The Royal Mail Steamer (RMS) Titanic was built by the White Star Company in the United Kingdom and is owned by the American magnate JP Morgan. The Titanic knew its fate on its maiden voyage to New York when it struck an iceberg and sank two hours later in the early hours of April 15, 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean. A total of 2,224 people boarded the ship during its navigation and a sum of 1,514 people perished.
Vessel
The name “Titanic” is a Greek methodology which means gigantic. It took a total of 3,000 to build the ship in two years. Construction of the Titanic began on March 31, 1909, in Queens Island, in the port of Belfast. The ship was 882 feet long and 92.5 at its widest point with its hull held together by about three million steel and iron rivets. This ship had two anchors on the sides and another in the middle which weighed about 16 tonnes and was the largest anchor ever made by hand until that time. Construction was a dangerous task, workers were not wearing safety equipment and at the end of construction, 246 people were injured and nine people died, one of them on launch day. The RMS Titanic launch took place in May, 31, 1911 and its sea trials started on April 2, 1912. The test trials included tests of its handling characteristics, its speed, its ability to take turns and its agility when stationary. On April 4, he arrived at the port to wait for his passengers and crew for the maiden voyage.
The iceberg, collision and damage
The Titanic had been sailing for four days when on April 10, at 11:40 pm, the watchman on duty spotted an iceberg directly on the way to the ship. At that time, they saw only the tip of the iceberg but ignored its massive size below. Unfortunately, in order to overturn the ship, the very movement plunged the ship forward, causing the iceberg to form on the side of the hull, causing water to seep into the ship. The ship had received numerous warnings from other ships about floating ice, however, Titanic continued at high speed with a schedule. At the time, high speed ships and floating ice were not uncommon. This ship had five watertight compartments, but these compartments had openings at the top that allowed water to infiltrate from one to the other. If only four of the compartments were flooded, the ship would have remained afloat, unfortunately all five flooded.
Victims and survivors
As the Titanic began to sink, the ill-prepared crew attempted to evacuate those on board. There were enough lifeboats for half the people on board. Women and children were the first priority in the evacuation, leaving the men and crew on board while the people on the lower deck were trapped. In the confusion of the moment, the first boat left with only 28 people, but it could have transported 64 people. In total, the lifeboat seats 472 are not used. When the last ship sank, the few remaining on board died a few minutes later when the water temperature at that time was slightly above freezing. Some people died while the ship was climbing vertically. At dawn, the rescue team recovered 300 bodies from life jackets while the others drifted in the ocean currents. RMS Carpathia carried the 710 survivors from the unhappy ship to New York where they arrived in April 18, 1912. The 100The Titanic’s anniversary took place in April 14 th , 2012.