The Titanic: Story of a Doomed Maiden Voyage and the People Involved

By Jenny Snook

When it was first built, the RMS Titanic was celebrated as the largest ship in the world and allegedly ‘unsinkable’. As we know today, this was untrue, and the ship is now recognised as a symbol of over 1500 deaths.

In 1912, the Titanic sank on its’ maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg. This piece discusses the history behind its construction, the reasons claims were made that it was unsinkable and why these claims were untrue. Also, what could have been done to prevent the accident or at least reduce the number of fatalities?

It may have been a British-registered vessel but over 100 Irish people were killed in the tragedy. It was also built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, which is now the site of Titanic Belfast, a major tourist attraction today.

White Star Line vs Cunard

At the time of construction, Harland and Wolff shipbuilders were owned by the White Star Line (1845-1934) shipping company. At this time in history, competition between these kinds of companies was fierce.

White Star Line’s biggest competitor was the Cunard Line, responsible for building the ‘Lusitania’ (1906) and ‘Maurentania’ (1906). Opening in 1840, it became the first shipping line to introduce both electric lighting and onboard wireless communication.

In 1907, Cunard would have been the leading shipping line in the North Atlantic and White Star Line needed to come up with new ideas to compete with them. J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of White Star Line, decided to collaborate with Lord Pirrie, senior partner of Harland and Wolff shipyard. They planned the building of three ships, the Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic (renamed Britannic).

Construction of Titanic

Designed by Thomas Andrews from Co. Down, construction of the Titanic began in Belfast in March 1909 and took over two years to complete. Five Irish men were killed in the shipyard during its’ construction, and in 1912 it was crowned the largest passenger ship in the world. After construction, it measured 269 metres (882 feet) long.

The Titanic cost Harland and Wolff around £1.5 million sterling (about £700 million today) to build and at the time, the company employed 15,000 people, making it the biggest employer in Ireland and one of the largest shipbuilders in the world. 

The inside decoration of the ship was designed to outshine the style of similar ‘Cunard’ vessels. Just some of the impressive features onboard included a heated swimming pool, gym, rowing machines and a stunning handmade staircase. The third-class conditions on the Titanic were even compared to first-class conditions on other ships.

To impress the public even more, White Star Line made a bold comment:

“Not even God himself could sink this ship.” (White Star Line Employee).[1]

Why Was it Considered ‘Unsinkable’?

Before it set sail, ‘The Shipbuilder’ magazine described these kinds of Olympic-class liners as “practically unsinkable”. Among the safety features onboard there were 16 watertight compartments in the hull of the ship. The watertight doors between them could be opened or closed individually or simultaneously, with a switch. This way, if one of the compartments was damaged, the water would stay in a single sealed-off section and the ship would remain afloat.

Did White Star Line really believe this or was it just a claim used to increase public interest, that was included in a lot of their advertisements? One problem which they would have recognised, was the fact that the watertight barriers between these compartments were not separated all the way to the top of the hull.

This major flaw was the primary reason the boat was unable to remain afloat. Another problem was recognised when the rivets on some of these barriers were recently tested. Some were found to be made of steel but, weaker iron rivets were also used in the bow of the ship.

The Journey of the Titanic

On 10^th April 1912, the Titanic departed from Southampton, England on its maiden voyage to New York. After stopping at Queenstown (now known as Cobh), Co. Cork, it headed across the sea to New York. Sadly, it never arrived.

On the 14^th April, the sea may have seemed calm but, the Titanic began to receive reports of icebergs from other ships. However, many of these reports seem to have been ignored.

The wireless radio operators on the ship worked for the Marconi Company and made their money passing on messages to first-class passengers. Delivering reports of icebergs to members of the crew would not have made them any money and this is probably the reason they ignored them.

Many believe that the ships captain Edward Smith ignored these ice reports when he found out. When the iceberg that hit the Titanic was finally noticed by the lookouts onboard, it may not have looked huge on top.  Unfortunately, 90% of the iceberg was underneath the water. The ship was travelling at a fast pace and by the time it was recognised, it was too close to pass around it safely. Even though it veered off to the side, the iceberg still grazed the side of it.

There are rumours that White Star Line pressurised Cpt. Smith into maintaining a quick speed, making it harder to turn and pass safely by the iceberg. A British inquiry afterwards stated:

“The evidence shows that he was not trying to make any record passage or indeed any exceptionally quick passage. He was not trying to please anybody, but was exercising his own discretion in the way he thought best. [2]

However, most people still blame him for the tragedy. In 2012 an exhibition was held at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. Visitors were asked to vote, and the majority felt Cpt. Smith was responsible for the crash.

The front of the ship was extremely strong and has been compared to a ‘battering ram’. Many believe that it probably would have stayed afloat if the ship had gone straight through the iceberg.

Well-known stories tell of one large gash ripping through five compartments on the ship but, experts have explained there were actually six small gashes found on different compartments. This was revealed in 1996 after an international team of scientists and engineers apparently dived into the sea where the remains of the Titanic are still positioned.

After the designer of the ship Thomas Andrews took a look at the damage, he realised what was going to happen and told Cpt. Smith the ship was likely to sink within the next two hours. He ordered the chief officer to prepare the lifeboats.

As the front of the ship dropped downwards, the water began to stream over from one of the watertight compartments into the next. At about 2.20 am the ship was broken in two and the bow sank into the ocean.

Problems Leading to Increased Fatalities

There were some natural problems at the time which could not be helped. As there was no moon and the sea was calm, it would have been difficult for lookout to notice the iceberg. Another problem was that there were no binoculars on the ship.

