RMS Titanic

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RMS Titanic 3.jpg
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912
Career White Star flaga.svg
Name: RMS Titanic[1]
Owner: White Star flaga.svg White Star Line[2]
Port of registry: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland[3] Liverpool
Route: Southampton to New York City
Ordered: 17 September 1908[4]
Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast[2]
Yard number: 401[4]
Laid down: 31 March 1909[4]
Launched: 31 May 1911[4] (not christened)
Completed: 2 April 1912[4]
Maiden voyage: 10 April 1912[5]
Identification: Radio Callsign "MGY"[6]
Fate: Foundered on 15 April 1912 on its maiden voyage
General characteristics
Class and type: Olympic-class ocean liner[7]
Tonnage: 46,328 GRT[4]
Displacement: 52,310 tons[4]
Length: 882 ft 6 in (269.0 m)[8]
Beam: 92 ft 0 in (28.0 m)[4]
Height: 175 ft (53.3 m) (Keel to top of funnels)[8]
Draught: 34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)[9]
Depth: 64 ft 6 in (19.7 m)[4]
Decks: 9 (A - G)
Installed power: 24 double-ended and 5 single-ended boilers feeding two reciprocating steam engines for the wing propellers[10] and a low-pressure turbine for the center propeller[10]. Effect: 46,000 HP[11]
Propulsion: Two 3-blade wing propellers and one 4-blade centre propeller
Speed: Cruising: 21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)[12]. Max: 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph)[8]
Capacity: Passengers: 2,435, crew: 892[13]
Notes: Lifeboats: 20[14] for 1,178 people[15]

The RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that struck an iceberg in the north Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States, and sank on 15 April 1912, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The Titanic was designed by experienced engineers, using some of the most advanced technologies and extensive safety features of the time. That she sank on her maiden voyage and that many lives were lost resulted in a media protest which led to changes in maritime law. Another consequence was that the Titanic, which had been touted as the "unsinkable ship", went down in history as a symbol of human arrogance and the limitations of technology.

The largest passenger steamship in the world at the time, the Olympic-class Royal Mail Ship RMS Titanic was owned by the White Star Line and constructed at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, UK. After setting sail for New York City on 10 April 1912 with 2,223 people on board, she hit an iceberg four days into the crossing, at 11:40 pm (UTC-3) on 14 April 1912, and sank at 2:20 am on the morning of 15 April. The ship did not sail into the iceberg head-on but rather suffered a glancing blow in a manoeuvre trying to avoid it. Further the iceberg did not open her plates like a can opener but rather tore them apart in the riveted joints. The Titanic was designed to survive a head-on collision that would flood the first four of her water tight compartments or a collision from another ship that would ram her in the middle and flood maximum two compartments; however, this long opening in the hull was not foreseen and the crew soon realised that the ship was going to sink.

The high casualty rate resulting from the sinking was due in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the ship carried lifeboats for only 1,178 people. A disproportionate number of men died due to the "women and children first" protocol that was enforced by the ship's crew. This procedure meant that many boats were only half filled. Since the sea was calm, it would have been safe to fill all boats to capacity and thereby rescue an additional 500 persons. Further, only a few were picked up from the water after the sinking out of fear of the boats being overfilled or capsizing. Another factor that contributed to the high death rate was the failure of the nearby ship the Californian to come to the rescue even though she was within visible range. In the end it was the Carpathia which came to the rescue and picked up the 710 survivors from the lifeboats but not until the Titanic had been sunk for almost 2 hours.[a]

In the aftermath of the sinking, the White Star Line's chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, was criticised for having left the ship while there were still passengers on board who could have been saved and the same was the case for the captain of the Californian for failing to assist the sinking ship. In navigation, the disaster led to new safety regulations especially regarding the number of lifeboats which were increased to provide room for everyone on board. Further, wireless telegraphs were to be manned at all hours to make sure a ship could be called to assistance. Since the sinking, the memory of her has been kept alive by books and films. Though the wreck itself has never been recovered, nearly 6,000 artefacts have been lifted from it and are on exhibition today. Memorials of the victims have also been created, mostly in towns associated with the ship and her people.

Contents

Background

Titanic was one of the three Olympic-class ocean liners – the others were the RMS Olympic and the RMS Britannic (originally named Gigantic).[4] They were by far the largest vessels in the White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912.[16] The three ships had their genesis in a discussion of mid-1907 between the White Star Line's chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, and the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan, who controlled the White Star Line's parent corporation, the International Mercantile Marine Co. The White Star Line faced a growing challenge from its main rivals Cunard, which had just launched Lusitania and Mauretania – the fastest passenger ships then in service – and from the German lines Hamburg America and Norddeutscher Lloyd. Ismay preferred to compete on size rather than speed and proposed to commission a new class of liners that would be bigger than anything that had gone before as well as being the last word in comfort and luxury.[17]

The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, who had a long-established relationship with the White Star Line dating back to 1867.[18] Harland and Wolff were given a great deal of latitude in designing ships for the White Star Line; the usual approach was for the latter to sketch out a general concept which the former would take away and turn into a ship design. Cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland and Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five per cent profit margin.[18] In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million for the first two ships was agreed plus "extras to contract" and the usual five per cent fee.[19]

Harland and Wolff put their top designers on the project to build the Olympic class It was overseen by Lord Pirrie, a director of both Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line; naval architect Thomas Andrews, who was the managing director of Harland and Wolff's design department; Edward Wilding, who was Andrews' deputy and responsible for calculating the ship's design, stability and trim; and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard's chief draughtsman and general manager.[20] Carlisle's responsibilities included the decorations, equipment and all general arrangements, including the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design. Carlisle would leave the project in 1910, before the ships were launched, when he became a shareholder in Welin Davit & Engineering Company Ltd, the firm making the davits.[21] Wilding was sacked following the Titanic disaster, having apparently been blamed by Pirrie, unfairly, for the ship's loss.[22]

On 29 July 1908, Harland and Wolff presented the designs to J. Bruce Ismay and other White Star Line executives. He approved the design and signed three "letters of agreement" two days later authorising the start of construction.[23] At this point the first ship – which was later to become Olympic – had no name but was referred to simply as "Number 400", as it was Harland and Wolff's four hundredth hull. Titanic was based on a revised version of the same design and was given the number 401.[24][b]

Dimensions and layout

Side plan of RMS Titanic

Titanic was 882 feet 9 inches (269.06 m) long with a maximum breadth of 92 feet 6 inches (28.19 m). Her total height, measured from the base of the keel to the top of the bridge, was 104 feet (32 m).[26] She measured 46,328 gross register tons and with a draught of 34 feet 7 inches (10.54 m), she displaced 52,310 tons.[4]

All three of the Olympic-class ships had eleven decks (excluding the top of the officers' quarters), eight of which were for passenger use. From top to bottom, the decks were:

Cutaway diagram of Titanic's midship section
  • Boat Deck, on which the lifeboats were positioned. It was from here in the early hours of 15 April 1912 that Titanic's lifeboats were lowered into the North Atlantic. The bridge and wheelhouse were at the forward end, in front of the captain's and officers' quarters. The bridge stood 8 feet (2.4 m) above the deck, extending out to either side so that the ship could be navigated while docking. The wheelhouse stood directly behind and above the bridge. The entrance to the First Class Grand Staircase and gymnasium were located midships along with the raised roof of the First Class lounge, while at the rear of the deck were the roof of the First Class smoke room and the relatively modest Second Class entrance. The wood-covered deck was divided into four segregated promenades, for officers, First Class passengers, engineers and Second Class passengers respectively. Lifeboats lined the side of the deck except in the First Class area, where there was a gap so that the view would not be spoiled.[27][28]
  • A Deck, also called the Promenade Deck, extended along the entire 546 feet (166 m) length of the superstructure. It was reserved exclusively for First Class passengers and contained First Class cabins, the First Class lounge, smoke room, reading and writing rooms and Palm Court.[27]
  • B Deck, the Bridge Deck, was the top weight-bearing deck and the uppermost level of the hull. More First Class passenger accommodation was located here with six palatial staterooms (cabins) featuring their own private promenades. On Titanic, the A La Carte Restaurant and the Café Parisien provided luxury dining facilities to First Class passengers. Both were run by subcontracted chefs and their staff; all were lost in the disaster. The Second Class smoking room and entrance hall were both located on this deck. The raised forecastle of the ship was forward of the Bridge Deck, accommodating Number 1 hatch (the main hatch through to the cargo holds), various pieces of machinery and the anchor housings. It was kept off-limits to passengers; the famous "flying" scene at the ship's bow from the 1997 film Titanic would not have been possible in real life. Aft of the Bridge Deck was the raised Poop Deck, 106 feet (32 m) long, used as a promenade by Third Class passengers. It was where many Titanic's passengers and crew made their last stand as the ship sank. The forecastle and Poop Deck were separated from the Bridge Deck by well decks.[29][30]
  • C Deck, the Shelter Deck, was the highest deck to run uninterrupted from the ships' stem to stern. It included the two well decks, the aft one of which served as part of the Third Class promenade. Crew cabins were located under the forecastle and Third Class public rooms were situated under the Poop Deck. In between were the majority of First Class cabins and the Second Class library.[29][31]
  • D Deck, the Saloon Deck, was dominated by three large public rooms – the First Class Reception Room and Dining Saloon and the Second Class Dining Saloon. An open space was provided for Third Class passengers. First, Second and Third Class passengers all had cabins on this deck, with berths for firemen located in the bow. It was the highest level reached by the ships' watertight bulkheads (though only by eight of the fifteen bulkheads).[29][32]
  • E Deck, the Upper Deck, was predominately used for passenger accommodation for all classes plus berths for cooks, seamen, stewards and trimmers. Along its length ran a long passageway nicknamed Scotland Road by the crew, in reference to a famous street in Liverpool.[29][33]
  • F Deck, the Middle Deck, was the last complete deck and mainly accommodated Third Class passengers, with some Second Class cabins as well, plus crew accommodation. The Third Class dining saloon was located here, as were the swimming pool and Turkish bath.[29][33]
  • G Deck, the Lower Deck, was the last level that carried passengers and had the lowest level of portholes, just above the waterline. The squash court was located here along with the travelling post office, where mail clerks sorted letters and parcels so that they would be ready for delivery when the ship docked. Food was also stored here. The deck was interrupted at several points by orlop (partial) decks over the boiler, engine and turbine rooms.[29][34]
  • The Orlop decks and the Tank Top were at the lowest level of the ship, below the waterline. The orlop decks were used as cargo space, while the Tank Top – the inner bottom of the ship's hull – provided the platform on which the ship's boilers, engines, turbines and electrical generators sat. This part of the ship was dominated by the engine and boiler rooms, areas that passengers would never normally see. They were connected with higher levels of the ship by flights of stairs; twin spiral stairways near the bow gave access all the way up to D Deck.[29][34]

Building and preparing the ship

Photograph of a huge gantry with two openings in it, one of which is filled with the bows of a large ship that has been painted in light and dark colours.
Titanic and Olympic under construction in Belfast

Construction, launch and fitting-out

The sheer size of Titanic and her sister ships posed a major engineering challenge for Harland and Wolff; no shipbuilder had ever before attempted to construct something so large. The ships were constructed on Queen's Island, now known as the Titanic Quarter, in Belfast Harbour. Harland and Wolff had to demolish three existing slipways and build two new graving (dry) docks, the biggest ever constructed up to that time, to accommodate the giant ships.[19] Their construction was facilitated by an enormous gantry built by Sir William Arrol & Co., a Scottish firm responsible for the building of the Forth Bridge and London's Tower Bridge. The Arrol Gantry stood 228 feet (69 m) high, was 270 feet (82 m) wide and 840 feet (260 m) long, and weighed more than 6,000 tons. It accommodated a number of mobile cranes and a separate floating crane, capable of lifting 200 tons at a time, was brought in from Germany.[35]

The construction of Titanic and Olympic took place virtually in parallel, with Olympic's hull laid down first on 16 December 1908 and Titanic's on 31 March 1909.[24] Both ships took about 26 months to build and followed much the same construction process. They were designed essentially as an enormous floating box girder, with the keel acting as a backbone and the frames of the hull forming the ribs. At the base of the ships, a double bottom 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) thick supported 300 frames, each between 24 inches (61 cm) and 36 inches (91 cm) apart and measuring up to about 66 feet (20 m) long. They terminated at the bridge deck (B Deck) and were covered with steel plates which formed the outer skin of the ships.[36]

The 2,000 hull plates were single pieces of rolled steel, mostly up to 6 feet (1.8 m) wide and 30 feet (9.1 m) long and weighing between 2.5 and 3 tons.[37] Their thickness varied from 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) to 1 inch (2.5 cm).[38] The plates were laid in a clinkered (overlapping) fashion from the keel to the bilge. Above that point they were laid in the "in and out" fashion, where strake plating was applied in bands (the "in strakes") with the gaps covered by the "out strakes", overlapping on the edges. Welding was in its infancy at the time, so the structure was held together with over three million iron and steel rivets which by themselves weighed over 1,200 tons. These were fitted using hydraulic machines or were hammered in by hand.[39]

The interiors of the Olympic-class ships were subdivided into sixteen primary compartments divided by fifteen bulkheads which extended well above the waterline. Eleven vertically closing watertight doors could seal off the compartments in the event of an emergency.[38] The ships' exposed decking was made of pine and teak, while interior ceilings were covered in painted granulated cork to combat condensation.[40] The superstructure consisted of two decks, the Promenade Deck and Boat Deck, which were some 500 feet (150 m) long. They accommodated the officers' quarters, gymnasium, public rooms and first-class cabins, plus the bridge and wheelhouse. The ships' lifeboats were carried on the Boat Deck, the uppermost deck.[27] Standing above the decks were four funnels, though only three were functional – the last one was a dummy, installed for aesthetic purposes – and two masts, each 155 feet (47 m) high, which supported derricks for loading cargo. An aerial for sending and receiving wireless signals was slung between the masts.[41]

