Remembering Titanic

The Sinking of The Titanic 14-15 April 1912

I have a somewhat curious affinity with Titanic; the day she struck ‘that’ iceberg was the day my father was born - pretty much to the hour - as he insisted on reminding us annually. The 14th April became a significant yet poignant date in my household as it was also my mother’s birthday (the year after Titanic sank), and sadly also the date my maternal grandmother died. Maybe this is what subconsciously drew me to the ocean, and in particular cruising (although some might think it would have had the opposite effect).

What was the Real Titanic Story?

Many of us will have seen the movie, and replicated the famous “flying” scene on the bow of a ship. Titanic the movie depicted personal stories from survivors, with quite a big helping of romantic poetic licence, but what is the real story of Titanic?

Titanic History

The product of fierce rivalry between shipping companies in the early twentieth century, RMS Titanic was a British passenger steam ship built for The White Line Company specifically to compete with Cunard.

At the time Cunard operated two of the most sophisticated, luxurious and highly acclaimed liners at sea - Mauretania which held the record for the fastest average speed, and Lusitania, praised for her spectacular interiors.

In response, The White Star Line commissioned three new ships from Belfast shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff, known as a new “Olympic” class of liners, Each ship measured 882 feet in length and 92.5 feet at their widest point, making them the largest ever ocean liners. In March 1909, work began on the second of these three ships, Titanic, and in May 1911 she was launched, before work commenced on fitting her out.

Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on 10 April, 1912, with 2,240 passengers and crew on board. Sadly, in the early hours of 15 April, 1912, after striking an iceberg the night before, Titanic broke apart sinking to the bottom of the ocean, taking the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

The Titanic Tragedy - What Happened?

If you were superstitious, you could point to a number of unsettling events as Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage, and perhaps see them as portentous of future disaster.

Firstly, a small fire was discovered in one of Titanic’s bunkers, quite common on steamships of the day, but still somewhat alarming. The fire was hosed down and the embers shovelled aside so that an assessment could be made. The decision was taken by the captain and chief engineer that it was unlikely that the hull had been significantly damaged, and that the remaining fire could be combatted whilst at sea.

The second event occurred as Titanic left Southampton Dock where she narrowly missed a collision with another ship, America Line’s S.S. New York, which many pointed to retrospectively as being a bad omen.. However, in reality neither of these occurrences contributed to the tragedy of that fateful night.

Titanic made good progress and conditions were clear and calm on the evening of 14 April 1912, despite varying reports of ice sightings from other ships in the area, which were largely dismissed. However, at 11.40 pm, a lookout stationed in the Crows Nest, spotted an iceberg looming out of the darkness. The alarm was sounded and the bridge notified, and an avoidance manoeuvre was put into action to turn the ship hard to the port side and engines put into reverse. The ship was too close to fully avoid collision but instead of hitting the iceberg full on, the ship instead scraped the starboard side. This initially was met with relief by the watch, but they were unaware of the damage caused by a jagged shard of ice beneath the surface. The ship’s fate was sealed

What Went Wrong with Titanic that Caused Her to Sink?

Obviously, hitting an iceberg isn’t ideal for any ship, but what caused Titanic to sink and with so many fatalities, especially as there hadn’t been a head-on collision?

Firstly, it is thought that putting the ship in reverse had actually meant that the ship turned slower than it would have if at the original speed. In fact, most experts believe the ship would have survived if it had hit the iceberg head-on.

The Unsinkable Titanic - What Went Wrong?

In ship-building circles Titanic had been referred to as “practically unsinkable”, due to the design of the Olympic-class ships which featured a double bottom and 15 watertight bulkhead compartments equipped with electric watertight doors that could be operated individually or simultaneously by a switch on the bridge. However there was a design flaw with the walls of the bulkheads. Whilst the individual bulkheads were watertight as described, the walls separating them only extended a few feet above the water line, allowing water to pour from one compartment into another, if the ship began to list or pitch. So the damage caused by the iceberg which made Titanic unstable, was exacerbated by the speed at which the water was able to pour into the hull, quickly overwhelming the ship. Water poured into the ruptured chambers in the bow and this caused the stern to eventually rise out of the water, until the ship was practically perpendicular to the ocean.

Abandon ship was sounded and the lifeboats launched. Mayday signals were sent but no ship was close enough to help. It took around three hours for the ship to eventually disappear beneath the water, lights still blazing and the heroic band still playing. Titanic finally sank beneath the surface at about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912.

How Many People Died on Titanic?

Around 1500 people perished on that fateful night, mostly crew and Third Class passengers.

Why Did so Many People Die When Titanic Sank?

There were a number of factors contributing to the severity of the fatalities. There were a large number of steerage or Third Class passengers onboard, and they were accommodated on the lowest decks which were the first to be flooded.

There was confusion and panic as the alarm was sounded in the dead of night, and although it should have been ‘women and children first’, many of those that lost their lives were female due to the fact that they were not guided to the lifeboats in an orderly fashion in the mayhem that ensued.

The main reason for such awful loss of life, however, was the inadequate number of lifeboats onboard, even though deemed to be exceeding the requirements of the British Board of Trade at the time.

The planned lifeboat drill had been cancelled that day, and therefore crew were I’ll-prepared. Titanic had the capacity to carry more than 3,300 people, yet had only sixteen lifeboats, and four collapsible rafts with space for just 1,178 people accommodating only a third of those onboard, assuming the lifeboats were full. Sadly, although the lifeboats were designed to hold 65 people each, the first left with only 28 aboard and the others were also under-capacity when lowered, leaving many to perish onboard.

Titanic Fact - Passengers travelling first class on Titanic were roughly 44 percent more likely to survive than other passengers.

How Many People Survived Titanic?

There were 706 survivors from the sinking of Titanic, although none of these are still alive today. Eliza Gladys Dean (known as Millvina Dean), was the last living survivor. She died in 2009 aged 97, having been the youngest passenger aboard at two months old.

Titanic Legacy

There were many investigations following the Titanic Disaster, but two of these changed maritime travel forever. The US Senate Inquiry and the British Inquiry resulted in a literal sea change by recommending that wireless equipment on all passenger ships should be manned around the clock, that sufficient lifeboats should be provided for all aboard (in fact there have to be lifeboat/life raft capacity for 125% of people aboard), the requirement of scheduled lifeboat drills should be strictly adhered to. These recommendations are now enshrined in maritime law.

How Safe is Sea Travel?

This is a question I am often asked, especially by prospectI’ve new cruisers (you can see my full article on this by following the title link). In summary, and in no small part as a direct result of the Titanic Disaster, sea travel continues to be one of the safest modes of transport. It I s comforting to know that the tragic loss of life on that fateful night was not completely in vain.