The year was 1912. It was the Golden Age of ocean liners. Airplanes were still very new, so the only way to travel long distances across water was by boat. Immigration was very popular, so there was a steady stream of eager passengers. Competition was fierce in the trans-Atlantic passenger trade. The White Star Line had been inspired to create the Titanic in response to the recent creation by their chief competitor and rival, Cunard Line, of the very successful ocean liners Lusitania and Mauretania. White Star Line was determined to become the leader in the profitable trans-Atlantic passenger trade. So a plan was hatched to build a trio of liners, called the Olympic-class, which would be bigger and more luxurious than any ship built prior. The Titanic was the second of these three ships built, and went on to become the most famous as a result of her tragic sinking after striking an iceberg en route to New York on her maiden voyage.
The Titanic had a reputation of great luxury; she was nicknamed the “Millionaire’s special,” and could be referred to as a floating palace. She helped set the standard by offering industry leading accommodations for all passengers, particularly those in first-class. The crowning achievement of the ship’s interior was the forward Grand Staircase, featuring intricately carved oak paneling, bronze statues, and a glass dome to top it off. The Titanic had also been nicknamed the “Ship of Dreams,” due to the large number of immigrants on board hoping to start a new life in America. And designed with many of the latest advances in shipbuilding technology, the ship was considered to be very safe. She had even been described as “practically unsinkable.”
The voyage began with much fanfare, the decks of the ship and the docks far below crowded with cheering passengers and spectators. As the Titanic steamed on toward America, things were going well for the most part. But four days in, the first major signs of trouble began to arise. Numerous ice warnings had been received throughout the day, and during that night, weather conditions made it difficult for the lookouts in the crow’s nest to spot icebergs. For one thing, it was a windless night, meaning that there would be no water rippling at the base of icebergs, and it was also a moonless night, meaning that the lookouts wouldn’t be able to see light from the moon reflecting off any icebergs. In addition to that, a key ice warning received by the Titanic’s radio operator was not delivered to the captain; he was busy sending passengers’ messages to the coast, and mistakenly believed that this ice warning was little more important than the previous warnings he had delivered throughout the day.
As Captain Smith had been resting in his quarters at the time, First Officer Murdoch was in command when the iceberg was spotted. After receiving word of the iceberg lying directly in the Titanic’s path, the orders he called for would prove fatal for the ship. Murdoch ordered that the engines be put in full reverse, and that the ship make a hard turn to the left; unfortunately, ordering that the engines be put in reverse decreased the ship’s turning ability, making a collision unavoidable. One of the Titanic’s much-touted safety features had been the division of the hull into 16 watertight compartments. The ship could stay afloat if up to the first 4 compartments had been flooded, but the iceberg ripped open the first 5 compartments. Titanic was doomed.
After Captain Smith had been alerted of the collision, which had been hardly noticed by many of those on board, he ordered an assessment of the damage. Thomas Andrews, the designer of the Titanic, had been along for the voyage to check for any improvements he could make to the ship, so he was very helpful in this damage assessment. He gave the ship an hour, maybe two, before she’d be swallowed up by the Atlantic. Captain Smith then ordered that the radio operators begin sending out calls for help, and soon after ordered that the women and children start being put into the lifeboats. But the passengers were not informed of the dire situation the ship was in, as the Captain didn’t want to cause a panic. And filling the lifeboats proved no easy task. Minimal lifeboat drills had been practiced, which meant that this would be the first experience much of the crew and passengers would have operating and filling them. Many passengers found it to be unbelievable that such a massive ship as the Titanic could possibly be harmed by any iceberg. Rumors spread between the passengers, such as that the Titanic was in no trouble at all, or that Titanic’s sister ship Olympic would be arriving shortly to help. And since the rule was women and children first, many men were turned away, even with space remaining in the boats. Many women refused to get into a lifeboat and leave their husbands behind. With just 20 lifeboats, all together having a maximum capacity of roughly half of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board, the situation was only made worse by the fact that many lifeboats were being lowered only half-full.
The situation wasn’t much better in the wireless radio room; it turned out that the nearest ship that could be contacted, the Carpathia, was approximately 58 miles away, and so would not be able to arrive to help for multiple hours. As the Titanic’s bow sank deeper and deeper into the water, it became increasingly clear to all on board that the ship could and would sink. Panic began to set in among some of the passengers, and so the crew had to use guns to ward off any attempts at swarming the few remaining lifeboats. After the last lifeboat had gone, more than 1,500 people remained on the ship, crowding toward the stern as their last hope at keeping out of the ice cold North Atlantic waters. By 2:28AM, the Titanic was completely gone. Those remaining in the water struggled to keep alive, despite the cold. Cries for help rang through the night sky. But out of fear of getting swarmed, those in the lifeboats did not return to help. The passengers in the lifeboats who urged that they return to help were overruled by their fellow passengers. It would not take long for those in the water to succumb to the cold. As dawn approached, the Carpathia was spotted on the horizon. Finally, help had arrived, but unfortunately, it was far too late for the many who were left in the water.
They came at a tragic cost, but many lessons were learned from the sinking of the Titanic. From then on, it would be mandated that ships carry enough lifeboats for every person on board. Lifeboat drills would be practiced at the beginning of every voyage. An international ice patrol would be formed, in order to keep track of any ice in the major shipping lanes. And every iceberg warning would be delivered to the captain. The voyage began with much joy and optimism about traveling in the world’s largest and most luxurious ship, but ended in a sad and shocking disaster. While the Titanic rests at the bottom of the ocean, she continues to live on as the most famous ship in history through countless books, films, and exhibits. She will forever serve as a lesson of the dangers of arrogant overconfidence in the technological achievements of man.