The work of constructing the ships was difficult and dangerous. For the 15,000 men who worked at Harland and Wolff at the time,[42] safety precautions were rudimentary at best; a lot of the work was dangerous and was carried out without any safety equipment like hard hats or hand guards on machinery. As a result, deaths and injuries were to be expected. During Titanic's construction, 246 injuries were recorded, 28 of them "severe", such as arms severed by machines or legs crushed under falling pieces of steel. Six people died on the ship itself while it was being constructed and fitted out and another two died in the shipyard workshops and sheds.[43]

Titanic was launched at 12:15 pm on 31 May 1911 in the presence of Lord Pirrie, J. Pierpoint Morgan and J. Bruce Ismay and 100,000 onlookers.[44] 22 tons of soap and tallow were spread on the slipway to lubricate the ship's passage into the River Lagan.[45] The ship was not formally named or christened with champagne, following the White Star Line's usual policy for launching.[44] Just before the launch a worker was killed when a piece of wood fell on him.[45] The ship was towed to a fitting-out berth where, over the course of the next year, her engines, funnels and superstructure were installed and her interior was fitted out.[46] The work took longer than expected due to design changes ordered by Ismay and a temporary pause in work occasioned by the need to repair Olympic, which had been in a collision in September 1911. Had Titanic been finished earlier, she might well have missed her rendezvous with an iceberg.[45]

Sea trials

Titanic was only to sail as a complete ship for two weeks before she sank; although she was registered at Liverpool, she never made it to her home port.[47] Her sea trials began at 6 am on Monday, 2 April 1912, just two days after her fitting out was finished and eight days before she was due to leave Southampton on her maiden voyage.[48] The trials had been delayed for a day due to bad weather, but by Monday morning it was clear and fair.[49] Aboard were 78 stokers, greasers and firemen, and 41 members of crew. No domestic staff appear to have been aboard. Representatives of various companies travelled on Titanic's sea trials, Thomas Andrews and Edward Wilding of Harland and Wolff and Harold A. Sanderson of IMM. Bruce Ismay and Lord Pirrie were too ill to attend. Jack Phillips and Harold Bride served as radio operators, and performed fine-tuning of the Marconi equipment. Francis Carruthers, a surveyor from the Board of Trade, was also present to see that everything worked, and that the ship was fit to carry passengers.[50]

The sea trials consisted of a number of tests of her handling characteristics, carried out first in Belfast Lough and then in the open waters of the Irish Sea. Over the course of about twelve hours, Titanic was driven at different speeds, her turning ability was tested and a "crash stop" was performed in which the engines were reversed full ahead to full astern, bringing her to a stop in 850 yd (777 m) or 3 minutes and 15 seconds.[51] The ship covered a distance of about eighty miles, averaging eighteen knots and reaching a maximum speed of just under 21 knots.[52] On returning to Belfast at about 7 pm, the surveyor signed an "Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew", valid for twelve months, which declared the ship seaworthy. An hour later, Titanic left Belfast again – as it turned out, for the last time – to head to Southampton, a voyage of some 570 miles (920 km). She arrived there at about midnight and was towed to the port's Berth 44, ready for the arrival of her passengers and the remainder of her crew.[53]

Features

Engines, boilers and generators

View of the rear port side of Titanic, showing the rudder and the central and port wing propellers. Note the man at the bottom of the image.

Titanic was equipped with three engines – two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engines and one centrally placed low-pressure Parsons turbine – each driving a propeller. The two reciprocating engines had an output of 30,000hp and a further 16,000hp was contributed by the turbine.[26] The White Star Line had previously used the same combination of engines on an earlier liner, the SS Laurentic, where it had been a great success.[54] It provided a good combination of performance and speed; reciprocating engines by themselves were not powerful enough to propel an Olympic-class liner at the desired speeds, while turbines were sufficiently powerful but caused uncomfortable vibrations, a problem that affected the all-turbine Cunard liners Lusitania and Mauretania.[55] By combining reciprocating engines with a turbine, fuel usage could be reduced and motive power increased, while using the same amount of steam.[56]

The two reciprocating engines were giants, each 63 feet (19 m) long and weighing 720 tons. Their bedplates alone weighed a further 195 tons.[55] They were powered by steam produced in 29 boilers, 24 of which were double-ended and 5 single-ended, which contained a total of 159 furnaces.[57] The boilers were 15 feet 9 inches (4.80 m) in diameter and 20 feet (6.1 m) long, each weighing 91.5 tons and capable of holding 48.5 tons of water.[58] They were heated by burning coal, of which 6,611 tons could be carried in Titanic's bunkers with a further 1,092 tons in Hold 3. The furnaces required over 600 tons of coal a day to be shovelled into them by hand, requiring the services of 176 firemen working around the clock.[59] 100 tons of ash a day had to be disposed of by ejecting it into the sea.[60] The work was relentless, dirty and dangerous, and although firemen were paid relatively generously[59] there was a high suicide rate among members of the "Black Gang".[61]

After the steam passed through the reciprocating engines at high pressure it was fed at lower pressure into the turbine, which was situated aft of the main engines. From there it passed into a condenser so that the steam could be condensed back into water and reused.[62] The engines were attached directly to long shafts which drove the propellers. There were three, one for each engine; the outer (or wing) propellers were the largest, each carrying three blades of manganese-bronze alloy with a total diameter of 23.5 feet (7.2 m).[58] The central propeller was somewhat smaller at 17 feet (5.2 m) in diameter.[63]

Titanic's electrical plant was capable of producing more on-board power than a typical city power station of the time.[64] Immediately aft of the turbine engine were four 400kW steam-driven electric generators, used to provide electrical power to the ship, plus two 30 kW auxiliary generators provided for emergency use.[65] Their location at the rear of the ship meant during the sinking of Titanic they remained operational until the last few minutes before the ship went under.[66]

Other machinery

Titanic's rudder was so huge – at 78 feet 8 inches (23.98 m) high and 15 feet 3 inches (4.65 m) long, weighing over 100 tons – that it could only be moved mechanically. Two steam-powered steering engines were installed though only one was used at any one time, with the other one kept in reserve. They were connected to the short tiller through stiff springs, to isolate the steering engines from any shocks in heavy seas or during fast changes of direction.[67] As a last resort, the tiller could be moved by ropes connected to two steam capstans.[68] The capstans were also used to raise and lower the ship's five anchors (one port, one starboard, one in the centreline and two kedging anchors).[68]

The ship was equipped with its own waterworks, capable of heating and pumping water to all parts of the vessel via a complex network of pipes and valves. The main water supply was taken aboard while Titanic was in port but in an emergency she could also distil fresh water from the sea, though this was not a straightforward process as the distillation plant was quickly clogged by salt deposits. A network of insulated ducts conveyed warm air, driven by electric fans, around the ship, and First Class cabins were fitted with additional electric heaters.[64]