While there were over 3300 passengers and crew members onboard there were only enough lifeboats to hold 1178 people. The 16 lifeboats and four Englehardt ‘collapsibles’ on the ship were still above the numbers required by the British Board of Trade at the time.

Although there were enough life jackets for everyone, passengers had already been assured that the ship was unsinkable. Survivors claim that some people did not take one because they thought it was just a test. With the first eight boats situated on first-class deck space, almost all the passengers on board were first class, with some boats leaving only half full.

As most of the people left in the water had lifejackets on, drowning was not the primary cause of death. The temperature of the water would have been around 0®C and trying to swim with a lifejacket on took a lot of energy. Most people drifted into unconsciousness before dying of hypothermia. 

Striking the water was like a thousand knives being driven into one’s body (Charles Lightoller, Second Officer on Titanic).[3]

There was also a problem gaining a response from other ships. Some had their radios switched off and others even believed the distress flares were fired as a sign of celebration. The Carpathia responded first but, was situated about 58 miles away. By the time it reached the spot at around 4 am it seems the ship was already underwater.

Approximately 1500 passengers and crew members were killed on the Titanic. Around 63% of first class, 43% of second class and 25% of third-class passengers survived although, only 23% of crew members. This had a lot to do with where these people were positioned on the ship and their proximity to the lifeboats.

The designer Thomas Andrews was one of the 110 Irish passengers who died in the disaster. Research has revealed that there were 54 Irish survivors. As 113 Irish passengers were travelling third-class, they had a lower chance of survival.

Aftermath

Different conspiracy theories are always going to arise in the aftermath of such a famous historical event. Just one is the theory that the disaster was planned by millionaire banker J. P. Morgan. Although he planned to travel on the Titanic, he changed his mind close to the time of departure. Some claim that he wanted to kill three of his competitors Jacob Astor, Isidor Straus, and Benjamin Guggenheim. Like many similar theories, no one has been able to explain how he managed to make the ship itself hit the iceberg.

At first, the public may have been impressed with the claim that:

“Not even God himself could sink this ship.”[4]

Unfortunately, the sinking of the ship led to a collapse in confidence. As this apparently ‘unsinkable’ ship was lost during its maiden voyage, people were unlikely to believe this claim if it was used again.

The trauma that it caused the survivors has also been well-documented with family members claiming that some of these people refused to speak about it.

Irish survivor Annie McGowan had never revealed being on the Titanic until her daughter read a newspaper article about it. Her daughter states:

She never talked about it. She said just put that away and don’t talk about it. Just before I got married I discovered she was really on the Titanic but she still would not talk about it. Growing up she was terrified of the water…. Never wanted us to go in the water either.[5]

100 Year Celebration

On 31^st May 2011, the 100-year anniversary of the Titanic was celebrated in Belfast. Children wearing period costumes cheered as a choir sang by the edge of the dock.

Rev. Chris Bennett who officiated the ceremony, stated:

As soon as you say ‘Titanic,’ most people think of the sinking. But here in Belfast we’re trying to recapture that idea that the Titanic is something to be proud of. This fabulous, biggest man-made moving object in the world was built right here.[6]

It took 62 seconds for the Titanic to slide from its slipway into the water on its maiden voyage. People in the crowd were told to clap and cheer for this exact amount of time while nearby boats blew their horns.

The Titanic Belfast is a major tourist attraction today built on the site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard. Inside, there are full-scale reconstructions of different parts of the interior, including a replica of the handmade staircase.  There are also vast collections of artefacts and visitors can take a 3D tour of the ships’ interior.

Conclusion

The remains of the RMS Titanic still lie underwater today, about 370 miles (600 km) south-southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. Although, it is important to commemorate the people who lost their lives on the boat, it still makes sense to recognise the skills of the people responsible for its construction.

John Andrews, the great-nephew of Thomas Andrews states:

The succession of elementary errors that took place on the ship’s maiden voyage: people not paying attention to each other, people not paying attention to each other, not paying attention to messages coming through the wireless, these mistakes were the reason the Titanic sank. There was nothing wrong with the ship itself. [7]

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References

• History.com Editors. (2020). Titanic. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/titanic (Looked at 3^rd Apr 2021).
• Little, B. (2019). The Craziest Titanic Conspiracy Theories Explained. Available at: https://www.history.com/news/titanic-sinking-conspiracy-myths-jp-morgan-olympic (Looked at 10th Apr 2021).
• Meredith, F. (2011). Belfast Celebrates Centenary of Titanic Launch. Available at:  http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2074763,00.html (Looked at 15^th Apr 2021).
• Molly Brown House Museum. (n.d.). History of White Star Line. Available at: https://mollybrown.org/history-of-the-white-star-line/ (Looked at 8th Apr 2021).
• Pogatchnik, S. (2011). The Titanic Launch 100^th Anniversary Celebrate in Belfast. Available at: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0531/The-Titanic-launch-100th-anniversary-celebrated-in-Belfast (Looked at 14th April 2021).
• Santana K. B. (n.d.) Who Was Captain Smith and What Was His Role in the Sinking of the Titanic? Available at: https://mollybrown.org/captain-smith/ (Looked at 11^th Apr 2021).
• Timeline. World History Documentaries. (2018). Who were the Real People Onboard the Titanic? Waking Titanic. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4oEedkYtaA (Looked at 6^th Apr 2021).
• Ultimate Titanic. (n.d.).  Titanic: Building the Largest Object in History. Available at: https://www.ultimatetitanic.com/construction (Looked at 13th Apr 2021).
• Web Titanic (2001). Quotes From Survivors. Available at: https://thetitanicnhdproject.weebly.com/quotes-from-survivors.html (Looked at 15th Apr 2021).