In which ocean did the Titanic sank: all the secrets of the Titanic's sinking, the main reasons for the death of the ship and the shocking results of the investigation. Where did the Titanic come from and where did it sail? Starting point, destination and route of the legendary ship

The sinking of the Titanic passenger liner, during which 1,517 of the 2,229 passengers and crew members died (official figures vary slightly), was one of the largest maritime disasters peacetime.

The 712 surviving passengers of the Titanic were picked up by the rescue ship Carpathia.

Few disasters have caused such a resonance and had such a strong impact on public consciousness. The disaster changed attitudes towards social injustice and influenced the rules for implementing passenger transportation in the Atlantic Ocean, contributed to stricter requirements for the presence of a sufficient number of lifeboats on board passenger ships and led to the creation of the International Ice Service.

April 14, 2016 marked the 104th anniversary of the disaster of the Titanic, which became one of the most famous ships in history. Many books and films, exhibitions and memorials are devoted to the theme of the Titanic sinking.

At 2:20 am, the Titanic broke into two parts and sank. At that time there were about a thousand people on board. People who found themselves in the icy water soon died from hypothermia. (Frank O. Brainard Collection)

The British passenger liner Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her first and last voyage on April 10, 1912. Before heading to New York, the Titanic stopped at Cherbourg (France) and Queenstown (Ireland). Four days later, on April 14, 1912, at 23:40 local time, the liner collided with an iceberg 603 kilometers south of Newfoundland.

The disaster shocked the whole world. The investigation into the cause of the Titanic's sinking, which began a few days after the disaster, contributed to significant improvements in the safety of navigation. (United Press International)

The passenger liner Titanic departs on her first and last voyage to New York from Queenstown, Ireland, 1912. On board the liner were the richest people of the time: millionaires John Jacob Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim and Isidore Strauss, as well as more than a thousand emigrants from Ireland, Scandinavia and other countries who were about to start new life in America.

Workers leave the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, where the Titanic was built between 1909 and 1911. At the time of its launch, the Titanic was the largest passenger airliner in the world. In this 1911 photo, the Titanic is in the background.

Dining room on the Titanic, 1912. The liner was designed and built with the latest technology and served as the embodiment of luxury and comfort. On board there was a gym, a swimming pool, libraries, high-end restaurants and luxurious cabins.

Second class room on board the Titanic, 1912. More than 90% of the second class passengers were men, who remained on board the sinking liner, as women and children were the first to board the lifeboats.

The Titanic sails from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. Some experts believe that the cause of the Titanic disaster was the poor quality of the hull rivets that were used in the construction of the liner.

The height of the liner from the keel to the top of the chimneys was 53.3 meters, 10.5 of which were below the waterline. The Titanic was taller than most city buildings at the time.

Captain of the Titanic Edward John Smith largest airliner of its time. The length of the Titanic was 269.1 meters, width - 28.19 meters, displacement - more than 52 thousand tons.

An undated photograph of Titanic's first mate William McMaster Murdoch, who is revered as a hero in his homeland of Dalbeattie, Scotland. However, in the film Titanic, which received many Oscar awards, Murdoch's character is portrayed as a coward and a murderer.

At a ceremony marking the 86th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, 20th Century Fox executive vice president Scott Neeson presented a check for $8,000 to Dalbeattie School to apologize to the officer's relatives.

Presumably, the iceberg that the Titanic passenger liner collided with on April 14, 1912. The photograph was taken from the cable-laying vessel Mackay Bennett, captained by Captain Descarteret.

The Mackay Bennett was one of the first to arrive at the site of the Titanic disaster. According to Captain Descarteret, this was the only iceberg near the wreck site. ocean liner.

Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which sailed only partially full. This photograph of lifeboats approaching the Carpathia was taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden.

The photograph was presented at an exhibition of documents related to the Titanic disaster, which Walter Lord bequeathed to the National maritime museum in Greenwich, England.

The rescue ship Carpathia picked up the 712 surviving passengers of the Titanic. A photograph taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden shows lifeboats approaching the Carpathia.

