The Titanic was the “unsinkable” ship that sank and took the lives of 1,522 passengers and crew. The ship was widely believed to be the safest ever built at the time; however, the ship’s builders never said it was unsinkable. It was actually Shipbuilders magazine that described the ship as “practically unsinkable”. Though it has been over one-hundred years since the sinking of the Titanic, the story, which includes both heroes and villains, still enthralls us (Hutchings).
The idea for the Titanic, a passenger liner that would epitomize luxury and be bigger than any other liner, was born out a collaboration by Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line and J.P. Morgan, American financier. It was to be part of the “Olympic” class of liners; the White Star Line’s answer …show more content…
It was as high as an eleven story building and almost four city blocks long (Barratt). It included ten decks, eight of those designated for passenger use. It had an electrical plant that was capable of producing more power than an average city power station of the time. It featured a double-bottom with fifteen watertight bulkheads equipped with watertight doors. The watertight bulkheads were what inspired Shipbuilder magazine to deem the Titanic “practically unsinkable”. The watertight design was flawed though because water could spill from one compartment into another. Several of Titanic’s competitor ships had safety features devised to avoid this situation. Another safety lapse was the number of lifeboats on the Titanic. It only had sixteen boats along with four collapsible life boats which could accommodate 1178 people; however, the capacity of the ship was 3300 people. Amazingly enough, although there were only enough lifeboats to accommodate one-third of potential people on board, it actually exceeded the British Board of Trade’s requirements for number of lifeboats at that time
The idea for the Titanic, a passenger liner that would epitomize luxury and be bigger than any other liner, was born out a collaboration by Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line and J.P. Morgan, American financier. It was to be part of the “Olympic” class of liners; the White Star Line’s answer …show more content…
It was as high as an eleven story building and almost four city blocks long (Barratt). It included ten decks, eight of those designated for passenger use. It had an electrical plant that was capable of producing more power than an average city power station of the time. It featured a double-bottom with fifteen watertight bulkheads equipped with watertight doors. The watertight bulkheads were what inspired Shipbuilder magazine to deem the Titanic “practically unsinkable”. The watertight design was flawed though because water could spill from one compartment into another. Several of Titanic’s competitor ships had safety features devised to avoid this situation. Another safety lapse was the number of lifeboats on the Titanic. It only had sixteen boats along with four collapsible life boats which could accommodate 1178 people; however, the capacity of the ship was 3300 people. Amazingly enough, although there were only enough lifeboats to accommodate one-third of potential people on board, it actually exceeded the British Board of Trade’s requirements for number of lifeboats at that time