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.
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 а 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 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.
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.
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)
