Titanic History

sephia_liza

Ninety years ago, there was shock and disbelief in England, Ireland and America as news came through that the highly publicised RMS Titanic, built by the shipworkers of Harland and Wolff in Belfast hadcfoundered after hitting an iceberg.
Over 1500 lives were lost; children lost their fathers, mothers lost husbands, sons and daughters.

Ninety years on, the story of Titanic still captivates millions of people around the world.

Like many seafaring counties, Kent has connections to Titanic. Some of the ships passengers came from East Kent and The Medway Towns. The senior surviving officer of Titanic, Charles Herbert Lightoller later in life took part in the Dunkirk Evacuation by crossing the channel in his little ship 'Sundowner'. Kent's Lord Astor of Hever, a modern day Kent Lord, still shares the same family name as the richest man who was on board.



[ Last edited by  sephia_liza at 4-4-2006 03:59 PM ]

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Ninety years. That抯 how long it has been since 1,513 people lost their lives to what can be attributed to arrogance and folly. It was in April 1912 when the 搖nsinkable

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The Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland, under the direction of J. Bruce Ismay, co-owner of the White Star Line. On July 31, 1908, the final contracts were signed for the construction of Titanic and her sister ships the Olympic and the Britannic. The Titanic as her name implies was enormous. According to the original specifications, she would be 882 feet 9 inches in length, 94 feet wide and 100 feet high to the Bridge level. Construction continued in various phases until the Titanic was ready for her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912.

Let抯 take a closer look at the activities of this fateful day.

At about 7:30 a.m., Captain Edward J. Smith boards the Titanic along with his crew. The Titanic is in Southampton, England, having made a short sail from the shipyards in Ireland as a test.

At 8:00 a.m., the crew is summoned and a brief lifeboat drill is conducted using only two starboard boats (number 11 and 15).

Between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m., passengers are permitted to board the ship. As depicted in the recent Movie 揟itanic

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The Crew

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The English White Star Line, owners of "Titanic", continue to claim that everyone was safe and the ship had not sunk. However the log recorded by the "Olympic" didn't confirm their claims. This controversy should have be ignored if a 21-year old operator named David Sarnoff, that we will see again about Internet, hadn't detect the weak signals of the "Olympic" from the USA, and broke the silent. Faced with the truth, and hounded by thousands of reporters and outraged relatives of passengers, the White Star Liner officials had finally to break down the secret and revealed the horrible facts.





Senator William Alden Smith


Eventually, by 9 PM on April 18, 1912, the "Carpathia" arrived at the Port of New York with the few survivors. In the next days Senator William Alden Smith, Republican of Michigan, urged the Senate to act quickly to authorize an inquiry into the Titanic sinking after he learned that President Taft intended to take no action.

As Chairman of the committee investigating the shipwreck, Senator Smith summoned all involved people, including Marconi to appear. The hearings revealed no information about the origin of the false messages concerning the saving of the ship and passengers. However, it appeared strange that the "Californian" ship located 16 km (10 miles) away didn't answer the call and didn't see the seven rockets sent by the Titanic. Worst, there was no full time wireless operator on duty on this ship. Senator Smith sarcastically noted also that, in the interim, at the Stock exchange the Marconi Company jumped from $55 to $225 per share... At last it turned out that Marconi had an agreement with the New York Times for an exclusive story.  

Senator Smith knew what he claimed. Here are for example two messages exchanged between Marconi and the Carpathia's Captain :

When Marconi got on the stand, Senator Smith insisted on these facts with vehemence. Obsessed in his belief that the unregulated wireless spectrum was partly to blame in the "Titanic" disaster, he painted Marconi as a man willing to subordinate the public good to his personal interests, mainly to get a complete wireless equipment and spectrum monopoly. Senator Smith used the "Titanic" hearings to condemn the laissez-faire status of the wireless, and appeal for the international regulation of radio. His action will lead to the Radio Act of 1912.

Some years later, Bruce Ismay, the Managing Director of the White Star line had to endure severe public criticism for surviving the disaster and sinking.  By a strange fate, the two managers involved in this disaster died the same year. Bruce Ismay had to retire from public life and died in 1937. Guglielmo Marconi was not harassed but he died also in 1937, on July 20 in Bezzi-Scali, near Roma, Italy. He was 62 years old.

