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The legendary maiden voyage of the Titanic was supposed to be the main gala event of 1912, but instead it became the most tragic in history. An absurd collision with an iceberg, an unorganized evacuation of people, almost one and a half thousand dead - this was the only voyage of the liner.

The history of the creation of the ship

Banal rivalry served as an incentive to start building the Titanic. The idea of ​​​​creating a liner better than that of a competitor company came up with the owner of the British shipping company White Star Line, Bruce Ismay. This happened after their main rival, the Cunard Line, set sail in 1906, their largest ship at that time, called the Lusitania.

The construction of the liner began in 1909. About three thousand specialists worked on its creation, more than seven million dollars were spent. The last work was completed in 1911, and at the same time the long-awaited descent of the liner into the water took place.

Many people, both rich and poor, sought to get the coveted ticket for this flight, but no one suspected that in a few days after the departure, the world community would discuss only one thing - how many people died on the Titanic.

Despite the fact that the White Star Line managed to outdo the competitor in shipbuilding, the subsequent sinking of the Titanic dealt a severe blow to the company's reputation. In 1934, it was completely absorbed by the Cunard Line company.

The first voyage of the "unsinkable"

The solemn departure of the luxurious ship was the most anticipated event of 1912. It was very difficult to get tickets, and they were sold out long before the scheduled flight. But as it turned out later, those who exchanged or resold their tickets were very lucky, and they did not regret that they were not on the ship when they found out how many people died on the Titanic.

The first and last flight of the largest liner of the White Star Line was scheduled for April 10, 1912. The ship's departure took place at 12 o'clock local time, and already 4 days later, on April 14, 1912, a tragedy occurred - an ill-fated collision with an iceberg.

Tragic foresight of the sinking of the Titanic

A fictional story about a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, which later turned out to be prophetic, was written by British journalist William Thomas Stead in 1886. With his publication, the author wanted to draw public attention to the need to revise the rules of navigation, namely, he demanded that the number of seats in ship's boats correspond to the number of passengers.

A few years later, Stead returned to a similar theme in a new story about a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, which occurred as a result of a collision with an iceberg. The death of people on the liner occurred due to the lack of the required number of boats.

This work of the author turned out to be prophetic. A major shipwreck occurred exactly 20 years after it was written. The journalist himself, who was on the Titanic at that moment, could not be saved.

How many people died on the Titanic: the composition of the drowned and the survivors

More than 100 years have passed since the most discussed shipwreck of the 20th century, but each time, during the next trial, new circumstances of the tragedy are clarified and updated lists of those who died and survived as a result of the shipwreck appear.

This table gives us comprehensive information. The ratio of how many women and children died on the Titanic speaks most of all about the disorganization of the evacuation. The percentage of surviving representatives of the weaker sex exceeds even the number of surviving children. As a result of the shipwreck, 80% of the men died, most of them simply did not have enough space in the lifeboats. A high percentage of deaths among children. These were mostly members of the lower class who failed to get on deck in time for evacuation.

How were people saved from high society? Class discrimination on the Titanic

As soon as it became clear that the ship did not have long to stay on the water, the captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith, gave the order to put women and children in lifeboats. At the same time, access to the deck for third-class passengers was limited. Thus, the advantage in salvation was given to representatives of high society.

A large number of dead people has become the reason that for 100 years investigations and litigation have not stopped. All experts note that there was discrimination on board during the evacuation based on gender and class. At the same time, the number of surviving crew members was greater than the representatives of the III class. Instead of helping the passengers into the boats, they were the first to escape.

How was the evacuation of people from the Titanic?

Properly unorganized evacuation of people is still considered the main cause of mass deaths. The fact of how many people died during the crash of the Titanic indicates the complete absence of any control over this process. The 20 lifeboats could accommodate at least 1,178 people. But at the beginning of the evacuation, they were launched half-filled, and not only by women and children, but also by whole families, and even with tame dogs. As a result, the occupancy of the boats was only 60%.

The total number of passengers on the ship, excluding crew members, was 1316 people, that is, the captain had the opportunity to save 90% of the passengers. Class III men were able to get on deck only towards the end of the evacuation, and therefore even more crew members were saved in the end. Numerous clarifications of the causes and facts of the shipwreck confirm that the responsibility for how many people died on the Titanic rests entirely with the captain of the liner.

Memoirs of eyewitnesses of the tragedy

All those who pulled out a lucky ticket from a sinking ship to a lifeboat received unforgettable impressions from the first and last voyage of the Titanic. The facts, the number of dead, the causes of the disaster were obtained thanks to their testimony. The memoirs of some of the surviving passengers were published and will forever remain in history.

In 2009, Millvina Dean, the last woman survivor of the Titanic, passed away. At the time of the shipwreck, she was only two and a half months old. Her father died on a sinking liner, and her mother and brother escaped with her. And although the memory of that terrible night was not preserved in the woman’s memory, the catastrophe made such a deep impression on her that she forever refused to visit the shipwreck site and never watched feature films and documentaries about the Titanic.

In 2006, at an English auction, where about 300 exhibits from the Titanic were presented, the memoirs of Ellen Churchill Candy, who was one of the passengers on the ill-fated flight, were sold for 47 thousand pounds.

The published memoirs of another Englishwoman, Elizabeth Shuts, helped in compiling a real picture of the catastrophe. She was the governess of one of the first class passengers. In her memoirs, Elizabeth indicated that the lifeboat she was evacuated to had only 36 people, only half of the total available seats.