This photograph was also exhibited in an exhibition of documents that Walter Lord bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Although the Titanic had advanced safety measures such as watertight compartments and remote-controlled watertight doors, the ship did not have enough lifeboats for all passengers.

There were only enough boats for 1,178 people - that's only a third of all passengers and crew. In this photo you see the rescue of passengers from the Titanic.

Reporters interview passengers of the sunken Titanic who disembarked from the rescue ship Carpathia on May 17, 1912.

Seven-year-old Eva Hart with her father Benjamin and mother Esther, 1912. Eve and her mother escaped the sinking Titanic, but her father died when the British liner sank on the night of April 15, 1912.

People stand on the street waiting for the arrival of the Carpathia ship.

A huge crowd of people gathered near the office of the White Shipping Company Star Line on Broadway in New York to find out last news about the sinking of the Titanic, April 14, 1912.

People read reports outside The Sun newspaper office in New York after the sinking of the Titanic.

Two messages sent from America to Lloyds of London insurers in London erroneously claimed that other ships, including the Virginia, were nearby providing assistance during the Titanic disaster.

These lots will be auctioned at Christie's in London in May 2012.

Titanic survivors Laura Francatelli and her employers Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon and Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon stand aboard the rescue ship Carpathia. Francatelli said she heard a terrible crash and then cries for help as her boat sailed away from the sinking ocean liner Titanic on that tragic night in 1912.

The passenger liner Titanic shortly before departure on its first and last voyage, 1912.

The photo, released by Henry Aldridge & Son/Ho auction house in Wiltshire, UK, on ​​April 18, 2008, shows an extremely rare artifact - a passenger ticket for the Titanic.

An exhibit bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England by Walter Lord is a Marconi telegram. Miss Edith Russell (journalist and Titanic survivor) wrote in Women's Wear Daily: "Saved on the Carpathia, tell mother." "Carpathia", April 18, 1912.

Lunch menu from the restaurant on board the Titanic, signed by the surviving passengers. Walter Lord bequeathed this document to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.

The bow of the sunken Titanic, 1999.

One of the propellers of the Titanic passenger liner. The photo was taken during an expedition to the shipwreck on September 12, 2008. Five thousand artifacts will be sold at auction on April 11, 2012, almost 100 years after the Titanic disaster.

The starboard side of the Titanic's bow. This image was released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on August 28, 2010.

Part of the Titanic's side, chains and an additional anchor buoy. Dr Robert Bollard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic almost 20 years ago, returned to the site of the tragedy to look at the damage caused to the ship and its treasure by looters and seekers of easy enrichment.

The huge propeller of the sunken Titanic lies at the bottom Atlantic Ocean. The photograph is undated. The first tourists to visit the shipwreck in September 1998 saw the propeller and other parts of the famous liner.

This 17-ton fragment of the Titanic's hull was recovered during an expedition to the shipwreck in 1998.

A 17-ton fragment of the Titanic passenger liner, which was recovered from the ocean floor during an expedition to the shipwreck, July 22, 2009. On April 11, 2012, this exhibit will be sold at auction along with 5 thousand other artifacts.

A gold Waltham American pocket watch - a personal item of Karl Asplund - is seen in front of a painting of the Titanic painted by C. J. Ashford. The watch was found on the body of Karl Asplund, who sank with the Titanic.

Money from the Titanic. The owner of one of the richest collections of things found on the Titanic put it up for auction in 2012, the year of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the famous liner.

Photographs of Felix Asplund, Selma and Karl Asplund and Lillian Asplund in Devizes, Wiltshire, England. These photos are part of Lillian Asplund's collection of Titanic-related items.

Lillian was 5 years old in April 1912 when the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage. The girl survived, but her father and three siblings were among the 1,514 people who died.

Artifacts recovered from the Titanic wreck are on display at the TITANIC The Artifact Exhibit in California. scientific center: binoculars, comb, dishes and a cracked incandescent lamp. February 6, 2003.

Glasses found among the wreckage of the Titanic. The full collection of artifacts found at the Titanic wreck site will be auctioned in April 2012 - 100 years after the tragedy.

Golden spoon from the Titanic.