After the disaster, Harold Bride continued to serve as a Marconi operator. During the First World War, he served on the steamer Mona's Isle as a telegraphist. He broke off an engagement when he met a young school teacher named Lucy Downie. They married and had 3 children. Harold was so distressed by the loss of his good friend, Jack Phillips, and couldn't cope any longer with the notority that went along with his having been the sole surviving wireless operator from the disaster. To escape the attention he moved his family to Scotland and became a traveling salesman. He and Harold Cottam, the wireless operator from the Carpathia, whom he had met previously and was good friends with, stayed in touch for many years. He lived out the rest of his days in relative obscurity and died in April of 1956.

[ Last edited by  sephia_liza at 6-4-2006 04:48 PM ]

sephia_liza

In this night of April 15, 1912, the Marconi station onboard the "MGY" vessel, the radio callsign of the Titanic, was operated by two wireless operators, 25 year old John George Phillips - better known as "Jack" or "Sparks", and 22 year old Harold Bride as the Deputy or Assistant Radio Operator, two employees of the Marconi Telegraph Company. Jack Phillips could tap out 39 words per minute, ditto that for Harold Thomas Cottam ("Carpathia's" wireless operator), and Harold Bride's reached 26 words per minute.  
They were passing a routine traffic by 11.45 PM when the Captain Smith came in informing Phillips and Bride that the ship had hit an iceberg, and to prepare a distress call.  

At 12:15 AM the captain returned at the radio room and told the operators to send the message. Phillips sent in his spark gap transmitter : "CQD Titanic 41.46 N 50.24 W" when Bride interrupted him : "Send S.O.S. !  It's the new call and it may be your last chance to send it". But faithful to Marconi's rules, Phillips continue sending CQD.

At the same time, ship "La Provence" received the distress message requiring assistance. Ship "Mount temple", MLQ,  heard also the CQD and requested "Titanic" to give again her position. Drown in the noise of the stream, Philips and Bride checked the ship position. "Cape Race", MCE, heard "Titanic" sending back her new coordinates : "41.44 N 50.24 W". Then ship "Ypiranga" heard "Titanic" calling CQD during about 10 minutes without establish any contact.

The Titanic radio room. Doc Nova Scotia Online


The situation worsening, at 12:25 AM Phillips sent to any ship in their vicinity a new message. The Cunar Liner "Carpathia", MPA, hears a CQD saying : "Come at once. We have struck a berg. It's a CQD OM. Position 41.46 N 50.14 W". Immediately "Cape Race" called "Titanic" but received no reply.

"Titanic" sent a new call : "MGY CQD, Here correct position 41.46 N. 50.14 W. Require immediate assistance. We have collision with iceberg. Sinking. Can hear nothing for noise of stream". Titanic called so during about 15 to 20 minutes to "Ypiranga". Here is a reconstitution of one of these messages sent by Bride in CW at 21 WPM partly covered by noise and fading. For what I have understood it's sending "...MGY CQD SOS SOS CQD CQD DE MGY WE ARE SINKING FAST PASSENGERS KEIN...". Here is another message in the clear that I created as could have send Phillips at 40 WPM calling "CQD CQD SOS DE MGY MGY REQUIR IMEDIAT ASISTANC POSITION 41.46 N 50.14 W".


Meanwhile, at 12:30 AM "Mount Temple" heard "Titanic" still calling CQD. His Capitain "reversed ship". She was about 90 km (50 miles) off "Titanic". After a lot of misunderstanding between ships, at 12:32 AM "Carpathia" answered to "Titanic": "Putting about and heading for you".  

At 12:45 "Olympic", MKC,  the sister ship of "Titanic" located 800 km (500 miles) away en route to England heard "Titanic" sending "CQD CQD SOS Titanic. Position 41.44 N 50.24 W.". But it seems that "Olympic" didn't answer or didn't hear her call. According the transcript this is the first time that "SOS" was sent, so half an hour after the accident and the request of Bride !