Indirect causes of the shipwreck

In all sources of information about the Titanic, the main cause of its death is a collision with an iceberg. But as it turned out later, this event was accompanied by several indirect circumstances.

In the course of studying the causes of the disaster, a part of the ship's skin was raised to the surface from the bottom of the ocean. A piece of steel was tested, and scientists proved that the metal from which the hull of the liner was made was of poor quality. This was another reason for the crash and the reason for how many people died on the Titanic.

The ideally smooth surface of the water prevented the discovery of the iceberg in time. Even a slight wind would have been enough for the waves breaking on the ice to make it possible to detect it before the collision occurred.

The unsatisfactory work of the radio operators, who did not inform the captain in time about the ice drifting in the ocean, the too high speed of movement, which did not allow the ship to quickly change course - all these reasons together led to the tragic events on the Titanic.

The sinking of the Titanic is the worst shipwreck of the 20th century.

A fairy tale that turned into pain and horror - this is how you can characterize the first and last voyage of the Titanic liner. The true story of the disaster, even after a hundred years, is the subject of controversy and investigation. The death of nearly 1,500 people with empty lifeboats is still unexplained. Every year more and more new causes of the shipwreck are named, but none of them is able to return the lost human lives.

Incredible Facts

The sinking of the Titanic is one of the major tragedies of the 20th century.

This is a terrible event ruzheno many myths, conjectures and rumors.

But few people know what happened to the passengers of the fateful flight, who managed to survive the worst maritime disaster of the century.

The following selection of documentary photos will give a complete picture of what happened next with those who managed to escape from the sinking ship.


Passengers of the Titanic photo

Frederick Fleet



In this photo, 24-year-old British sailor Frederick Fleet a few days after the sinking of the Titanic. The guy was the first to spot the iceberg.

He took part in two world wars. In 1965, after a protracted depression, Fleet took his own life.

As for the events on the Titanic, the events developed approximately as follows:

On April 10, 1912, the ship set out on its first and last voyage. The huge liner raced at full speed from Southampton to New York.

On April 14, 1912, at 11:39 p.m., Friedrich Fleet spotted an iceberg right on the course, which eventually destroyed the Titanic.

After two hours and 40 minutes, faced with a huge boulder, he went to the bottom.

Of the 2224 people on board the "unsinkable" ship, only about 700 people fit into lifeboats, thanks to which they survived.

The remaining 1,500 died by being left on the sinking ship or died within minutes of falling into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Shortly before dawn on April 15, the flotilla of survivors was spotted by the steamer Carpathia, which arrived at the site of the sinking of the Titanic. By 9 am, all the surviving passengers were on board the Carpathia.

Photo of the iceberg Titanic

Iceberg that sank the Titanic.



The surviving passengers of the Titanic in boats swim up to the ship Carpathia, April 15, 1912.



All the same surviving passengers after a shipwreck in boats.





Sketch of the sinking Titanic.



A sketch of a sinking ship, drawn by passenger survivor John B. Thayer. Some time later, the drawings were supplemented by Mr. P.L. Skidmore (P.L. Skidmore) is already on board the ship "Carpathia", April 1912.

The surviving passengers of the Titanic are trying to keep warm on board the ship "Carpathia".



When Carpathia made her way to New York, it was decided to send out radio messages. So the news of the ongoing tragedy spread quite quickly.

People were in shock, the relatives of the passengers were in a panic. In search of information about their loved ones, they attacked the offices of the White Star Line shipping company in New York, as well as in Southampton.

Some of the wealthy and famous surviving passengers and victims were identified prior to the Carpathia's arrival at the port.

But relatives and friends of passengers of a lower class, as well as the families of crew members, continued to remain in the dark about the fate of their relatives.

The lack of connections did not allow them to get the news immediately and they had to wait in painful uncertainty.

The Carpathia arrived in New York Harbor on a rainy evening on 18 April. The ship was surrounded by more than 50 tugboats carrying journalists. They shouted, called out to the survivors, offering money for first-hand interviews.

A reporter from one of the major American publications, who at that time was on board the Carpathia, had already managed to interview the survivors. He placed his notes in a floating cigar box and tossed them into the water so the publisher's editor could fish for the message and get the scoop first.

After all lifeboats were launched at Pier 59, owned by the White Star Line. The ship itself docked at Pier 54. In the pouring rain, the ship was greeted by an alarmed crowd of 40,000 people.

People wait for news outside the White Star Line shipping company's office in New York.



Lifeboats, thanks to which several hundred people survived.



Lifeboats at the pier of the White Star Line shipping company in New York, April 1912.

People waiting for Carpathia to arrive in New York.



Huge crowds of relatives and friends stand in the rain, waiting for the arrival of the steamer "Carpathia" in New York, April 18, 1912.

About 40 thousand people are waiting for Carpathia.



Those who managed to survive the fateful voyage on the Titanic in New York were met at the port by family and friends, as well as numerous media representatives.

Someone mourned the dead, someone wanted an autograph, and someone tried to interview the survivors.

The next day, the US Senate called a special hearing on the disaster at the old Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

The entire crew of the Titanic consisted of 885 people, of which 724 people were from Southampton. At least 549 people did not return home from the fatal flight.

Surviving crew members.



Surviving crew from left to right first row: Ernest Archer, Friedrich Fleet, Walter Perkis, George Simons and Frederic Klachen.

