remember, and the discovery of the wreck in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel have sustained the Titanic's fame.For seventy years after the disaster, it was widely believed that the Titanic had sunk intact. Although there were several passengers who insisted that the ship had broken in two as it sank (including Jack Thayer, who even had another passenger draw a set of sketches depicting the sinking for him [53]), the inquiries believed the statements of the ship's officers and first-class passengers that it had sunk in one piece.
In 1985, when the wreck was discovered by Jean-Louis Michel of IFREMER, Robert Ballard and his crew, they found that the ship did in fact break in two as it sank. It was theorized that as the Titanic sank, the stern rose out of the water. It supposedly rose so high that the unsupported weight caused the ship to break into two pieces, the split starting at the upper deck. This became the commonly accepted theory.
In 2005, new evidence suggested that in addition to the expected side damage, the ship also had sustained damage to the bottom of the hull (keel). This new evidence seemed to support a less popular theory that the crack which split the Titanic in two started at the keel plates. This proposition is supported by Jack Thayer's sketches.
Long-term implications
The sinking of the RMS Titanic was a factor that influenced later maritime practices, ship design, and the seafaring culture. Changes included the establishment of the International Ice Patrol, a requirement for 24 hour radio watchkeeping on foreign-going passenger ships, and new regulations related to life boats. [citation needed]
International Ice Patrol
Main article: International Ice Patrol
The Titanic disaster led to the convening of the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) in London, on 12 November 1913. On January 30, 1914, a treaty was signed by the conference that resulted in the formation and international funding of the Intern
ational Ice Patrol, an agency of the United States Coast Guard that to the present day monitors and reports on the location of North Atlantic Ocean icebergs that could pose a threat to transatlantic sea lane traffic. It was also agreed in the new regulations that all passenger vessels would have sufficient lifeboats for everyone on board, that appropriate safety drills would be conducted, and that radio communications on passenger ships would be operated 24 hours a day along with a secondary power supply, so as not to miss distress calls. In addition, it was agreed that the firing of red rockets from a ship must be interpreted as a distress signal (red rockets launched from the Titanic prior to sinking were mistaken by nearby vessels as celebratory fireworks, delaying rescue). This treaty was scheduled to go into effect on 1 July 1915, but was upstaged by World War I.
Ship design changes
f the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history, and is by far the best known. The media frenzy about the Titanic's famous victims, the legends about what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes to maritime law, Walter Lord's 1955 non-fiction account A Night to Remember, and the discovery of the wreck in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel have sustained the Titanic's fame.For seventy years after the disaster, it was widely believed that the Titanic had sunk intact. Although there were several passengers who insisted that the ship had broken in two as it sank (including Jack Thayer, who even had another passenger draw a set of sketches depicting the sinking for him [53]), the inquiries believed the statements of the ship's officers and first-class passengers that it had sunk in one piece.In 1985, when the wreck was discovered by Jean-Louis Michel of IFREMER, Robert Ballard and his crew, they found that the ship did in fact break in two as it sank. It was theorized that as the Titanic sank, the stern rose out of the water. It supposedly rose so high that the unsupported weight caused the ship to break into two pieces, the split starting at the upper deck. This became the commonly accepted theory.
In 2005, new evidence suggested that in addition to the expected side damage, the ship also had sustained damage to the bottom of the hull (keel). This new evidence seemed to support a less popular theory that the crack which split the Titanic in two started at the keel plates. This proposition is supported by Jack Thayer's sketches.