While "Titanic" was slowly sinking, Phillips continued so to send CQD, his position, explaining again that "Titantic" stuck an iceberg, etc. This dramatic comedy last another half hour.

At 1:15 AM "Baltic", MBC, asks "Caronia", MSF, to : "Please tell Titanic we are making toward her".

At 1:20 AM "Virginian", MGN, heard "Cape Race" informing "Titanic" : "that we are going to his assistance. Our position 170 miles N. of Titanic." 5 minutes later "Caronia" tells "Titanic" : "Baltic coming to your assistance."

As soon as the wireless operator informed his captain, the "Carpathia" and " Cape Race", chimed in their acknowledgement of the disaster call. But these ships were still hundreds of kilometers away and the "Titanic" continued to send desperatly his "CQD" and "SOS" messages.

At 1:25 AM at the requests of "Olympic" : "Are you steering southerly to meet use", "Titanic" replied : "We are putting the women off in the boats." Phillips repeated this message two minutes later.

At 1:30, "Titanic" sent again : "We are putting passengers off in small boats."

At 1:35 AM "Olympic" asked "Titanic" what weather she had. "Titanic" replied : "Clear and calm.". Then the German Liner "Frankfurt", DFT, asked "Titanic" : "Are there any boats around you already ?" Titanic didn't reply. The reason was simple, even if according your modern rules that looks incredible : the "Frankfurt" operator worked for Telefunken, the main competitor of Marconi company !

Assistant radio operator Harold Bride at the "Marconi Wireless" radio station aboard the Titanic.




At 1:40 AM "Cape Race" said to "Virginia" : "Please tell your Captain this: The Olympic is making all speed for Titanic, but his [Olympic] position is 40.32 N. 61.18 W. You are much nearer to Titanic. The Titanic is already putting women off in the boats, and he says the weather there is calm and clear. The Olympic is the only ship we have heard say, "Going to the assistance of the Titanic. The others must be a long way from the Titanic."

At 1:45 AM "Carpathia" heard one of the last message sent by "Titanic" : "Come as quickly as possible old man: our engine-room is filling up to the boilers".
  
Replica of the straight key used on the Titanic. It is sold by Alpha Delta.


Ar 1:48 AM "Asian", MKL, heard "Titanic" calling "SOS". She answered but received no reply. The "Frankfurt" operator came back also to get more information and asked to "Titanic" : "What is the matter with u ?".  "Caronia" heard "Frankfurt" working the "Titanic" but it was still 275 km (172 miles) away.

At 1:50 AM on the "Titanic" Phillips tapped back to "Frankfurt" : "You are a fool, stdbi stdbi stdbi and keep out". Unfortunately the commercial war edicted always its own rules ! At this moment the "Frankfurt" was still at 277 km (172 miles) from 'Titanic". It needed hours to reach her.

Phillips continued to transmit information for about half an hour to other ships, but mainly to the "Carpathia", and "Olympic". The "Carpathia" operator took the time to transmit the list of survivors to the "Olympic", then he closed his radio station, keeping a radio silence and refusing even to answer to Navy cruisers sent to the scene by President Taft.

At 2:00 AM "Virginian" still heard "Titanic" calling but this time her emitting power began greatly to reduce.

At 2:10 "Virginian" still heard two weak "v" surrounding with sparks. Once think that Phillips tried adjusting his transmitter to compensate for the dying power supply from the engine room. "Titanic" began to take on water in her first five compartments. Orders were given to the crew to uncover the lifeboats and to get the passengers and crew ready on deck. But there was only enough room in the lifeboats for about half of the 2,340 people on board... It was thus decided to give the priority to leave the ship to all women and kids...

Harold Sidney Bride (first picture), assistant radio operator and John George Phillips (second picturet), first radio operator. Phillips had to die of hypothermia

first picture


second picture

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By 2:15 AM or so, Phillips sent another message : "SOS SOS CQD CQD Titanic. We are sinking fast. Passengers are being put into boats. Titanic".  "Virginian" heard it but was unable to read it correctly.

