The Royal Mail Steamer Titanic was the product of intense competition among rival shipping lines in the first half of the 20th century . On May 31, 1911, Titanic’s immense hull–at the time, the largest movable manmade object in the world–made its way down the slipways and into the River Lagan In Belfast. According to some hypothesis, the Titanic was doomed from the start by the design so many lauded as state-of-the-art. Titanic created quite a stir when it departed for its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. The encounter took place roughly four days out, at about 11:30 p.m. on April 14. Titanic was equipped with a Marconi wireless, and there had been sporadic reports of ice from other ships, but she was sailing on
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Titanic created quite a stir when it departed for its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. The Olympic-class ships featured a double bottom and 15 watertight bulkheads equipped with electric watertight doors which could be operated individually or simultaneously by a switch on the bridge. The watertight compartment design contained a flaw that may have been a critical factor in Titanic’s sinking, While the individual bulkheads were indeed watertight, water could spill from one compartment into another. Had White Star taken a cue from its competitor, it might have saved Titanic from disaster. Titanic was equipped with a Marconi wireless, and there had been sporadic reports of ice from other ships, but she was sailing on calm seas under a moonless, clear sky. A lookout saw the iceberg dead ahead coming out of a slight haze, rang the warning bell and telephoned the bridge. The engines were quickly reversed and the ship was turned sharply, and instead of making direct impact the berg seemed to graze along the side of the ship, sprinkling ice fragments on the forward deck. They had no idea that the iceberg’s jagged underwater spur had slashed a 300-foot gash well below the ship’s waterline, and that Titanic was
Titanic created quite a stir when it departed for its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. The Olympic-class ships featured a double bottom and 15 watertight bulkheads equipped with electric watertight doors which could be operated individually or simultaneously by a switch on the bridge. The watertight compartment design contained a flaw that may have been a critical factor in Titanic’s sinking, While the individual bulkheads were indeed watertight, water could spill from one compartment into another. Had White Star taken a cue from its competitor, it might have saved Titanic from disaster. Titanic was equipped with a Marconi wireless, and there had been sporadic reports of ice from other ships, but she was sailing on calm seas under a moonless, clear sky. A lookout saw the iceberg dead ahead coming out of a slight haze, rang the warning bell and telephoned the bridge. The engines were quickly reversed and the ship was turned sharply, and instead of making direct impact the berg seemed to graze along the side of the ship, sprinkling ice fragments on the forward deck. They had no idea that the iceberg’s jagged underwater spur had slashed a 300-foot gash well below the ship’s waterline, and that Titanic was