Radio equipment

Titanic was equipped with two 1.5 kW spark-gap wireless telegraphs located in the radio room on the Bridge Deck. One set was used for transmitting messages and the other, located in a soundproofed booth, for receiving them. The signals were transmitted through two parallel wires strung between the ship's masts, 50 feet (15 m) above the funnels to avoid the corrosive smoke.[64] The system was one of the most powerful in the world, with a range of up to 1,000 miles.[69] It was owned and operated by the Marconi Company rather than the White Star Line, and was intended primarily for passengers rather than ship operations. The function of the two wireless operators – both Marconi employees – was to operate a 24-hour service sending and receiving wireless telegrams for passengers. They did, however, also pass on professional ship messages such as weather reports and ice warnings.[70]

Passenger facilities

Gymnasium aboard Titanic

The passenger facilities aboard Titanic aimed to meet the highest standards of luxury. The ship could accommodate 739 First Class passengers, 674 in Second Class and 1,026 in Third Class. Her crew numbered about 900 people; in all, she could carry total of about 3,339 people. Her interior design was a departure from that of other passenger liners, which had typically been decorated in the rather heavy style of a manor house or an English country house. Titanic was laid out in a much lighter style similar to that of contemporary high-class hotels – the Ritz Hotel was a reference point – with First Class cabins finished in the Empire style.[71] A variety of other decorative styles, ranging from the Renaissance to Victorian style, were used to decorate cabins and public rooms in First and Second Class areas of the ship. The aim was to convey an impression that the passengers were in a floating hotel rather than a ship; as one passenger recalled, on entering the ship's interior a passenger would "at once lose the feeling that we are on board ship, and seem instead to be entering the hall of a some great house on shore."[72]

There was a telephone system, a lending library and a large barber shop on the ship.[73] The First Class section had a swimming pool, a gymnasium, squash court, Turkish bath, electric bath and a Verandah Cafe.[72] First Class common rooms were adorned with ornate wood panelling, expensive furniture and other decorations while the Third Class general room had pine panelling and sturdy teak furniture.[74] The Café Parisien offered the best French haute cuisine for the First Class passengers, who sat on a sunlit veranda fitted with trellis decorations.[75]

Third Class passengers were not treated as luxuriously as those in First Class, but even so they were better off than their counterparts on many other ships of the time. They were accommodated in cabins accommodating between two and ten people, with a further 164 open berths provided for single young men on G Deck.[76] They were, however, much more limited in their washing and bathing facilities. There were only two bathrooms, one each for men and women, for the entire Third Class complement. They had to wash their own clothes in washrooms equipped with iron tubs, whereas those travelling in First and Second Class could use the ship's laundry.[77] There were also restrictions on which parts of the ship they could enter; all three classes were segregated from each other, and although in theory passengers from the higher classes could visit the lower-class areas of the ship, in practice respect for social conventions meant that they did not do so.[78]

Leisure facilities were provided for all three classes to pass the time. As well as making use of the indoor amenities such as the library, smoking-rooms and gymnasium, it was also customary for passengers to socialise on the open deck, promenading or relaxing in hired deck chairs or wooden benches. A passenger list was published before the sailing to inform the public which members of the great and good were on board, and it was not uncommon for ambitious mothers to use the list to identify rich bachelors to whom they could introduce their marriageable daughters during the voyage.[78]

Cargo

Although Titanic was primarily a passenger liner, she also carried a substantial amount of cargo. Her designation as a Royal Mail Ship indicated that she carried mail under contract with the Royal Mail (and also for the United States Postal Service). 26,800 cubic feet (760 m3) of space in her holds was allocated for the storage of letters, parcels and specie (bullion, coins and other valuables). The Sea Post Office on G Deck was manned by five postal clerks, three Americans and two Britons, who worked thirteen hours a day, seven days a week sorting up to 60,000 items daily.[79]

The ship's passengers brought with them a huge amount of baggage that also had to be transported; another 19,455 cubic feet (550.9 m3) was taken up by first- and second-class baggage. In addition, there was a considerable quantity of regular cargo, ranging from furniture to foodstuffs and even motor cars.[79] Titanic was equipped with eight electric cranes, four electric winches and three steam winches to enable cargoes to be lifted in and out of the hold.

Lifeboats

Titanic carried a total of 20 lifeboats: 16 wooden lifeboats with a capacity of 65 people each and four Englehardt "collapsible" lifeboats (identified as A to D) with a capacity of 47 people each. In addition, it had two emergency cutters with a capacity of 40 people each.[15][c] All of the lifeboats were stowed securely on the boat deck and, except for A and B, connected to davits by ropes.Those on the starboard side were odd-numbered 1–15 from bow to stern, while those on the port side were even-numbered 2–16 from bow to stern. The two cutters were kept swung out, hanging from the davits, ready for immediate use, while collapsible lifeboats C and D were stowed on the boat deck immediately inboard of boats 1 and 2 respectively. Collapsible lifeboats A and B were stored on the roof of the officers' quarters, on either side of number 1 funnel. There were no davits to lower them and their weight would make them challenging to launch.[80]

Titanic had 16 sets of davits, each able to handle 4 lifeboats. This gave Titanic the ability to carry up to 64 wooden lifeboats[81], which would have been enough for 4,000 people – considerably more than her actual capacity However, the White Star Line decided that only 16 wooden lifeboats and four collapsibles[d] would be carried, which could accommodate 1,178 people, only one-third of Titanic's total capacity.[e] At the time, the Board of Trade's regulations required British vessels over 10,000 tons to carry 16 lifeboats with a capacity of 5,500 cubic feet (160 m3), plus enough capacity in rafts and floats for 75% (50% for vessels with watertight bulkheads) of that in the lifeboats. In principle, the White Star line could even have made use of the exception for vessels with watertight bulkheads, which would have reduced the legal requirements to a capacity of 756 persons only.[83] Therefore, the White Star Line actually provided much more lifeboat accommodation than was legally required.[84][f]

Maiden voyage

Crew

Main article: Crew of the RMS Titanic
Photograph of a bearded man wearing a white captain's uniform, standing on a ship with his arms crossed.
Edward Smith, captain of Titanic, in 1911

Titanic had around 885 crew members on board for her maiden voyage.[86] Like other vessels of her time, she did not have a permanent crew, and the vast majority of crew members were casual workers who only came aboard the ship a few hours before she sailed from Southampton.[87] The process of signing up recruits had begun on 23 March and some had been sent to Belfast, where they served as a skeleton crew during Titanic's sea trials and passage to England at the start of April.[88] Captain Edward John Smith, the most senior of the White Star Line's captains, was transferred from Olympic to take command of Titanic.[89] Henry Tingle Wilde also came across from Olympic to take the post of Chief Mate. Titanic's previously designated Chief Mate and First Officer, William McMaster Murdoch and Charles Lightoller, were bumped down to the ranks of First and Second Officer respectively. The original Second Officer, David Blair, was dropped altogether – a decision for which he expressed deep disappointment before the voyage, but was presumably the source of great relief afterwards.[90]