At 2:17 AM, Phillips was intended to send a last "CQD DE MGY" that was partly hear by the "Virginian", when him and Bride were urged to leave their post by Captain Smith. After the loss of all power in "Titanic"'s radio room, "Virginian" noticed that "Titanic"'s signal ended very abruptly.

Bride and Phillips left the wireless room and made their way to the Boat-Deck, and began trying to help the other men in the releasing of collapsible Lifeboat B. While neither of them immediately made it onto a lifeboat, both were rescued from the sea. Bride's feet were so severely frozen he could no more walk. Phillips died of hypothermia on or near Collapsible lifeboat B. His body was never recovered.

Pretty soon, the "Titanic" lights flickered, and then totally went off, leaving everyone on the ship, and in the lifeboats, with total darkness. As the stern rose, it stood almost to a 90 degree angle. People on the ship grabbed for anything to hang on to. A weak spot developed between the third and fourth smoke stack, which caused the stern of the ship to break off but the stern rested in the water in the normal position. After about a minute, the stern was over taken by water, and slipped into the sea.

In less than two hours 1595 passengers died of hypothermia or drowned, and the so-called unsinkable "Titanic" sank by 3780 m (12600 ft) deep at 724 km (450 miles) south-east of Halifax. 745 survivors huddled in half filled lifeboats waiting to be rescued.

Once arrived on site, at 4:10 AM the "Carpathia" picked up the first survivors and immediately sent a wireless message to other ships. At 8:10 AM the last lifeboat was rescued by the Carpathia.

At 8:55 AM "Carpathia" replies to "Baltic" : "Am proceeding to Halifax or New York full speed. You had better proceed to Liverpool. Have about 800 passengers on board."

At 9:00 AM "Carpathia" sent a last message from the accident area to "Virginian" : "We are leaving here with all on board about 800 passengers. Please return to your Northern course."

However other wireless messages appeared alleged transmitted from "Carpathia", like this one that stated : "All passengers of Liner 'Titanic' safely transferred to this ship and 'S.S.Parisian'. Sea calm. 'Titanic' being towed by Allen Liner 'Virginian' to port"... excepting that these messages were not coming from the "Carpathia" as these fantoms ships had wireless capabilities up to a maximum range of 240 km (150 miles).  

En route to New York, during the travel not less than 170 passengers sent to their family and relatives stond on land a cable to reassure them on their good health. Here are some of these poignant telegrams :

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The two images of the shipwreck were taken on July 5, 1985 by Dr. Robert Ballard by 3780 m (12600 ft) deepThe expedition to RMS Titanic included scientists from WHOI and IFREMER. Today the Titanic wreck is located 523 km off Newfoundland

KakFie

"Professionals built Titanic, an amateur built the Ark" - Anonymous.

AzusaFuyutsuki

titanic is decaying fast..

sephia_liza

The last known photograph of RMS Titanic, as she sailed into history. Titanic's sister ship, the Britanic later hit a mine and sank in the Adriatic while serving as a hospital ship in 1916. Carpathia, the ship which sped to rescue Titanic's passengers would sink in 1915 about 150 miles off the south west cost of England, due to a German torpedo.


Here at White Star Wharf, Queenstown, Browne captured on film some of the lucky ones who were able to say that they had been passengers on the ill-fated liner. With the onset, two and a half years later, of the "Great War," how many of these same people would still consider themselves 'lucky?'


In this photograph Browne had to reach out over the starboard rail to get the shot of Titanic cutting through the water. Visible in the picture are two of her main lifeboats, and further forward is Titanic's number 1 emergency boat. The boat is swung out in the event a passenger were to fall overboard.


2nd Class Passengers looking down on the 1st Class Promenade. The reflection of Browne is barely visible in the window to the left of centre in the photograph.

sephia_liza

In 1912, the Titanic was not only the largest vessel in the world, but also the largest moving object made by men. Being 175 feet tall from the keel to the top of her funnels, she was as high as an 11-stories-high building. Despite her size of 46,328 gross register tons (for more detailed specifications look at the figures on the right), the Titanic was elegant in design.

