The Titanic

 The White Star Line was founded in 1850  In 1867 it was purchased by Thomas Ismay  Thomas’s son Bruce became a partner in the firm and took over as company director in 1899 when his father died  In 1902 a wealthy American bought the company, Ismay remained as managing director  In 1907 Ismay suggested that the company build two liners which were bigger and more luxurious than any other ship in the World. These were Titanic and her sister ship Olympic.

Construction  Titanic was built in Belfast by the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff  Thomas Andrews was chief designer  Construction began in 1909

The Design  Titanic had 16 watertight compartments. She could stay afloat if any two compartments or the first four became flooded.  Titanic had 29 boilers. 24 of these were large boilers containing 6 coal burning furnaces. 5 were small containing 3 furnaces.  Titanic had 4 funnels, 3 of which were used to expel gas.  Titanic had 3 propellers which were powered by steam. The rotation of the propellers powered the ship through the sea.

 Titanic was launched in The next 10 months were spent completing the interior of the ship.  Titanic was fitted with 16 wooden lifeboats in addition to 4 collapsible canvas sided lifeboats. The ship was designed to hold 32 but it was thought that the deck would look to crowded.  Titanic had dining rooms for each class level, a post office, an elevator, a swimming pool, a squash court, a gymnasium and a Turkish Bath.

Titanic’s Maiden Voyage

Passenger/Crew Statistics Exact numbers of those traveling on the Titanic is not known!  According to British enquiries there were 2,229 on board Titanic. 1,316 of these were passengers and 913 were crew.  325 – First Class Passengers  285 – Second Class Passengers  706 – Third Class Passengers  The number of survivors varies between 701 and 713.

Why did Titanic Sink?  Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 on the 14 th of April 1912 which sliced through the side of the ship.  Shortly after impact it was realised that 6 of the watertight compartments were flooded.  7 iceberg warnings were ignored.  Iceberg wasn’t spotted in time  Speed

The Californian  The Titanic was not the only ship in the North Atlantic that night.  The Californian was just 6 miles from Titanic.  They saw flares being fired into the sky and concluded that a party was being held.  On seeing the ship disappear they concluded it had sailed away.  When the Carpathia reached the site news of the fate of Titanic had reached the Californian.  If the Californian had responded on seeing the flares it would have reached the Titanic before it sank.

Where is the Titanic Now? The Titanic now lies over 12,000 feet below the Atlantic Ocean!!