Titanic

Today, exactly 100 years ago, Titanic sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage after she hit an iceberg, with 2435 passengers and 892 workers aboard. Deemed to be unsinkable, because of her watertight compartments and separate areas in the ship that could contain water while the rest of the ship remained afloat. Because of this, there were not lifeboats for every passenger aboard. There was boat room for about half of the occupants on board. Titanic also had some of the finest eating establishments, along with world class staterooms, a gym, swimming pool, and libraries. In this little essay, I plan on talking about what what happened that night 100 years ago, including how Titanic sank, along with other facts, and we might even discuss the movie a bit, if your lucky.

First, lets talk about the actual disaster. Titanic had several compartments along the bottom of the ship, which was where the ship was operated. If an emergency happened, water could fill any two of the apartments, or the first 4, and remain afloat. That night, the boat was traveling very fast, and it was hard to see. When the crew in the crows nest spotted the iceberg, it was too late to turn out of the way, despite their best efforts. The iceberg tore apart the right side of the bow, puncturing little holes like Morse code in the metal. The impact woke some passengers, but the crew said it was nothing, just a little turbulence. Little did they know that Titanic would be completely sunk in about 2 hours. The water started filling each compartment, and the pumps in preparation for a mistake like this couldn't keep up with the invading water. One by one, the compartments filled. Despite the best efforts of the captain, builders, and crew, 5 of the compartments filled, which marked the official fate of the Titanic. One part that I found interesting, is when water started filling, they stopped the ship. But they started again on their voyage, even with the water filling the bottom compartments. The result of this, is they actually drove more water in the ship. Once they realized what was going to happen, they stopped the ship again, and started sending out distress signals. Titanic would never move under its own steam again. After passengers were informed of what was to happen, it started a frenzy. They loaded the First Class onto the lifeboats first, and keeping the 2nd and 3rd classes at bay, until first class was completely loaded. Matter of factly, they only put a enough people on the first class lifeboats to keep them comfortable. From what I've studied, they could have fit almost ten more people per First Class lifeboat. The water at this point had started filling enough to weigh down the bow of the ship so much, it lifted of the stern of the ship on a tilt, and the 3rd class floors started to fill with water. Because of the watertight compartments, each one would have to be filled completely, in order to spill in the next, which is what caused the dramatic tilt in the ship. As more water filled, the more the ship would tilt. About this time, most of the lifeboats were unloaded, which left the people left on the ship practically doomed. The tilt on the ship got to the point where gravity took its course, and the ship split in half. Just the impact alone killed many people. After the ship split, the bow sank, pulling the stern back up vertically AGAIN. The bow then broke away completely from the stern, and started sinking, leaving the stern in a vertical position, which then sank within minutes. When something sinks underwater, it pulls water along with it, so the suction of the ship going under was also another reason of death, because it pulled people along with her. Titanic was completely underwater. As you can imagine, the scene of more than a thousand people floating in the middle of the Atlantic screaming and splashing, was a terrifying sight. There was a ship on its way, but it would be there in hours, and there were hundreds and hundreds of people floating in hyperthermic water. Most of the former passengers of the Titanic in the water died within minutes. Help from the RMS Carpathia came later to pick up the surviving 710 from the lifeboats, and 6 were saved from the water, on top of debris. This disaster ended up as one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history, with a total of nearly 2000 deaths. A little fact, only 10% of men in 2nd class survived because of the "Women and Children first" rule. Although many people died the early morning of April 15th, they will never be forgotten.

In 1985, 73 years after Titanic sank in 1912, it was discovered on the ocean floor of the Atlantic ocean. Thousands of artifacts have been retrieved from the wreckage, including personal possessions of the passengers, dinnerware, and the main architecture of the ship (such as window shutters, chandeliers, etc.) Many of these artifacts are worth thousands of dollars. In fact, a simple postcard sent to the Titanic was sold for 7,000 dollars. While Titanic sank that fateful night, we have many reminders of what happened.

You've probably seen James Cameron's Titanic movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. If you haven't seen it, I strongly suggest it. It is an excellent recreation of what happened 100 years ago. And while there was no love story between Rose and Jack, there were actual facts in the movie, including the ship dynamics, crew members, and how it sank. It is also, in my perspective, one of the greatest films of all time. So if you haven't seen it, do it.

Exactly 100 years ago, Titanic sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic ocean. It resulted in nearly 2000 deaths, and is known as one of the biggest disasters of all time. After being struck by an iceberg, the unsinkable ship sank the early morning of April 15th, 1912. While many lives were lost, they shall not be forgotten.