The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 7

At 12:17 am on April 15th 1912, The Titanic lies damaged and sinking in the middle of the North Atlantic. Captain Smith has ordered the Stewards to inform passengers to put on their life jackets and come to the boat deck, in first and second class that is. Things are more hectic down in Steerage. Stewards bang on the doors and shout at passengers as there is a lot more cabins and passengers down there than in the other classes.

In the wireless room, the ship Frankfurt responds to Titanic's distress call, then shortly after at 12:19am, the Cunard ship Carpathia's wireless operator Cottam picks up his headset before going to bed, he hears the Titanic's distress call and immediately askes for their position. He wakes up the captian who immediately orders the ship to be turned around and headed to assist the Titanic.
It is also around this time that the ships Mt. Temple and Berma hear the Titanic's call for help, they relay the news to other ships in the area and it also reaches the listening station in Newfoundland, who then relay the news inland which will eventually reach New York.

In 3rd class, the passengers prepare to leave the ship only to realise that they must wait to go to the boat deck. Gates close off stairwells which are guarded by stewards who do not allow any 3rd class passengers up to the lifeboats until the order is given. Things, however, are much different in 1st class. Passengers are not alarmed, they stay in the smoking room and the lounge while drinks are still served. Thomas Andrews is amazed at the situation.

At around 12:25, the Carpathia responds to Titanic with a simple message "Coming Hard". However the Carpathia is around 58 miles away, and with a full speed of about 17 knots it will take around 4 hours to reach the Titanic.

Captain Smith is informed of the Carpathia's approach. He is worried as he knows that the Carpathia will not arrive in time.
At 12:35am, 4th Officer Boxhall sees some lights in the distance just off Titanic's port bow. It looks like the lights of a tramp steamer, he signals with the Morse lamp but does not get a response. He decides to fire distress rockets. Around this time, a few passengers such as the Astors keep warm inside the Gymnasium. It is too cold outside, and with the ship venting off steam there is too much noise for the passengers to cope with, and since they think the Titanic is unsinkable, they have no rush to go outside.
At 12:40am, one hour after hitting the iceberg, 2nd Officer Lightoller asks the captain if he should load the lifeboats with women and children. The men have to stay behind. Many passengers hesitate to board the lifeboats, Titanic still feels too safe to leave.

At 12:45 on the starboard side, lifeboat 7 is the first boat to be launched, and with a crew unfamiliar with the new davits, the boat dips heavily to starboard, scaring the passengers in it. It slowly is lowered into the water with only 28 of it's 65 seats occupied.
Quartermaster Rowe is stood on the Poop Deck when he sees boat 7 in the water rowing aft, he is confused so he telephones the bridge. Officer Boxhall answers and realises that Rowe is the last crew member to know of the collision, the iceberg to him looked the the sail of a small ship. Boxhall asks Row to get the distress rockets and come to the bridge.

At 12:50, the venting steam stops and a silence falls across the boat deck. Lifeboat 6 is the 2nd to be launched. It is launched with only 24 seats occupied. The band then begin to play on deck.

To Be Continued.........

The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 6

At 11:39, The lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee are scanning the horizon when Fleet suddenly sees a massive dark shape directly in the Titanic's path. He strikes the warning bell three times before telephoning the bridge. "Iceberg right ahead!"

6th Officer Moody recieved the call and responded with a simple "Thank you" and told First Officer Murdock who instinctivly ordered "Hard-a-starboard!". He then orders the engines to be stopped and reversed. The watertight doors are then closed as the Helmsman spins the wheel as far as it will go.
It seems to take forever, but the Titanic slowly starts to turn port (left) but it is too late, the Iceberg scrapes along the Starboard side of the ship, causing the rivits holding the hull plates together to pop, creating small seperations in the hull which allow the sea to pour in.
The impact is not felt by many of the passengers. To many it felt like a quick pause in the rythem of Titanic's engines. Around 37 seconds has passed since the sighting of the berg. Captain Smith comes to the bridge and hears what happened from 1st Officer Murdock. He asks Thomas Andrews and the Carpentor, John Hall Hutchinson to inspect the damage. They discover that water has poured in and risen 15 feet in the forward compartments.