Second row: Arthur Bright, George Hogg, John Moore, Frank Osman and Henry Etsch.

People surrounded the Titanic survivor.



A crowd of people in the port of Devonport surrounded a man who survived from the Titanic to hear firsthand how it really happened.

Payment of compensation to victims.



April 1912

J. Hanson, seated right, District Secretary of the National Union of Sailors and Firefighters. The people around him are the survivors of the Titanic, who are receiving compensation as victims of the disaster.

Relatives waiting for the survivors of the Titanic.



People wait on the Southampton railway platform for their loved ones who survived the sinking of the Titanic.

Relatives in Southampton meet their loved ones.



Relatives waiting for the surviving crew members.



Relatives are waiting for the surviving members of the Titanic crew to disembark in Southampton.

People are returning to their homes in England. The disaster claimed the lives of 549 crew members. In total, there were 724 of those from Southampton who worked on the ship, ranging from a sailor to a cook or postman.

Relatives a few minutes before meeting with surviving relatives.




Survivors on the Titanic

Relatives greet shipwrecked relatives who have arrived in Southampton.



A surviving crew member kisses his wife, who was waiting for him on land in Plymouth, April 29, 1912.



Stewards giving evidence after a shipwreck.



The surviving stewards stand outside the courthouse. They are invited to testify to the commission investigating the Titanic disaster.

The surviving passenger of "Titanic" Signs autographs to passers-by.



People who survived on the Titanic

25. The Pasco brothers, members of the crew of the ill-fated ship, were lucky enough to survive all four.



Orphans of the Titanic



April 1912

The miraculously saved two babies could not be identified at first.

The children were later identified as Michel (age 4) and Edmond (age 2) Navratil. To get on the ship, their father took the name Louis Hoffman and used the fictitious names Lolo and Mamon for the children.

The father, with whom the children sailed to New York, died, as a result of which difficulties arose with the real names of the brothers.

However, later they, nevertheless, were able to identify and the kids were safely reunited with their mother.


In this photo, Edmond and Michel Navratil, who have already grown up, are with their mother.

Cameraman Harold Thomas Coffin being interrogated by a Senate committee at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, May 29, 1912.



29. Child of the Titanic


A nurse holds the newborn Lucien P. Smith. His mother Eloise was pregnant with him when she returned with her husband from their honeymoon aboard the Titanic.

The baby's father died in the crash.

Eloise subsequently married another survivor of the dreaded flight, Robert P. Daniel.


And finally, a photograph of the Titanic itself on the day it left on its first and last fateful voyage...

Although not the worst in terms of the number of victims, the sinking of the Titanic remains the most famous shipwreck in history. Real interesting facts about the crash and death of a famous ship have been occupied by scientists, specialists and ordinary people for more than a century, at whose service there are books, TV shows, documentaries and feature films, among which the famous painting by James Cameron stands out as a mighty block. But in the catastrophe of the sea giant, there are blank spots that need to be filled. Here we want to present 15 real facts about the death of the legendary ship Titanic, which wrecked on April 14, 1912 when it collided with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship sank two and a half hours later, when it was already the 15th.

On April 10, 1912, the eight-deck Titanic sailed from Southampton to New York on her first and last voyage. Four days later, the ship received multiple holes below the waterline after colliding with a mountain of ice in the North Atlantic. First mate William Murdoch spotted the approaching iceberg a minute before impact, but for some unknown reason delayed thirty seconds before sounding the alarm. This was far from the only mistake that ultimately led to the collapse of the Titanic. Below are other tragic entertaining interesting facts.

1. After the Titanic collided with an iceberg, the deck of the ship was strewn with snow and ice, which many passengers took as an unexpected trick and began to play football with ice fragments, not even knowing about the nightmare that had come.

John Jacob Astor IV
2. A first-class ticket cost about $100,000 according to modern recalculations, so really wealthy people floated on the upper deck, and the richest among them was John Jacob Astor IV, whose fortune was estimated at $85 million. In this century, Astor would be considered a billionaire. The rich man set sail with his wife, whom he put in a lifeboat, and he himself, with discipline (an army past), began to wait for his turn. Astor Four did not survive.


3. According to statistics, 74% of women and 20% of men survived on the sunken ship giant, so with all the scandals and shameful panic acts, a strong half of the passenger population behaved with dignity. As the heroic members of the ship's orchestra acted, without exaggeration, until the last minute they supported their colleagues in misfortune with their game.

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4. A Parisian-style cafe, Turkish bath, gymnasium, large library with reading room, squash court, living garden, hair salon, heated swimming pool, elevators and other luxurious furnishings made up the daily comfort of first-class passengers who were invited to feel at home. At the same time, seven hundred people from the third class used two tiny bathrooms.

Last photo of Titanic passengers
5. A photo of first-class travelers satisfied with life and transatlantic voyage was taken in the ballroom of the ship on the night of 04/14/1912, a few minutes before the accident.


6. News about the real situation with the surviving and dead passengers remained a mystery to the rest of the world for several days, and the first newspapers even reported that all the tourists and crew members survived the Titanic crash.



7. According to the construction plans, the Titanic was equipped with 64 rescue boats, however, to reduce the cost of the project and not to spoil the view of the ship for tourists strolling the upper tiers, only 20 boats were available at the fateful moment. During the rescue efforts, many of the boats were only half full, because the crew was practically unprepared for an emergency situation and made a lot of mistakes in a state of panic.