The chronometer from the captain's bridge of the Titanic is on display at the Science Museum in London. It is one of more than 200 objects recovered from the ocean floor where the Titanic sank.

Visitors to the exhibition at the museum can go through the entire history of the famous liner in chronological order - from the drawings for its construction to the moment of destruction after a collision with an iceberg.

The Titanic's speed measuring instrument and Gimbal lamp are among the artifacts on display at the museum in New York.

Objects from the sunken Titanic on display at the New York Museum.

A cup and pocket watch are among many items found on the Titanic, as well as a White Star Line flag button and a small porthole.

These spoons from the Titanic are part of an exhibit at the South Norwalk, Connecticut Museum.

The gold-plated handbag is one of the items from the Titanic.

The Titanic's stern, with two propellers sticking out of the mud and sand, rests on the ocean floor 600 meters south of the ship's bow.

The first complete image of the legendary wreckage. The photo mosaic consists of 1500 images high resolution made using sonar studies.

The starboard side of the ship. The bow of the Titanic was the first to sink to the bottom of the ocean, so that its front part was buried in the sand, forever closing the mortal wounds left by the iceberg.

The mutilated stern in profile.

The stern of the Titanic, top view. This interweaving of metal is a mystery to scientists. As one of them said: “If you decipher this, you will love Picasso.”

Two Titanic engines are visible through a crack in the stern. These huge structures, covered with rust, once powered the largest airliner in the world at that time.

And this fact is not surprising, because at the time of construction and commissioning, the "" was one of the largest airliners in the world. Its first voyage, which is also its last, took place on April 14, 1912, because the ship, after a collision with an ice block, sank 2 hours 40 minutes after the impact (at 02.20 on April 15). Such a large-scale disaster has become a legend, and in our time the causes and circumstances of its occurrence are discussed, feature films are made, and researchers continue to study the remains of the liner located at the bottom and compare them with photographs of the ship taken in 1912.

If we compare the model of the bow shown in the photo with the remains that now lie on the bottom, it is difficult to call them identical, because the front part of the ship was heavily immersed in silt during the fall. This sight greatly disappointed the first researchers, since the location of the wreckage did not allow for an inspection of the place where the ship hit the ice block without the use of special equipment. The torn hole present in the hull, clearly visible on the model, is the result of a blow to the bottom.

The remains of the Titanic are located at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, they lie at a depth of about 4 km. The ship cracked during the dive and now two of its parts lie at the bottom, at a distance of about 600 meters from one another. Within a radius of several hundred meters near them there are numerous debris and objects, including a huge piece of the ship's hull.

The researchers managed to make a panorama of the bow of the Titanic by processing several hundred images. If you look at it from right to left, you can see the winch from the spare anchor, which sticks out directly above the bow edge, then the mooring device is noticeable, and next to it is an open hatch leading to hold No. 1, breakwater lines go from it to the sides. The lying mast, under which there are two more bilge hatches and winches for lifting cargo, is clearly visible on the inter-superstructure deck. The captain's bridge used to be located on the front of the main superstructure, but now it can only be found on the bottom in parts.

But the superstructure with the captain's and officers' cabins and the radio room is well preserved, although it is crossed by a crack that was created at the site of the expansion joint. The visible hole in the superstructure is where the chimney is located. Another hole behind the superstructure is a well where the main staircase of the Titanic is located. The large ragged hole located to the left is the site of the second pipe.

Photo of the main anchor on the port side of the Titanic. It remains a mystery how he did not fall down when he hit the bottom.

Behind the Titanic's spare anchor is a mooring device.

Even 10-20 years ago, on the mast of the Titanic one could see the remains of the so-called “crow’s nest”, where the lookouts were located, but now they have fallen off. The only reminder of the "crow's nest" is the hole in the mast through which sailors looking out could get onto spiral staircase. The tail located behind the hole was once a bell mount.

Comparative photos of the Titanic deck where the lifeboats were located. On the right you can see that the superstructure on it is torn in places.

The Titanic staircase that adorned the ship in 1912:

Photo of the remains of the ship, taken from a similar angle. Comparing the two previous photos, it is difficult to believe that this is the same part of the ship.