At around 12:00am, Thomas Andrews comes to the bridge and explains the damage to Captain Smith and his crew. Bruice Ismay is also present. Andrews says that the ship is taking on water in the forward part of the ship. 5 watertight compartments are now flooding. The Titanic was designed to float with up to 4 compartments flooded but not 5. The flooded compartments were the Fore Peak, Cargo Holds 1, 2 and 3 and Boiler Room 6.

Andrews reveals that the Titanic will only last for about two hours. The watertight bulkheads only went as high as E Deck which meant that as the ship got lower, the water would begin to spill into the other compartments. Smith tells Third Officer Pitman to check the water levels below and to take some armed guards with him to keep the stokers and firemen at their posts. The order to launch lifeboats will not be given for another 5 minutes.

Captain Smith orders the Wireless Operators, Jack Phillips and Harrold Bride, to call for help. "C.Q.D" Was the conventional distress call at the time, but later, one of the first S.O.S calls would be made. The Titanic's estimated position was 41o 44'N, 50o 24'W. They do not know that this position is inaccurate. Phillips and Bride sent this message:

"Titanic to any ship: C.Q.D. 41.44 N 50.24 W"

At 12:05am, the Boilers are shut down and exess steam is released which creates a deafening roar over the boat deck. The order is given to waken the passengers and to uncover the lifeboats. There are over 2,200 people onboard the Titanic, and the lifeboats only have a capacity of around 1,200.

To Be Continued...

The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 5

The Titanic heads West into the Atlantic to begin it's crossing to New York, carrying around 2,200 passengers and crew, the Titanic is only 2/3 full.
April 11th to April 12th. Thursday and Friday were uneventful. Everything was normal on board. First class enjoyed tea in the Lounge and cafe's, the First Class men enjoyed brandy and cards in the Smoking room. Titanic covers 386 miles.
Once again, Friday 12th is an uneventful day, calm seas and passengers going about their every day routine.
The wireless operators, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, send and receive passenger messages all day.

Titanic also recieves her first ice warning from the steamship Rappahannock. The Titanic covers another 519 miles.
Saturday, April 13th 1912. Chief Engineer Joseph Bell reports a coal fire blazing in boiler room 6 on the starboard side of the ship, the side that will hit the iceberg later in the voyage. The stokers were concerned as the fire was pretty bad and they feared it may get out of control. Two men from each Stoker's shift spent four hours each to try and put it out. They were ordered not to say anything about it as none of the passengers knew of it. Areas of the boiler room were draped to try and contain the coal dust, which is easily ignighted from friction sparks from the shovels.
Because of this fire "The Black Gang" or coal trimmers had to stay in the boiler rooms instead of having their shore leave drinks in the saloon. Much of the coal was removed from the starboard side which may have contributed to Titanic's list during the sinking.
At around 3pm, Captain E. J. Smith and Bruice Ismay discuss the crossing in the 1st Class D Deck Reception Room. Ismay talks about beating the Olympic's crossing time. He urges a reluctant Captian Smith to speed the ship up and light the last four boilers. He aims to get the ship to New York on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday morning.
Later that night, a burnt wire cause the wireless system to short out. This will take Bride and Phillips up untill 5am Sunday morning to fix which causes a huge backlog of messages.

