More than a century has passed since Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic embarked on its fateful maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, only to sink in the North Atlantic Ocean, turning into the ship’s frigid graveyard. The large ocean liner collided with an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and the collision caused the ship to sink on April 15, killing more than 1,500 people.
It was one of the greatest maritime disasters in history, and with the 109th anniversary of the disaster knocking on the door, read on to learn about little-known facts and the final moments of the ship, which was once a ‘ floating city’.
Built during a golden age of sea voyages, the Titanic was designed to compete with other cruise ships that served a growing number of immigrants and wealthy passengers on business from Europe to New York in the early 20th century. British shipping company White Star Line ordered the construction of three ‘Olympic Class’ liners. Construction of the Titanic began on March 31, 1909, and took four years to finish at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Building the Titanic cost a total of nearly $7.5 million, about $192 million in current money. With 16 watertight compartments (called bulkheads) that could be closed off to prevent flooding, the costs were quite high at the time.
After two years of non-stop work, more than 3,000 workers have toiled to complete the construction of the Titanic. On May 31, 1911, the ship’s gigantic hull made its way and more than 10,000 people witnessed the event. Despite many setbacks, the RMS Titanic sailed on its maiden voyage from Southampton, UK with over 2,200 passengers and crew. Being a Royal Mail Ship, it also carried over 3,000 bags of mail.
Although it was the largest ship at the time, its appeal was not just its size. Thomas Andrews, the ship’s chief designer, left no stone unturned to amaze the passengers on board, and it featured a wrought iron and glass vaulted ceiling and oak panelling. Among some of his super-rich passengers — John Jacob Astor IV, the owner of the Astoria hotel, Isidor and Ida Straus, the owners of Macy’s department store — were on board. Unfortunately, they all lost their lives.
“Iceberg, straight ahead” – three famous words changed the history of the Titanic. Four days after its maiden voyage, the lavish ship met a watery end when it collided with an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14.
Although the ship’s lookout sounded the alarm, it was too late before the engines were quickly turned back and the ship turned sharply. By this time, the iceberg had scraped the sides of the cruise ship. A hectic evacuation ensued, women and children were lowered into the lifeboats first. Unfortunately, the ship only had 20 lifeboats on board.
About three hours after the accident, around 02:20 a.m. on April 15, the ship finally plunged into the sea.
Several passengers, unable to find a seat on the lifeboats, slowly froze to death and around 4:10 am RMS Carpathia arrived and picked up the survivors of the first lifeboat. Just over 700 survived the tragedy of more than 2,200 passengers.
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