April 15, 2012 marks the 100TH Anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912
Called by her builders as a ship so “unsinkable”, the Royal Mail Ship Titanic was the largest and most luxurious steam ship built in the world at that time. She was a marvel of modern engineering. The massive Titanic was owned and operated by the White Star Line and was registered at the Liverpool port. Titanic construction was funded by American industrialist J.Pierpoint Morgan and she ended up being 882 feet, 9 inches long and 92 feet wide. The Titanic, speedily constructed in just two years, had the capacity to carry 3,547 making it the largest passenger vessel of its time. The ship came complete with every luxury one would want from a cruise liner: an indoor swimming pool, diner, gymnasium, three classes for passengers (first class, second class, and third class [steerage]), state of the art rooms, some with marble toilets in the first class state rooms.
The titanic during the 2 year construction process
Cutaway diagram of Titanic‘s midship section
She set sail on her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912 from Southampton, England bound for New York City, carrying 2,223 passengers toward her destination. She made stops in Cherbourg, France and Queensland, Ireland and continued on through the North Atlantic Ocean. Late on the night of April 14, 1912, the ship received warnings of icebergs in the area. Reports say that the ship continued full steam ahead despite these warnings.
At approximately 11:40 pm, the Titanic struck an iceberg which tore into her hull causing water to flood the watertight compartments. At this time, many passengers were not aware of the impending doom that faced them. Some of the iceberg fell onto the top deck of the Titanic, and unaware of their fate, some of the passengers began putting pieces of the iceberg into their after dinner drinks that some of them carried out into the night air with them. Captain Edward Smith, ironically was on his last voyage before retirement, thought that she could have stayed afloat despite having four of these compartments flooded, but the glancing blow in the hull caused five compartments to become flooded and the Titanic began sinking.
It took nearly two hours for Titanic to sink completely, and by 2:20 am, April 15, 1912, the Titanic was at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Equipped with 20 lifeboats, she actually had more lifeboats than was required by maritime law at the time, but still these were not nearly enough to accommodate the 2,223 passengers on board. Most of her lifeboats were launched when they were not at full capacity and some were even lost during the event, and with the code of chivalry at the time, the mantra “Women and children first!” was put into action. As a result of this strict policy, most of the lifeboats had women and children in them, many of them from first and second class, while many of the men passengers were left aboard the Titanic. Those who were in first class and second class had the greatest chance of survival. Nearly 50% of lives lost during the sinking of the Titanic were those who were in third class. Many of them spoke little to no English, could not read signs posted in English, were at the lowest portion of the ship, were confused by sounds and actions occurring (the loudness of the engines and the frantic behaviour of other passengers). Nearly 80% of fatalities during the sinking of the Titanic were men.
Before she sank, Capt. Smith sent radio cries for help. The last hope was of Titanic‘s wireless operators to try to get help before she went down. Tragically, the only vessel within reasonable distance, the SS Californian, had onboard only a single operator and he had already shut down its wireless for the evening before the Titanic sent out her SOS. The ship that came to Titanic‘s rescue was the RMS Carpathia.
The British Broadcasting Corporation is offering audio files of the wireless transmissions from the Titanic. An “audio artist” was used to translate the transmissions using voice synthesis. The transmissions can be listened to here.
By the time the RMS Carpathia arrived, of the 2,223 passengers on the legendary Titanic, 1,517 died, and only 706 survived.
Famous Titanic article from the New York Times
Many who survived the Titanic disaster came forward after the event and described the horror that it entailed. On that cold and tragic night, the famous and the not so famous, the young and the not so young, the rich and powerful and the poor–perished:
The musician orchestra, though they were not members of the ship’s crew, played music for the passengers as the passengers fled to the lifeboats, with the musicians playing Nearer My God to Thee, as the last music heard by the lifeboat survivors as they moved away from the sinking Titanic.
But, others survived:
Most notably, Margaret “Molly” Brown, better known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”.
Mrs. Margaret (James J.) “Molly” Brown, survivor of the Titanic. Date: between 1890 and 1920.