Sunday April 14th 1912.
A life boat drill was schedualed for 9am this morning, however the captian decided to cancel it because of the church service that was to be held in 1st and 2nd class at 10:30am. Captain Smith would hold the 1st class service in the Dining Saloon. It was optional to attend and hyms would be sung, including "For Those In Peril On The Sea", an ironic choice.
Titanic also receives her 2nd ice warning from the steam ship Caronia. It read "Bergs, growlers and field ice in 42oN, from 49oN to 51oW". This gets passed onto the bridge where it is posted in the chart room.
At 11:40am, Titanic receives her 3rd Ice warning from the steamship Noordam simply saying "Much ice". Again this is passed onto the bridge.
At 1:42pm, Titanic receives her 4th ice warning from the Baltic. "Icebergs and large quantities of field ice in 41oN 51'N, 49o 52'W...wish you and Titanic all success"
Captain Smith passes this message onto Bruice Ismay who shows the message to some passengers making them uneasy. However, Ismay still does not want the ship to slow down.

Captain Smith swings the ships bow slightly south to try and go around the rapidly approaching ice field. He does this further south than was planned, hoping that this will clear the ship of the ice.
At 7:30pm the Titanic receives her 5th ice warning from the S.S Californian however this message does not go to the bridge as it is not addressed to Titanic, the warning read "42o 3'N. 49o 9'W. Three large bergs 5 miles to the southwards of us".
At around 9:40pm, Titanic receives her 6th ice warning from the S. S. Masaba. "42o to 41o 25'N, 49o to 50o 30'W saw much heavy pack ice and great number of large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear". This was probably one of the most important ice warnings, however it failed to reach the bridge as the wireless operators were so backed up with work they decided to leave it until later when they had cleared a lot of the messages out of the way. If this message had been posted in the chart room, Titanic may have been slowed down and may even have altered course some more and avoided collision altogether.
At 10:30pm, the Californian, only about 10 miles away, sent Titanic this message:
"We are stopped and surrounded by ice." However this message was interrupted by Phillips replying with "Keep out! Shut up! You are jamming my signal. I'm working Cape Race" this meant he was sending ship to shore messages for the passengers, much of it the back log. This was the last message about ice that Titanic received.

To be continued.....

The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 4

The R.M.S. Titanic arrives in Queenstown in the early afternoon of Thursday 11th April. As the docks at the harbour were not big enough to accommodate the Titanic, she was anchored approximately a mile away from port. Two White Star tenders, America and Ireland, ferried passengers from the ship to the dock, among them were a crew member who just used the Titanic as a free trip home and Francis Brown where he took his last photo of the Titanic and also the last known photo of Captain Smith alive.

The tenders then brought more passengers and mail to the ship. She then stayed docked for a further hour as Captain Smith allowed local lace merchants to come aboard and sell quiality Irish lace to the first class passengers.

Finally at 1:30pm, the Titanic raised anchor for the last time and headed out into the Atlantic. To the passengers, the crossing so far had been uneventful besides the near miss back in Southampton, however for the Crew there were a few problems. Since the Titanic arrived in Southampton, a fire had be burning in one of the coal bunkers which won't be extinguished until the day before the disaster. This was seen as a waste of coal as there had been a coal strike before the Titanic sailed, threatening to cancel her trip, however the coal strike was solved on the 6th April but this meant that there wasn't enough time to get fresh coal for the Titanic, so coal was taken from other ships and the left overs from the Olympic, this meant that the other ship's crossings had to be cancelled and their passengers transfered to Titanic.
The Titanic leaves Ireland and heads into the Atlantic, never to see land again.

To be continued...

The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 3

Tall as an 11 story building, 882ft 9" long, the R.M.S. Titanic is the largest moving object ever made by the hand of man. She was the pride of Belfast, Harland and Wolff and the White Star Line.
Now that the Titanic is complete and has finished her sea trials, she makes her way down the Irish Sea and on through the English Channel where she will arrive in Southampton to begin loading cargo for sailing on 10th April for a 7 day crossing to New York.
The Titanic boasted many facilities not found on any other ship, such as a Gymnasium:

A Turkish Bath:

A squash court, a swimming pool and even 3 different restaurants in the 1st class areas alone. It also offered smoking rooms and lounges for 1st and 2nd class passengers. An opulent Grand Staircase in 1st class which reached from A Deck all the way down to F Deck. This would become the most famous part of the ship.

