The Titanic

Interesting information about the Titanic.

The RMS Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland, by Harland and Wolff Shipbuilders. Nearly the length of three football fields or 885 feet in length Titanic was, at the time, the largest moving object ever created by man. Titanic was also one of the most lavishly appointed ships ever built.

It all began in the early 1900s when J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line, met with Lord James Pirrie, a partner in Harland and Wolff. They decided at the time to build three ships that would be the largest ships the world had seen thus far. In fact, size was of such importance that even though Titanic only required three smokestacks, a dummy fourth would be added, since it was feared the public might perceive ships like Cunard's four stack ships Mauritania and Lusitania to be more powerful. They would also be so lavish in their appointments that they would rival the worlds' finest hotels. Work would begin on the first two ships and upon their completion the third would be built.

Work began on Olympic and Titanic during 1908-1909. On October 20, 1910 Olympic is successfully launched. Titanic's hull is launched on May 31, 1911 and ten months of fitting out begin. Less than one month later Olympic leaves on her maiden voyage. On September 20, 1911 Olympic, under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith, collides with HMS Hawke, a Royal Navy cruiser. Olympic suffers major damage and is returned to Harland and Wolff for repairs. These repairs delay Titanic's fitting out by one month. In January, 1912 Titanic was fitted out with her lifeboats. British Board of Trade regulations at the time required sixteen lifeboats for ships of 10,000 tons or more. Written in the late 1800's, the authors of the regulations never envisioned a ship larger than that. One must remember that at the same time that these mammoth iron steamers were appearing on the scene, many ships were still made of wood and powered by sail.

The 46,000 ton Titanic actually had twenty lifeboats on board; fourteen regular wooden lifeboats, two smaller wooden boats which were kept swung out on either side of the bridge so they could be launched quickly for rescue work, and four collapsible boats, which were stored on top of the officer's quarters. So, Titanic actually had four more boats than the law required.

On March 31 Titanic's outfitting is complete and she undergoes her sea trails in Belfast on April 2. Titanic's sea trials, perfunctory at best, lasted only half a day. Only one test was conducted to see how fast the huge ship could stop. At 18 knots, with both engines in reverse, it took three minutes and fifteen seconds and covered a distance of 3,000 feet.

More than just a ship, Titanic was a virtual floating palace; more of a hotel than an ocean liner. White Star did not give the job of building ships to the lowest bidder. In fact, Titanic and her sisters were built on a cost plus arrangement. Harland and Wolff would build the ships and charge White Star their cost plus an agreed upon mark-up. And no expense was spared when it came to Titanic's appointments. The first class smoking room, for instance, with its hand carved mahogany woodwork with inlaid mother of pearl and dark green leather upholstery on the furniture, could make one forget they were on a ship at all. The palm courts, with their white wicker furniture and vine covered trellises, and the Cafe´ Parisian, a replica of a French sidewalk cafe, all served to complete the illusion.

Titanic was thought to be unsinkable by some, though she was never actually advertised that way by either Harland and Wolff or White Star. In fact, White Star advertised Titanic and Olympic simply as the "largest and finest steamers in the world". Titanic was divided into sixteen watertight compartments by means of fifteen watertight bulkheads which contained electric doors that could be closed from the bridge. In June 1911 this system of bulkheads and doors was described in Shipbuilder magazine as making the ship "practically unsinkable". In truth, only twelve doors (about a third) could be closed that way. The rest had to be closed by hand. The night Titanic sank not all of the doors were closed. Many of the electric doors, which were in the very bottom of the ship, were reopened to make it easier to rig the pumps. It probably wouldn't have mattered if all the doors had been closed. Titanic was designed so that she would float with any two adjoining compartments flooded. She would even float with any three of the first five or all of the first four compartments flooded. The problem was that the first five compartments flooded. As they filled with water the bow of the ship sank deeper and deeper, allowing the water to spill from one compartment into the next. This eventually sank the ship.

Titanic today lies in two main sections more than 12,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic. She was discovered in 1985 by an expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard. Since then the ship has been visited numerous times to be explored and photographed.

Titanic is slowly disintegrating. Many scientists predict that within a few years the hull will begin to collapse in upon itself. The wreck shows a slow, but steady, progression of deterioration since she was discovered in 1985. Soon, the ship, like many of the passengers and crew who went down with her, will exist only in our hearts and minds ...

Length of the Titanic was 885 feet. Width was 92 feet. Height was 102 feet. Gross tonnage was 46,328 tons. Number of watertight compartments 16. Number of ships engines 3. Combined horsepower 76,000 HP. Number of boilers 29. Number of propellers 3. Number of lifeboats 20. People on board April 14th, 1912 approx. 2,228 People rescued 705.

May The Memory of the Titanic Live On !!