Mr. Franz Karun [Third Class Passenger]
Miss Ellen “Nellie” Wallcroft [Second Class Passenger]
Ms. Ellen Natalia Shine [Third Class Passenger]:
“Miss Ellen Natalia Shine, 20, from Cork, Co Cork, Ireland, boarded the Titanic at Queenstown as a third class passenger (ticket number 330968, £7 16s 7d). Her destination was New York City.
Ellen survived the sinking, but it is not known in which lifeboat she escaped.
After her arrival in New York Ellen was taken to hospital with the other Irish survivors. She was interviewed by a New York newspaper, and it was reproduced in The Times on Saturday, April 20. Ellen said that when the accident happened they rushed to the upper deck where they were met by members of the crew who endeavoured to keep them in the steerage quarters. The women, however, rushed past these men and finally reached the upper deck. When they were informed that the boat was sinking most of them fell on their knees and began to pray. She saw one of the lifeboats and made for it. In it were already four men from steerage who refused to obey an officer who ordered them out. They were, however, finally turned out.
In later years Ellen Shine was married to a Mr Callaghan. She died on 5 March 1993 aged 101 in Glen Cove, New York. She was the last remaining Titanic survivor from Ireland.”
But, the most poignant of all survivors was Mrs. Elizabeth Gladys Millvina Dean (February 2, 1912). She was just a little nine-week-old baby when her family boarded the Titanic, bound for a new life in America.
She was the last of the Titanic survivors, having passed away on May 31, 2009.
Because of the Titanic tragedy, many maritime safeguards were enacted: the recommendations included major changes in maritime regulations to implement new safety measures, such as ensuring that more lifeboats were provided, that lifeboat drills to instruct passengers in the correct way to put on a life jacket were properly carried out and that wireless equipment on passenger ships were manned around the clock, 24/7. Presently there exists no “Women and children first” rule on passenger ships. Passengers of a ship are assigned lifeboats according to the locations of their cabins on the ship, ensuring that every single person aboard will have access to a lifeboat, and will have been instructed by members of the crew which direction to go to proceed to lifeboats, which should allow for the quickest route to get to safety to the nearest lifeboat. Each room is mandated to have a diagram posted of evacuation routes to proceed along to get to the lifeboats as well as the location of personal flotation devices (life jackets) and life preservers in the passenger’s cabins. There should be an evacuation signal that alerts passengers that the ship is to be abandoned. Also, under present maritime laws, standard procedure is that passengers are evacuated from the ship, then crew members, then finally, the captain. The International Ice Patrol was set up to monitor the presence of icebergs in the North Atlantic, and maritime safety regulations were coordinated internationally through the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Both measures are still in effect today.
The R.M.S. Titanic is one of history’s most enduring and saddest moments.
Her remains lay on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, until discovered by Robert Ballard and his crew September 1, 1985.
Weather, ice, a dead calm sea, a dark moonless night, and human error of running the ship, all contributed to the sinking of this unsinkable ship. In approximately 80 to 90 years, the rest of her remains will have disintegrated, due to rusticles, the crushing depth of the ocean, and marine microorganisms.
No one will ever know what went on in the hearts and minds of all those who were on the Titanic. Those who feared for their lives so much that they may have scrambled over and fought their way past many to board the lifeboats. Those who stood back so that others may live, even if it meant the loss of their own lives. Those who screamed in terror at knowing the icy and watery death that awaited them. Those who calmly and stoically met death and stared it in the face with resolve and courage.
May the hubris that brought forth her destruction never be forgotten, and may all who perished in her wake rest in peace.
Titanic:
Photos: Molly Brown – Survivor Of The Titanic
Mar 21, 2012 | Photo
The fateful sinking of the famous luxury liner Titanic, propelled survivor Margaret “Molly” Brown to international fame.
Mar 20, 2012 | Photo
Still photos from some of the many occurrences of the Titanic on stage and the big screen.
Mar 18, 2012 | Photo
Historic photographs of survivors, the iceberg and rescue ships.
Mar 18, 2012 | Photo
Historic photographs of the Titanic in dry dock and leaving for her maiden voyage in April 1912.
Mar 18, 2012 | Photo
Photographs of artifacts retrieved from the RMS Titanic, some of which will be auctioned by Guernsey’s Auction House in April, 2012.
Mar 18, 2012 | Photo
Historic photographs of some of the RMS Titanic survivors or relatives of those who were on it.
Mar 18, 2012 | Photo
Historic photographs from RMS Titanic expeditions including Robert Ballard, the marine biologist who discovered the Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic.
This year, I attended the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit”. The exhibit is scheduled to run from March 16, 2012 through September 3, 2012. The exhibit includes many never before seen artifacts, including the remains of wallets, shoes, a shirt, a damaged porthole, jewelry, one of the engine thermometers, a damaged megaphone, even small perfume bottles, which still had the scent of perfume in them. There is even an iceberg replica which visitors may touch to feel its coldness and somehow understand what the passengers of the Titanic felt when the ship went down into the icy freezing waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Titanic exhibit at HMNS
The Houston Museum of Natural Science will host Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition during the 100th anniversary of the Ship’s sinking, featuring 250 artifacts recovered from the wreck site of Titanic that have never been seen in Houston. The blockbuster Exhibition will open March 16, 2012 and be on view for six months. Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition allows guests to experience the legend of the grand Ship like never before.”
At the beginning of the exhibit, as they did at the previous 2002 Titanic exhibit I attended, they gave visitors a boarding pass replica of a passenger of the Titanic. In this year’s event, you also have the option of having your photo taken in front of a green screen before entering the exhibit, to have it made into a photo of you on the Titanic superimposed at the entrance of the Grand Staircase. You can opt out of this if you so desire. There is a scaled down 1/100th model of the Titanic. Recreations of the first class, second class and third class rooms give you an idea of what travel was like for each particular class of passenger. There is also among these artifacts the ship’s whistle which was recovered in 1992 and has been operated twice using compressed air as opposed to steam due to its fragility. Most of the artifacts from the Titanic shipwreck are on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.
Upon entering the exhibit, you will see a large size replica of an advertisement for passengers to purchase tickets for a future return voyage on the Titanic that was scheduled to depart from New York City en route back to Southampton, England.
The date for boarding was April 20, 1912.
At the 2002 exhibit I attended, I was handed a poster copy of the Houston Chronicle’s article on the Titanicsinking and a boarding pass replica for a Mr. Samuel Dennis, a passenger in third class.
In addition to these , I purchased from the Museum a replica of the RMS Titanic Passenger and Crew List (which is now crumbling with age). After looking at the ship’s passenger manifest, I saw that Mr. Dennis perished on the Titanic.
Samuel, 23, was born June 17, 1889 at Treyeo Farm in the North Cornwall parish of Launcells. He was the son of William Henry Dennis (farmer) and Mary Arabella Dennis (née Sobey). He was the younger brother of Elizabeth, Olive and William. He is known to have had a younger brother also born at Treyeo.
By 1894 the family had moved to Leigh Farm, Week St Mary, Cornwall. It was from here that Samuel set out on his fateful journey. Samuel had been encouraged to emigrate to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada by his relatives Lewis Richard and Owen Harris Braund of nearby Bridgerule, Devon. The Braund’s had a relative Leonard Lovell already in Canada and it was to him they were all ultimately travelling on Titanic.
This year, I was handed a boarding pass replica for a Ms. Annie C. Funk. She was a missionary in Jangir, India, where she quickly learned that there was no school for girls. By 1907, within a year of her arrival in Jangir, Annie opened a one-room school-house for girls of the village and taught them herself.
Her reason for traveling aboard the Titanic: Annie was returning to her family home in Bally, Pennsylvania, after receiving a telegram that her mother was very ill. Concerned that she might be too late to see her mother, Annie booked the first ship she could when she arrived in England.
She was a passenger in second class.
She never made it to America, having died aboard the RMS Titanic.
Ann
The Titanic. So many lives lost. Thank you for what I consider so far to be the best essy written on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Especially this part:
“No one will ever know what went on in the hearts and minds of all those who were on the Titanic. Those who feared for their lives so much that they may have scrambled over and fought their way past many to board the lifeboats. Those who stood back so that others may live, even if it meant the loss of their own lives. Those who screamed in terror at knowing the icy and watery death that awaited them. Those who calmly and stoically met death and stared it in the face with resolve and courage.”
Beautiful words indeed.