Essay/Term paper: Titanic

Essay, term paper, research paper:  World History

    Titanic was the largest ship in the world, built by a workforce of



17,000. The ultimate in turn-of-the-century design and technology. First-class



suites ran to more than $ 55,000 in todays dollars, and when she sailed on



her maiden voyage from Southampton, England on route to NY , she held



among her 2,227 passengers. The cream of industrial society, including



colonel John Jacob Astor. Macys founder; U.S. congressman Isidor Straus



and Thomas Andrews, the ships builder. The ship was built of easily



sealed-off compartments. If, for some unimaginable reason, the hull were



punctured, only the compartment actually ruptured would flood. In an worst



case example - builders figured that the Titanic would take from one to three



days to sink, time for nearby ships to help, because there was only 16



lifeboats. Unfortunately, things didnt   work out that way.



        On April 14th, 1912 at about 7:30, at the first ominous hint of disaster



has came. Into the earphones of the wireless operator on duty came a



message from the steamer California: Three large bergs five miles southward



from us. But the Titanic continued to rush through the deepening darkness.



The temperature was one degree above freezing. When lookouts Frederick



Fleet and Reginald Lee had come on duty at 10 P.M., the sky was cloudless



and the air clear. At around 11:30 P.M., just half an hour before they were to



be rewired, a slight haze had appeared, directly ahead. And about two points



on either side. Suddenly - his training causing his reflexes to function



instinctively. Fleet gave the warning bell and immediately reached across the



crowns nest to the bridges telephone. In its compartment on the starboard



side. He rang  ms bell urgently. Fleet replaced the telephone and gripped the



crowns nest rail.



        At 11:40 P.M., April 14 , 1912 ; The lookouts spotted the iceberg  a



quarter-mile ahead. Had they not alerted the bridge, the ship would not have



attempted a turn. At 11:40P.M. ; the ship sideswipes the ice. Because of the



steels ductility, it would have absorbed massive amounts of energy. The ice



crashed right through the plating as it grinded along the side, Strinking at an



angle like s 300-foot zipper.



        ON midnight, April 14-15; fist six  compartments were filling; water



was beginning to slosh over. 12:40.; water filled 2,000 bathtubs 1:20 A.M.;



The bow dipped; water flooded through anchor - chain holes. At 2:10 A.M.;



The Titanic titled to 45 degrees or more and stress reaches nearby 15 tons per



square inch. The keel bends; The bottom plating buckles. At 2:15 A.M.; The



stern  grew heavier and until it  reached some 16,000 tons of in - water



weight . At 2:20 A.M.; The bow rips went loose. The stern rose sharply , held



and almost vertical position and then, as it filled, faded downward again. At



least one life boat passenger said, look - its  coming back!. At 2:30 A.M.;



The bow stroke the bottom , 12,612 feet down, angling downward and



flowing into  the mud. Shortly after 2:30 A.M. ships time  a green florae was



sighed suddenly, for ahead. In a few  seconds it disappeared. At 3 A.M.,



Roston ordered rockets fired at fifteen-minute intervals to let survivors know



help was approaching. The companys night  signals were  also displayed. By



3:35 carpathia was almost to the position where Titanic, if afloat, would be



seen. But there was only  a rast emptiness. Carpathia inched forward. The



lifeboat was alongside.



        Some 2,340 passengers and crew were on board the Titanic when the



white star liner left Southampton for its maiden voyage to NY five days ago.



And  some 1,595 people perished in the accident. Only 745 were saved.



Many more could have been rescued but there were enough lifeboats for only



half the passengers and crew. Two boats full of people who had escaped from



the ship were sucked beneath the ocean. Most of the passengers were



apparently not aware of the accident when it happened. At first, passengers



were so unconcerned that they remained in their staterooms to dress for



dinner. By 1:30 A.M. panic has begun among some of the passengers.



        In the tomb that was once a ship, all that remain are China teacups and



brass latches, porcelain toilets, and perhaps teeth - nearby all else has been



devoured: wooden decks, the rich Victorian woodwork, human beings and



their clothing - all except for shoes protected from scavengers by their tannin.



Some 150 items retrieved by the French sub Nautili went on display at



Londons National Maritime Museum in Oct. 1994. protected too is the



ships steel.



        The first memorials to Titanics victims were the church services in



commemoration of the dead and Thanksgiving for the living. As the days



passed the enormity of the loss of life became evident, and relief



programmers were established. The event becomes dim in the minds of new



but the monuments stand, and assurance that - as long as tides flow, as long



as people sail - the memory of Titanics courageous and gallant men and



women will never fade. It is through the appalling tragedy that befell her



during her owe voyage that the world best knows of her today. Perhaps



Historys most famous ship, she is remembered through memories and motion



pictures; through songs and scraps of yellowing newspapers; through



reminiscences of her survivors as recurring anniversary observances as,



fortunately she of remembered through pictures. For during the brief of her



existence, the new hobby and profession of photography ensured a record of



her beauty, her people and their loss. In the disasters aftermath, reaction set



in, reaction which was to change the way people thought about the sea and



the ships that sailed on it.



        The sinking of the Titanic remains the most famous of all maritime



disasters. At least in parts because of the mystery surroundings its cause over



an answer - from scientific expeditions in manned submersibles to court cases



and investigative reporting. It  took many years and a certain serendipity  to



obtain the pieces of the Titanics hull that underwent metallurgical tests at a



candian government laboratory in Nova Scotia late last year. New theories



about ships demise continue to spring up. James G/ Vlary, who specializes in



maritime subjects, believes he too has uncovered some startling new



information about the Titanics last moments. In his book Superstitions of



The sea , clary claims there is : substantial and documental proof 1 that the



engines on the Titanic were restarted and ran for as long as 30 minutes after it



hit the iceberg and stopped. in doing so,[Clary concludes]



, she undoubtedly hastened hull to greatly reduce the precious time she had



left before foundering 2.



        She was not the worlds fastest ship. Nor was she the first of a new



class. She was not the largest liner ever built3., nor the most costly. The



documentation of her conception, design and construction has not withstood



the  passage of time well. Two world wars. indifference, corporate rivalries,



accident. Reglect and even late 20th century political activity have conspired



to deprive historians of much that might be known about her.



        The story of Titanic began in 1867. The final chapter is yet to be



written. As we  see boilers, positions and cylinder beds strewn across the



ocean floor of the great engines. Perhaps we might sense the vibrations that



drove the vessel onward. Then, in a sudden burst of reality we might hear



distantly. once again, there rings of the bell :iceberg right ahead.... In the



photographs to come you shall surely see the actual places where the bravest



of the brave newed our their mighty deeds of heroism and  self-sacrifice



which shall never fade. Then we shall truly be able to evasion the pride and



splendor, the glorious drama, the terrible tragedy, the legend which has



become - and ever shall be - Titanic.