There were eight major decks, starting with the Boat Deck at the top, followed by the Promenade Deck (A-deck), the Bridge Deck (B-deck), the Shelter Deck (C Deck), the Saloon Deck (D-deck), the Upper Deck (E-deck), the Middle Deck (F-deck) and, finally, the Lower Deck (G-deck). Below these major decks could be found the Orlop Deck and the Tank Top, which were both completely taken up by the engines, boilers, and coal bunkers.

The Titanic was provided with 29 boilers in six different boiler rooms and steam propulsion machinery which could by found in the lower decks amidships. Two reciprocating compound steam engines and one steam turbine drove the three propellers. With a horsepower of about 46,000, a cruising speed of 21 knots could be maintained, although the maximum speed was supposed to be as high as 24 to 25 knots. This speed, however, was never reached. During her voyage from Belfast to Southampton, the Titanic had worked up to 23.25 knots, the fastest speed she is known ever to have attained.


Titanic's Specifications  

Length                                                                          882 ft. 9 in.  
Extreme Breadth (Beam)                                                92 ft. 6 in.  
Height (waterline to boat deck)                                     60 ft. 6 in.  
Distance from keel to funnel                                                175 ft.  
Draught                                                                                  34 ft.  
Gross Tonnage                                                                    46,328  
Net Tonnage                                                                       21,831  
Displacement                                                               66,000 tons  
Horsepower (reciprocating engines)                                   30,000  
Horsepower (turbine engines)                                            16,000  
Service Speed                                                                   21 knots  
Maximum Speed                                                           24-25 knots  

Safety Precautions

In these days, the Titanic was considered unsinkable, though the owners never claimed that their new ship was unsinkable. Nevertheless, they were confident that the Titanic would survive all known incidents, as she was provided with lots of safety measures: Firstly, she had a double bottom which was 5 ft. 3 in. deep to prevent that the whole ship was flooded if she ran aground. Furthermore, the vessel was divided in 16 watertight compartments by 15 transverse watertight bulkheads with watertight doors. Twelve of these doors could be closed with the help of a single switch at the bridge, the rest (about 20 to 30) had to be closed by hand to prevent water rushing from one compartment to the other. The Titanic could stay afloat with any two compartments, any three of the first five compartments, or even with all of her first four compartments flooded. However, if more compartments were flooded, the water could spill over from one compartment to the next one, as the "watertight" compartments had no covering, and the lowest of the bulkheads were only carried up to E-deck underside (just two and a half to three feet above the water line). In the fateful night, the iceberg damaged severely the first five compartments and scratched the sixth, causing the ship to sink so deep that the water could flow over from one compartment to the other which resulted, in the end, in the sinking of the vessel. The builders, however, could not imagine any collision or any other accident which could cause a sinking

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In summer 1907, J. Bruce Ismay, the managing director of the White Star Line, and Lord James Pirrie, a partner in the firm of Harland and Wolff, the giant Belfast shipbuilder that built all White Star vessels, met each other at the London house of Lord Pirrie. They agreed on building two large vessels (and a third to be added later) whose principal characteristic was not speed, but luxury and comfort. These ships should be 50 per cent larger and nearly 100 feet longer than the Lusitania, though they would just reach an average speed of about 22 knots. Both men agreed on the fact that speed was not the only important characteristic for the wealthy passengers, but also sheer size and luxury.

http://www.titanic-whitestarships.com/MGY_Archives.htm

[ Last edited by sephia_liza at 2-4-2006 12:39 PM ]

brilianxx

mane citer rose n jack dawson?

iscol_klang

kata titanic ni unsinkable (btol ke eja,hehe) ship....
sbb ape karam jugak lepas langgar iceberg?

arnabkiut

jack...u jump i jump......

AzusaFuyutsuki

Originally posted by brilianxx at 2-4-2006 11:51 AM
mane citer rose n jack dawson?

kalau real world titanic tak de Jack Dawson tapi yg pasti ada James Dawson, salah sorang pekerja di bahagian coal chamber..James salah sorang yg terkorban masa titanic tenggelam...tapi masa filem titanic (1997) released, ramai (mostly perempuan) letak bunga kat kubur dia sebab ingat dia ialah Jack yg dilakonkan oleh dicaprio..

kat batu nisan kubur James Dawson is written J.Dawson:cak: