RMS TITANIC RMS Titanic Was, As Her Classical Inspired Name Suggests, the Largest Passenger Liner of Her Time, Built to Be the E
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RMS TITANIC RMS Titanic was, as her classical inspired name suggests, the largest passenger liner of her time, built to be the epitome of luxury and formed part of the Olympic class of liners operated by White Star lines. Designed and constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast between 1909 and 1911 she was hailed as unsinkable and went on her maiden voyage on 10 April 1912 to tragically strike an iceberg and sink only five days later on the early morning of 15 April 1912 Inadequately prepared for a disaster 1514 people died out of a combined 2224 passengers and crew and hence this still ranks amongst the highest loss of human life in a peace-time maritime incident. The present map offered as lot 92 on the 27th July was gifted to the current owner by a good friend who only later realized the importance of the map after a similar map sold overseas. It has been passed down the friend’s family and the oral tradition is that it belonged to a great-grand mother who had travelled on the Titanic as a first class passenger. With her marriage however and name change that link appears now lost There were 324 first class passengers that received maps on embarking to find their way on board and of which 203 were rescued.Yet only a handful of maps are known to exist. Titanic was the largest ship built when she launched on her fatal maiden voyage on 10 April 1912. She was built as the epitome of luxury but also as a marvel of technology well beyond her size. She was zfitted with a library, gymnasium and pool that set the standard for later passenger liners. Technical innovations included the triple screws that gave her extra propulsion, remote controlled water tight doors and compartments. No doubt these last features created a sense of invincibility that led to the deliberate under provision of life boats for the actual 2224 passengers and crew carried on the voyage. As is often the case with disasters there is not a single but several and factors that contributed to the loss of life. Titanic’s high speed through iceberg infested waters and a dark and still night that did not warn of the impending danger were just the beginning. The collision that came just before midnight would have been a shock to most passengers likely to be in bed by this time. Unfortunately for the Titanic, the radio operator on the closest ship, the Californian, had just retired for the night and by the time the orders were given by Titanic’s captain to release the life rafts on the panic stricken ship many of the boats were not filled to capacity. Only 710 people survived the disaster of the Titanic. Joseph Groves Boxhall was fourth officer on the Titanic and off duty when the collision occurred. On hearing the alarm he reported to the bridge and was ordered to inspect the forward section for damage. After being informed that Titanic was taking on water he calculated her position and attempted to alarm ships to come to the rescue and was to testify later that he did see a ship nearby. About 1.45am, with the order to abandon ship, Joseph Boxhall was put in charge of life boat No 2, only partially full in fear of being sucked down by sinking ship. The small cigarette case, lot 93 in the sale represents his 21st birthday present dated 23-3-05. ‘Uncle Joe’ had no children and so the present lot passed down to his only niece and by thence by descent..