THE
WHITE STAR LINE
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The story of the R.M.S."Titanic"
Painting by Ken Marshall
Captain Edward Smith was,
in 1912, the senior master of the White Star Line. At 59 years
of age he had served with company for almost 40 years and twelve
months earlier had commanded the first of the three sisters,
the Olympic. On 1st April 1912 he stood on the bridge of the
newer and larger Titanic as it slipped its mooring at the Belfast
shipyard of Harland & Wolff and steamed towards Southampton
at her maximum speed of 25 knots. With a gross registered tonnage
of 46,328 tons and measuring 882 feet in length R.M.S. Titanic
was the largest vessel afloat anywhere in the world.
The White Star Lines policy was directed towards
passenger comfort and in this respect the Titanic was a magnificent
ship, one which Captain Smith could well be proud to command.
She was far more elaborately fitted out and luxuriously furnished
than the Olympic. To quote an example, the Olympic was uncarpeted
in the dining saloon whereas the Titanic was fitted with a deep
pile carpet. The design of the Titanic incorporated the latest
developments in ship construction. She had a double bottom and
was sub-divided by 15 transverse bulkheads creating a series
of watertight compartments which would enable the ship to stay
afloat even if two adjacent compartments were holed in an accident.
Bearing in mind the size of the Titanic no one could envisage
a maritime accident large enough to inflict a greater degree
of damage. In the minds, of the public and the Master, she was
unsinkable.
At noon on Wednesday, 10th April 1912 Captain
Smith gave the order to the crew stationed at the bow and stern
of the ship to 'let go fore and aft' and R.M.S Titanic, with
the aid of tugs, moved away from her berth in Southampton to
begin her maiden voyage. Even at this very early stage in the
voyage the Titanic had a close shave involving the steamship
New York. As the Titanic was moving through the dock the New
York's mooring lines parted causing the ship to swing away from
the quay to within a few feet of the White Star liner. However,
a collision was averted and the Titanic steamed down Southampton
Water passing Spithead en route for Cherbourg where French passengers
were embarked. From Cherbourg she proceeded to Queenstown (Cobh)
in Eire where more passengers boarded and about 3,444 bags of
mail loaded. When she finally set sail for New York the Titanic
carried 1316 passengers and 891 crew members, a total of 2207.
Based on the palace at Versailles
RMS "Titanic" departing
The after Grand Staircase
Capt. Edward Smith
Thomas Andrews
Of the 1316 passengers Britains and Americans
predominated with Who's Who and the Social Register being well
represented. The first class passenger list included Colonel
and Mrs Astor, Lord Ashburton, The Countess of Rothes and Sir
Cosmo Duff-Gordon,Bt. Also travelling in the first class saloon,
representing the owners and shipbuilders, were Bruce Ismay,
managing director of the White Star Line and Thomas Andrews,
managing director of Harland & Wolff. The third class consisted
of mainly Irish emigrants. The Titanic also carried cargo which,
while not sizeable, was extremely valuable and included a priceless
copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
For three days the Titanic steamed westward
at full speed and by midnight on 14th/15th April she was about
300 miles south-east of Newfoundland. Captain Smith was not
attempting to break any records. Bruce Ismay had agreed that
a morning arrival on the 17th would be more convenient for the
passengers than a late arrival on the previous evening. Back
home in Britain people were eagerly awaiting the news of the
safe arrival of the Titanic in New York; an arrival which would
be greeted with the customary firefloat and siren welcome.
The weather on Sunday,14th April was cold
but calm. During the morning the ship's radio officer intercepted
messages from the Caronia, the Baltic, the Amerika and the Californian
warning of icebergs in the area through which the Titanic would
pass. No evidence of ice was seen from the bridge and Captain
Smith refused to believe that icebergs would be present farther
south than normal at that time of the year. Although the air
temperature fell from 43 deg F at 19.00 hours to 33 deg F in
the space of two hours Captain Smith did not reduce speed when
darkness fell. The Titanic continued on her course at her service
speed of 22 knots.
Lord Ashburton
Countess of Rothes
Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon Bt.
Mrs JJ Astor
Col. JJ Astor
By 23.30 most of the passengers had retired
to their cabins leaving a handful in the first class smoking
room and the third class saloon. Just before 23.40 the lookout
in the crow's-nest high up on the foremast was shocked to see
an iceberg looming out of the blackness ahead and immediately
.reported "iceberg right ahead" to the officer on
watch, First Officer William Murdoch. Murdoch peered into the
darkness and saw the glistening white shape ahead and immediately
gave the order "hard-a-starboard" and telegraphed
"full astern" to the engine room. The bow of the ship
fell away to port and Murdoch thought that he had successfully
brought the Titanic around in time to clear the iceberg. However,
there was a grinding noise as an underwater spur of ice ripped
a gash in the ship's starboard side which extended for some
300 feet, over a third of her length, and opened the six forward
compartments to the sea.
Captain Smith arrived on the bridge as Murdoch
rang the telegraph to "stop engines" but in the first
instance saw nothing amiss but immediately gave the order to
"close emergency doors". Fourth Officer Boxall was
immediately dispatched to arrange for soundings to taken of
the forward hold but before he could do so carpenter Hutchinson
arrived with the breathless report "Sir, she's making water
fast'.
Most of the passengers below deck were unaware
that anything had happened. Some felt a slight shudder and ventured
on deck where they glimpsed the iceberg but the Titanic was
unsinkable, solid and safe; they thought they had nothing to
fear. But deep down in the bowels of the ship it was a different
story. In the forward boiler room the firemen heard a deafening
crash and only had seconds to escape into the adjacent boiler
room before they were engulfed by the inrushing sea. That boiler
room was also flooding but fortunately the next one, No.4, was
dry the only problem having been the avalanche of coal brought
down from the bunkers by the collision.
By now the ship had come to a complete stop
and the passengers were still not aware of the emergency situation
that they were in. Captain Smith had not made any announcements
to avoid the risk of panic but, although questioning stewards
were given assurances that the ship would proceed in a few hours,
below decks the situation was desperate. Water was now pouring
into the six exposed compartments. Captain Smith soon realised
that his ship was seriously damaged and told Bruce Ismay so
when he arrived on the bridge. Thomas Andrews was summoned and
immediately went below to inspect the damage. The ship was now
listing and from a quick inspection of the damage returned to
the bridge to inform Captain Smith that the Titanic must sink.
As the compartments continued to flood the ship settled down
by the bow with the consequence that the water then flooded
over the transverse bulkheads which only extended upwards to
D or E decks.
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