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• Titanic

Sinking of Titanic

RMS Titanic undergoes sea trials on 2 April 1912. RMS Titanic Facts Dimensions and Statistics: Length - 882 feet 6 inches. Beam - 92 feet 6 inches. Draft - 34 feet 6 inches. Height - 175 feet from keel to stack (the boat deck was 60 feet above the waterline). Decks - 9 total, A through G with the boilers below. Weight - 46,328 Registered Tons. Hull Construction - 1 inch thick plate steel held together with over 3 million steel rivets. Power plant - 29 coil stoked boilers, each 3 stories high. The boilers used 3 of the stacks for exhaust, the fourth was used to vent Titanics' numerous kitchens and galleys. The stacks were 22 feet wide and 62 feet high. Engines - 2 reciprocating 4 cylinder direct drive inverted steam engines delivering 30,000 HP at 75 RPM for the 2 outside propellers, and 1 low pressure Parsons Turbine delivering 16,000 HP at 165 RPM for the center propeller. The Parsons was powered by excess steam from the other 2 engines. Titanic used 825 tons of coal every day. 3 propellers - 2 outside with 3 10' blades (23' diameter swing) and one center with 4 6' blades (16' diameter swing). Anchors - 2, each weighing 15 tons. Top Speed - 24 knots at 75 RPM. Passengers - Fully Loaded: 739 First Class, 674 Second Class, and 1,026 Third Class (Steerage) April 14th: 329 First Class, 285 Second Class, and 710 Third Class (Steerage). Crew – 892 / Officers (not including Captain) - 7 Life boats - 2 Emergency Lifeboats (40 persons), 14 wooden lifeboats (65 persons) and 4 Engelhardt Collapsible (49 persons) - Total capacity 1,186 persons or 35.5% of total ships full compliment. Passenger Flotation - 3,560 life belts and 48 ringbouys. Cost - $7.5 million (1912 U.S. Dollars, $400 million today). Safety Features: 5 kilowatt Marconi Wireless Radio (just invented 11 years earlier) - transmitting range 500 miles. 4 400 watt electric generators producing 16,000 amps at 100 volts. 15 watertight bulkheads, each sealed by electric powered doors, also equipped with electric water sensors and controlled by switches on the bridge. In the event electricity failed, the doors could be closed manually by pulling a pin and letting gravity close the door. 2 bilge keels amidships, 296 feet long that projected 25 inches from the sides of the hull to help prevent a rolling motion at sea. Electric lights and heaters in every room (over 10,000 light bulbs). 50 telephone swi tchboard. Luxuries and Accommodations: 28 fully decorated First Class Suites. Heated swimming pool. 4 electric elevators ( 3 in First Class and 1 in Second Class). Indoor squash court on F Deck. Indoor toilets. 2 libraries. 4 restaurants. 3 galleys. 2 musical ensembles (a quintet for First Class Lounge and a trio for the a-la carte reception room). Fully equipped gymnasium. 2 barber shops. a fully equipped darkroom. a fully staffed medical bay with 2 physicians and an operating room. Titanic used 14,000 gallons of drinking water each day. Galley Supplies: 57,600 crockery items (pots, pans, baking sheets) 29,000 pieces of glassware 44,000 pieces of cutlery 75,000 lb. fresh meat 11,000 lb. fresh fish 4,000 lb. salted and dried fish 7,500 lb. bacon and ham 25,000 lb. poultry 40,000 fresh eggs 2,500 lb. sausage 40 tons potatoes 3,500 lb. onions 800 bundles fresh asparagus 3,500 lb. tomatoes 2,500 lb.. green peas 7,000 heads lettuce 1,000 loaves of bread 2,200 lb. ground coffee 800 lb. tea 10,000 lb. rice and dried beans 10,000 lb. sugar 250 barrels flour 10,000 lb. cereal 36,000 apples 36,000 oranges 16,000 lemons 1,000 lb. grapes 13,000 grapefruit 1,120 lb. jam and marmalade 1,500 gallons fresh milk 1,200 quarts ice cream 600 gallons condensed milk 6,000 lb. butter 15,000 bottles of ale (beer) 1,000 bottles wine 850 bottles liquor 8,000 complimentary cigars Survivor Rates: Passengers Women, Children, Men Total First Class 94% 31% 60% Second Class 81% 10% 44% Third Class 47% 14% 25% Crew 87% 22% 24% Total Survivability: 31.6% Total Possible Survivability: 53.4% (with all lifeboats filled to capacity)

RMS Titanic (also SS Titanic) was the second of a trio of superliners intended to dominate the transatlantic travel business. Owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of its launching. During Titanic's maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM (ship's time) on Sunday evening April 14, 1912, and sank two hours and forty minutes later at 2:20 AM Monday morning.

The sinking resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, ranking it as one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history and by far the most famous. The Titanic used some of the most advanced technology available at the time and was popularly believed to be "unsinkable". It came as a great shock to many people that despite the advanced technology and experienced crew, the Titanic still sank with a great loss of life. The media frenzy about Titanic's famous victims, the legends about what happened on board the ship, the resulting changes to maritime law, and the discovery of the wreck in 1985 by a team led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel have made Titanic persistently famous in the years since.

Construction of RMS Titanic

Harland and Wolff shipyard

Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and was designed to compete with rival company Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania. Titanic, along with its Olympic class sisters, Olympic and the soon to be built Britannic (originally to be named Gigantic), were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever to operate. Titanic was designed by Harland and Wolff chairman Lord Pirrie, head of Harland and Wolff's design department Thomas Andrews and general manager Alexander Carlisle, with the plans regularly sent to White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay for suggestions and approval. Construction of Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co., began on March 31, 1909. Titanic No. 401, was launched two years and two months later on May 31, 1911. Titanic's outfitting was completed on March 31 the following year.

Titanic was 882 ft 9 in (269 m) long and 92 ft 6 in (28 m) at its beam, it had a Gross Register Tonnage of 46,328 tons, and a height from the water line to the boat deck of 60 ft (18 m). It contained two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple expansion, inverted steam engines and one low pressure Parsons turbine which 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). Only three of the four 63 foot (19 m) tall funnels were functional; the fourth funnel, which only served as a vent, was added to make the ship look more impressive. The ship could hold a total of 3,547 passengers and crew and, because it carried mail, its name was given the prefix RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS (Steam Ship).

Titanic was considered a pinnacle of naval architecture and technological achievement. It was thought by The Shipbuilder magazine to be "practically unsinkable". Titanic was divided into 16 compartments with doors that were held by a magnetic latch and would fall by moving a switch on the bridge; however, the watertight bulkheads did not reach the entire height of the decks (only going as far as E-Deck). Titanic could stay afloat with any two of its compartments flooded, eleven of fourteen possible combinations of three compartments flooding or the first/last four compartments flooded; any more and the ship would sink.

Unsurpassed Luxury

For its time, the ship was unsurpassed in its luxury and opulence. The ship offered an onboard swimming pool, gymnasium, a Turkish bath, library and squash court. First-class common rooms were ornately decorated with elaborate wood panelling, expensive furniture and other elegant decorations. In addition, Café Parisienne offered superb cuisine for the first-class passengers with a delightful sunlit veranda fitted with trellis decorations.

Second-class and even third-class accommodation and common rooms were likewise considered as opulent as first-class on many other ships of the day. The ship offered three lifts for use of first-class passengers and, as an innovation, offered one lift for second-class passengers.

The crown jewel of the ship's interiors was undoubtedly its forward first-class grand staircase, between the forward and second funnels. Extending down to E-Deck and decorated with oak panelling and gilded balustrades, it was topped by an ornate wrought-iron and glass dome which brought in natural light. On the uppermost landing was a large panel containing a clock flanked by the allegorical figures of Honour and Glory crowning Time. A similar, less ornate staircase, complete with matching dome, was located at between the third and fourth funnels.

