RMS Titanic

The **RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Titanic** was a British passenger ocean liner ship that was operated by the company White Star Line (WSL), which sank in the Atlantic Ocean on April 14, 1912 after striking an iceberg at 11:40 PM during her first maiden voyage from Southampton to NYC. Of the 2,224 people onboard 1,500 people died and only 706 survived. It remains the deadliest maritime ship disaster ever.

## Construction

Titanic's construction started on March 31, 1909, when Thomas Andrews laid the keel at the Harland Wolff Shipyard. Titanic's sister ship RMS Olympic started 3 months earlier. Olympic and Titanic were next to each other during construction. Over 15,000 worked during Titanic's construction. Titanic was also the 2nd of the Olympic-Class Liners. Titanic's sister ships were RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic.

The White Star Line faced a challenge from its rival which were Cunard, which launched RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania, which were the fastest ships in Cunard's service. Its rivals were also the Hamburg America Line and Norddeutscher Lloyd. A businessman of the Titanic J Bruce Ismay preferred the complete size than the speed and proposed to commission a new class of liners that would be larger than anything that had gone before, as well as being the last word in comfort and luxury.

### Launch

The launch of the Titanic took place on May 31, 1911 at 12:15 PM in the presence of Lord Pirrie, J. Pierpont Morgan, J. Bruce Ismay and 100,000 onlookers. Twenty-two tons of soap and tallow were spread on the slipway to lubricate the ship's passage into the River Lagan. In keeping with the White Star Line's traditional policy, the ship was not formally named or christened with champagne. 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.

### Death of Eight Workers

While Titanic was under construction and was being launched. 8 people who were construction workers died during its construction. Out of 8 people only 5 were identified.

## Sea Trials

Titanic's sea trials or testing voyage began at 6:00 AM on Tuesday, 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. The trials were delayed for a day due to bad weather, but by Monday morning it was clear and fair. 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.

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 12 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. The ship covered a distance of about 80 nautical miles (92 mi; 150 km), averaging 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h) and reaching a maximum speed of just under 21 knots (24 mph; 39 km/h).

On returning to Belfast at about 7 pm, the surveyor signed an "Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew", valid for 12 months, which declared the ship seaworthy. An hour later, *Titanic* departed Belfast to head to Southampton, a voyage of about 570 nautical miles (660 mi; 1,060 km). After a journey lasting about 28 hours, she arrived about midnight on 4 April and was towed to the port's Berth 44, ready for the arrival of her passengers and the remainder of her crew.

## Maiden Voyage

Both RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic registered Liverpool, United Kingdom as their home port. The offices of the White Star Line, as well as Cunard, were in Liverpool, and up until the introduction of the Olympic, most British ocean liners for both Cunard and White Star, such as Lusitania and Mauretania, sailed from Liverpool followed by a port of call in Queenstown, Ireland. Since the company's founding in 1845, a vast majority of their operations had taken place from Liverpool. However, in 1907 White Star Line established another service from Southampton on England's south coast, which became known as White Star's "Express Service". Southampton had many advantages over Liverpool, the first being its proximity to London, United Kingdom.

Later, HMHS Britannic was also registered in 1914 to the Southampton Docks as well.

In addition, Southampton, being on the south coast, allowed ships to easily cross the English Channel and make a port of call on the northern coast of France, usually at Cherbourg. This allowed British ships to pick up clientele from continental Europe before recrossing the channel and picking up passengers at Queenstown. The Southampton-Cherbourg-New York run would become so popular that most British ocean liners began using the port after World War I. Out of respect for Liverpool, ships continued to be registered there until the early 1960s. *Queen Elizabeth 2* was one of the first ships registered in Southampton when introduced into service by Cunard in 1969.

*Titanic*'s maiden voyage was intended to be the first of many trans-Atlantic crossings between Southampton and New York via Cherbourg and Queenstown on westbound runs, returning via Plymouth in England while eastbound. Indeed, her entire schedule of voyages through to December 1912 still exists. When the route was established, four ships were assigned to the service. In addition to *Teutonic* and *Majestic*, RMS *Oceanic* and the brand new RMS *Adriatic* sailed the route. When the *Olympic* entered service in June 1911, she replaced *Teutonic*, which after completing her last run on the service in late April was transferred to the Dominion Line's Canadian service. The following August, *Adriatic* was transferred to White Star Line's main Liverpool-New York service, and in November, *Majestic* was withdrawn from service impending the arrival of *Titanic* in the coming months, and was mothballed as a reserve ship.