The ship's band "Titanic"
8. The most miraculous rescue story ever happened to Charles Jufin, the staff cook on the Titanic. The cook was not lucky enough to get into one of the rescue groups, so the cook dangled in the water for two and a half hours and miraculously did not freeze from the cold, which happened to the others trying to survive in the icy water. Subsequently, Jufin claimed that he was saved by a mighty amount of whiskey, which the cook diligently stuffed into himself before throwing himself overboard.


9. Science fiction writer Morgan Robertson, in The Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, described a shipwreck oddly reminiscent of the April 1912 disaster, with an almost exact match for the name of the floating transport. That's just the novel was written in 1898, when the Titanic was only a figment of the imagination of its future designers.

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10. The Titanic has taken thirteen couples on their honeymoon, for whom a romantic getaway has turned into a nightmarish attraction.


11. One of the reasons why the crew proved to be incompetent in rescue procedures is the fact that a training lecture and practical exercises with passengers in case of an emergency at sea were scheduled for the day of April 15 - too late, because the tragedy happened on the eve of X-day.


12. Almost immediately after the sinking, the wealthy relatives of the dead tourists began to discuss the possibility of lifting the ship up and delivering it to New York, but years and decades passed without bringing the desired results. The depth in this part of the ocean reaches several kilometers, so before the invention of deep-sea submersibles, there could be no question of saving the Titanic, which was considered missing for more than seventy years. Only on September 1, 1985, the state-of-the-art Argo apparatus recorded the first frames with the details of the wrecked ship at a depth of about 4000 meters.



13. Halomonas titanic, a new metal-eating bacterium, is named after a steamship lying at the bottom, which will be completely “devoured” in the next twenty to thirty years, unless the ship is raised to the surface.


14. James Cameron created a great work dedicated to love and epic tragedy, but on the Titanic, and without the imagination of the director, there were people who showed the world an amazing romantic and tragic story that will forever remain in the annals of human civilization.
American-German businessman Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida lived instead for more than forty years before making a trip on the famous ship. The entrepreneur had the opportunity to be among the rescued, but refused to take a seat in a boat filled with women and children. But Ida did not want to leave her beloved husband, so she refused to escape without her husband. Therefore, the Strauss, holding hands, remained on deck and met death with dignity.


15. In addition to the Strauss, the shipwreck was fatal for one and a half thousand people. Experts call the figure 1513, which could be much less if all the safety rules were observed on the Titanic, or at least there were no cases of outright bungling. As, for example, with the key to the box with binoculars.

David Blair, who was previously in charge of this function as an assistant captain, was removed from the flight, replaced by a more experienced officer. And Blair forgot to give the key to the box, which led to the absence of binoculars on the fateful night. Looking ahead, Fred Fleet survived the sinking of the ship and subsequently claimed that he would have noticed the approach of an icy disaster much earlier if he had ordinary marine binoculars at hand.

Catastrophes always excite the minds of people, even after a hundred years. Interest in any event can now be fueled by cinema, just one successful film and society will never forget about any problem or event. This is how the owners and crew of the Titanic went down in history, though not in the best light. But before talking about the shipwreck, it would be useful to know where and where the Titanic was sailing from?

Travel between continents

Today, to overcome the distance between Europe and America, it is enough to buy a plane ticket. Already on the same day with this cherished ticket, you can be on the other side of the globe, spending 7-8 hours and not such a big amount. But jet liners in civil aviation appeared not so long ago, before that the situation was a little different. It’s quite sad, in the opinion of the modern layman, it was about the invention of aircraft:

  • The only possible travel option is by ship. The journey could take weeks.
  • At the end of the 19th century, steamships were designed that made it possible to cross the ocean in 5 days.
  • But even in this short period of time, anything could happen, shipwrecks are not uncommon today.
  • But the main troubles that tormented the first pilgrims, in the form of scurvy and infectious diseases, faded into the background.

At the time of the commissioning of the Titanic, there were two main companies, one of them emphasized travel speed , another on comfort and luxury . Looking at the interior of the Titanic, you can immediately understand which of the two offices it belonged to.

Protecting the Unsinkable Titanic

Everyone heard something about the unsinkability of the Titanic and some unique system installed on the ship. She was all reduced to three points:

Bulkheads

Second bottom

Pumps

There were 16 watertight bulkheads in total.

It was at a height of 160 cm and protected from any damage.

They worked on electricity generated by engines.

Cast-iron doors were installed between each of them, for the team.

It had a cellular structure, which was supposed to prevent flooding.

They pumped out water entering the bulkheads and compartments.

Damage to even a few compartments would not lead to the flooding of the vessel.

It was considered an ingenious engineering solution that would avoid the crash of the ship.

They could only handle a certain amount of water.

Theoretically, any minor accident should not have led to the rapid sinking of the ship. Although it is difficult to talk about insignificance when it comes to a collision with an iceberg. Coping with the consequences of such a contact turned out to be beyond even most modern system, which only existed at that time.

The route of the Titanic and its passengers

As already mentioned, the ship's route ran from Europe to America. But this is not the most accurate route:

  • The liner departed from Southampton. If today this English town is not familiar to anyone, then a hundred years ago it was the largest port in all of Britain.
  • The ship made its first stop in France, visiting the port of Cherbourg.
  • After that, the Titanic entered the port of Queenstown, Ireland.
  • This was the last stop of the ship, then it was supposed to follow to the final point, to the port of New York.