Here, people such as John Jacob Aster and his newly wedded wife Madeline would make their entrance. A large glass dome topped the staircase allowing natural light into the room, adding to it's splendour.
1st class passengers could enjoy exquisite accomodation decorated in many different styles. Two parlour sweet rooms were on board, one of which, B54, was booked by Bruce Ismay, the White Star Line's chairman. These rooms consisted of a sitting room, private promenade, a bathroom, a wardrobe and 2 bedrooms. This was the most expencive room on board.


Passengers began to arrive from around 9:30am on Wednesday 10th April to board the liner. Boat trains from London and all over the country would arrive, bringing passengers to the ship, including Francis Brown, the man who took the last known photographs of the ship before she sank.
More cargo arrived including mail sacks, golf balls, fresh food, wine, fresh water, eggs and even ostrich feathers. Another interesting piece of cargo was a brand new Rennault owned by William Carter.
Many famous and wealthy people boarded the ship in Southampton such as John Jacob Aster, Colonal Archiebald Gracey and many others.
At 12 Noon, the Titanic cast off the ropes tying her to the dock. She started her engines and slowly started to move, however, several loud bangs could be heard. A smaller ship, The New York, was being pulled towards the Titanic, her mooring lines snapped due to the suction caused by Titanic's massive displacement. Immidiately the Titanic stopped and reversed her engines and the New York drifted out of the way, inches from coliding with Titanic's stern.



The tug boat Vulcan towed the New York safely away from the Titanic, avoiding a repeat of the incident between the Olympic and the Hawke back in 1911.
Now, after a delay of about an hour, the Titanic heads out of Southampton harbour and into the English Channel where she will arrive at Cherbourg, France at around 6:30pm to pick up more passengers, including the famous Margaret "Molly" Brown and the Astors. After a stay of about an hour and a half, the Titanic raises anchor and leaves Cherbourg, heading West to it's last stop in Queenstown, Ireland, before heading across the Atlantic to New York.

To be continued....

The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 2

March 1909, The Titanic's Keel is laid.
In those days, ships were constructed from the bottom up. The Titanic's keel was double plated giving the ship extra protection incase of a collision.
Over the next two years, the Titanic would slowly be built on the slipway, however she was only an empty shell. Much more work would continue when the Titanic will eventually be launched in 1911.
On October 20th 1910, the Olympic is succesfully launched and is towed to the Dry Dock to begin an extensive fitting out process.

Construction on the Titanic continues for another seven months. Titanic's hull is painted and her superstructure is built. Thousands of workers help to create the largest ship in the world.
Finally on May 31st 1911, the R.M.S. Titanic's hull is launched into the water. It was this moment where the Titanic claimed it's first victim. A falling support beam collapses and kills a worker instantly, however this wasn't enough to distract the thousands of onlookers watching this massive piece of metal slowly slip down the greased slipway and slide gracefully into the water.

Titanic was towed to the dry dock to begin outfitting. It was during outfitting that Titanic recieved updates which distinguished her from her Sister ship Olympic. These modifications included the forward part of the A Deck Promenade to be enclosed and also the aft B Deck promenade was shortened to accommodate more cabins as this space on the Olympic was reletavely unused. These extra additions made the Titanic heavier than the Olympic making her the largest moving object in the world.

In June 1911, the R.M.S. Olympic embarks on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, stopping at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown, now Cobbh, in Ireland.
In September, Titanic's luxurious interiors were well under way with over 100 carpenters carving the Grand Staircase, the woodern pillars and all of the other ornate fittings and fixtures that would make up Titanic's first class areas. However on the 20th of the same month, the R.M.S. Olympic suffers a major accident. She collided with British Royal Navy cruiser H.M.S. Hawke tearing a huge hole in her side, however, both ships still remained afloat. Work on Titanic had to stop so repairs to Olympic could be made, this took 6 weeks, delaying Titanic's Scheduled sailing date by a month. Some said that the new ships were just too big.

