Titanic- “Unsinkable Ship”

In the 20th century, The Titanic was the product of intense competition among rival shipping lines. In 1907 the Cunard’s Mauretania set a speed record for being the fastest during a transatlantic crossing (23.69 knots or 27.26 mph). The main objective of Titanic, was to be bigger and faster than the Mauretania. On May 31, 1911, The Titanic was now the largest movable man made object in the world at the time.

On April 10, 1912 Titanic departed from Southampton, England. The ship had 2,240 passengers and crew and set sail for New York, under the command of Capt. Edward Smith The Titanic carried some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere throughout Europe who were seeking a new life in the United States. The first-class accommodation was designed for comfort and luxury, with a gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. Titanic had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments, remotely activated watertight doors, a high-powered radiotelegraph transmitter and and lifeboats. However, the ship only carried enough lifeboats, 20 boats, for 1,178 people. That is only half of the number of passengers on board, and the capacity of life boats that could have been on the ship was 48.

On 10, April 1912 the Titanic left Southampton. On 14 April, at 11:40 p.m., four days into the voyage and about 375 miles (600 km) south of Newfoundland, Titanic hit an iceberg. The collision caused the hull plates to buckle inwards along her starboard (right) side and opened five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea. Titanic’s safety measures could only survive four flooding. Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partially loaded with women and children, first class being priority. At 2:20 a.m., Titanic broke apart with over one thousand people still aboard. Just under two hours after Titanic sank, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived with only an estimated 705 survivors.