|
| Found in : Miscalleneous » British Steamships | Login | Print | Edit this Handle |
RMS TitanicRMS Titanic (also SS Titanic) was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of her launching, and her builders hoped that she would dominate the transatlantic ocean liner business. During her maiden voyage, she struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday evening, April 14, 1912 and sank two hours and twenty minutes later (2:20 a.m.) The sinking resulted in great loss of life, ranking as one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history, and by far the most famous. ConstructionTitanic was a White Star Line ocean liner and was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland to compete with rival company Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania. The Titanic was the second of three Olympic-class ships and along with her two sister ships, the Olympic and the soon to be built Brittanic, were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever to operate. Construction began on March 31, 1909 and Titanic's hull was launched May 31, 1911. Her outfitting was completed March 31 the following year. Titanic was 882 ft 9 in (269 m) long and 92 ft 6 in (28 m) wide, and its gross tonnage was 46,328 tons. The height from the water line to the boat deck was 60 ft (18 m). Although she enclosed more space and therefore had a larger gross tonnage, her hull was exactly the same length as her elder sister Olympic. Titanic contained two reciprocating four cylinder, triple expansion, inverted engines and one low pressure Parsons turbine which powered three propellers. 29 coal burning furnaces powered the ship, which had a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h). Only three of the funnels were functional, the fourth funnel being added to make the ship look more impressive and only functioned as a steam vent. The ship could hold a total of 3547 passengers and crew, and because she carried mail, she was named with the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS (Steam Ship). For its time the ship was unsurpassed in its luxury and opulence. While not the first ship to offer an onboard swimming pool, exercise room, baths and elevators, Titanic pulled out all the stops and offered a level of service never seen before. The ship offered three elevators for use of passengers in first class, and as an innovation, it offered one elevator for the second class passengers. She was considered a pinnacle of technological achievement, and with her sixteen watertight compartments she was thought to be well protected from sinking. At the ship's sailing, one employee was quoted as saying to Second Class Passenger Sylvia Caldwell, "Not even God himself could sink this ship". Maiden VoyageThe ship began her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, USA on April 10, 1912, with Edward J. Smith as captain. When Titanic left its berth, the powerful suction the ship created caused the liner New York, which was moored nearby, to break away and be pulled towards the Titanic, nearly colliding with her and causing a one hour delay before leaving port. The ship crossed the English Channel and stopped at Cherbourg, France to pick up more passengers, and then stopped again the next day at Queenstown (known today as Cobh), Ireland before continuing towards New York. The ship left Ireland with 1324 passengers and 892 crew members on board. Titanic had three different class sections that separated the passengers. Third class contained the cheapest cabins and were located mostly in the lower portions of the ship. The majority of third class passengers were immigrants planning a new life across the Atlantic. Second class cabins and common rooms were equal to first class on some other ships. Many second class passengers were originally booked first class on other ships, but because of a coal strike had transferred to Titanic. First class was the most expensive and luxurious part of the ship. Some of the richest people in the world were travelling on board at the time. The more notable passengers included millionaire John Jacob Astor and his wife, industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim, Macy's Department Store owners Isador and Ida Straus, the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown and others. Also travelling in first class were White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay and ship's designer Thomas Andrews. DisasterOn the night of Sunday, April 14 the temperature had dropped to near freezing and the ocean was completely calm. The sky was clear, but there was no moon out. Iceberg warnings had been received by the wireless operators for the last couple of days. In response to the warnings Captain Smith had altered Titanic's course slightly south. That Sunday at 1:45 P.M. a warning from the steamer Amerika reported large icebergs in the direction Titanic was heading, but for unknown reasons was never brought to the bridge. Later that evening another important warning about a large number of icebergs from the Mesaba was also not delivered to the bridge. At 11:30 P.M., while sailing south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Titanic's lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly in front of the ship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge. He told the bridge "Iceberg, right ahead!" First Officer Murdoch ordered an immediate turn to port (left). Murdoch was unable to avoid a collision and the iceberg brushed the ship's starboard (right) side, causing the hull to buckle in several places, popping out rivets below the waterline over a length of 300 ft (91 m). The watertight doors were shut as water started filling the first six watertight compartments. The watertight compartments are what made Titanic "practically unsinkable"; however, the compartments only reached up to the E-deck, and the weight of six watertight compartments filling with water weighed the ship down past E-deck, allowing water to flow into the other parts of the ship. Captain Smith, alerted by the shaking the impact with the iceberg had caused, arrived on the bridge and ordered a full stop. After an inspection by the officers and Thomas Andrews it was apparent that Titanic was going to sink, and shortly after midnight on April 15 the lifeboats were ordered to be readied and a distress call be sent out. The first lifeboat launched at 12:40 A.M. on