In January of 1912, Titanic's 16 woodern lifeboats were fitted along with 4 collapseable boats. This amounted to 20 lifeboats in total, the 16 wooden boats had a capacity for 65 people each and the collapseable boats had room for 40 people each, a total of 1200 spaces, however the Titanic was capeable of carrying up to around 3000 passengers and crew when fully loaded. The laws regarding the number of lifeboats were out of date as ships of this tonnage had never been made before, and it's because of this that the number of lifeboats the Titanic carried actually exceeded the amount required by the law.

The law's in those days didn't aquisition a number of boats due to the amount of passengers carried, but rather to the ship's tonnage and as the Titanic weighed over 46,000 tons and the laws didn't go anywhere near that mark. It was orginially planned to have 64 lifeboats onboard however this was overlooked and people said that amount of boats would worry passengers and make the ship feel unsafe, so it was agreed that 20 lifeboats would be sufficient.

In February, R.M.S. Olympic once again returned to Belfast after losing a Propellar blade, once again delyaing work on the Titanic.
On March 31st, 1912, 3 years after her first keel plate was laid, the R.M.S. Titanic was finished and began only a single day of sea trials before making the journey down to Southampton where she would set sail at 12pm on April 10th...

To Be Continued...

The Story of the RMS Titanic - Part 1

So I have decided that I am going to re-publish the Titanic historical thing I wrote last year. I sadly left it unfinished so I am going to republish it and finish it. Some of you might find it interesting, some wont but I'm bored so I am going to do it. So here is part one.

In the late 1890's to the early 1900's, The White Star Line, owned by J. P. Morgan, was one of a few shipping companies which competed in the industry of the Trans-Atlantic passage to Europe and America. In the height of Emigration, there was more demand for new ships which were capable of taking passengers quickly and comfortably across the atlantic to America.
The Cunard Line had been creating new ships for the Trans-Atlantic passage, one of which was the Lucitainia, one of White Star's major competitor ships. Cunard had focused on Speed to bring in customers as a quicker route across the Atlantic was very appealing. The White Star Line however decided that Speed wasn't everything, and that passengers should enjoy their time at sea and be as comfortable as possible, so they decided to compeat with huge, luxurious ships.

In the spring of 1907, J. Bruice Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, enveloped an idea of a trio of super ships which will be the biggest and most luxurious ever built, yet still have the speed for a trans-atlantic crossing. This idea came about at a party hoasted by Lord William J. Pirrie, President of Harland and Wolff shipyards, the purpose of which was to discuss the construction of two large liners. Ismay was the head of the discussion. They would be named Olympic, after Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, Titanic, after the Titans who challenged the gods, only to be cast down for their arrgance and Gigantic, purely after the ships size. Little did they know how much this Greek Mythology would mirror the events that would happen in the next 8 years. It was from this point on that one of the greatest and most tragic stories in history was set in motion.

Thomas Andrews began designing these super liners and in July of 1907, White Star approves the designs for the ships and in December 1908, the keel of the first of the trio was laid down. Construction begain on the R.M.S. Olympic in Belfast at the Harland and Wolff shipyards which White Star had commissioned to build the ships. In order to acommodate for the size of these ships, they had to convert 3 of their already large slipways into 2 larger ones.
No ship of this size had ever been made before and because of the scale of it, it provided much of Belfast with employment. It was the start of an economical boom for the town and with the second, Titanic, due to begin construction the following year, many more jobs will have been created.

In March of 1909, Construction on the Olympic was well under way and on the 31st, Titanic's first keel plate was laid. The Gigantic would begin construction in 1911.

To be continued...