Comparisons to the Olympic

Titanic was nearly identical to its older sister Olympic, but it received a number of modifications and some of them were suggested by Bruce Ismay after he made some observation with Olympic. Some of the flaws found on Olympic, such as the creaking aft expansion joint, were corrected on Titanic. The most noticeable difference was half of Titanic's forward promenade A-Deck, below the lifeboat deck, was enclosed while its B-Deck configuration was completely different. Titanic was fitted with a specialty restaurant called Café Parisienne, while Olympic didn't have it until 1913. Other differences such as Titanic's skid lights, that provide natural illumination on A-deck, were round while on Olympic they were oval. The wheelhouse on Titanic was modified to be narrower and longer. These extra modifications made Titanic 1,004 tonnes larger than Olympic.

Disaster

1:45 PM - Amerika Iceberg Warning

On the night of Sunday, April 14, the temperature had dropped to near freezing and the ocean was completely calm. There was no moon and the sky was clear. Captain Edward Smith, perhaps in response to iceberg warnings received via wireless over the last few days, had altered Titanic's course around 10 miles (18 km) south of the normal shipping route. That Sunday at 1:45 PM, a message from the steamer SS Amerika warned that large icebergs lay in Titanic's path but, inexplicably, the warning was never relayed to the bridge. Later that evening, another report of numerous, large icebergs in Titanic's path, this time from the Mesaba, also failed to reach the bridge.

11:40 PM - "Iceberg, Right Ahead!"

At 11:40 PM while sailing south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge. Sixth Officer Moody answered, "Yes, what do you see?", only to hear Fleet exclaiming, "Iceberg, right ahead!", to which Moody curiously responded, "thank you", before informing First Officer Murdoch of the call. Murdoch (who had now already seen the iceberg) ordered an abrupt turn to port (left) and full speed astern, which stopped and then reversed the ship's engines. A collision turned out to be inevitable, and the ship's starboard (right) side brushed the iceberg, buckling the hull in several places and popping out rivets below the waterline, creating a total of six leaks in the first five watertight compartments. Murdoch then ordered the ship hard right rudder which swung Titanic's stern away from the iceberg. The watertight doors were shut as water started filling the five compartments, one more than Titanic could stay afloat with. The weight of the compartments filling with water weighed the ship down past the top of the watertight bulkheads, allowing water to flow into the other compartments. Captain Smith, alerted by the jolt of the impact, arrived on the bridge and began to assess Titanic's situation. Following an inspection by the ship's officers and Thomas Andrews, it was apparent that the Titanic would sink, and shortly after midnight on April 15, lifeboats were ordered to be readied and a distress signal sent out.

12:40 AM - First Lifeboat Lowered

The first lifeboat launched, boat 7, was lowered shortly after 12:40 AM on the starboard side with only 28 people on board out of a maximum capacity of 65. The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats with a total capacity of 1,178 persons for the ship's total complement of passengers and crew of 2,223. 32 lifeboats had been originally specified, but management decided the doubled-up boats spoiled the lines of the ship. Sixteen lifeboats, indicated by number, were in the davits; and four canvas-sided collapsibles, indicated by letter, stowed on the roof of the officers' quarters or on the forward Boat Deck to be launched in empty davits. While only enough space for a little more than half the passengers and crew, Titanic carried more boats than required by the British Board of Trade. At the time, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship's gross tonnage, rather than its human capacity. The regulations concerning lifeboat capacity had last been updated in 1894, when the largest ships afloat weighed approximately 10,000 long tons, compared to Titanic's 46,328 tons.

