Painting © Ken Marschall
, History of Titanic
four 63 feet tall funnels were functional;
the fourth, which only served as a vent, was
added to make the ship look more impres-
sive. The ship could carry a total of 3,547
passengers and crew. Because she also car-
ried mail, her name was given the prefix
RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS
(Steam Ship).
For its time, this ship was unsurpassed
in luxury and opulence. The domed Grand
Staircase formed a spectacular entrance
to the reception area. The ship featured
an onboard swimming pool, gymnasium,
Turkish & electric baths, a library and
squash court. First-class common rooms
were ornately appointed with elaborate
At Noon on Wednesday April 10, 1912, m
the majestic RMS Titanic began her maid- li
en voyage from Southhampton, England,
bound for New York. She was the largest
p
man-made moving creation on land or sea ‘N
at that time. Dignitaries, reporters, work- m
men, and a crowd of more than 100,000 g
gazed in awe at the departure of the mag- in
nificent ship. She was taller than a ten-story
THURSDAY • APRIL 12 • 2012 | A NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
building and nearly a sixth of a mile long.
The Titanic was, for her time, the most lux- D
urious ocean liner ever built. She was des- Construction of the Titanic began nearly S
tined to become the most famous ship in two-years later at the Harland and Wolff
history, just not in the way most expected. Shipyard (HWS) in Belfast, Ireland on the
River Lagan on March 31, 1909. At the T
peak of construction, more than 14,000
Irish Shipyard workers labored at the site, p
working from 7:30am to 5:30pm five days a
week, plus a half-day on Saturday.
e
The great ship’s hull was launched May e
31, 1911 as more than 100,000 people r
watched. It took over 44,000 pounds of B
grease to lubricate Titanic’s slide down A
the slipway. Her outfitting was completed
Left: Lord Pirrie, Chairman, Harland & by March 31, 1912. Titanic measured an
Wolff Shipbuilders incredible 882 feet 9 inches long and 92
s
Right: J. Bruce Ismay, Director, White Star feet 6 inches wide. She was run by two i
Line huge steam engines and one low-pressure d
turbine, which powered three propellers. B
The concept for a fleet of three ships of Twenty-nine boilers fired by 159 coal burn- with one in three of the world’s po
unrivaled size and luxury was hatched three ing furnaces made possible a top speed experienced newfound wealth and i
years earlier. On April 30, 1907, Lord Pirrie, of 23 knots (26.5 mph). Only three of the
chairman of the Harland & Wolff ship-
tainment and travel as never before.
builders, held an informal dinner meeting It was a time of great inequali
at his mansion. In attendance was J. Bruce racy were made possible by the lab
Ismay, director of the White Star Line. The Inequalities between wealth and po
three ships they planned to build would even one’s occupation were rigidly
be the Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic middle classes to the upper class wa
(renamed the Britannic). Their goal was
to top their rival, The Cunard Line, which
times even by law.
had built the Lusitania and the Mauritania,
the most luxurious and fastest liners on the
Atlantic Ocean at that time.
For Classroom T
, steam-driven generators and ship-wide lifeboats should be increased. Bruce
wiring for electric lights, telephone system Ismay thought this to be too expensive
and two Marconi telegraphy radios. Two and unsightly (a decision he would deeply
Marconi Company operators worked in regret).
shifts sending and receiving passenger mes- No one thought lifeboats would be need-
sages using the 5,000-watt system. First- ed, since Titanic was considered a pinnacle
class passengers paid a hefty fee for such of naval architecture and technological
amenities; the most expensive one-way
trans-Atlantic passage was $4,375 (equiva-
lent to $99,237 in 2011). Let the Truth be known, no
ship is unsinkable. The bigger
the ship, the easier it is to sink
her. I learned long ago that if
you design how a ship’ll sink,
you can keep her afloat. I pro-
posed all the watertight com-
partments and the double hull
to slow these ships from sink-
ing. In that way, you get every-
one off. There’s time for help to
arrive, and the ship’s less likely An inquisitive Mrs. Albert Caldwell asked less than
Titanic’s passengers and crew required to break apart and kill someone a deck hand, “Is this ship really unsink- that Tita
tons of food supplies. Among the supplies able?” He replied, “Yes, Lady, God Himself sister-sh
were: 115,000 pounds of fresh meat & fish,
while she’s going down.” couldn’t sink this ship.” The crew, builders, before h
80,000 pounds of potatoes, 10,000 pounds — Thomas Andrews, patrons, general public, and governments 570-mile
of rice & beans, 40,000 eggs, 36,000 orang- Managing Director of Harland all believed that the modern technology of west of
es, 7,000 heads of lettuces, and 1,500 gal- and Wolff Shipyards the Titanic made her unsinkable. Test, wh
lons of milk. On April 2, 1912 Captain E. J. Smith and It was an
“You could actually walk miles along his officers participated in Titanic’s sea tri- passenge
the decks and passages covering different achievement. Ship Builders magazine pro- als to test the ship. Engines were run. The As Tit
claimed the ship “practically unsinkable.” crew practiced port and starboard turns, passed t
Titanic was divided into 16 watertight stopping, turning a full circle, and run- moored
Control your Irish passions, compartments, which had doors, held up ning at different speeds. The trials lasted straining
