A Short History of the "Unsinkable" Titanic

There were many factors that led to the collision with the iceberg. The lookouts had a hard time spotting the iceberg for one. Secondly, the moon was not visible in the clear sky, so it wasn't shining on the water or the berg. Plus, the ocean was calm. There weren't any waves crashing at the base of the berg to show that it was there. And to top it all off, the lookouts didn't have any binoculars in the crow's nest with them. So, they didn't see the iceberg until they were right on it.

The sound of the collision radiated throughout the ship, waking many of its passengers. Mrs. E.D. Appleton heard the noise and said that it sounded like someone tearing a long, long strip of calico. Other passengers didn't notice the sound, but rather the jarring that came from the collision. To Lady Cosmo Duff Gordon it felt "as though somebody had drawn a giant finger along the side of the ship." Another passenger, Mrs. J. Stuart White, said that it felt as though the ship was rolling over "a thousand marbles".

In the wireless room First Operator John George Phillips was sending the international distress signal CQD (Come Quickly Distressed), along with the coordinates of the ship. Captain Smith dropped in and asked Phillips what signal he was sending. He replied CQD. Second Operator Harold Bride suggested that he try and send SOS (Save Our Ship), which had just been voted as the new distress signal at the international convention. Bride then remarked that it might be Phillips last chance to send it. At 12:45 a.m. the Titanic sent the first SOS call in history.

At the same time the first lifeboat was also being lowered, with 28 people on board, its capacity was 65. The orders were women and children first for the lifeboats, though men found their way into the boats also. First and second class passengers got to the lifeboats quicker and easier, because they had boats on their decks. But, the third class passengers found it much harder to get to the lifeboats. The stewards and stewardesses had locked most of the doors leading up to the boat decks from third class. They didn't lock them because they wanted the third class people to die, they locked them until they were given orders. Once given orders to let the women and children out first and not let any men out, they unlocked the doors, but had a hard time getting just the women and children out.

The Titanic only had 20 lifeboats, 16 in the davits and 4 collapsible, but was required to only carry 16 by the Board of Trade rules. Most of the lifeboats were lowered half full. One was even lowered with only 12 people in it and the capacity was 40 people. There wasn't a rush to get into the lifeboats at first, because they'd rather stay on the warm, sturdy (or so they thought) ship , than go out into the cold and the unknown of the sea in a small, frail lifeboat. The passengers didn't realize what great danger they were in until the Titanic started to list noticeably to starboard and was down at the head.

At around 1:20 a.m. on April 15,1912 there was three separate explosions of bulkheads as the hull filled with water. The explosions were at intervals of about fifteen minutes apart, and from that time on the rush to the lifeboats was a stampede. At 1:40 a.m. the last rocket was fired. Collapsible D was the last lifeboat to be lowered at 2:05 a.m., 15 minutes before the Titanic sank. There was 47 seats on the lifeboat, and 1600 people still on board the ship.

At 2:15 a.m. the bridge dipped under the water and the sea rolled aft along the boat deck. Right before the Titanic sank the forward funnel collapsed, crushing the boat deck and the passengers in its path. Then the Titanic broke in half. The bow plunged under the water and the stern fell back down on top of the water. The people in the lifeboats watched in horror as the stern rose in the air until it was almost 90. The lights failed and the Titanic and everything around it was plunged into the darkness. The Titanic then plunged down into the water leaving 1500 people screaming and thrashing around in the water.

Only two of the eighteen launched lifeboats went back. Lifeboat 4 picked up five people, two of which later died. Lifeboat 14 went back close to an hour later and rescued four, one of whom died afterwards. Other people managed to climb onto lifeboats that were close by. Some men found their way over to overturned Collapsible B. They managed to survive on the overturned boat until they were picked up by one of the other lifeboats. The lifeboats were picked up by the Carpathia.

On April 17,1912 the 705 survivors finally reached their destination of New York City, New York. The Carpathia arrived at 9:35 p.m. and started to unload the survivors. Interviewers swarmed the passengers asking them what had happened. The first class passengers were interviewed and taken away by cars, and family members, but no one was there when the third class passengers stumbled off the ship, except for their relatives. The passengers would never be the same after that horrible night.

The Titanic was owned by the White Star Line. White Star Line was known for its large, comfortable ships that offered their passengers every form of luxury, rather than speed. The company began as a bankrupt sailing and steam packet. It was salvaged by Thomas H. Ismay when he purchased the name and logo for 1,000 pounds sterling on January 18, 1868. Ismay and his partners arranged a partnership with the shipbuilding company, Harland and Wolff immediately. Harland and Wolff only built ships for the White Star Line.

The White Star Lines ships' names always ended in "ic". For example the Titanic, Olympic, Brittanic, and Oceanic. Unfortunately, White Star Line was forced to merge with the Cunard Line. They merged to secure funds needed to complete the two Queens that Cunard was planning. They merged to form Cunard White Star Line in 1934. The ironic thing is that the Titanic was a White Star Line ship and its rescue ship, the Carpathia, was a Cunard Line ship.