It Was a Shock to Everyone, Something No One Could Have Believed
The Arrival That Never Took Place, Page 1 ©2005 by J. Kent Layton The Arrival That Never Took Place… A Monograph by J. Kent Layton ©2005 J. Kent Layton Atlantic Liners www.atlanticliners.com The Arrival That Never Took Place, Page 2 ©2005 by J. Kent Layton The Arrival That Never Took Place… It was a shock to everyone… it was something no one could have believed possible. After months of planning, expectation, anticipation and intensive labors at the Belfast shipyards of Harland & Wolff, the Titanic – the largest steamer in the world – had departed on her maiden voyage and promptly sunk. In an era when technological breakthroughs were viewed as a basis for confidence in man’s forward progress on all levels, the greatest technological wonder of the age had sunk in less than three hours, after running afoul of a simple piece of ice. More stunning than any technological or monetary loss, roughly two-thirds of her passengers and crew had gone to the bottom with her. The public was outraged, as well as afraid. Something had obviously gone very wrong, many questions had been raised, and answers had to follow poste haste. The Captain of the ship had gone down with her. However, some of her officers, not to mention the Managing Director of the White Star Line, Joseph Bruce Ismay, had survived, and they would all face some serious questions. This was especially true of Bruce Ismay, son of the Line’s founder. Whereas the ship’s senior officers had stayed aboard until the last possible moment, fighting to save others, Ismay had boarded a lifeboat and had escaped the sinking without even getting his feet wet.
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