Behind the stairs there were elevators for 1st class passengers. Only individual elements remind us of them. The inscription, which can be seen in the photo on the right, was located opposite the elevators and pointed to the deck. It is this inscription that points to deck A (the letter A, made of bronze, has fallen off, but traces still remain).

Deck D, 1st class lounge. Despite the fact that most of the wooden trim has been eaten by microorganisms, individual elements reminiscent of the grand staircase have been preserved.

The 1st class lounge and restaurant of the Titanic, located on Deck D, had large stained glass windows, which have survived to this day.

This is exactly how "" would look along with the largest modern passenger liner, which is called "Allure of the Seas».

It was put into operation in 2010. Several comparative values:

  • Allure of the Seas has a displacement 4 times greater than that of the Titanic;
  • the modern record-breaking liner has a length of 360 m, which is 100 m longer than the "";
  • maximum width 60 m compared to 28 m of the shipbuilding legend;
  • the draft is almost the same (almost 10 m);
  • the speed of these ships is 22-23 knots;
  • the number of command staff of “Allure of the Seas” is more than 2 thousand people (the “servants” are 900 people, mostly stokers);
  • the passenger capacity of the modern giant is 6.4 thousand people (in the case of 2.5 thousand).

100 years ago, on the night of April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Titanic liner sank, carrying more than 2,200 people.

Titanic is the largest passenger ship of the early 20th century, the second of three twin steamships produced by the British company White Star Line.

The length of the Titanic was 260 meters, width - 28 meters, displacement - 52 thousand tons, height from the waterline to the boat deck - 19 meters, distance from the keel to the top of the chimney - 55 meters, maximum speed - 23 knots. Journalists compared it in length to three city blocks, and in height to an 11-story building.

The Titanic had eight steel decks, located one above the other at a distance of 2.5-3.2 meters. To ensure safety, the ship had a double bottom, and its hull was separated by 16 waterproof compartments. Watertight bulkheads rose from the second bottom to the deck. The ship's chief designer, Thomas Andrews, stated that even if four of the 16 compartments were filled with water, the liner would be able to continue its journey.

The interiors of the cabins on decks B and C were designed in 11 styles. Third class passengers on decks E and F were separated from first and second class by gates located in different parts of the ship.

Before the Titanic set out on its first and last voyage, it was especially emphasized that there would be 10 millionaires on board the ship on its first voyage, and in its safes there would be gold and jewelry worth hundreds of millions of dollars. American industrialist, heir to a mining magnate Benjamin Guggenheim, millionaire with his young wife, assistant to US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft Major Archibald Willingham Butt, US Congressman Isidore Strauss, actress Dorothy Gibson, wealthy public figure Margaret Brown, British fashion designer Lucy Christiane Duff Gordon and many other famous and wealthy people of that time.

On April 10, 1912, at noon, the Titanic superliner set off on its only journey along the route Southampton (Great Britain) - New York (USA), with stops in Cherbourg (France) and Queenstown (Ireland).

During the four days' journey the weather was clear and the sea was calm.

On April 14, 1912, on the fifth day of the voyage, several ships sent reports of icebergs in the area of ​​the ship's route. The radio was broken for most of the day, and many messages were not noticed by the radio operators, and the captain did not pay due attention to others.

By evening, the temperature began to drop, reaching zero Celsius by 10 p.m.

At 23:00, a message was received from the Californian about the presence of ice, but the Titanic's radio operator interrupted the radio exchange before the Californian had time to report the coordinates of the area: the telegraph operator was busy sending personal messages to passengers.

At 23:39, two lookouts noticed an iceberg in front of the liner and reported it by telephone to the bridge. The most senior of the officers, William Murdoch, gave the command to the helmsman: “Rudder to port.”

At 23:40 "Titanic" in the underwater part of the ship. Of the ship's 16 watertight compartments, six were cut through.

At 00:00 on April 15, Titanic designer Thomas Andrews was called to the bridge to assess the severity of the damage. After reporting the incident and inspecting the ship, Andrews informed everyone present that the liner would inevitably sink.

There was a noticeable tilt on the ship's bow. Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats to be uncovered and the crew and passengers to be summoned for evacuation.