First and second-class passengers had easy access to the lifeboats with staircases that led right up to the boat deck, but third-class passengers found it much harder. Many found the corridors leading from the lower sections of the ship difficult to navigate and had trouble making their way up to the lifeboats. Some gates separating the third-class section of the ship from the other areas, like the one leading from the aft well deck to the second-class section, are known to have been locked. While the majority of first and second-class women and children survived the sinking, more third-class women and children were lost than saved.

Wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy sending out distress signals. Several ships responded, including Mount Temple, Frankfurt and Titanic's sister ship, Olympic, but none were close enough to make it in time. The closest ship to respond was Cunard Line's RMS Carpathia, and at 58 nautical miles (107 km) away it would arrive in about four hours, still too late to get to Titanic in time. Two land-based locations received the distress call from Titanic. One was the wireless station at Cape Race, Newfoundland, and the other was a Marconi telegraph station on top of the Wannamaker's department store in New York City.

From the bridge, the lights of a nearby ship could be seen off the port side. Since it was not responding to wireless, Fourth Officer Boxhall and Quartermaster Rowe attempted signalling the ship with a Morse lamp and later with distress rockets, but the ship never appeared to respond. The SS Californian was nearby but had stopped for the night because of ice, and its wireless was turned off because the wireless operator had gone to bed for the night . Just before he went to bed at around 11:00 PM Californian's radio operator attempted to warn Titanic that there was ice ahead, but he was cut off by an exhausted Jack Phillips, who sent back, "Shut up, shut up! I am busy, I am working Cape Race." When Californian's officers first saw the ship, they tried signalling it with their Morse lamp, but also never appeared to receive 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, which to the officers on duty appeared to be moving away before disappearing, Californian did not wake its wireless operator until morning.

2:00 AM - Waterline Reaches Forward Boat Deck

At first, passengers were reluctant to leave the ostensibly safe Titanic, which showed no outward signs of being in imminent danger, and board small lifeboats. As a result, most of the boats were launched partially empty. One boat, boat number one, meant to hold 40 people, left Titanic with only 12 people on board. As the ship's tilt became more apparent, people started to become nervous, and some lifeboats began leaving fully loaded with "Women and children first" the imperative (see origin of phrase) for loading lifeboats. Shortly after 2:00 AM the waterline had reached the bridge and forward boat deck, and all the lifeboats, save for Collapsibles A and B, had been lowered. Collapsible D was the last lifeboat to be lowered from the davits with 44 of its 47 seats filled. The total number of vacancies was close to 475.

2:10 AM - Stern Rises Out of Water

Around 2:10 AM, the stern rose out of the water exposing the propellers and the forward boat deck was flooding. The last two lifeboats floated right off the deck, collapsible lifeboat B upside down, and collapsible lifeboat A half-filled with water. Shortly afterwards the forwardmost funnel collapsed, crushing part of the bridge and many of those struggling in the water. On deck, people were scrambling towards the stern or jumping overboard in hopes of reaching a lifeboat. The ship's stern slowly rose into the air, and everything not secured crashed towards the bow. While the stern rose, the electrical system finally failed and the lights went out.

2:20 AM - Titanic Sinks

Stress on the hull caused Titanic to break apart into two large pieces, between the third and fourth funnels, and the bow section went completely under. The stern section briefly righted itself on the water before rising back up vertically. After a few moments, the stern section also sank into the ocean.

Of a total of 2,223 people, only 706 survived; 1,517 perished. If the lifeboats were filled to capacity 1,178 people could have been saved. Of the First Class, 199 were saved (60%) and 130 died. Of the Second Class, 119 (44%) were saved and 166 were lost. Of the Third Class, 174 were saved (25%) and 536 perished. Of the crew, 214 were saved (24%) and 685 perished. 1,347 men (80%) died, and 103 women (26%) died. 53 children (about 50%) also died. Of particular note, the entire complement of the Engineering Department, remaining at their posts to keep the ship's electrical systems running, drowned. The majority of deaths were caused by victims succumbing to hypothermia in the 28 °F (-2 °C) water. Out of the 16 lifeboats and 4 collapsibles launched only one came back. Another boat helped. Lifeboat 4 was close by and picked up eight crewmen, two of whom later died. Close to an hour later, Lifeboat 14, under the command of fifth officer Harold Lowe, went back and rescued four people, one of whom died afterwards. Other people managed to climb onto the two collapsible lifeboats that floated off the deck. There were some arguments in some of the other lifeboats about going back, but many survivors were afraid of being swamped by people trying to climb into the lifeboat or being pulled down by the anticipated suction from the sinking ship, though this turned out not to be severe. Only 12 people were picked up from the water.