Titanic's crew were divided into three principal departments: Deck, with 66 crew; Engine, with 325; and Victualling, with 494.[91] The vast majority of the crew were thus not seamen, but were either engineers, firemen or stokers, responsible for looking after the engines, or stewards and galley staff, responsible for the passengers.[92] Of these, over 97% were male; just 23 of the crew were female, mainly stewardesses.[93] The rest represented a great variety of professions – bakers, chefs, butchers, fishmongers, dishwashers, stewards, gymnasium instructors, laundrymen, waiters, bed-makers, cleaners and even a printer,[93] who produced a daily newspaper for passengers called the Atlantic Daily Bulletin with the latest news received by the ship's wireless operators.[70] Titanic also had a ship's cat, Jenny, who gave birth to a litter of kittens shortly before the ship's maiden voyage; all perished in the sinking.[94]

Most of the crew were signed up in Southampton on 6 April;[24] in all, 699 of the crew came from there, and 40 per cent were natives of the town.[93] A few specialist staff were self-employed or were subcontractors. These included the five postal clerks, who worked for the Royal Mail and US Postal Service, the staff of the First Class A La Carte Restaurant and the Café Parisien, the radio operators (who were employed by Marconi) and the eight musicians, who were employed by an agency and travelled as second-class passengers.[95] Crew pay varied greatly, from Captain Smith's £105 a month (equivalent to £7,704 today) to the £3 10s (£257 today) that stewardesses earned. The lower-paid victualling staff could, however, supplement their wages substantially through tips from passengers.[94]

Passengers

Main article: Passengers of the RMS Titanic
John Jacob Astor in 1909. He and his wife were the richest people aboard Titanic.

Titanic's passengers numbered around 1,316 people: 325 in First Class, 285 in Second Class and 706 in Third Class. 869 (66%) were male and 447 (34%) female. There were 109 children in all, the largest number of which were in Third Class.[96] The ship was considerably under capacity on her maiden voyage, as she could accommodate 2,566 passengers – 1,034 First Class, 510 Second Class and 1,022 Third Class.[97]

Some of the most prominent people of the day booked a passage aboard Titanic, travelling in First Class. Among them were the American millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeleine Force Astor, industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim, Macy's owner Isidor Straus and his wife Ida, Denver millionairess Margaret "Molly" Brown,[g] Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife, couturière Lucy (Lady Duff-Gordon), cricketer and businessman John Borland Thayer with his wife Marian together with their son Jack, the Countess of Rothes, author and socialite Helen Churchill Candee, journalist and social reformer William Thomas Stead, author Jacques Futrelle with his wife May, and silent film actress Dorothy Gibson, among others.[98] Titanic's owner J. P. Morgan was scheduled to travel on the maiden voyage, but cancelled at the last minute.[99] Also aboard the ship were the White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay and Titanic's designer Thomas Andrews, who was on board to observe any problems and assess the general performance of the new ship.[100]

The passengers began arriving from 9.30 am, when the London and South Western Railway's boat train from London Waterloo station reached Southampton Terminus railway station on the quayside, right alongside Titanic's berth.[101] The large number of Third Class passengers meant that they were the first to board, with First and Second Class passengers following up to within an hour of departure. Stewards showed them to their cabins and First Class passengers were personally greeted by Captain Smith on boarding. [102] Third Class passengers were inspected for ailments and physical impairments that might lead to them being refused entry to the United States – not a prospect that the White Star Line wished to see, as it would have to carry them back across the Atlantic.[103] Not all of those who had booked tickets made it to the ship; about fifty people cancelled for various reasons,[103] and not all of those who boarded stayed aboard for the entire journey.

Fares aboard Titanic varied enormously in cost. Third Class fares from London, Southampton or Queenstown cost £7 5s (equivalent to £532 today) while the cheapest First Class fares cost £23 (£1,688 today).[104] The most expensive First Class suites cost up to £870 in high season (£63,837 today).[97]

Departure

Titanic on her way after the near-collision with SS New York. On the left can be seen Oceanic and New York.

Titanic began her maiden voyage from Southampton, bound for New York City on 10 April 1912.[8][105] As she left her berth, her wake caused the liner SS New York, which was docked nearby, to break away from her moorings. This caused New York to be drawn dangerously close to Titanic – only about 4 feet (1.2 m) – before a tugboat towed her away; the incident delayed departure for about an hour.[106] After crossing the English Channel, Titanic stopped at Cherbourg, France, to board additional passengers and stopped again the next day at Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland.[107] As harbour facilities at Cherbourg and Queenstown were inadequate for a ship of her size, Titanic had to anchor offshore, with small boats, known as tenders, ferrying the embarking and disembarking passengers to and from the ship.[108] At 1.30 pm on 11 April, Titanic weighed anchor for the last time and set a course for New York.[109]

Sinking

Main article: Sinking of the RMS Titanic
"Untergang der Titanic" by Willy Stöwer, 1912

The voyage proceeded uneventfully as Titanic headed west, covering 386 miles on the first day, 519 miles on the second and 546 miles on the third.[110] During 14 April 1912, four days into her maiden voyage, Titanic received a number of warnings from other ships of drifting ice in the area of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.[111] Nonetheless the ship continued to steam at full speed, as was standard practice at the time;[112] it was generally believed that ice posed little danger to large vessels and Captain Smith himself had declared that he could not "imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."[113]

At 11.40 pm (ship's time), lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg immediately ahead of Titanic and alerted the bridge.[114] First Officer William Murdoch ordered the ship to be steered around the obstacle and the engines to be put in reverse,[115] but it was too late; the starboard side of Titanic struck the iceberg, creating a series of holes below the waterline. Five of the ship's watertight compartments were breached. It soon became clear that the ship was doomed, as she could not survive more than four compartments being flooded. Titanic began sinking bow-first, with water spilling from compartment to compartment as her angle in the water became steeper.[116]

Those aboard Titanic were ill-prepared for such an emergency. There was only enough space in the lifeboats for a third of her maximum number of passengers and crew,[117] and the crew had not been trained adequately in carrying out an evacuation. The officers did not know how many they could safely put aboard the lifeboats and launched many of them barely half-full.[118] Third-class passengers were largely left to fend for themselves, causing many of them to become trapped below decks as the ship filled with water.[119] A "women and children first" protocol was generally followed for the loading of the lifeboats[119] and most of the male passengers and crew were left aboard.

Two hours and forty minutes after Titanic struck the iceberg, her rate of sinking suddenly increased as her forward deck dipped underwater and the sea poured in through open hatches and grates.[120] As her unsupported stern rose out of the water, exposing the propellers, the ship split apart between the third and fourth funnels due to the immense strain on the keel.[121] The severed bow section headed for the sea bed, while the stern remained afloat for a few minutes longer, rising to a nearly vertical angle with hundreds of people still clinging to it.[122] At 2.20 am, the stern sank, pitching the remaining passengers and crew into lethally cold water with a temperature of only 28 °F (−2 °C). Almost all of those in the water died of hypothermia or cardiac arrest within minutes.[123]

Distress signals were sent by wireless, rockets and lamp, but none of the ships that responded were near enough to reach her before she sank. A nearby ship, the Californian, which was the last to have been in contact with her before the collision, saw her flares but failed to assist.[124] Around 4 am, RMS Carpathia arrived on the scene in response to Titanic's earlier distress calls.[125] 710 people survived the disaster and were conveyed by Carpathia to New York, Titanic's original destination. Another 1,517 people were lost, either drowned aboard Titanic or killed by their immersion in the freezing ocean.[86]

Aftermath of sinking

Arrival of Carpathia in New York

Carpathia docked at Pier 54 in New York following the rescue.