Such an unusual route within Europe made it possible to gather everyone. Both from the islands and from the mainland of the continent. Sending to Ireland helped to get to the right latitude and lay the best route.

At that time, the United States was a country of hope and new opportunities, but despite this, not only adventurers and thrill-seekers sailed to America. The aristocracy, businessmen and industrialists traveled first class. They all departed from different intentions:

  • Someone was looking for new sensations and entertainment.
  • Others sought to conclude the most profitable contracts in new markets.
  • Some explored the New World in search of profits and opportunities for growth.

But regardless of the initial motives and desires, the same inglorious outcome awaited all of them.

Cause of the sinking and death of the passengers of the Titanic

So what was the problem of the most unsinkable ship? Yes, that the hole from the iceberg was in length over 90 m. It is easy to understand that more than one bulkhead, not two, or even three, was pierced. In an attempt to evade the Frost Giant, the ship attempted to veer sharply off course and pass by, but instead received a tangential blow. It was such a blow that tore the plating to shreds for 5 bulkheads. The engineering system was not designed for such a level of damage.

But why did almost 70% of the passengers and crew members die? And here the whole a series of errors and criminal negligence:

  1. The ship was sailing at full speed, despite warnings about the presence of icebergs in these waters.
  2. It is the high speed of the vessel that explains such massive damage.
  3. The capacity of the boats was designed for only a thousand people, despite the fact that the number of passengers exceeded two thousand.
  4. The defense system played a cruel joke, keeping the ship afloat without visible changes for the first time. For a couple of hours, no one could even understand that the ship was sinking. In this regard, it was difficult to convince passengers to go from comfortable decks to boats.
  5. Nearby ships were either too far away or did not come to the rescue.

The first and last flight of the liner

The Titanic made its only voyage along an uncomplicated route. It contained only 4 points:

  1. Southampton.
  2. Cherbourg.
  3. Queenstown.
  4. New York.

England. France. Ireland. USA. Exactly in that order. But the ship never made it to its final destination. As did most of the passengers and crew.

A project has already been launched to build a similar ship, which will pass along the same route from where and where the Titanic sailed. Historic voyage for lovers " tickle your nerves”, but it all sounds too tragic.

Video: where was the Titanic going?

Below is the documentary "Titanic's Destination", in which historian Anton Makarov will talk about the departure point of the legendary ship and where it sailed. The moment of the sinking of the Titanic will also be shown:


The Titanic is a British steamship operated by the White Star Line, one of three Olympic-class twin ships. The largest passenger liner in the world at the time of its construction. During the first voyage on April 14, 1912, she collided with an iceberg and sank after 2 hours and 40 minutes. There were 1,316 passengers and 892 crew members on board, for a total of 2,208 people. Of these, 704 people survived, more than 1,500 died. The Titanic disaster became legendary and was one of the largest shipwrecks in history. Several feature films have been shot on its plot.

Statistics

Common data:

  • Port of registry - Liverpool.
  • Board number - 401.
  • The call sign is MGY.
  • Ship dimensions:
  • Length - 259.83 meters.
  • Width - 28.19 meters.
  • Weight - 46328 tons.
  • Displacement - 52310 tons.
  • The height from the waterline to the boat deck is 19 meters.
  • From the keel to the top of the pipe - 55 meters.
  • Draft - 10.54 meters.

Technical details:

  • Steam boilers - 29.
  • Waterproof compartments - 16.
  • Maximum speed - 23 knots.

Rescue equipment:

  • Standard boats - 14 (65 places).
  • Collapsible boats - 4 (47 seats).

Passengers:

  • I class: 180 men and 145 women (including 6 children).
  • II class: 179 men and 106 women (including 24 children).
  • III class: 510 men and 196 women (including 79 children).

Team members:

  • Officers - 8 people (including the captain).
  • Deck crew - 66 people.
  • Engine room - 325 people.
  • Service staff - 494 people (including 23 women).
  • In total, there were 2201 people on board.

officers

  • Captain - Edward J. Smith
  • Chief Officer – Henry F. Wild
  • First Mate – William M. Murdoch
  • Second Officer – Charles G. Lightoller
  • Third Mate - Herbert J. Pitman
  • Fourth Mate – Joseph G. Boxhall
  • Fifth Mate – Harold P. Lowe
  • 6th Mate – James P. Moody
building
It was laid down on March 31, 1909 at the shipyards of the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding company in Queens Island (Belfast, Northern Ireland), launched on May 31, 1911, and passed sea trials on April 2, 1912.

Specifications
height from the keel to the tops of the pipes - 53.3 m;
engine room - 29 boilers, 159 coal furnaces;
The unsinkability of the ship was ensured by 15 watertight bulkheads in the hold, creating 16 conditionally "watertight" compartments; the space between the bottom and the flooring of the second bottom was divided by transverse and longitudinal partitions into 46 watertight compartments.