As the ship sank into the depths, the two sections ended their final plunges very differently. The streamlined bow planed off approximately 2,000 feet (600 m) below the surface and slowed somewhat, landing relatively gently. The stern fell fairly straight down towards the ocean floor, possibly rotating as it sank, with the air trapped inside causing implosions. It was already half-crushed when it hit bottom at high speeds; the shock caused everything still loose to fall off. The bow section however, having been opened up by the iceberg, and sinking slowly, had no air left in it as it sank.

4:10 AM - Carpathia Picks Up First Lifeboat

Almost two hours after Titanic sank, RMS Carpathia, commanded by Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, arrived on scene and picked up its first lifeboat at 4:10 AM, even though merely 10 miles away was the Californian, another ship, which had sent ice warnings to the Titanic. Over the next hours, the remainder of the survivors were rescued. On board Carpathia, a short prayer service for the rescued and a memorial for the people who lost their lives was held, and at 8:50 AM Carpathia left for New York, arriving on April 18. Once the loss of life was verified, White Star Line chartered the ship MacKay-Bennett to retrieve bodies. A total of 328 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. Among the survivors were several dogs brought aboard in the hands of the first class passengers.

Resources about Sinking of Titanic

Online Titanic Museum
Virtual display of my private collection of authentic Titanic related relics - the result of over 10 years worth of work.

Titanic: A Tragic Destiny
Relates the story of the Titanic, sumptuous liner which sank during its maiden journey on April 15, 1912, bringing death to 1523 of the 2228 passengers and crew members aboard. Only 705 survived.

Geogre Behe's Titanic Tidbits
Well over three quarters of a century have passed since the White Star liner Titanic grazed an iceberg and went down in mid-Atlantic with over fifteen hundred passengers and crewmen still on board her.

The Christian Boys' & Men's Titanic Society
Dedicated to the proposition that the strong must sacrifice for the weak, and to the enduring legacy of those men who died that women and children might live.

Titanic Historical Society, Inc.
The premier information source for all things Titanic and White Star Line related.

TITANIC: Anatomy of a disaster shrouded in mystery by Colin Veacock
Conspiracy theory surrounding the identity of Titanic and whether someone intended to sink her in the Atlantic.

The Unsinkable RMS TITANIC
Information about the unsinkable ship RMS Titanic hitting an iceberg and sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.

Scott's Titanic Website
This Website is Dedicated to The Memory of The R.M.S. Titanic.

Titanic Photographic Archive
The Titanic Photographic Archive at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

Discovery: On Board The Titanic
Be a passenger on the Titanic.

Titanic ~ The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is where the maiden voyage of Titanic really ended, with the most lasting legacy from the sinking located here.

The Grave of the Titanic
The story of the Titanic and the iceberg has grown into a legend of the sea. It took her discovery in 1985 to begin to find the truth behind the myth.

Brett's R.M.S. Titanic Page
The idea of the Titanic was thought up at a dinner party hosted by Lord James Pirrie. Lord Pirrie, was a partner in the firm of Harland and Wolff, a giant ship building company.

The Titanic
So much has been written and spoken about the Titanic that there's barely any area left to discuss. Yet, this - the most monumental of all maritime disasters - haunts one's memory and one is compelled to find out as much about it as possible.