On the captain's orders, the radio operators began sending distress signals, which they transmitted for two hours until the captain relieved the telegraph operators of their duties a few minutes before the ship sank.

Distress signals, but they were too far from the Titanic.

At 00:25, the coordinates of the Titanic were taken by the ship Carpathia, which was located at a distance of 58 from the site of the wreck of the liner. nautical miles, which was 93 kilometers. ordered to immediately head to the site of the Titanic disaster. Rushing to help, the ship was able to reach a record speed of 17.5 knots - with the maximum possible speed for the ship being 14 knots. To do this, Rostron ordered to turn off all appliances that consume electricity and heating.

At 01:30 the operator of the Titanic telegraphed: “We are in small boats.” By order of Captain Smith, his assistant, Charles Lightoller, who led the rescue of people on the left side of the liner, put only women and children in the boats. The men, according to the captain, were supposed to remain on deck until all the women were in the boats. First Mate William Murdoch on the starboard side to the men if there were no women or children in the line of passengers gathering on deck.

At about 02:15, the Titanic's bow dropped sharply, the ship moved forward significantly, and a huge wave rolled across the decks, washing many passengers overboard.

At about 02:20 minutes the Titanic sank.

At about 04:00 in the morning, approximately three and a half hours after receiving the distress signal, the Carpathia arrived at the site of the Titanic's wreck. The ship took on board 712 passengers and crew members of the Titanic, after which it arrived safely in New York. Among those rescued were 189 crew members, 129 male passengers and 394 women and children.

The death toll, according to various sources, ranged from 1,400 to 1,517 people. According to official data, after the disaster, 60% of passengers were in first class cabins, 44% in second class cabins, 25% in third class.

The last surviving passenger of the Titanic, who traveled on board the liner at the age of nine weeks, died on May 31, 2009 at the age of 97. The woman's ashes were scattered over the sea from the pier in the port of Southampton, from where the Titanic set off on its last voyage in 1912.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

To point 13.
Let me clarify: both the RMS Olympic and subsequent ships of the Titanic and Britannic series - transatlantic liners of the White Star Line had a unique design for their time: they could remain afloat if any 2 of the 16 waterproof compartments were flooded , any 3 of the first 5 compartments, or all 4 bow compartments in a row, starting from the forepeak.
Unfortunately, no one imagined that water would flow into six bow compartments at once and, as the trim on the bow increased, it would begin to overflow through the watertight bulkheads, because usually the above-mentioned ones do not reach the quarters of the masts and consistent flooding of the compartments would begin. It was not a warship...

To point 12.
And, for example: "Hans Hedtoft", January 7, 1959? SOS - January 7, 1959, around 02:00: "Encountered an iceberg. Position 59.5 north - 43.0 west." 02 "The engine room is flooded with water." 03 "We took a lot of water into the engine room." Approximately 05 "We are drowning and need immediate assistance." That's all... No one was rescued, no bodies or debris were found. 55 passengers and 39 crew members were killed.
For reference: "Hans Hedtoft": Danish cargo-passenger ship with a displacement of 3000 tons, second voyage on the line Greenland - continental ports. It was designed for navigation in ice (double the thickness of the sides in the ice belt, double bottom, 7 waterproof compartments, special reinforcement of the bow and aft end).

To point 9.
According to the investigation, 37.5 seconds passed between the call from lookout Frederick Fleet (10/15/1887 - 01/10/1965) and the moment the iceberg touched down. During this time, the airliner traveled 1,316 feet and deviated from course by 23 degrees (109 feet / 33.22 meters to the left of the original trajectory).
By the way. Frederick Fleet was found hanged on January 10, 1965, in his Norman Street garden. The coroner's report indicated that he had suffered from mental confusion, but acquaintances believed that it was all due to his depressive state, which began after the death of his wife, and was partly caused by the fact that Fleet never got rid of the guilt he felt for the deaths of the passengers . He was buried without any honors in a pauper's grave in Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton. There was not even a tombstone on his grave, and only in 1993 the Titanic Historical Society Inc. established with money from private donations memorial plate with an engraving of the Titanic. Another victim of the disaster, isn't it?