White Star Line's initial plans for *Olympic* and *Titanic* on the Southampton run followed the same routine as their predecessors had done before them. Each would sail once every three weeks from Southampton and New York, usually leaving at noon each Wednesday from Southampton and each Saturday from New York, thus enabling the White Star Line to offer weekly sailings in each direction. Special trains were scheduled from London and Paris to convey passengers to Southampton and Cherbourg respectively. The deep-water dock at Southampton, then known as the *White Star Dock*, had been specially constructed to accommodate the new Olympic class liners, and had opened in 1911.

Titanic departed for its First Maiden Voyage from Southampton, United Kingdom to NYC, New York by crossing the Atlantic Ocean and becoming a transatlantic passenger vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The dates for the ships trip was April 10, 1912-April 17, 1912. At that time with their captain Edward Smith.

## Sinking

On April 14, 1912, Titanic was sailing through the Atlantic Ocean when it struck an iceberg on the starboard side causing 6 compartments to flood out of the 16 compartments. The ship can only stay afloat with only 4 compartments flooded. Captain Smith closed all the watertight doors and ordered the people to start handing out life vests and launching lifeboats. Jack Phillips a crew member on the Titanic sent an SOS call to see if there is any ships that could rescue.

The iceberg was first spotted by a crew member Frederick Fleet who was on the Crows Nest at that time of the collision with the iceberg. Frederick yelled out "ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!" Which made captain Smith a little confused about the yelling. Till people warned Smith about the iceberg. A guard William Murdoch ordered the ship to steered around the obstacles and the engines to be reversed.

The watertight doors were a little failed to be closed and the water flooded from compartment to compartment making the sinking steeper. The ship was also listing 5 degrees to port. There was also a lifeboat rule called the "Women and Children" rule which made men difficult to escape the ship. Some women and children risked their life aboard the sinking ship. The power also became dull till the split of the titanic.

William Murdoch shot the first flare into the sky from the stern so that help could be found. Thomas Andrews the designer engineer of the Titanic stated that the damage from the ship made the ship 2 hours to founder. Thomas Andrews later perished in the sinking. A stoker George Beauchamp was one of the heroes of the Titanic. George was a stoker on the Titanic, he managed to escape the flooding in the boiler room, George is also known to survive Lusitania and did the same thing on the Lusitania as well. Violet Jessop was also another survivor of 3 shipwrecks, the Olympic when it had a collision with HMS Hawke, the Titanic, and the Britannic when it struck a bomb (mine) and sank. Violet was ordered to look out for a baby and the people on her lifeboat. She was a crew member on the Titanic as well as on the Olympic and the Britannic (but as a nurse on Britannic). Margaret Brown was known to be one of the most famous heroes of the Titanic. Margaret was also a survivor of the Titanic as well. She boarded the last lifeboat and made the evacuation easier. Sanjeev Pinjala is also an unfamous (not famous) survivor of the Titanic, the Lusitania when it struck a bomb (torpedo) and sank, and the Britannic when it struck a bomb (mine) and sank. Sanjeev was known to help a few people to make the evacuation easier. He is known to be an 8 year old and a 2nd class passenger on the Titanic. Sanjeev later went down with the ship and survive as well.

The ships that received the SOS call were the SS Californian that did receive the SOS from the Titanic but also ignored the accident and moved on to its destination. There was also the RMS Olympic, which was 300 miles away from Titanic, Olympic's captain at that time of the Titanic ship disaster the Herbert Haddock, was sailing to the location of the Titanic. Olympic's captain and Titanic's captain came in contact till the Titanic's contact stopped. Titanic's captain Edward Smith later perished in the sinking with his last words "Be British" through his megaphone. The RMS Carpathia also received the SOS as well. Carpathia's captain at that time of the shipwreck was Arthur Rostron who was the captain of the Carpathia during the Titanic ship disaster. Carpathia was only 58 miles away from Titanic's location. Carpathia came in contact with the Olympic and said that Carpathia was only 58 miles away from Titanic's location.

At 2:15 AM on April 15, 1912, the Titanic broke into 2 (Titanic's split) and later foundered at 2:20, with a loss of 1,500 people and some people suffered injuries and severe injuries. There were 706 survivors. 1 hour and 40 minutes later, the RMS Carpathia spotted 10 of Titanic's lifeboats and stopped to pick up survivors.

## Aftermath

On April 18, 1912, in NYC, New York, RMS Carpathia docked at Pier 54. Pier 54 was also the same pier that the RMS Lusitania departed for disaster on May 1, 1915. Survivors of the Titanic deboarded the RMS Carpathia. A band was playing and American flags were waving and families of the survivors waiting to see their loved ones. Sanjeev Pinjala a unfamous (not famous) titanic survivor was later hospitalized because of the disaster after being interviewed. There was also no footage of the Titanic's sinking. There is footage of Titanic being departed.

