The Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic is a British passenger ship known for its luxury and size. The Titanic was built by the company Harland and Wolff and was operated by the White Star Line, a shipping company. Thomas Andrews is known to be the primary architect of the Titanic and was the managing director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. Unfortunately, he sank with the ship in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15th April 1912 after the ship hit an iceberg. This incident occurred during the voyage t New York City, United States of America from Southampton, England. The Titanic was captained by Edward Smith, a British naval officer, who went on to have a long-lasting career in the British Merchant Navy.
The name “Titanic” was inspired by the Greek Mythology. Built in Belfast, Ireland, in what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, RMS Titanic was the second of the three Olympic-class Ocean liners. Ocean liners are passenger ships that are primarily used for transportation across oceans and seas, this sometimes also includes mail, cargo, and other trade-related services that take place.
“White Star Line, one of the industry leaders, focused on size and elegance rather than just speed. In 1907, White Star Line’s managing director J. Bruce Ismay and Lord James Pirrie, chairman of White Star Line’s shipbuilder, Harland & Wolff, conceived of three magnificent steamships that would set a new standard for comfort, elegance, and safety. The first two were to be named Olympic and Titanic, the latter name chosen by Ismay to convey a sense of overwhelming size and strength. The third would be Britannic.”
Harland and Wolff were given a great deal of latitude in designing ships for the White Star Line; the usual approach was for Wilhelm Wolff to sketch a general concept, which Edward James Harland would turn into a ship design. Cost considerations were a relatively low priority; Harland & Wolff were authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five per cent profit margin.[1] In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million (approximately £310 million in 2019) for the first two ships was agreed plus “extras to contract” and the usual five per cent fee.[2]
“Following completion of the hull and main superstructure, the Titanic was launched on May 31, 1911. It then began the fitting-out phase, as machinery was loaded into the ship and interior work began. After the Olympics’ maiden voyage in June 1911, slight changes were made to the Titanic’s design. In early April 1912, the Titanic underwent its sea trials, after which the ship was declared seaworthy. As it prepared to embark on its maiden voyage, the Titanic was one of the largest and most opulent ships in the world. It had a gross registered tonnage (i.e., carrying capacity) of 46,328 tons, and when fully laden the ship displaced (weighed) more than 52,000 tons. The Titanic was approximately 882.5 feet (269 metres) long and about 92.5 feet (28.2 metres) wide at its widest point.”[3]
WHY AND HOW DID THE TITANIC ACTUALLY SINK?
Well, as pointed out every now and then, there were various faults in the construction of the Titanic. There was more focus put on luxury than on safety precautions. This was very evident when only 20 lifeboats existed for more than 1500 people. Now, the instantaneous cause of the wreck was a collision with an iceberg. In addition to this, the Titanic was flooded within minutes because the compartments that were believed to have been water tights were ruptured. Naturally, water flowed and filled from one compartment to another which ultimately led to the Titanic’s demise.
The Titanic had a swimming pool on board.
“The accommodation on Titanic was luxurious and spacious. In the first class, there were many new attractions such as squash courts, a Turkish bath, a gymnasium, a barber shop and also the first swimming pool on board a ship. Even the cheaper third-class cabins were of a better standard than those on other liners. Nevertheless, there were more luxurious and spectacular liners in operation at the time. The Titanic was designed to be a large-capacity workhorse on a commercially lucrative but competitive route.”[4]
THE TITANIC EXPEDITION
The tourism industry has made a great deal of money by planning an expedition every year to what remains of the Titanic. An eight-hour journey will cost an individual not less than $250,000. However, this year’s expedition was a drastic turn of events. On 18th August 2023 “Sunday, five people got into the submersible Titan to make that journey. The vessel lost contact only an hour and 45 minutes into the eight-day expedition. After the debris was found to match that of the submersible, the five inside are now presumed to be dead.”[5]
Unsinkable Titanic
“According to some hypotheses, Titanic was doomed from the start by a design that many lauded as state-of-the-art. The Olympic-class ships 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.
It was these watertight bulkheads that inspired Shipbuilder magazine, in a special issue devoted to the Olympic liners, to deem them “practically unsinkable.” But the watertight compartment design contained a flaw that was a critical factor in Titanic’s sinking: While the individual bulkheads were indeed watertight, the walls separating the bulkheads extended only a few feet above the water line, so water could pour from one compartment into another, especially if the ship began to list or pitch forward.”[6]
[1] Bartlett, W. B. (2011). Titanic: 9 Hours to Hell, the Survivors' Story. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-0482-4. [2] Hutchings, David F.; de Kerbrech, Richard P. (2011). RMS Titanic 1909–12 (Olympic Class): Owners' Workshop Manual. Sparkford, Yeovil: Haynes. ISBN 978-1-84425-662-4. [3] Tikkanen, Amy. "Titanic". Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Jul. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic. Accessed 22 August 2023. [4] RMS Titanic facts | Royal Museums Greenwich (rmg.co.uk) [5] Inside the Titanic wreck's lucrative tourism industry (nationalgeographic.com) [6] The Titanic: Sinking & Facts | HISTORY