Bulkheads
Watertight bulkheads, marked from bow to stern with the letters "A" to "P", rose from the second bottom and passed through 4 or 5 decks: the first two and the last five reached deck "D", eight bulkheads in the center of the liner reached only the deck "E". All bulkheads were so strong that they had to withstand significant pressure when getting a hole.
The Titanic was built to stay afloat if any two of its 16 watertight compartments, any three of the first five compartments, or all of the first four compartments were flooded.
The first two bulkheads in the bow and the last in the stern were solid, all the rest had sealed doors that allowed the crew and passengers to move between compartments. On the deck of the second bottom, in the bulkhead "K", there were the only doors that led to the cold store. On decks "F" and "E" in almost all bulkheads there were airtight doors connecting the rooms used by passengers, all of them could be battened down both remotely and manually, using a device located directly on the door and from the deck to which it reached bulkhead. To batten down such doors on the passenger decks, a special key was required, which was available only to the senior stewards. But on deck "G" there were no doors in the bulkheads.
In the bulkheads "D" - "O", directly above the second bottom in the compartments where the machines and boilers were located, there were 12 vertically closing doors, they were controlled by an electric drive from the navigation bridge. In case of danger or accident, or when the captain or watch officer deemed it necessary, electromagnets released the latches on a signal from the bridge and all 12 doors fell under their own gravity and the space behind them turned out to be hermetically closed. If the doors were closed by an electric signal from the bridge, then it was possible to open them only after removing the voltage from the electric drive.
In the ceiling of each compartment was a spare hatch, usually leading to the boat deck. Those who did not have time to leave the room before the doors closed could climb its iron ladder.

boats
In formal accordance with the current requirements of the British Merchant Shipping Code, the ship had 20 lifeboats, which were enough to board 1178 people, that is, for 50% of the people on board at that moment and 30% of the planned load. This was taken into account with the expectation of increasing the walking space on the deck of the passengers of the ship.

Decks
On the Titanic there were 8 steel decks located one above the other at a distance of 2.5-3.2 m. The uppermost one was a boat deck, under it there were seven others, indicated from top to bottom with letters from “A” to “G”. Only decks "C", "D", "E" and "F" stretched along the entire length of the vessel. The boat deck and the "A" deck did not reach either the bow or the stern, and the "G" deck was located only in the front of the liner - from the boiler rooms to the bow and in the aft - from the engine room to the stern cut. On the open boat deck there were 20 lifeboats, along the sides there were promenade decks.
Deck "A" with a length of 150 m was almost entirely intended for first-class passengers. B Deck was interrupted at the bow to form an open space above C Deck, and then continued as a 37-meter bow superstructure with anchor handling equipment and mooring arrangements. In front of deck "C" there were anchor winches for the two main side anchors, there was also a galley and a dining room for sailors and stokers. Behind the bow superstructure there was a promenade (the so-called inter-superstructure) deck for third-class passengers 15 m long. On deck “D” there was another, isolated, third-class promenade deck. Along the entire length of deck "E" were the cabins of passengers of the first and second classes, as well as the cabins of the stewards and mechanics. In the first part of deck "F" there were 64 cabins for passengers of the second class and the main living quarters for passengers of the third, stretching for 45 m and occupying the entire width of the liner.
There were two large salons, a dining room for third-class passengers, ship's laundries, a swimming pool and Turkish baths. Deck "G" captured only the bow and stern, between which the boiler rooms were located. The forward part of the deck, 58 m long, was 2 m above the waterline, gradually lowered towards the center of the liner and at the opposite end was already at the level of the waterline. There were 26 cabins for 106 third class passengers, the rest of the area was occupied by the luggage compartment for first class passengers, the ship's mail and the ball room. Behind the bow of the deck there were coal bunkers, which occupied 6 watertight compartments around the chimneys, followed by 2 compartments with steam pipes for reciprocating steam engines and a turbine compartment. This was followed by the aft part of the deck 64 m long with warehouses, pantries and 60 cabins for 186 third-class passengers, which was already below the waterline.

Masts

One was aft, the other was on the forecastle, each was steel with a teak top. On the front, at a height of 29 m from the waterline, there was a mars platform (“crow's nest”), which could be reached by an internal metal ladder.

Service premises
In front of the boat deck there was a navigation bridge, 58 m away from the bow. On the bridge there was a wheelhouse with a steering wheel and a compass, immediately behind it was a room where navigation charts were stored. To the right of the wheelhouse were the navigational cabin, the captain's cabin and part of the officers' cabins, to the left - the rest of the officers' cabins. Behind them, behind the front funnel, was the cabin of the radiotelegraph and the cabin of the radio operator. In front of deck "D" there were living quarters for 108 stokers, a special spiral ladder connected this deck directly to the boiler rooms, so that the stokers could leave for work and return without passing by the cabins or saloons for passengers. In front of deck "E" there were living quarters for 72 loaders and 44 sailors. In the first part of the "F" deck there were quarters of 53 stokers of the third shift. Deck G contained quarters for 45 stokers and oilers.

Size comparison of the Titanic with the modern cruise ship Queen Mary 2, A-380 aircraft, bus, car and person

Second bottom
The second bottom was located about one and a half meters above the keel and occupied 9/10 of the ship's length, not capturing only small areas in the bow and stern. On the second day, boilers, reciprocating steam engines, a steam turbine and electric generators were installed, all firmly fixed on steel plates, the remaining space was used for cargo, coal and drinking water tanks. In the engine room section, the second bottom rose 2.1 m above the keel, which increased the protection of the liner in case of damage to the outer skin.

Power point
The registered power of steam engines and turbines was 50 thousand liters. With. (actually 55 thousand hp). The turbine was located in the fifth watertight compartment in the stern of the liner, in the next compartment, closer to the bow, steam engines were located, the other 6 compartments were occupied by twenty-four double-flow and five single-flow boilers that produced steam for the main machines, turbines, generators and auxiliary mechanisms. The diameter of each boiler was 4.79 m, the length of the double-flow boiler was 6.08 m, the single-flow boiler was 3.57 m. Each double-flow boiler had 6 fireboxes, and the single-flow boiler had 3. In addition, the Titanic was equipped with four auxiliary machines with generators, each with a capacity of 400 kilowatts, producing a current of 100 volts. Next to them were two more 30-kilowatt generators.