On 18 April, Carpathia docked at Pier 54 at Little West 12th Street in New York with the survivors.[126] She arrived at night and was greeted by thousands of people. Immediate relief in the form of clothing and transportation to shelters was provided by the Women's Relief Committee, the Travelers Aid Society of New York, and the Council of Jewish Women, among other organisations.[127][128] Titanic had been heading for 20th Street. Carpathia dropped off the empty Titanic lifeboats at Pier 59, as property of the White Star Line, before unloading the survivors at Pier 54. Both piers were part of the Chelsea Piers built to handle luxury liners of the day. As news of the disaster spread, many people were shocked that Titanic could sink with such great loss of life despite all of her technological advances.[129]

On the morning of 15 April 1912, the White Star Line headquarters in Liverpool were besieged by press and relatives of passengers, officials feared leaving the building and therefore updated the crowds from the fourth floor balconies.[130] 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 sole breadwinner, or, in the case of third class survivors, lost everything they owned.[131] On 29 April opera stars Enrico Caruso and Mary Garden and members of the Metropolitan Opera raised $12,000 in benefits for victims of the disaster by giving special concerts in which versions of "Autumn" and "Nearer My God To Thee" were part of the program.[132] The people of Southampton suffered the greatest losses from the sinking. According to the Hampshire Chronicle on 20 April 1912, almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almost every street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than one resident and over 500 households lost a member.[129]

Investigations into the disaster

"The Margin of Safety Is Too Narrow!", a 1912 cartoon by Kyle Fergus, showing the public demanding answers about the Titanic disaster from the shipping companies

Even before the survivors arrived in New York, investigations were being planned to discover what had happened, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. The United States Senate initiated an inquiry into the disaster on 19 April, a day after Carpathia arrived in New York.[133]

The chairman of the inquiry, Senator William Alden Smith, wanted to gather accounts from passengers and crew while the events were still fresh in their minds. Smith also needed to subpoena all surviving British passengers and crew while they were still on American soil, which prevented them from returning to the UK before the American inquiry was completed on 25 May.[133] The British press condemned Smith as an opportunist, insensitively forcing an inquiry as a means of gaining political prestige and seizing "his moment to stand on the world stage". Smith, however, already had a reputation as a campaigner for safety on U.S. railroads, and wanted to investigate any possible malpractices by railroad tycoon J. P. Morgan, Titanic's ultimate owner.[134]

Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster, which took place between 2 May and 3 July. Each inquiry took testimony from both passengers and crew of Titanic, crew members of Leyland Line's Californian, Captain Arthur Rostron of Carpathia and other experts.[135]

The investigations found that many safety rules were simply out of date, and new laws were recommended. Numerous safety improvements for ocean-going vessels were implemented, including improved hull and bulkhead design, access throughout the ship for egress of passengers, lifeboat requirements, improved life-vest design, the holding of safety drills, better passenger notification, radio communications laws, etc. The investigators also learned that Titanic had sufficient lifeboat space for all first-class passengers, but not for the lower classes. In fact, most third class passengers had no idea where the lifeboats were, much less any way of getting to the upper decks where the lifeboats were stowed.[85][h]

SS Californian inquiry

Both inquiries into the disaster examined the SS Californian's assistance to Titanic. Testimony before the British inquiry revealed that at 10:10 pm, Californian observed the lights of a ship to the south; it was later agreed between Captain Stanley Lord and Third Officer C.V. Groves (who had relieved Lord of duty at 11:10 pm) that this was a passenger liner. Californian had warned the ship by radio of the pack ice which was the reason Californian had stopped for the night, but was violently rebuked by Titanic's senior wireless operator, Jack Phillips. At 11:50 pm, the officer had watched that ship's lights flash out, as if it had shut down or turned sharply, and that the port light was now visible. Morse light signals to the ship, upon Lord's order, occurred five times between 11:30 pm and 1:00 am, but were not acknowledged. (In testimony, it was stated that Californian's Morse lamp had a range of about four miles (6 km), so could not have been seen from Titanic.)[138]

SS Californian, which had tried to warn Titanic of the danger from pack-ice

Captain Lord had retired at 11:30 pm; however, Second Officer Herbert Stone, now on duty, notified Lord at 1:15 am that the ship had fired a rocket, followed by four more. Lord wanted to know if they were company signals, that is, coloured flares used for identification. Stone said that he did not know and that the rockets were all white. Captain Lord instructed the crew to continue to signal the other vessel with the Morse lamp, and went back to sleep. Three more rockets were observed at 1:50 am and Stone noted that the ship looked strange in the water, as if she were listing. At 2:15 am, Lord was notified that the ship could no longer be seen. Lord asked again if the lights had had any colours in them, and he was informed that they were all white.[139]

Californian eventually responded. At 5:30 am, Chief Officer George Stewart awakened wireless operator Cyril Furmstone Evans, informed him that rockets had been seen during the night, and asked that he try to communicate with any ships. Frankfurt notified the operator of Titanic's loss, Captain Lord was notified, and the ship set out for assistance.[139]

The inquiries found that Californian was much closer to Titanic than the 19.5 miles (31.4 km) that Captain Lord had believed, and that Lord should have awakened the wireless operator after the rockets were first reported to him, and thus could have acted to prevent loss of life.[138][i]

Survivors and victims

Of a total of 2,224 people aboard Titanic only 710, less than a third, survived and 1,514 perished.[141] Men and members of the 2nd and 3rd class were least likely to survive. Most likely were women and children on first class. The table below shows the survivors and victims for passengers and crew onboard the RMS Titanic. Passengers are subdivided into men, women and children for each class while crew is divided into men and women. The table is sortable so that each column can be shown in alphabetically (or numerically) order growing of falling.

Person Category Number Aboard Percentage Saved Percentage Lost Number Saved Number Lost
Children, First Class 6 83% 17% 5 1
Children, Second Class 24 100% 0% 24 0
Children, Third Class 79 34% 66% 27 52
Women, First Class 144 97% 3% 140 4
Women, Second Class 93 86% 14% 80 13
Women, Third Class 165 46% 54% 76 89
Men, First Class 175 33% 67% 57 118
Men, Second Class 168 8% 92% 14 154
Men, Third Class 462 16% 84% 75 387
Women, Crew 23 87% 13% 20 3
Men, Crew 885 22% 78% 192 693
Total 2224 32% 68% 710 1514

Retrieval and burial of the dead

Once the massive loss of life became known, White Star Line chartered the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett from Halifax, Nova Scotia to retrieve bodies. Three other ships followed in the search: cable ship Minia, lighthouse supply ship Montmagny and sealing vessel Algerine. Each ship left with embalming supplies, undertakers, and clergy. Of the 333 victims that were eventually recovered, 328 were retrieved by the Canadian ships and five more by passing North Atlantic steamships.[j] In mid-May 1912, RMS Oceanic recovered three bodies over 200 miles (320 km) from the site of the sinking who were among the original occupants of Collapsible A. When Fifth Officer Harold Lowe and six crewmen returned to the wreck site sometime after the sinking in a lifeboat to pick up survivors, they had rescued a female from Collapsible A, but left the dead bodies of three of its occupants.[k] After their retrieval from Collapsible A by Oceanic, the bodies were then buried at sea.[143][144]

