More than a century ago in 1912 one of the worst maritime disasters shook the world. It was on this day the 15th of April at precisely 2.20 am The RMS Titanic sank after a collision with an iceberg. With its lights still on and broken in two, the ship rose up above the surface almost perpendicular and slowly dove down into the waters of the North Atlantic. 1500 people died that night either drowned or frozen by the icy waters off Newfoundland. Her manufacturer the white Star Line thought she was a ship that couldn’t sink but the Titanic was doomed.
The ship was discovered in 1985 off the coast of Newfoundland and since then has rekindled human interest in its history. Today the Titanic has inspired several theories and films of course the most famous being James Cameron’s dramatic Oscar winning portrayal “The Titanic”.
The ship did have several of the passengers corresponding to the characters of the movie. The wealthiest of passengers was John Jacob Astor IV. There was the owner of Macy’s Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida, and of course the heiress Molly Brown who did much to maintain order and calm while women and children were being loaded into the lifeboats.
There was The White Star line managing director Joseph Bruce Ismay who after helping in loading boats himself stepped into one. As a survivor he was subject to severe criticism. Thomas Andrews the Ships chief designer was reported to be blankly staring at a painting of the ship on the wall during the time it was sinking. Benjamin Guggenheim the son of a wealthy American mining magnate was reported to have dressed into his formals along with his valet after learning of the severity of the situation. He was quoted as saying “We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.” Molly Brown was one of the last to leave.
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The Royal Mail Steamer Titanic was the pride of the white Star Line. When it was officially launched in May 11 1911, it was the largest manmade object in the world. Deemed unsinkable it was touted as having been built with the best shipping technology at the time but, according to theories, the Titanic was doomed from the very beginning. It’s so called technology of being built with water tight compartments was flawed because water could spillover from one compartment into another. If The Titanic has copied designs of its largest competitor The Cunard shipping line, who built its ships to address this very same flaw, the Titanic would not have sunk.
Perhaps the biggest critical flaw of the Titanic was the presence of just 16 lifeboats that even if loaded to full capacity would have carried just one-third of 3300 people on board.
Titanic theorists have added to the doomed theory of the Titanic with evil omens on the day she set sail with 3300 souls from Southampton on April 10, 1912. As soon as the ship got underway, she narrowly missed a collision with the America line’s S.S. New York. That was considered one of the worst omens for any ship on her maiden voyage but ironically had she indeed collided; the delay may have saved the Titanic sparing the ships from her encounter with the iceberg.
The other incident was a fire in one of her bunkers which was considered a common occurrence in steamships of those days. Although the captain and chief engineer had concluded it was under control, it actually wasn’t and stokers were told to keep it under control even as the ship sailed out to sea. Titanic experts say that the fire could have been the reason the crew attempted to sail it at full speed, a fact which may have caused its inability to avoid hitting the iceberg. It seems the Titanic was doomed indeed.
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The most unbelievable incident was the collision itself. When the ship collided with the Iceberg that seemed to have appeared out of the haze, it was 11.40 pm on the 14th of April. With warnings from the lookouts, the crew reversed the ship and the lookouts were actually relieved. NO One had even guessed that the iceberg had opened up the ship with a 300 foot gash below the ships waterline.
By the time the Captain could even assess the situation; five compartments were already filled with water. The ship was jinxed. Thomas Andrews gave the ship and hour and a half to stay afloat. That was the only positive point when the ship outlived expectations because it sank in three.
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What transpired next was a drama of human cowardice, bravery gallantry and raw emotion? Men kissed their wives and children goodbye as families were separated in the confusion. Although it was an accepted rule of women and children first, the majority of victims were women and children.
1500 people perished on that tragic day of 15th April 1912. At 2am, broken in two, The Titanic stood up perpendicular in the North Atlantic, its lights still on and eerily dove into the dark icy depths of the ocean. That was the end of the Titanic. It was the Cunard line’s Carpathia that dodged floes to rush to the Titanic’s aid but it was too late. The ship managed to pick up just 705 survivors most of them from the lifeboats.
John Maxtone Graham the historian of the Titanic compared the disaster to the Challenger space shuttle disaster of 1986, when it exploded into oblivion. Both objects built with the latest sophisticated technology of the timer collapsed revealing that man’s presumptions of such infallible technology could be flawed. The Titanic may not be the largest disaster in maritime history but it could well be the most tragic as the Titanic was doomed from day it set sail. Today it still lies at the bottom of its watery grave in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland.
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