Pipes
The liner had 4 tubes. The diameter of each was 7.3 m, height - 18.5 m. The first three removed smoke from the boiler furnaces, the fourth, located above the turbine compartment, served as an exhaust fan, a chimney for ship kitchens was connected to it. A longitudinal section of the vessel is presented on its model exhibited at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, where it is clearly seen that the last pipe was not connected to the fireboxes. There is an opinion that when designing the vessel, the widespread opinion of the public was taken into account that the solidity and reliability of the vessel directly depends on the number of its pipes. It also follows from the literature that in the last moments of the ship leaving the water almost vertically, its fake pipe fell off its place and, falling into the water, killed a large number of passengers and crew members in the water.

Electrical supply

10 thousand light bulbs, 562 electric heaters were connected to the distribution network, mainly in first-class cabins, 153 electric motors, including electric drives for eight cranes with a total capacity of 18 tons, 4 cargo winches with a capacity of 750 kg, 4 elevators, each for 12 people, and lots of phones. In addition, electricity was consumed by fans in the boiler and engine rooms, apparatus in the gym, dozens of machines and appliances in the kitchens, including refrigerators.

Connection
The telephone exchange serviced 50 lines. The radio equipment on the liner was the most modern, the power of the main transmitter was 5 kilowatts, the power came from an electric generator. The second, an emergency transmitter, was powered by batteries. 4 antennas were strung between the two masts, some up to 75 m high. The guaranteed range of the radio signal was 250 miles. During the day, under favorable conditions, communication was possible at a distance of up to 400 miles, and at night - up to 2000.
The radio equipment came on board on April 2 from the Marconi company, which by that time had monopolized the radio industry in Italy and England. Two young radio officer officers assembled and installed the station all day, for verification, a test connection was immediately made with the coast station at Malin Head, on the north coast of Ireland, and with Liverpool. On April 3, the radio equipment worked like clockwork, on this day a connection was established with the island of Tenerife at a distance of 2000 miles and with Port Said in Egypt (3000 miles). In January 1912, the Titanic was assigned radio call signs "MUC", then they were replaced by "MGY", previously owned by the American ship Yale. As the dominant radio company, Marconi introduced its own radio call signs, most of which began with the letter "M", regardless of its location and the country of home of the vessel on which it was installed.

clash

Iceberg thought to have hit the Titanic

Recognizing an iceberg in a light haze, the forward looking Fleet warned “there is ice in front of us” and struck the bell three times, which meant an obstacle straight ahead, after which he rushed to the telephone connecting the “crow’s nest” with the bridge. Moody's sixth mate, who was on the bridge, responded almost immediately and heard a cry of "ice right ahead". With a polite thank you, Moody turned to the officer of the watch, Murdoch, and repeated the warning. He rushed to the telegraph, put his handle on "stop" and shouted "rudder right", at the same time transmitting the order "full back" to the engine room. According to the terminology of 1912, "rudder right" meant turning the stern of the ship to the right, and the bow to the left. The steersman, Robert Hitchens, leaned on the handle of the steering wheel and quickly turned it counterclockwise to the stop, after which Murdoch was told "rudder to the right, sir." At that moment, Alfred Oliver, the helmsman of the watch, and Boxhall, who was in the chart house, came running to the bridge when the bells rang out in the "crow's nest". Murdoch pulled the lever, which included the closing of watertight doors in the bulkheads of the boiler rooms and the engine room, and immediately gave the order "left rudder!"

lifeboats
There were 2,208 people on board the Titanic, but the total capacity of the lifeboats was only 1,178 people. The reason was that, according to the rules then in force, the total capacity of lifeboats depended on the tonnage of the ship, and not on the number of passengers and crew members. The rules were drawn up in 1894, when the largest ships had a displacement of about 10,000 tons. The displacement of the Titanic was 46,328 tons.
But even these boats were only partially filled. Captain Smith gave the order or instruction "women and children first". The officers interpreted this order in different ways. Second mate Lightoller, who commanded the launching of the boats on the port side, allowed the men to take places in the boats only if rowers were needed and under no other circumstances. First mate Murdoch, who commanded the launch of the boats on the starboard side, allowed the men to go down if there were no women and children. So, in boat number 1, only 12 seats out of 40 were occupied. In addition, at first, many passengers did not want to take seats in boats, because the Titanic, which had no external damage, seemed safer to them. The last boats filled better, because it was already obvious to the passengers that the Titanic would sink. In the very last boat, 44 seats out of 47 were occupied. But in the sixteenth boat that left the side there were many empty seats, passengers of the 1st class were saved in it.
As a result of the analysis of the operation to rescue people from the Titanic, it is concluded that with adequate actions by the team of victims, there would have been at least 553 fewer people. The reason for the low survival rate of passengers on the ship is the installation given by the captain to save, first of all, women and children, and not all passengers; the interest of the crew in this order of boarding the boats. By preventing male passengers from accessing the boats, the men from the crew got the opportunity to take places in the half-empty boats themselves, covering their interests with the “noble motives” of caring for women and children. In the event that all passengers, men and women, took their places in the boats, the men from the crew would not get into them and their chances of salvation would be equal to zero, and the crew could not help but understand this. The men from the crew occupied part of the seats in almost all boats during the evacuation from the ship, on average 10 people from the crew per 1 boat. 24% of the crew were saved, about the same as 3rd class passengers were saved (25%). The team had no reason to consider their duty fulfilled - most of the passengers remained on the ship with no hope of salvation, even the order to save women and children in the first place was not fulfilled (several dozen children, and more than a hundred women never got into the boats).
The report of the British Commission on the results of the investigation into the circumstances of the sinking of the Titanic states that "if the boats had been delayed a little longer before launching, or if the doors of the passage had been opened for passengers, more of them could have got on the boats." The reason for the low survival rate of class 3 passengers with a high degree of probability can be considered obstacles placed by the crew for the passage of passengers to the deck, closing the doors of the passage. Comparing the results of the evacuation from the Titanic with the results of the evacuation from the Lusitania (1915) shows that the evacuation operation on ships like the Titanic and the Lusitania can be organized without a disproportion in the percentage of survivors depending on the sex or class of passengers.
People in boats, as a rule, did not save those who were in the water. On the contrary, they tried to sail as far as possible from the wreck, fearing that those in the water would capsize their boats or be sucked into the funnel from a sinking ship. Only 6 people were picked up alive from the water.