Long-term implications
The sinking of the RMS Titanic was a factor that influenced later maritime practices, ship design, and the seafaring culture. Changes included the establishment of the International Ice Patrol, a requirement for 24 hour radio watchkeeping on foreign-going passenger ships, and new regulations related to life boats. [citation needed]
International Ice Patrol
Main article: International Ice Patrol
The Titanic disaster led to the convening of the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) in London, on 12 November 1913. On January 30, 1914, a treaty was signed by the conference that resulted in the formation and international funding of the Intern
ational Ice Patrol, an agency of the United States Coast Guard that to the present day monitors and reports on the location of North Atlantic Ocean icebergs that could pose a threat to transatlantic sea lane traffic. It was also agreed in the new regulations that all passenger vessels would have sufficient lifeboats for everyone on board, that appropriate safety drills would be conducted, and that radio communications on passenger ships would be operated 24 hours a day along with a secondary power supply, so as not to miss distress calls. In addition, it was agreed that the firing of red rockets from a ship must be interpreted as a distress signal (red rockets launched from the Titanic prior to sinking were mistaken by nearby vessels as celebratory fireworks, delaying rescue). This treaty was scheduled to go into effect on 1 July 1915, but was upstaged by World War I.Ship design changes
The sinking of the Titanic changed the way passenger ships were designed. Many existing ships, such as the Olympic, were refitted for increased safety. Besides increasing the number of lifeboats on board, improvements included reinforcing the hull and increasing the height of the watertight bulkheads. The bulkheads on Titanic extended 10 feet (3 m) above the waterline; after Titanic sank, the bulkheads on other ships were extended higher to make compartments fully watertight. While Titanic had a double bottom, she did not have a double hull; after her sinking, new ships were designed with double hulls; also, the double bottoms of other ships (including the Olympic) were extended up the sides of their hulls, above their waterlines, to give them double hulls. [citation needed]
Speed
Speed
The conclusion of the British Inquiry into the sinking was “that the loss of the said ship was due to collision with an iceberg, brought about by the excessive speed at which the ship was being navigated”.[54] At the time of the collision, it is thought that the Titanic was at her normal cruising speed of about 22 knots,[55] which was less than her top speed of around 24 knots. It was then common (but not universal) practice to maintain normal speed in areas where icebergs were expected.[56] It was assumed that any iceberg large enough to damage the ship would be seen in sufficient time to be avoided. After the sinking, the British Board of Trade introduced regulations instructing vessels to moderate their speed if they were expecting to encounter icebergs. It is often alleged that J. Bruce Ismay instructed or encouraged Captain Edward Smith to increase speed in order to make an early landfall, and is a common feature in popular representations of the disaster. There is no evidence for this having happened, many disputed the claim.[57]
Lifeboats
Lifeboats
The Titanic did not carry sufficient lifeboats for all of her passengers and crew. The law at that time stipulated that a minimum of 16 lifeboats and enough place for 962 occupants were required for a ship that weighed more than 10,000 tons. This law was issued in 1894, when the largest emigrant steamer was the "Lucania," of 12,952 tons. It had not been updated for 18 years and ships had increased rapidly in size. Thus, the Titanic was only legally required to carry enough lifeboats for 962 occupants (the ship had room for 3,547 passengers). The White Star Line exceeded the regulations by including four collapsible lifeboats, bringing total lifeboat capacity to 1,178. [58]
In the busy North Atlantic sea lanes it was expected that in the event of a serious accident, help from other vessels would be quickly obtained, and that the lifeboats would be used to ferry passengers and crew from the stricken vessel to her rescuers. Full provision of lifeboats was not considered necessary for this. During the design of the ship, it was anticipated that the British Board of Trade might require an increase in the number of lifeboats at some future date. Therefore, lifeboat davits capable of handling up to four boats per pair of davits were designed by Alexander Carlisle and installed to give a total potential capacity of 64 boats.[59] The additional boats were never fitted. It is often alleged that J. Bruce Ismay, the President of White Star, vetoed the installation of these additional boats to maximize the passenger promenade area on the boat deck. Harold Sanderson, Vice President of International Mercantile Marine denied this allegation during the British Inquiry.[60]
The lack of lifeboats was not the only cause of the tragic loss of lives. After the collision with the iceberg, one hour was taken to evaluate the damage, recognise what was going to happen, inform first-class passengers, and lower the first lifeboat. Afterwards, the crew worked quite efficiently, taking a total of 80 minutes to lower all 16 lifeboats. The crew was divided into two teams, one on each side of the ship, and an average of 10 minutes of work was necessary for a team to fill a lifeboat with passengers and lower it.[citation needed]
