Titanic Planet

The Titanic and the facts about its sinking have become infamous since the event occurred in 1912. Even to this day people are fascinated and captivated by the stories of those on board and of the Titanic artifacts that were left behind in the Atlantic ocean which have since been recovered. These have been displaced worldwide, both to a collection of museums, notably the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, United Kingdom and also to private collectors in return for staggering amounts of money.

This is the ornament that you can see in the grand staircase, its purpose was to hold a light bulb. Remarkably it is still very much intact apart from a few pieces that are missing, but on the whole, a very well preserved piece of history. Remembering that this was recovered from the sunken ship much later, it has stood the test of time very well. The grand staircase is located in the first class deck, and was featured quite heavily in the 1997 Titanic movie, you can see it in some detail in several of the scenes throughout the movie. This statue is a piece which belongs to a private collection and is currently not on display in any museum.

Here you can see a collection of dishes on the bottom of the ocean floor, all still neatly in rows, very much intact and half buried in the ocean floor.

These dishes have since been recovered and have been on display in various museums. Its surprising how well preserved a great deal of the Titanic Artifacts really are, other than the areas of the ship which took heavy impact. As explained in the Titanic History article, when the ship split in two, the 2 different sections behaved differently; one part rushed violently to the bottom of the ocean, and the other half had more of a gentle landing on the ocean floor. Its unclear whether these plates were in the stern or the bow of the ship, but its likely considering their condition that they were in the bow.

The C Deck sign as you can see here was originally located within the first class section of the ship. The letter “k” is missing and this is one Titanic artifact that perhaps, has not lasted very well. Most likely because it is made of iron and the effect of decades of salt water on the metal has caused it to erode faster than it normally would. This is another Titanic item which has now been recovered from the Atlantic ocean floor and put in a museum for public display.

Some of the Titanic artifacts discovered have not just been part of the RMS Titanic itself, but from the passengers. For one thing, these items reflect what life would

have been like in 1912, and also what it was like aboard the Titanic. This next item is a reflection of that.

A set of perfume bottles found inside the sunken Titanic are somewhat well preserved after all this time, remarkably even containing liquid inside the airtight glass bottles. In recent years there have been attempts by perfume makers to restore and reproduce the fragrances contained inside them. Its thought that these were ingredients for perfume rather than perfume itself. These oils could be used to fix a perfume. This is most likely why they are inside non decorative bottles. Of course, we may never know.

The Titanic was definitely, unarguably a vessel of very grand design. This is reflected throughout the ship, in its architecture, right down to the furniture inside each and every room. Another artifact which is of interest is the veranda cafe window which has been recovered from the ship. Not much is left of it, but this is one of the surviving pieces found at the bottom of the ocean. Its enough to see the elegant design and craftsmanship that went into the Titanic. The veranda cafe was one of the several dining areas aboard the Titanic 1st class deck.

The aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic is perhaps one of the lesser known parts of the Titanic story. Most likely because the sinking itself has attracted so much interest, but at the time, the sinking of the Titanic and the survivors stories were widely publicised and newspapers all around the world were printing the story of the Titanic, as it unfolded week after week. When the facts and figures were released very shortly after the actual sinking it became clear that this was one of the greatest maritime disasters in history during peacetime. The Titanic captured the interest of the public, and the newspapers gave them what they wanted. As a result there is now a thorough archive of the events as the story of the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic was revealed, as and when the information was released.

The initial reaction of the press, was enormous, even though they had not received much information, just the fact that the Titanic had sunk and some rough figures.

After some time, and with the collation of the information they had, it came to light the bravery of some of the people on board. Notably, and probably most famously of all of these was Margaret Brown, also known as The Unsinkable Molly Brown, but only much later was she known by this name. In addition to her own act of bravery during the sinking of Titanic, she also awarded medals to others who made a contribution during the maritime disaster. She famously organised the crew of a lifeboat, lifeboat number 6, to go back and look for survivors in the water, when no other boats would go back. The medals that were awarded can be seen on the right. There were 300 medals produced which were awarded by Margaret Tobin Brown. They were all bronze, except for 14 gold medals which were awarded to officers. Most of these were awarded to the crew of the Carpathia which came to the rescue of the Titanic.

 

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The Titanic is undoubtedly the most famous ocean liner on the planet, its very creation was designed to make the Titanic and White Star Line headline makers all around the world, and it did, but for very different reasons that the company had in mind. Below details the full Titanic History, from its creation to its sinking.

Construction of the Titanic

The RMS Titanic was famously built in Belfast, Ireland. The construction work started on the 31^st March 1909. It was not to be launched however for a further 3 years in 1912, when Titanic started her doomed maiden voyage.