Thomas (builder). Your uncle by magnetic latches, that would drop on suction
here tells me you proposed 64 the command of a switch on the bridge propelle
or automatically if water got too high in “I cannot imagine any condi- ble of 5
lifeboats and he had to pull
a compartment. The bulkheads reached tion which would cause a ship reports
your arm to get you down to the height of the E-Deck, but were not The thre
to founder. I cannot conceive of
32. Now, I will remind you just enclosed at the top. This was a design flaw York to
any vital disaster happening to
as I reminded him these are my that would prove deadly. Titanic could stay
this vessel. Modern ship build-
through
ships. And, according to our afloat if flooded in any two of the middle feet of s
compartments or in the first four compart- ing has gone beyond that.” swung o
contract, I have final say on the — Captain Smith,
ments; beyond that, the ship would sink Captain
design. I’ll not have so many because water would spill over each bulk- Commander of Titanic ning to
little boats, as you call them, head into the next compartment. age, pro
cluttering up my decks and put- reversed
ting fear into my passengers.”
— J. Bruce Ismay, Director of “When anyone asks how I can
the White Star Line. best describe my experience in
nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say,
uneventful. Of course there have
been winter gales, and storms and
ground all the time. I was thoroughly famil- fog the like, but in all my expe-
iar with pretty well every type of ship afloat rience, I have never been in any
but it took me 14 days before I could, with accident of any sort worth speak-
confidence, find my way from one part of ing about. I never saw a wreck and
that ship to another.” — Charles Lightoller, never have been wrecked, nor was
Second Officer I ever in any predicament that
Titanic carried 20 lifeboats, 4 of which threatened to end in disaster of any
had collapsible canvas sides, which were sort. You see, I am not very good Crewm
more than was required by law at that material for a story” an unea
time, but not enough for all passengers. — Captain Smith, The quic
Alexander Carlisle, a Managing Directors Commander of Titanic quick at
at HWS, suggested that the number of Titanic’
, History of Titanic
four 63 feet tall funnels were functional;
the fourth, which only served as a vent, was
added to make the ship look more impres-
sive. The ship could carry a total of 3,547
passengers and crew. Because she also car-
ried mail, her name was given the prefix
RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) as well as SS
(Steam Ship).
For its time, this ship was unsurpassed
in luxury and opulence. The domed Grand
Staircase formed a spectacular entrance
to the reception area. The ship featured
an onboard swimming pool, gymnasium,
Turkish & electric baths, a library and
squash court. First-class common rooms
were ornately appointed with elaborate
At Noon on Wednesday April 10, 1912, m
the majestic RMS Titanic began her maid- li
en voyage from Southhampton, England,
bound for New York. She was the largest
p
man-made moving creation on land or sea ‘N
at that time. Dignitaries, reporters, work- m
men, and a crowd of more than 100,000 g
gazed in awe at the departure of the mag- in
nificent ship. She was taller than a ten-story
THURSDAY • APRIL 12 • 2012 | A NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
building and nearly a sixth of a mile long.
The Titanic was, for her time, the most lux- D
urious ocean liner ever built. She was des- Construction of the Titanic began nearly S
tined to become the most famous ship in two-years later at the Harland and Wolff
history, just not in the way most expected. Shipyard (HWS) in Belfast, Ireland on the
River Lagan on March 31, 1909. At the T
peak of construction, more than 14,000
Irish Shipyard workers labored at the site, p
working from 7:30am to 5:30pm five days a
week, plus a half-day on Saturday.
e
The great ship’s hull was launched May e
31, 1911 as more than 100,000 people r
watched. It took over 44,000 pounds of B
grease to lubricate Titanic’s slide down A
the slipway. Her outfitting was completed
Left: Lord Pirrie, Chairman, Harland & by March 31, 1912. Titanic measured an
Wolff Shipbuilders incredible 882 feet 9 inches long and 92
s
Right: J. Bruce Ismay, Director, White Star feet 6 inches wide. She was run by two i
Line huge steam engines and one low-pressure d
turbine, which powered three propellers. B
The concept for a fleet of three ships of Twenty-nine boilers fired by 159 coal burn- with one in three of the world’s po
unrivaled size and luxury was hatched three ing furnaces made possible a top speed experienced newfound wealth and i
years earlier. On April 30, 1907, Lord Pirrie, of 23 knots (26.5 mph). Only three of the
chairman of the Harland & Wolff ship-
tainment and travel as never before.
builders, held an informal dinner meeting It was a time of great inequali
at his mansion. In attendance was J. Bruce racy were made possible by the lab
Ismay, director of the White Star Line. The Inequalities between wealth and po
three ships they planned to build would even one’s occupation were rigidly
be the Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic middle classes to the upper class wa
(renamed the Britannic). Their goal was
to top their rival, The Cunard Line, which
times even by law.
had built the Lusitania and the Mauritania,
the most luxurious and fastest liners on the
Atlantic Ocean at that time.
For Classroom T
, steam-driven generators and ship-wide lifeboats should be increased. Bruce
wiring for electric lights, telephone system Ismay thought this to be too expensive
and two Marconi telegraphy radios. Two and unsightly (a decision he would deeply
Marconi Company operators worked in regret).
shifts sending and receiving passenger mes- No one thought lifeboats would be need-
sages using the 5,000-watt system. First- ed, since Titanic was considered a pinnacle
class passengers paid a hefty fee for such of naval architecture and technological
amenities; the most expensive one-way
trans-Atlantic passage was $4,375 (equiva-
lent to $99,237 in 2011). Let the Truth be known, no
ship is unsinkable. The bigger
the ship, the easier it is to sink
her. I learned long ago that if
you design how a ship’ll sink,
you can keep her afloat. I pro-
posed all the watertight com-
partments and the double hull
to slow these ships from sink-
ing. In that way, you get every-
one off. There’s time for help to
arrive, and the ship’s less likely An inquisitive Mrs. Albert Caldwell asked less than
Titanic’s passengers and crew required to break apart and kill someone a deck hand, “Is this ship really unsink- that Tita
tons of food supplies. Among the supplies able?” He replied, “Yes, Lady, God Himself sister-sh
were: 115,000 pounds of fresh meat & fish,
while she’s going down.” couldn’t sink this ship.” The crew, builders, before h
80,000 pounds of potatoes, 10,000 pounds — Thomas Andrews, patrons, general public, and governments 570-mile
of rice & beans, 40,000 eggs, 36,000 orang- Managing Director of Harland all believed that the modern technology of west of
es, 7,000 heads of lettuces, and 1,500 gal- and Wolff Shipyards the Titanic made her unsinkable. Test, wh
lons of milk. On April 2, 1912 Captain E. J. Smith and It was an
“You could actually walk miles along his officers participated in Titanic’s sea tri- passenge
the decks and passages covering different achievement. Ship Builders magazine pro- als to test the ship. Engines were run. The As Tit
claimed the ship “practically unsinkable.” crew practiced port and starboard turns, passed t
Titanic was divided into 16 watertight stopping, turning a full circle, and run- moored
Control your Irish passions, compartments, which had doors, held up ning at different speeds. The trials lasted straining
Thomas (builder). Your uncle by magnetic latches, that would drop on suction
here tells me you proposed 64 the command of a switch on the bridge propelle
or automatically if water got too high in “I cannot imagine any condi- ble of 5
lifeboats and he had to pull
a compartment. The bulkheads reached tion which would cause a ship reports
your arm to get you down to the height of the E-Deck, but were not The thre
to founder. I cannot conceive of
32. Now, I will remind you just enclosed at the top. This was a design flaw York to
any vital disaster happening to
as I reminded him these are my that would prove deadly. Titanic could stay
this vessel. Modern ship build-
through
ships. And, according to our afloat if flooded in any two of the middle feet of s
compartments or in the first four compart- ing has gone beyond that.” swung o
contract, I have final say on the — Captain Smith,
ments; beyond that, the ship would sink Captain
design. I’ll not have so many because water would spill over each bulk- Commander of Titanic ning to
little boats, as you call them, head into the next compartment. age, pro
cluttering up my decks and put- reversed
ting fear into my passengers.”
— J. Bruce Ismay, Director of “When anyone asks how I can
the White Star Line. best describe my experience in
nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say,
uneventful. Of course there have
been winter gales, and storms and
ground all the time. I was thoroughly famil- fog the like, but in all my expe-
iar with pretty well every type of ship afloat rience, I have never been in any
but it took me 14 days before I could, with accident of any sort worth speak-
confidence, find my way from one part of ing about. I never saw a wreck and
that ship to another.” — Charles Lightoller, never have been wrecked, nor was
Second Officer I ever in any predicament that
Titanic carried 20 lifeboats, 4 of which threatened to end in disaster of any
had collapsible canvas sides, which were sort. You see, I am not very good Crewm
more than was required by law at that material for a story” an unea
time, but not enough for all passengers. — Captain Smith, The quic
Alexander Carlisle, a Managing Directors Commander of Titanic quick at
at HWS, suggested that the number of Titanic’