The first body recovery ship to reach the site of the sinking, the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett found so many bodies that the embalming supplies aboard were quickly exhausted, and health regulations required that only embalmed bodies could be returned to port.[145] Captain Larnder of the Mackay-Bennett and undertakers aboard decided to preserve only the bodies of first class passengers, justifying their decision by the need to visually identify wealthy men to resolve any disputes over large estates. As a result, third class passengers and crew were buried at sea. Larnder himself claimed that as a mariner, he would expect to be buried at sea.[146] Complaints about the burials at sea were made by families and undertakers. Later ships such as Minia found fewer bodies and were able to limit burials at sea to bodies which were too damaged to preserve.[citation needed]

Bodies recovered were preserved for transport to Halifax, the closest city to the sinking with direct rail and steamship connections. The Halifax coroner, John Henry Barnstead, developed a detailed system to identify bodies and safeguard personal possessions. Relatives from across North America came to identify and claim bodies. A large temporary morgue was set up in a curling rink and undertakers were called in from all across Eastern Canada to assist.[146] Some bodies were shipped to be buried in their home towns across North America and Europe. About two-thirds of the bodies were identified. Unidentified victims were buried with simple numbers based on the order in which their bodies were discovered. The majority of recovered victims, 150 bodies, were buried in three Halifax cemeteries, the largest being Fairview Lawn Cemetery followed by the nearby Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch cemeteries.[147]

Wreck

Main article: Wreck of the RMS Titanic
Part of the Titanic wreck in 2003 with rusticles on it

The idea of finding the wreck of Titanic, and even raising the ship from the ocean floor, had been around since shortly after the ship sank.[l]

Discovery

No attempt of finding the wreck was successful until 1 September 1985, when a joint American-French expedition, led by Jean-Louis Michel (Ifremer) and Dr. Robert Ballard (WHOI), located the wreck using the side-scan sonar from the research vessels Knorr and Le Suroit.[149] The wreck was found at a depth of 2.5 miles (4 km), slightly more than 370 miles (600 km) south-east of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland at 41°43′55″N 49°56′45″W / 41.73194°N 49.94583°W / 41.73194; -49.94583Coordinates: 41°43′55″N 49°56′45″W / 41.73194°N 49.94583°W / 41.73194; -49.94583.[citation needed]

The most notable finding at the discovery was that the ship had split apart, the stern section lying 1,970 feet (600 m) from the bow section and facing opposite directions.[150] As the ship fell into the depths, the two sections had behaved very differently. The streamlined bow planed off approximately 2,000 ft (610 m) below the surface and slowed somewhat, landing relatively gently. The stern plunged violently to the ocean floor, the hull being torn apart along the way from massive implosions caused by compression of water tight compartments inside the ship. The stern smashed into the bottom at considerable speed, grinding the hull deep into the silt.[151]

Surrounding the wreck was a large debris field with pieces of the ship, furniture, dinnerware and personal items scattered over 2 square miles (5.2 km2).[152] Approximately 5,500 artefacts have been removed from the wreck.[153]

Ownership of artefacts

Titanic's rediscovery in 1985 launched a debate over ownership of the wreck and the valuable items inside. In 1994 RMS Titanic Inc., a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc., was awarded ownership and salvaging rights by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.[154] (See Admiralty law) On 24 March 2009, it was revealed that the fate of 5,900 artefacts retrieved from the wreck would rest with a U.S. District Judge's decision.[155] The ruling was later issued in two decisions on 12 August 2010 and 15 August 2011. As announced in 2009, the judge ruled that RMS Titanic Inc. owned the artefacts and her decision dealt with the status of the wreck as well as establishing a monitoring system to check future activity upon the wreck site.[156] On 12 August 2010, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith granted RMS Titanic, Inc. fair market value for the artefacts but deferred ruling on their ownership and the conditions for their preservation, possible disposition and exhibition until a further decision could be reached.[157] On 15 August 2011, Judge Smith granted title to thousands of artefacts from the Titanic that RMS Titanic Inc., did not already own under a French court decision concerning the first group of salvaged artefacts to RMS Titanic Inc., subject to a detailed list of conditions concerning preservation and disposition of the items.[158] The artefacts can be sold only to a company that would abide by the lengthy list of conditions and restrictions.[158] RMS Titanic Inc. can profit from the artefacts through exhibiting them.[158]

Legacy

Films

Seven of the eight members of Titanic's band that became a legend.

The tragedy of the Titanic have inspired books and films most famously in the 1958 film A Night to Remember and in James Cameron's Titanic from 1997.[159] Both films were meet well by critics and the latter, upon its release on 19 December 1997, had unprecedented commercial success.[160] It equalled records with fourteen Academy Award nominations and eleven wins, receiving the prizes for Best Picture and Best Director.[161] With a worldwide gross of over $1.8 billion, it was the first film to reach the billion dollar mark, remaining the highest-grossing film of all time for twelve years (until Cameron's next directorial effort, Avatar, surpassed it in 2010).[162][163] Titanic is also ranked as the sixth best epic film of all time in AFI's 10 Top 10 by the American Film Institute.[164]

Legends and myths

Main article: Legends and myths regarding RMS Titanic

The Titanic has gone down in history as the ship that was called unsinkable.[m] However, even though she was called so in news stories after the sinking, the fact is that neither The White Star Line nor Harland and Wolff declared her unsinkable.[165] Another well-known story is that of the ship's band, who heroically played on while the great steamer was sinking. This seems to be true but there has been conflicting information about which song was the last to be heard. The most reported is "Nearer, My God, to Thee" but also "Autumn" has been mentioned.[80][n] Finally, a widespread myth is that the internationally recognised Morse code distress signal "SOS" was first put to use when the Titanic sank. While it is true that British wireless operators rarely used the "SOS" signal at the time, preferring the older "CQD" code, "SOS" had been used internationally since 1908. The first wireless operator on Titanic, Jack Phillips, sent both "SOS" and "CQD" as call for help.[167]

Memorials and museums

The memorial to Titanic's engineers in Southampton unveiled 1914

In Southampton, England a memorial to the engineers of Titanic may be found in Andrews Park on Above Bar Street. Near the main memorial, on the corner of Cumberland Place and London Road, is the Titanic Musicians' Memorial to Wallace Hartley and the other musicians who continued playing as the ship went down. A memorial to the ship's five postal workers, which says "Steadfast in Peril" is held by Southampton Heritage Services.[168]

In Cobh (formerly known as Queenstown from 1849 to 1920), County Cork, Ireland a memorial to the Titanic stands in the town centre.[169] Queenstown was the final port of call for the ill-fated liner as she set out across the Atlantic on 11 April 1912.