The design and idea behind the construction of the Titanic was for White Star Line to compete with rival shipping company Cunard which held the most famous ships at the time in their inventory. These were the Lusitania and the Mauretania which later assisted in World War I efforts. As a result of the desire to compete with Cunard Line, the RMS Titanic was designed to achieve the status of being the largest and also the most luxurious ocean liner in the world. Of course it was not to enjoy this status for very long after the disaster just 4 days after her launch from Southampton.

The Titanic was designed by several key figures; Thomas Andrews, Lord Pirrie (a director of White Star) and Alexander Carlisle who was charged with the tasks of decorating the ship, and managing equipment on board. He later left the project in 1910 and became a shareholder within the company that manufactured the davit systems.

The Titanic was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of its time, and the technological features and interior were designed with the latest technology and style of the time. One such instance of this would be the set of 4 electric lifts, 3 of which were located in first class and 1 of which was situated within second class. Electricity featured heavily throughout the ship and was used to power the extensive lighting system fuelled by the steam powered generators.

Other features of the first class section of the ship included; a Turkish bath, a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a squash court. The furniture set within all of these areas of the ship was of the highest quality and most ornate design.

Upon completion of the Titanic, the required sea trials commenced on the 2^nd April 1912 just over a week before she was due to set sail for New York.

The RMS Titanic was launched on the 31^st May 1911 and the interior was fully completed by the 31^st 1912.

Titanic Maiden Voyage

Titanic set sail on the 10^th April 1912 bound for New York. The maiden voyage however, almost ended in disaster, as the pull of the Titanic caused a nearby liner, the SS New York to become free from its moorings and be dragged long in the current the huge vessel Titanic created. A nearby tugboat however managed to tow the boat away without incident and the RMS Titanic left to continue its original course to New York, but first stopping at France and Ireland to pick up additional passengers.

Titanic Sinking

On a cold night, April 14^th 1912, the Titanic was following a slightly altered course. The captain of Titanic, Edward J Smith had received warning of icebergs and so had proceeded to map out an altered course for the great ocean liner. This involved journeying slightly more South to what he presumably thought would be warmer, ice free waters. Nearby ships Amerika and Mesaba sent messages in the afternoon and on the evening to the Titanic which were picked up by the Marconi operators on board. But since this was a communication system primarily designed for the passengers of the Titanic and not personnel, these messages were never delivered to the bridge.

At 11:40pm, the two lookouts posted at the front of the ship spotted the iceberg that would eventually deal Titanic its fatal blow. After telephoning the bridge, the first officer Murdoch gave the order to turn left and either reverse or stop the engines.

The RMS Titanic hit the iceberg on its right side, this scraped along the hull for 10 seconds, opening the first six compartments. These compartments were designed so that if the first four became flooded, the ship would remain afloat. Murdoch gave the order to shut the watertight doors to prevent water from flooding the remaining compartments. It was at this point the captain arrived at the bridge and ordered the Titanic to a complete stop.

The weight of the water in the flooded compartments was enough to pull the Titanic down to allow more sea water to flood into the rest of the ship and the additional compartments through the bulkheads.

After inspecting the damage to the Titanic, two of the senior officers; Thomas Andrews and J Hutchinson declared that the ship would sink within one hour or at the most one and a half hours. At this point the communication deck of the RMS Titanic was ordered to transmit a distress call to any nearby ships. Unfortunately the nearest ship, the Carpathia was four hours and 58 miles away, but the captain of the ship ordered the ships crew to head straight for the Titanic.

The crew of the Titanic were ordered to prepare the lifeboats for use.

Just twenty minutes after the Titanic hit the infamous iceberg water began to fill the third class section at the front of the ship.

At 12:25 am people were ordered into the lifeboats, women and children first before they were sent away. 25 Minutes later the first distress rocket was fired into the air by Joseph Boxhall, the first officer.

As the lifeboats were being filled, it became apparent that they were not being filled to their full capacity. One lifeboat was filled with 28 people, when the tested official capacity was in fact 65. Another designed for 40, was only filled with 12. As a result the lifeboats were then filled further. Lifeboat number 11 had a total of 70 people within it.

At around 2:05am the entire bow of Titanic was under water. Around 5 minutes later the stern which houses the propellers attached was lifted out of the water. At 2:17 the sea water had reached the deck of the ship and the 2 remaining lifeboats entered the water. One was upside down and the other was already half filled with water. The stern rose even more and the electrical system within the ship was short circuited leaving Titanic completely in darkness. A moonless night, meant it was darker than it would have normally been. The hull then split in two. At 2:20 am the RMS Titanic finally sank.

The two parts of the Titanic sank at different rates. The bow slowed its pace as it reached the bottom of the ocean, and landed somewhat gently on the ocean floor. The stern plunged quickly towards the bottom and became partially buried in the ocean floor.

Category: Titanic Facts, Titanic History, Titanic Sinking |
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