Yet another factor in the high death toll that related to the lifeboats was the reluctance of the passengers to board them. They were, after all, on a ship deemed to be "unsinkable." Because of this, some lifeboats were launched with far less than capacity, the most notable being Lifeboat #1, with a capacity of 40, launched with only 12 people aboard. Included in the first launched were lifeboats 6, 7, and 8, each of which were equipped to hold 65 but evacuated the ship with only 28 on board each boat. [61]
The excessive number of casualties has also been blamed[citation needed] on the "women and children first" policy for places on the lifeboats. Although the lifeboats had a total capacity of 1,178 - enough for 53% of the 2,224 persons on board - the boats launched only had a capacity of 1,084, and, altogether only 712 people were actually saved - 32% of those originally on board. This is a result when the 1,084-person capacity of the lifeboats actually launched had sufficient room to include all of the 534 women and children on board, plus an additional 550 men (of which there were 1,690 on board). It has been suggested[citation needed] based on these figures that allowing one man on board for each woman or child from the start would not only have increased the number of women and children saved, but also had the added benefit of saving more lives in total. As it was, the many desperate men had to be held off at gunpoint from boarding the lifeboats, adding to the chaos of the scene and there were many more casualties - of women, children and men - than otherwise.[62]
Use of SOS
In the busy North Atlantic sea lanes it was expected that in the event of a serious accident, help from other vessels would be quickly obtained, and that the lifeboats would be used to ferry passengers and crew from the stricken vessel to her rescuers. Full provision of lifeboats was not considered necessary for this. During the design of the ship, it was anticipated that the British Board of Trade might require an increase in the number of lifeboats at some future date. Therefore, lifeboat davits capable of handling up to four boats per pair of davits were designed by Alexander Carlisle and installed to give a total potential capacity of 64 boats.[59] The additional boats were never fitted. It is often alleged that J. Bruce Ismay, the President of White Star, vetoed the installation of these additional boats to maximize the passenger promenade area on the boat deck. Harold Sanderson, Vice President of International Mercantile Marine denied this allegation during the British Inquiry.[60]
The lack of lifeboats was not the only cause of the tragic loss of lives. After the collision with the iceberg, one hour was taken to evaluate the damage, recognise what was going to happen, inform first-class passengers, and lower the first lifeboat. Afterwards, the crew worked quite efficiently, taking a total of 80 minutes to lower all 16 lifeboats. The crew was divided into two teams, one on each side of the ship, and an average of 10 minutes of work was necessary for a team to fill a lifeboat with passengers and lower it.[citation needed]
Yet another factor in the high death toll that related to the lifeboats was the reluctance of the passengers to board them. They were, after all, on a ship deemed to be "unsinkable." Because of this, some lifeboats were launched with far less than capacity, the most notable being Lifeboat #1, with a capacity of 40, launched with only 12 people aboard. Included in the first launched were lifeboats 6, 7, and 8, each of which were equipped to hold 65 but evacuated the ship with only 28 on board each boat. [61]
The excessive number of casualties has also been blamed[citation needed] on the "women and children first" policy for places on the lifeboats. Although the lifeboats had a total capacity of 1,178 - enough for 53% of the 2,224 persons on board - the boats launched only had a capacity of 1,084, and, altogether only 712 people were actually saved - 32% of those originally on board. This is a result when the 1,084-person capacity of the lifeboats actually launched had sufficient room to include all of the 534 women and children on board, plus an additional 550 men (of which there were 1,690 on board). It has been suggested[citation needed] based on these figures that allowing one man on board for each woman or child from the start would not only have increased the number of women and children saved, but also had the added benefit of saving more lives in total. As it was, the many desperate men had to be held off at gunpoint from boarding the lifeboats, adding to the chaos of the scene and there were many more casualties - of women, children and men - than otherwise.[62]
Use of SOS
The sinking of the Titanic was not the first time the internationally recognized Morse code distress signal "SOS" was used. The SOS signal was first proposed at the International Conference on Wireless Communication at Sea in Berlin in 1906. It was ratified by the international community in 1908 and had been in widespread use since then. The SOS signal was, however, rarely used by British wireless operators, who preferred the older CQD code. First Wireless Operator Jack Phillips began transmitting CQD until Second Wireless Operator Harold Bride suggested, half-jokingly, "Send SOS; it's the new call, and this may be your last chance to send it." Phillips, who perished in the disaster, then began to intersperse SOS with the traditional CQD call
