The Unsinkable Ship

My grandmother was born in 1911 and she remembered people talking about this when she was 5 years of age. “She” was one of the largest and most opulent ships of the time, being (approximately) 882.5ft (269m) long and roughly 92.5ft (28.2m) wide. “She” cost $7.5 million to build ($183.4million in today’s money) and “Her'' top speed was 23 knots or 25 mph which is faster than many ships today which go at 20 knots or 23 mph. “She” was built to have 64 lifeboats on board but carried only 20! “She” was the RMS Titanic.

We have grown up hearing about this ship with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class accommodation. Titanic could hold up to 3,500 people, but thankfully only carried 2,200 with 1,300 being passengers. However, 1,517 of these people still died when “She” sank.

1st class accommodation was a wonder to look at. Those who were rich could enjoy an immense dining saloon, 4 elevators and a heated swimming pool and gym. There were Parisian cafes, tea gardens, a library, a smoking room and a squash court where you could play tennis. These 1st class passengers had private suites with 2 large bedrooms, 2 walk-in wardrobes and a bathroom and this cost £870 (£79,000 today).

The 2nd class accommodation was comparable to 1st class ‘features’ on other ships. Many of these passengers were the domestic servants of the 1st class passengers. The 2nd class cabins had bunk-beds, a sink and a mirror but the bathroom was down the corridor and shared. These passengers had their own dining room, a smoking room and a library.

There were 709 passengers in 3rd class and their accommodation was much more basic. Cabins slept up to 10 people and were at the bottom of the ship, near the engines. Male and female were split unless there was a family. They had their own dining room. There was a ‘general room’ where 3rd class passengers could socialize and play the piano.

To us today, these classes don’t exist, but in 1912, the class system was only too real! The 1st class passengers were among the wealthiest people in the world. John Jacob Astor IV was one of the richest men onboard, and he sailed with his 18 year old pregnant wife. The Countess of Rothes, Noel Leslie, was onboard, along with the Olympic fencer medalist, Sir Duff-Gordon and his wife. The tennis star and banker Karl Behr and the famous American silent actress, Dorothy Gibson, were also among the 1st class passengers. The Titanic’s musicians travelled in 2nd class, along with the Laroche family, who were the only passengers of black ancestry. There were 284 in 2nd class accommodation. 3rd class passengers were a mixture of nationalities. Some were Irish, Scandinavian, Croatian and Russian. 2 month old Millvina Dean, who travelled with her mother and father and older brother, actually survived the sinking, living until 97 years of age and dying in 2009.

So what happened? How could this sea-worthy floating palace sink? It is interesting how much information there is considering the year was 1912. Although the Titanic was deemed “practically unsinkable”, there were several flaws that we know now that contributed to “Her” sinking. The individual bulkheads were water-tight but the walls separating them extended only a few feet above the water line, so water poured from one compartment into another. The obvious “flaw” is that there were not enough lifeboats onboard, plus, the ones that were used were not loaded fully with passengers, the “Class” distinction taking priority. A very hard lesson to learn!

Titanic departed from Southampton, for “Her” maiden voyage, on April 10th, 1912. On April 14th, the Titanic received reports of ice but it was a clear night sky and the sea was calm so danger seemed very far away. At 11.30pm, a lookout saw the iceberg, ringing the warning bell and telephoning the bridge. The crew did their best to change course, but Titanic was still grazed by the iceberg with some of the ice fragments falling onto the deck. Not being able to see underwater, the lookout thought they had ‘missed’ the iceberg.

The reality was that there was a 300-foot gash in the hull below the ships’ waterline. Sea water quickly filled the bulkheads and Andrews, who designed the Titanic, estimated to the captain that the ship might remain afloat for an hour and a half. The captain ordered for the lifeboats to be used.

The evacuation seemed like a disaster in itself, being disorganized and haphazard. The first lifeboat, which was designed to carry 65 people, left Titanic carrying only 28. Women and children ‘should’ have gone first, but that night became chaotic and many of those who lost their lives were women and children. The Titanic floated for almost 3 hours in which witnessed acts of cowardice but also bravery. 706 people survived!

Ismay, the White Star managing director, never lived down the ‘ignominy’ of surviving, saving himself, when even the musicians perished. Andrews, mentioned earlier, went down with the ship. “We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen” --- one of the last things Benjamin Guggenheim said when he returned, with his valet, to his rooms. The story of Molly Brown is well-known, imploring crewmen of the lifeboats to go back to pick up more survivors. It never happened.

Titanic finally sank below the Ocean’s surface at 2.20am on 15th April, 1912. The Carpathia ship did its best to respond to Titanic’s distress message, picking up the survivors in the early morning. Ismay, mentioned earlier, when picked up by the Carpathia, messaged the White Star Line offices: “Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning fifteenth after collision iceberg, resulting in serious loss life.” The Carpathia arrived in New York City on 18th April, with its extra passengers.

A disaster of this kind had never been seen before and, it seems, that mankind had to go through it before learning its lesson: make sure there are enough lifeboats on board --- and make sure they are full before launching them into the sea!

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Thanks for reading folks x