HISTORY OF TITANIC
On April 10, 1912, the
Titanic,
largest ship afloat, left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to
New York City. The White Star Line had spared no expense in assuring her
luxury. A legend even before she sailed, her passengers were a mixture
of the world's wealthiest basking in the elegance of first class
accommodations and immigrants packed into steerage.
She was touted as the safest ship ever built, so safe that she carried
only 20 lifeboats - enough to provide accommodation for only half her
2,200 passengers and crew. This discrepancy rested on the belief that
since the ship's construction made her "unsinkable," her lifeboats were
necessary only to rescue survivors of other sinking ships. Additionally,
lifeboats took up valuable deck space.
The history of the Titanic was forever altered when the ship struck
an iceberg on April 14, 1912. Having received iceberg warnings via
wireless telegraph, Captain Edward Smith altered the ship's course.
However, the radio operators were more concerned with relaying private
messages to passengers than passing along updated iceberg warnings to
the bridge.
At approximately 11:40 p.m., lookouts spotted an iceberg
directly in the path of the ship. Evasive action was taken in an
attempt to avoid the collision. A sharp turn to the port side was
ordered, and the iceberg struck the ship on the right side damaging
the hull. Captain Smith ordered a full stop to assess the damage.
Initially, only five compartments were flooded, and the watertight doors
had been closed to prevent additional flooding. However, water was
able to flow over the top of bulkheads and in through normal openings
causing two more compartments to flood. It quickly became obvious the
Titanic would sink.
The first lifeboat was lowered about an hour after the
collision. It had a 65 person capacity; only 19 were aboard.
Tragically, many of the lifeboats were launched far under capacity. This
is attributable to several factors. Assured by the still working
electricity and seeming calm, many passengers didn't think the ship
was sinking. In addition, many of the third class passengers became
lost or trapped in the ship and didn't make it to the lifeboats. Due
to a women and children first rule, many men did not board lifeboats
despite there being space.
Radio operators broadcasted distress signals, but the RMS
Carpathia, the closest ship, was four hours away. All but two
lifeboats were successfully launched. Eventually, the Titanic split
and was completely sunk by 2:20 a.m. Roughly four hours after
receiving the distress call, the Carpathia arrived and began rescue
efforts. More than 1,500 people died.
BEFORE: AFTER:
BEFORE:
