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The Building of the SS

The Titanic was constructed by the White Star ocean liner company and built in the Harland and Wolff shipyard in , Ireland in 1909. The Titanic had two sister ships named the Olympic and the Brittanic. All of these were engineered at a time when a number of companies were competing to build the largest and most luxurious vessels in the world.

The Titanic was often described as a floating palace complete with a variety of fine restaurants, and cafes, a Turkish bathhouse, barber shops, saloons, a gymnasium and numerous 1st class rooms. It took nearly three years to construct the ship, which was nearly 882.9 feet long. It weighed 46,328 tons and had a top speed of 23 knots or 42 kilometers per hour.

A technological marvel of its time, the Titanic contained sixteen watertight compartments fitted with steel doors designed to close within 25 seconds in order to keep water out of the ship’s interior. Construction of the Titanic took the work of about 3,000 laborers. The Olympic, which was a smaller version of the Titanic, had been constructed just a year earlier. Both ships were designed to be the most luxurious ocean liners in operation at the time. The total cost of Titanic construction amounted to $7.5 million U.S. dollars.

Source: Wright, J (2002). The construction of the SS Titanic. Retrieved Jan 1st, 2010, from http://www.titanuniverse.com/titanic-construction

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Lifeboats on the Titanic

Why did so many people die when the Titanic went down? In the investigation that followed the , one reason for the loss of so much life was the lack of sufficient lifeboats. The Titanic had a total of 20 lifeboats, more than the 16 required by law, but fewer than the 32 needed to carry all the passengers in the event of an accident. The Titanic was in fact designed to hold 32, but the White Star management decided to use only 20. They thought the ship would look more beautiful that way.

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There were 14 lifeboats with a capacity of 65 persons each, 2 with a capacity of 40 persons each, and 4 with a capacity of 47 persons each. This meant there were enough lifeboats to save 1,178 people. However, there were a total of 2,228 people on people: 337 First Class passengers, 285 Second Class and 721 Third Class. There were also 885 crew members. Of that number, only 705 people survived, meaning 1,523 lost their lives.

Source: Johnson, S. (1981). Lifeboats on the Titanic. Retrieved Dec 14th, 2009, from http://www.shipping.com

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The Loss of the Titanic

The British luxury passenger liner SS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, en route to New York City from , England during its maiden voyage. The vessel sank at a point about 400 miles (640 km) south of Newfoundland.

The Titanic was the largest and most luxurious ship at that time. It was designed and built by Belfast firm Harland and Wolff to service the highly competitive trans-Atlantic route. It had a double-bottomed base that was divided into 16 watertight compartments. Four of these could be flooded without endangering the liner's buoyancy. Therefore, the Titanic was considered unsinkable.

Shortly before midnight on April 14, the ship collided with an iceberg. Six of its watertight compartments were ruptured causing the ship to sink at 2:20 am April 15. About 1,500 people died. Only the arrival of another ship, the Cunard liner Carpathian, one hour and 20 minutes after the Titanic went down prevented further loss of life in the icy waters.

The story of the Titanic has fascinated people ever since. Ships are lost at sea all the time, so why is the loss of the Titanic considered one of the greatest peacetime maritime disasters in history? Perhaps it is because of what the Titanic was. It was not only the largest and most luxurious ocean liner built at that time, but it was considered to be unsinkable. Some say it is because it sank on its first voyage. Perhaps people are fascinated because the weather was nearly perfect and it was sunk by a huge iceberg that could be seen from miles away. A further explanation for people’s continued interest concerns the passengers. Many wealthy and famous people of the day were on board. Whether it is for one reason, or a combination of several, the story of the Titanic is said to be known in every country of the world.

Source: The Loss of the Titanic. (n.d.). Retrieved Feb 2nd, 2010, from http://www.encybrit.com 2

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Finding the Titanic

For many years, no one knew where exactly the Titanic had sunk, except that the area was about 400 kilometres off Newfoundland in . The first expeditions to look for the Titanic were launched in 1963, but they mostly failed due to a lack of funding. Because the Titanic had sunk in nearly 4,000 metres of water, special submarines were necessary to reach the ship, making any search extremely expensive.

In 1980 the oceanographer Dr. persuaded the American navy to develop a suitable underwater search system. Five years later they were finally ready. A team of experts from the U.S. and carried out the mission to locate the wreck.

On the night of September 1, 1985 they took the first pictures of the wreck of the Titanic. Around 20,000 pictures were taken over four days using a special camera which was pulled across the ocean floor by a cable. Images of steel plates and rusty gears along with personal items such as china dishes, shoes, musical instruments and ladies’ jewelry were found.

The pictures were printed all around the world as the first clear evidence of the sunken Titanic. These confirmed the theory that the huge ship had split into two parts. The front of the vessel was relatively well preserved but the stern was badly damaged when it crashed onto the ocean floor. To prevent theft, the expedition team initially kept the exact position of the wreck a secret. One year later Dr. Ballard and two colleagues again explored the remains of the ocean giant in a special deep-diving submersible. In the pitch black surroundings, their little underwater vessel swam around the enormous wreck, taking photographs which were later broadcast around the world.

This successful expedition was soon followed by further investigations by other researchers whose aim was not only to examine the wreck but also to bring back many precious objects belonging to the Titanic passengers for display in museums.

Today, anyone can dive down to the wreck – provided they are willing to pay around 30,000 euros for the privilege. However, if this is too expensive, you can visit Halifax in Canada, the closest location on land to where the Titanic sank. There, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a touching reminder of the ship's lost luxury, her violent end and the special role the port of Halifax played as the enormity of the disaster unfolded. The museum’s exhibit features wooden artifacts including one of the only Titanic deck chairs known to exist. Elsewhere in the city one can experience other reminders of the Titanic.

Most of the bodies were buried at sea. However, 209 of the victims’ bodies were brought back to Halifax, of which 59 were claimed by relatives. The remaining 150 unidentified victims are buried in three Halifax cemeteries Fairview Lawn, Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch. Relatives of the unidentified victims or those buried at sea can visit these cemeteries to pay their respects.

Source: Smith, W. (2008). Finding the Titanic. Retrieved Feb 4th, 2010, from http://www.yourdiscovery.com

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