The Plan:
The intensely competitive transatlantic steamship business had seen recent major advances
in ship design, size and speed. White Star Line, one of the leaders, determined to focus
on size and elegance rather than pure speed. In 1907, White Star Line's managing director
J. Bruce Ismay and Lord James Pirrie, a partner in Harland & Wolff (White Star Line's
ship-builder since its founding in 1869) conceived of three magnificent steam ships which
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.
It took a year to design the two ships. Construction of Olympic started in
December, 1908, followed by Titanic in March 1909. The Belfast shipyards of Harland
& Wolff had to be re-designed to accommodate the immense projects while White Star's
pier in New York had to be lengthened to enable the ships to dock. During the two years it
took to complete Titanic's hull, the press was primed with publicity about the
ship's magnificence, making Titanic virtually a legend before her launch. The
"launch" of the completed steel in May, 1911, was a heavily publicized
spectacle. Tickets were sold to benefit a local children's hospital.
She was then taken for "fitting out" which involved the construction of the
ship's many facilities and systems, her elaborate woodwork and fine decor. As the date of
her maiden voyage approached, the completed Olympic suffered a collision and
required extensive repairs, increasing the workload at Harland & Wolff, which was
already struggling to complete Titanic on schedule. Titanic's maiden voyage
was delayed from March 20 to April 10.
The Ship:
Titanic was 883 feet long (1/6 of a mile), 92 feet wide and weighed 46,328 tons.
She was 104 feet tall from keel to bridge, almost 35 feet of which were below the
waterline... even so, she stood taller above the water than most urban buildings of the
time. There were three real smoke-stacks; a fourth, dummy stack was added largely to
increase the impression of her gargantuan size and power and to vent smoke from her
numerous kitchens and galleys. She was the largest movable object ever made by man. The
ship's immense size and complexity is illustrated by an incident recalled by Second
Officer Lightoller. There was a gangway door on the starboard side aft "large enough
to drive a horse and cart through." Yet three officers who joined the ship during her
preparations spent a whole day simply trying to find their way to it.
Moreover, she was designed to be a marvel of modern safety technology. She had a
double-hull of 1-inch thick steel plates and a (heavily publicized) system of 16
water-tight compartments, sealed by massive doors which could be instantly triggered by a
single electric switch on the bridge, or even automatically by electric water-sensors. The
press began to call her "unsinkable."
Her accommodations were the most modern and luxurious on any ocean, and included
electric light and heat in every room, electric elevators, a swimming pool, a squash court
(considered terribly modern), a Turkish Bath, a gymnasium with a mechanical horse and
mechanical camel to keep riders fit, and staterooms and first class facilities to rival
the best hotels on the Continent. First class passengers would glide down a six-story,
glass-domed grand staircase to enjoy haute cuisine in the sumptuous first class dining
saloon that filled the width of the ship on D Deck. For those who desired a more intimate
atmosphere, Titanic also offered a stately à la carte restaurant, the chic Palm
Court and Verandah restaurant, and the festive Cafe Parisien. She offered two musical
ensembles (rather than the standard one) of the best musicians on the Atlantic, many of
them lured from rival liners. There were two libraries, first- and second-class. Even the
third class (steerage) cabins were more luxurious than the first class cabins on some
lesser steamships, and boasted amenities (like indoor toilet facilities) that some of Titanic's
emigrant passengers had not enjoyed in their own homes.
The original design called for 32 lifeboats. However, White Star management felt that
the boat-deck would look cluttered, and reduced the number to 20, for a total life-boat
capacity of 1178. This actually exceeded the regulations of the time, even though Titanic
was capable of carrying over 3500 people (passengers and crew).
The Voyage:
The maiden voyage lured the "very best people:" British nobility, American
industrialists, the very cream of New York and Philadelphia society. It also attracted
many poor emigrants, hoping to start a new life in America or Canada.
The journey began at Southampton on Wednesday April 10, 1912 at Noon. By sundown, Titanic
had stopped in Cherbourg, France to pick up additional passengers. That evening she sailed
for Queenstown, Ireland, and at 1:30 PM on Thursday, April 11, she headed out into the
Atlantic.
The seasoned transatlantic passengers were deeply impressed by the new ship. She was so
massive that they barely felt the movement of the sea at all. Her huge, powerful engines
produced almost none of the annoying vibration common on other steamers, and their noise
was barely perceptible. And she achieved this extraordinary level of comfort while
traveling at 22 knots, not the fastest boat on the route, but certainly one of the top
five.
Weather was pleasant and clear, and the water temperature was about 55 degrees. The
winter of 1912 had been unusually mild, and unprecedented amounts of ice had broken loose
from the arctic regions. Titanic was equipped with Marconi's new wireless telegraph
system and her two Marconi operators kept the wireless room running 24 hours a day. On
Sunday, April 14, the fifth day at sea, Titanic received five different
ice-warnings, but the captain was not overly concerned. The ship steamed ahead at 22
knots, and the line's Managing Director J. Bruce Ismay relished the idea of arriving in
New York a day ahead of schedule.
The Night:
On the night of April 14, wireless operator Phillips was very busy sending chatty
passenger's messages to Cape Race, Newfoundland, whence they could be relayed inland to
friends and relatives. He received a sixth ice-warning that night, but didn't realize how
close Titanic was to the position of the warning, and put that message under a
paperweight at his elbow. It never reached Captain Smith or the officer on the bridge.
By all accounts, the night was uncommonly clear and dark, moonless but faintly glowing
with an incredible sky full of stars. The stars were so bright that one officer mistook
the planet Jupiter (then rising just above the horizon) for a steamship light.
The sea was, likewise, unusually calm and flat, "like glass" said many
survivors. The lack of waves made it even more difficult to spot icebergs, since there was
no telltale white water breaking at the edges of the bergs.
At 11:40, a lookout in the crow's nest spotted an iceberg dead ahead. He notified the
bridge and First Officer Murdoch ordered the ship turned hard to port. He signaled the
engine room to reverse direction, full astern. The ship turned slightly, but it was much
too large, moving much too fast, and the iceberg was much too close. 37 seconds later, the
greatest maritime disaster in history began. During that night of heroism, terror and
tragedy, 705 lives were saved, 1502 lives were lost, and many legends were born.
References:
There are many books and online sources available for further information on the Titanic.
It is worth noting that even the factual information about Titanic varies widely
between the different sources. For all that is known and theorized about Titanic,
it is in many ways still a mystery. Among the books are:
TITANIC, An Illustrated History, by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall, 1992
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER by Walter Lord, 1955
THE NIGHT LIVES ON by Walter Lord, 1986
THE STORY OF THE TITANIC AS TOLD BY ITS SURVIVORS edited by Jack Winocur, 1960
(containing "The Loss of the SS Titanic, Its Story and Its Lessons" by
Lawrence Beesley, 1912, "The Truth about the Titanic" by Col. Archibald
Gracie, 1913, relevant chapters from "Titanic and Other Ships" by
Commander Charles Lightoller, 1935 and Asst. Marconi Operator Harold Bride's account as
published in the New York Times of April 28, 1912.)
TITANIC - TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY by John P. Eaton and Charles Haas 1988 (second
edition 1994)
