The 100th Anniversary of The Titanic

At 11.40pm on the night of 14 April 1912, en route to New York and on her maiden voyage, the RMS Titanic struck the iceberg that would ultimately lead to her sinking less than 3 hours later. At around 2.20am on the morning of 15 April, RMS Titanic disappeared beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, a disaster that resulted in the loss of more than 1,500 lives, almost two-thirds of the people on board. 


As a tribute to this centenary year, myself and a couple of my girlfriends went to see the new movie which came out in 3D. Although the movie is absolutely heartfelt and devastating enough already....it can never aim to capture the sorority of the actual event. Therefore, as a lover of the film (and a complete and utter history geek...yes), I went home to google the facts about what the event really mounted too.


Here's what I found:

• There were 6 ice warnings received by Titanic on the day of the collision. They were all ignored by the wireless operator who was preoccupied with transmitting passenger messages. On the night of the collision, because the moon was not out, and the water was so still, it was very difficult to see the iceberg. A less calm water would have caused breakers around the iceberg making it easier to see it from afar.
• The iceberg that the Titanic struck was not a very big one. It did not even come up as high as the bridge of the ship.
• An iceberg exposes only 1/10th of it's mass above water. With the other 9/10ths of it's mass below water, It makes them impossible to budge. Even with a force of a ship like the Titanic.

Collision / Damage

• The Titanic was traveling 22.5 knots while cruising through iceberg laden waters. Just .5 knot from her maximum speed capability.
• Murdoch (the captain), had ordered the engines reversed which had, ironically, sealed the Titanic's doom. Like all ships, the Titanic turned more quickly the greater her forward motion. Had the Titanic proceeded ahead and turned, it is most likely that she would have avoided hitting the iceberg all together.
• Though the damage in the hull was 220 to 245 feet long, the most recent evidence shows that there was only a 12 square foot opening (the size of a refrigerator) in the hull allowing water inside the ship.
• The "watertight" compartments of the Titanic's hull were not actually watertight. They were open at the tops, which aided in her demise.
• The ship could have stayed afloat had only four compartments flooded... Five became flooded.

Survivors / Casualties

• 1,503 people total died, including passengers and crew.
• Only 705 people survived.
• 1,178 lifeboat seats were carried aboard.
• 2,208 lifeboat seats were needed.
• One of the first lifeboats to leave the Titanic carried only 28 people; it could have held 64 people.
• There were 472 lifeboat seats not used.
• 300 dead bodies were pulled from the sea the next morning. They were found floating in their life-jackets. Many other floating bodies were not found because they had drifted off.
• There were many dogs aboard the Titanic. Two of the dogs survived.
• Charles Joughin was the only person to survive the ice cold Atlantic water...He reportedly had been drinking heavily.
• Of children fatalities, only 1 child from first class died, while 49 children from steerage died.
   

The Final Moments

• The band played music up to the last few minutes before the ship went under. None survived.

Titanic Today

• The Titanic lies 12,600 feet (over 2.33 miles) at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Because the front section of the Titanic went down nose first, the bow is buried 60 feet below the ocean floor. The huge gash is also buried. (Recent technology has allowed visual access to the damaged area of the hull)
• The Titanic was rediscovered on July 14th, 1986. 74 years after it sank.
• Since the death of Millvina Dean, May 31st of 2009, there are no longer any living survivors of the Titanic tragedy. Millvina Dean was just nine weeks old at the time of the Titanic's sinking.

My prayers and thought are with all of the victims in the devestating event.


I hope this post was somewhat interesting! Enjoy the rest of your weekend :-)


Saskia XO