Margaret Brown later awarded the Captain Rostron with a trophy.

On April 21, 1912, the CS Mackay Bennett went in search for the bodies and debris of the Titanic. The CS Mackay Bennett found a body of a baby known to be Sidney Goodwin who was a 3rd class passenger on the Titanic who died in the accident as well. Sidney was nicknamed the "Unknown Child."

J Bruce Ismay, the "Coward of the Titanic", put an investigation to the sinking 5 days later after the Titanic's sinking. Ismay was also a Titanic survivor.

Jonathan Bourne also took an investigation of the sinking of the Titanic and is the last person to take an investigation into the sinking of the Titanic. Jonathan interviewed the unfamous Titanic survivor Sanjeev Pinjala to investigate what he had saw. Sanjeev stated that he didn't see the iceberg collision with the Titanic. Jonathan later travelled to the accident spot to see what it is. He didn't see the iceberg that collided with the Titanic. Jonathan later received a picture of the Titanic and saw that there was a "Coal Fire" on the starboard side. J Bruce stated that the coal fire was burning for 3 weeks. The other reason that it could be is time travelers. People who time traveled to the Titanic was known to be leaving a mystery of overloading the Titanic, which leaves a mystery to this day. Sanjeev stated that he was a time traveler on the Titanic but no one believes him at that time. The last living normal survivor of the Titanic was Millvina dean who was only 2 months old when Titanic sank. The last living time traveler survivor of the Titanic is Sanjeev Pinjala who survived the Titanic, Lusitania, and Britannic.

The British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster was headed by Lord Mersey, and took place between 2 May and 3 July. Being run by the Board of Trade, who had previously approved the ship, it was seen by some as having little interest in its own or White Star's conduct being found negligent.

### SS Californian Role

One of the most controversial issues examined by the inquiries was the role played by SS Californian, which had been only a few miles from *Titanic* but had not picked up her distress calls or responded to her signal rockets. Californian had warned *Titanic* by radio of the pack ice that was the reason Californian had stopped for the night but was rebuked by Titanic's senior wireless operator, Jack Phillips who died in the sinking.

## Wreck

*Titanic* was long thought to have sunk in one piece and, over the years, many schemes were put forward for raising the wreck. None came to fruition. The fundamental problem was the sheer difficulty of finding and reaching a wreck that lies over 12,000 feet (3,700 m) below the surface, in a location where the water pressure is over 6,500 pounds per square inch (450 bar). A number of expeditions were mounted to find Titanic but it was not until 1 September 1985 that a Franco-American expedition led by Jean Michel and Robert Ballard succeeded. Robert Ballard found the Titanic wreck. No survivor of the Titanic came along with Robert Ballard to find the wreck or neither Jean Louis Michel.

A bell from the Titanic had been recovered and put into the Titanic museum. Plans of raising the whole ship are going on to this day. We don't know if the raising the whole Titanic will be successful.

### Boat Incident

Submersible dives in 2019 have found further deterioration of the wreck, including loss of the captain's bathtub. Between 29 July and 4 August 2019, a two-person submersible vehicle that was conducting research and filming a documentary crashed into the shipwreck. EYOS Expeditions executed the sub dives. It reported that the strong currents pushed the sub into the wreck leaving a "red rust stain on the side of the sub." The report did not mention if the Titanic sustained any damage.

## Replicas

**RMS Titanic 2** is a replica ship of the RMS Titanic owned by an Australian billionaire Clive Palmer. The project was announced on April 15, 2012 just approximately 100 years after the accident.

**RMS Romandisea Titanic** is a replica ship of the original Titanic that is going to be converted into a resort and not an operational ship. The project was announced in 2014. This will also be similar to the original titanic

**SS Titan** is a passenger ship that is now planned yet. The owner of the ship Joseph Ricker who started his own ship company business Titan Line. Titan is also similar to the original titanic.

## In Popular Culture

The first movie based on the Titanic is *Saved from the Titanic* and was also acted by a Titanic survivor Dorothy Gibson who also wore the same outfit on the Titanic. The movie was created in 1912. Directed by Dorothy Gibson.

*Titanic (1943)* is a movie based on the sinking of the Titanic directed by Herbert Selpin.

*A Night to Remember* is a 1958 movie based on the Titanic. The split of the Titanic was not shown int he movie though. Directed by Roy Baker.

Titanic is the best boat movie that had ever been picked by one of the Oscar Awards. The movie is based on Jack and Rose and some real characters of the Titanic. Directed by James Cameron.