Official data on the number of dead and rescued
Category Percentage rescued Percentage of dead Number of rescued Number of dead How much was
Children, first grade 100.0 00.0 6 0 6
Children, second grade 100.0 00.0 24 0 24
Women, first class 97.22 02.78 140 4 144
Women, crew 86.96 13.04 20 3 23
Women, second class 86.02 13.98 80 13 93
Women third grade 46.06 53.94 76 89 165
Children, third grade 34.18 65.82 27 52 79
Men, first class 32.57 67.43 57 118 175
men, crew 21.69 78.31 192 693 885
Men, third grade 16.23 83.77 75 387 462
Men, second class 8.33 91.67 14 154 168
Total 31.97 68.03 711 1513 2224

The path of the Titanic and the place of its crash.

Chronology
The path of the Titanic and the place of its crash.

April 10, 1912

- 12:00 - "Titanic" departs from the quay wall of the Southampton port and narrowly avoids a collision with the American liner "New York".
-19:00 stop in Cherbourg (France) to pick up passengers and mail.
-21:00 - The Titanic left Cherbourg and headed for Queenstown (Ireland).

April 11, 1912

-12:30 - stop in Queenstown to pick up passengers and mail; one member of the crew deserts from the Titanic.
-14:00 - The Titanic departs Queenstown with 1,316 passengers and 891 crew members on board.

April 14, 1912
-09:00 - "Caronia" reports ice in the region of 42 ° north latitude, 49-51 ° west longitude.
-13:42 - "Baltik" reports the presence of ice in the area of ​​41°51' north latitude, 49°52' west longitude.
-13:45 - "America" ​​reports ice in the region of 41°27'N, 50°8'W.
-19:00 - air temperature 43 ° Fahrenheit (6 ° C).
-19:30 - air temperature 39 ° Fahrenheit (3.9 ° C).
-19:30 - Californian reports ice at 42°3'N, 49°9'W.
-21:00 - air temperature 33 ° Fahrenheit (0.6 ° C).
-21:30 - the second officer of the captain Lightoller warns the ship's carpenter and watchmen in the engine room that it is necessary to monitor the fresh water system - the water in the pipelines may freeze; he tells the lookout to watch the appearance of ice.
-21:40 - "Mesaba" reports ice in the region of 42°-41°25' north latitude, 49°-50°30' west longitude.
-22:00 - Air temperature 32° Fahrenheit (0 °C).
-22:30 - the sea water temperature dropped to 31 ° Fahrenheit (-0.56 ° C).
-23:00 - The Californian warns of the presence of ice, but the Titanic's radio operator cuts off the radio traffic before the Californian manages to report the coordinates of the area.
-23:40 - At a point with coordinates 41 ° 46' north latitude, 50 ° 14' west longitude (later it turned out that these coordinates were calculated incorrectly), an iceberg was noticed at a distance of about 450 meters straight ahead. Despite the maneuver, after 39 seconds, the underwater part of the ship touched, and the ship's hull received numerous small holes for a length of about 100 meters. Of the 16 watertight compartments of the vessel, 6 were cut through (in the sixth, the leak was extremely insignificant).
April 15, 1912
-00:05 - an order was given to uncover the lifeboats and convene crew members and passengers to the muster points.
-00:15 - the first radiotelegraph signal for help was transmitted from the Titanic.
-00:45 - the first flare was fired, and the first lifeboat (No. 7) was launched.
-01:15 - Class 3 passengers are allowed on deck.
-01:40 - the last flare was fired.
-02:05 - the last lifeboat is launched.
-02:10 - the last radiotelegraph signals were transmitted.
-02:17 - Electric lighting goes out.
-02:18 - "Titanic" breaks into three parts
-02:20 - Titanic sank.
-03:30 - flares fired from the Carpathia are noticed in lifeboats.
-04:10 - "Carpathia" picked up the first lifeboat from the "Titanic" (boat number 2).

Lifeboat "Titanic", filmed by one of the passengers of the "Carpathia"

-08:30 - Carpathia picked up the last (No. 12) lifeboat from the Titanic.
-08:50 - Carpathia, taking on board 704 people who escaped from the Titanic, heads for New York.