the starboard side with 28 people on board. Titanic carried 20 lifeboats that could hold a total 1178 people. While not enough to hold all of Titanic's passengers and crew, Titanic carried more boats than required by the British Board of Regulations. The number of lifeboats was determined by the gross tonnage of the ship and not its capacity. Wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy sending out CQD, the universal distress signal. Several ships had responded, including Titanic's sister ship, Olympic but none were close enough to make it in time. The closest ship was Cunard Line's RMS Carpathia which was 58 miles (93 km) and would arrive in about four hours, too late to get to Titanic in time. From the bridge the lights of another ship not far away could be seen. Since it had not responded by wireless, Forth Officer Boxhall tried signaling it with distress rockets. The SS Californian, 15 miles (24 km) away also saw lights in the distance. The Californian had stopped for the night because they were surrounded by ice, and the wireless operator had gone to bed. When Californian's officers first saw the ship they tried signaling it with the Morse lamp, but never saw a response. Later they noticed Titanic's distress signals over the lights and informed Captain Stanley Lord. Even though there was much discussion about the mysterious ship in the distance, the Californian did not wake up the wireless operator until morning. Passengers were reluctant to get into the lifeboats at first, Titanic seemed much safer than the small boats. As a result most of the boats launched partially empty. One boat meant to hold 65 left Titanic with only 12 people on board. "Women and children first" was the common rule for loading the lifeboats. Second Officer Lightoller who was loading boats on the port side only let men on to row the boats and for no other reason, even if there was room. First Officer Murdoch who was loading boats on the starboard side did let men on board if there were no women around. As the ship's tilt became more apparent people started panicking and some lifeboats started leaving fully loaded. By 2:05 A.M. the entire bow was under water and all the lifeboats but for two had launched. Around 2:10 A.M. the stern had risen out of the water exposing the ships propellers, and by 2:17 the waterline had reached the boat deck. Events began to transpire rapidly as the last two lifeboats floated right off the deck, one upside down, the other half filled with water. Shortly afterwards the forward-most funnel collapsed, crushing part of the bridge and people in the water. People were scrambling towards the stern or jumping off the ship in hopes of reaching a lifeboat. The ship slowly rose into the air and everything not secured crashed towards the water. After operating the entire night, the lights finally went out. Shortly after the power went off, the stress on the hull caused the Titanic to break apart between the last two funnels and the bow went completely under. The stern righted itself back on the water and then rose back up vertically. After a few moments, at 2:20 A.M., this too sank into the ocean. Of a total of 2,228 people, only 705 survived -- according to the US Board of Trade Inquiry, 1,503 perished. As the ship fell into the depths, the two sections ended their final plunges very differently. The streamlined bow planed off approximately 2,000 feet (609 m) below the surface and slowed somewhat, landing relatively gently. The stern, however, fell violently to the ocean floor and smashed into the bottom at high speed, and was then struck full force by the wake of its own fall, causing severe damage and grinding the hull deep into the silty bottom. By some estimates, the bow may have landed as many as ten minutes after the stern. RescueAlmost two hours after Titanic sank the RMS Carpathia arrived at the site and picked up its first lifeboat. Over the next several hours the remainder of the 705 survivors were rescued. On board the Carpathia a short prayer service for the rescued and a memorial for the people who lost their lives was held, and at 8:50 A.M. Carpathia left for New York, arriving on April 18. Once the loss of life was verified, White Star Line charted the ship Macay-Bennett to retrieve bodies. A total of 338 bodies were eventually recovered. Many of the bodies were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia where the majority of the unclaimed were buried in Fairview Cemetery. AftermathAs news of the disaster spread many people were shocked that the Titanic could sink with such great loss of life despite all the technological advances that it represented. Newspapers were filled with stories and descriptions of the disaster and were eager to get the latest information. Many charities were set up to help the victims and their families, many of whom lost their main source of income, or, in the case of third class survivors, lost everything they owned. Before the survivors even arrived in New York investigations were being planned to discover what happened to Titanic and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. The United States Senate initiated an inquiry into the Titanic disaster on April 19 a day after the Carpathia arrived in New York with the survivors. Chairman of the inquiry, Senator William Alden Smith wanted to gather the accounts from passengers and crew while it was still fresh in their minds. Smith also needed to subpoena the British citizens while they were still on American soil. The American inquiry lasted until May 25. Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster. The British inquiry took place between May 2 and July 3. Each inquiry took testimony from both passengers and crew of Titanic, members of Californian's crew and other experts. As a result of the disaster and the subsequent investigations numerous safety measures were enacted. Californian's failure to come to Titanic's aid since their wireless operator was off duty at the time inspired 29 nations to ratify the Radio Act of 1912 which streamlined radio communications, especially in the event of emergencies. The disaster also led to the convening of the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, in London, England, on November 12, 1913. On January 20, 1915 a treaty was signed by the conference, and resulted in the formation and international funding of the International Ice Patrol, an agency of the United States Coast Guard, which to the present day monitors and reports on the location of North Atlantic Ocean icebergs that could pose a threat to trans-Atlantic 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 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. Legends and MythsCommon myths Despite popular belief, the sinking of 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 then began to intersperse SOS with the traditional CQD call. Another myth was that Titanic’s rudder was too small and having a larger one may have saved the ship. While a larger rudder may have saved ‘’Titanic’’ by allowing the ship to turn quicker, the dimensions of the rudder were not legally too small for a ship its size, and in fact the dimensions of the rudder for a ship the size of the Titanic would still be compliant with ship regulations in use today. Had the ship started turning five seconds before, or five seconds after the iceberg was spotted, the ship might have been able to avoid hitting the iceberg. It has also been speculated that the ship could have been saved if the ship rammed the iceberg head on. The theory is that hitting the iceberg head on would have only damaged the two front watertight compartments, causing insufficient damage to sink the ship. Titanic's Band One of the most famous stories of Titanic was of the band. On April 15 Titanic’s eight member band led by Wallace Hartley had assembled in the first-class lounge to keep passengers calm and upbeat, later they moved on to the forward half of the boat deck. The band continued playing music even when it became apparent that the ship was going to sink. None of band members survived the sinking and there has been a lot of speculation about what the last song they played was. Some witnesses said that the final song played was the hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” Hartley reportedly said to a friend if he was on a sinking ship “Nearer, My God, to Thee” might be one of the songs he would play. Walter Lord’s book A Night to Remember popularized wireless operator Harold Bride’s account that he heard the song “Autumn” before the ship sank. It is considered Bride either meant the hymn called "Autumn" or “Songe d’Automne,” a popular song at the time. The "Titanic curse" When Titanic sank, claims were made that a curse existed on the ship. One of the most widely spread legends linked directly into the sectarianism of the city of Belfast, where the ship was built. It was suggested that the ship was given the number 390904 which, when read backwards in a mirror, was claimed to spell 'no pope', a sectarian slogan attacking Roman Catholics that was (and is) widely used provocatively by extreme Protestants in Northern Ireland, where the ship was built. In the extreme sectarianism of northeast Ireland (Northern Ireland itself did not exist until 1920), the ship's sinking, though mourned, was alleged to be on account of the sectarian anti-Catholicism of its manufacturers, the Harland and Wolff company, which had an almost exclusively Protestant workforce and an alleged record of hostility towards Catholics. (Harland and Wolff did have a record of hiring few Catholics; whether that was through policy or because the company's shipyard in Belfast's bay was located in almost exclusively Protestant East Belfast — through which few Catholics would dare to travel — or a mixture of both, is a matter of dispute.) The 'no pope' story is in fact an urban legend, with no basis in fact. RMS Olympic and Titanic were assigned the yard numbers 400 and 401 respectively. The RediscoveryThe wreck was located on September 1, 1985 by a joint American-French expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel and Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. It was found at a depth of 3,800 meters, at 41°43′55″N 49°56′45″W, near Newfoundland. The ship was found to have broken in two large pieces, which lie on the bottom of the ocean a few hundred meters apart, separated by a debris field. Scientists believe that the heavy water pressure in the forward compartments began to break the ship down the middle as the bow section filled with water and sank first while the stern remained buoyant before sinking later. During subsequent dives, scientists took small pieces of the Titanic's iron hull up with them. A detailed analysis of the pieces revealed that the ship's iron plating was of a variety that loses its elasticity and becomes brittle in cold or icy water, leaving it vulnerable to dent-induced ruptures. Furthermore, the rivets holding the hull together were much more fragile than once thought. Dr. Ballard and his team did not bring up any artefacts from the site, considering it to be tantamount to grave robbing. Under international maritime law, however, the recovery of artefacts is necessary to establish salvage rights to a shipwreck. In the years after the find, Titanic has been the object of a number of court cases concerning ownership of artefacts and the wreck site itself. Approximately 6,000 artifacts have been removed from the wreck. Many of these are now permanently on display at the maritime museum in Greenwich, England. Comparable Maritime DisastersWith the loss of 1,503 lives, the sinking of the Titanic was, at the time, one of the worst maritime disasters in history, although the death toll was exceeded by the explosion and sinking of the steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River in 1865, with 1,700 dead. In terms of loss of life in a single vessel, the worst maritime incident in history is recognised as the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff by a Russian submarine in 1945 in which between 5,000 and 7,000 people died. Some recent studies of the disaster estimated that the actual death toll was over 9,000. The worst maritime incident in history, in terms of loss of life in two vessels, is recognised as the sinking of the Cap Arcona and the Thielbek by RAF Typhoons on May 3, 1945 in which around 8,000 deportees died. On 17 June 1940 HMT Lancastria, evacuating troops and civilians from Saint-Nazaire, France, was sunk by German aircraft. The death toll is estimated at 4,000 to 9,000. The true figure will remain unknown until secret British Government papers are released to the public in 2040. References
More Notes...
External Links
|
| .ceneus.notes comprises text made available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. |