A significant percentage of Titanic's crew members were from Liverpool, including its six most senior engineers.[170] The Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes of the Titanic stands at Pier Head in Liverpool City Centre close to the former White Star Line headquarters.[170] A memorial plaque commemorating the ship's famed orchestra (which was formed in Liverpool and included Liverpudlian John Frederick Clarke) is located inside Philharmonic Hall on Hope Street.[170]

Another memorial to 36 engineers who lost their lives is in the foyer of Scottish Opera, Elmbank Street, Glasgow, formerly the headquarters of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, whose members subscribed for the memorial. It was unveiled on 15 April 1914[citation needed].

A memorial to the liner is also located on the grounds of City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[171] Titanic Belfast, a £77m tourist attraction on the regenerated site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard is to be completed by 15 April 2012, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. The building and surrounding park will celebrate Titanic and her links with Belfast, where the ship was built.[172]

Among a number of memorials in the United States are the Titanic Memorial in Washington, D.C. and a memorial to Ida Straus at Straus Park in Manhattan, New York.[173][174]

The oldest Titanic Museum in America is in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts. Established in 1963, the Titanic Historical Society Museum[175] houses a number of original artefacts from the ship, including the lifejacket of Mrs. John Jacob Astor, assorted blueprints, and other memorabilia. The museum and its co-run Titanic Historical Society, occasionally loan artefacts to larger museums elsewhere in the United States.

Many artefacts are on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, and later as part of a travelling museum exhibit.[153] The Merseyside Maritime Museum in the Titanic's home port of Liverpool also has an extensive collection of artefacts from the wreck located within a permanent exhibition named 'Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress'.[176] Much floating wreckage which was recovered with the bodies in 1912 can be seen today in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. Other pieces are part of the travelling exhibition, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.[177] A newer attraction, the Branson Titanic Museum opened 2006 in Missouri, USA, is a permanent two-story museum shaped like the RMS Titanic. It is built half-scale to the original and holds 400 pre-discovery artefacts in twenty galleries.[citation needed]

100th anniversary commemoration

At 12:13 pm on 31 May 2011, exactly 100 years after Titanic rolled down her slipway, a single flare was fired over Belfast's docklands in commemoration. All boats in the area around the Harland and Wolff shipyard then sounded their horns and the assembled crowd applauded for exactly 62 seconds, the time it had originally taken for the liner to roll down the slipway in 1911.[178] On 6 April 2012, the 100th anniversary of Titanic's maiden voyage will be celebrated by re-releasing the 1997 feature film Titanic in 3D.[179] ITV1 have produced a four-part Titanic mini-series, written by Oscar-winner Julian Fellowes, to be broadcast in early 2012.[180]

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will perform The Titanic Requiem, a classical piece written by singer/songwriter Robin Gibb and his son RJ Gibb, on 10 April in London. The event will include a hologram show depicting the sea, the ship, and the iceberg.[181]

The cruise ship Balmoral, operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has been chartered by Miles Morgan Travel to follow the original route of Titanic, intending to stop over the point on the sea bed where she rests on 15 April 2012.[182]

Appendix

See also

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References

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Of the rescued, the last living was Millvina Dean who died in May 2009.
  2. ^ It was later rumoured that the (overwhelmingly Protestant) shipworkers at the yard had assigned it the number 390904 which, held up to a mirror, looks somewhat like the words "NO POPE" – but this was in fact untrue.[25]
  3. ^ Measurement of lifeboats: 1–2: 25'2" long by 7'2" wide by 3'2" deep; 326.6 cubic feet (9.25 m3); 3–16: 30' long by 9'1" wide by 4' deep; 655.2 cubic feet (18.55 m3) and A–D: 27'5" long by 8' wide by 3' deep; 376.6 cubic feet (10.66 m3)
  4. ^ Hard bottom boats with canvas sides that were held by a top frame
  5. ^ 16 lifeboats were the minimum required by the Board of Trade, based on Titanic's projected tonnage and passenger manifests from Olympic's 1911 voyages which were usually no more than 1100 people per passage[82]
  6. ^ Since 1894, when the largest passenger ship under consideration was the Cunard Line's 13,000 ton Lucania, the Board of Trade had made no provision to increase the existing scale regarding the number of required lifeboats for larger ships, such as the 46,000 ton Titanic. Sir Alfred Chalmers, nautical adviser to the Board of Trade from 1896 to 1911, had considered the matter of adjusting the scale "from time to time", but because he not only assumed that experienced sailors would need to be carried "uselessly" aboard ship only to lower and man the extra lifeboats, but also anticipated the difficulty in getting away a greater number than 16 boats in any emergency, he "did not consider it necessary to increase [the scale]".[85]
  7. ^ Known afterward as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" due to her efforts in helping other passengers while the ship sank
  8. ^ U.S. immigration regulations of the time required complete isolation of third class passengers. As a result, the route to the boat deck through the higher classes of accommodation was quite inefficient—so much so that third-class steward John Hart had to guide E-deck passengers up to the boat deck in two trips, leaving many passengers still below decks when the ship sank.[136][137]
  9. ^ In 1990, following the discovery of the wreck, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the British Department of Transport re-opened the inquiry to review the evidence relating to Californian. Its report of 1992 concluded that Californian was farther from Titanic than the earlier British inquiry had found, and that the distress rockets, but not Titanic herself, would have been visible from Californian.[140]
  10. ^ Most of the bodies were numbered, however, the five passengers buried at sea by Carpathia went unnumbered.[142]
  11. ^ Thomas Beattie, a first class passenger, and two crew members, a fireman and a seaman.
  12. ^ A salvage attempt for a part of the hull was made in 1996. However, the attempt failed after the part had been towed below the surface for 4 days and it fell back to the bottom.[148]
  13. ^ An example is Daniel Butler's book: "Unsinkable" about the RMS Titanic
  14. ^ Earlier on during the sinking more cheerful songs were played like ragtimes.[166]

Notes

  1. ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 142.
  2. ^ a b Chirnside 2004, p. 24.
  3. ^ Wilson 1986, p. 34.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chirnside 2004, p. 319.
  5. ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 143.
  6. ^ Brewster & Coulter 1998, p. 45.
  7. ^ Beveridge et al. 2009, Chapter 1.
  8. ^ a b c d Lord 2005, p. 148.
  9. ^ Hutchings & de Kerbrech 2011, p. 46.
  10. ^ a b Beveridge & Hall 2004, p. 1.
  11. ^ Chirnside 2004, p. 43.
  12. ^ Spignesi 1998, p. 6.
  13. ^ Butler 2002, p. 238.
  14. ^ Hutchings & de Kerbrech 2011, p. 61.
  15. ^ a b Hutchings & de Kerbrech 2011, p. 112.
  16. ^ Beveridge & Hall 2011, p. 27.
  17. ^ Bartlett 2011, p. 26.
  18. ^ a b Bartlett 2011, p. 25.
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Ships that were lost on their maiden voyage
Naval ships
Passenger ships
and cargo liners
Cargo ships
Racing yachts
1 = Due to enemy action. 2 = Maiden revenue-earning voyage. 3 = Constructive total loss

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