To point 8.
There was no "mirage". There was a “black” iceberg: when it turns over, the part that was previously in the water does not differ in color from the water. Especially on a moonless night. There was no rough sea at all, so there was no white strip of foam at the “waterline” of the iceberg either. And the lookouts didn’t have binoculars - historical fact. They just didn't see him...

To point 3.
Incorrect photo. It should have been signed like this: “The boats of the Titanic. In total, thirteen of them were found. And here they are at the 13th pier in New York, where this magnificent liner was supposed to arrive.”
...
This is a bit of a hobby of mine, in any case, I have collected a normal library in different languages ​​and am familiar with the documents of the official investigation. To begin with, I recommend: www.titanicinquiry.org - complete breakdowns of investigations in the States and Britain ( English language).

Therefore, let me make a value judgment that the Titanic was destroyed by the command “Stop the car - full reverse” (movement of McMaster Murdoch’s hand), which could not be carried out.

Alas, it took more than 15 minutes to completely reverse the machines “from full forward to full reverse” (an investigative experiment at the Olympic and I won’t describe the features of steam engines) - while the airliner went through about 2 miles - about 3.7 km. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the features of the rudder group. Three propellers, one rudder blade, were driven by steam engines (reversible), the middle one - by a turbine (non-reversible). "The airliner actually lost control and, instead of circulating (in a circle with a diameter of 3850 feet), began to move in a spiral with an increasing radius tending to infinity. At the same time, if the command “Full speed ahead, full steam forward” had been given, then the on the turn course of 23 degrees, he would have been 8 seconds earlier and by the time of “37.5” he would have gone 92.6 meters to the left. True, there were nuances, like the rolling of the stern, usually solved by the “coordinate” maneuver (Vicki?), but. that's a completely different story...

Meanwhile. It has been documented that closer to midnight on April 14, 1912, there were only two oilers at the control post of the Titanic’s engines (according to the table of ranks, they were at the level of ordinary stokers, only those were trained to use a shovel, and these were trained to use an oil can). This is not surprising - after all, the previous command from the bridge was received more than three days ago...

Sorry, it was long, but I haven’t said everything yet...

Titanic - the ship that challenged higher powers. A miracle of shipbuilding and the most big ship of its time. The builders and owners of this giant passenger fleet arrogantly declared: “The Lord God himself cannot sink this ship.” However, the launched ship went on its maiden voyage and did not return. It was one of the largest disasters, forever etched in the history of navigation. In this topic I will talk about the most key points related to the Titanic. The topic consists of two parts, the first part is the history of the Titanic before the tragedy, where I will tell you about how the ship was built and went on its fateful voyage. In the second part we will visit the bottom of the ocean, where the remains of a drowned giant lie.

First, I will briefly talk about the history of the Titanic's structure. There are a lot interesting photos ship, which depicts the construction process, mechanisms and assemblies of the Titanic, etc. And then the story will tell about the tragic circumstances that were destined to happen on this fateful day for the Titanic. As always happens when major disasters, the Titanic tragedy occurred due to a series of mistakes that coincided on one day. Each of these mistakes individually would not have entailed anything serious, but all together they resulted in death for the ship.

Titanic was laid down on March 31, 1909 at the shipyards of the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding company in Belfast, Northern Ireland, launched on May 31, 1911, passed sea trials on April 2, 1912. The ship's unsinkability was ensured by 15 watertight bulkheads in the hold, creating 16 conditionally watertight compartments; the space between the bottom and the second bottom flooring was divided by transverse and longitudinal partitions into 46 waterproof compartments. The first photo shows the Titanic slipway, construction is just beginning.


The photo shows the laying of the Titanic's keel

In this photo, the Titanic is on the slipway next to the Olympic, its twin brother


And these are the huge steam engines of the Titanic

Giant crankshaft

This photo shows the turbine rotor of the Titanic. The huge size of the rotor stands out especially against the background of the working

Titanic propeller shaft

Ceremonial photo - the Titanic hull is completely assembled

The launching process begins. The Titanic slowly sinks its hull into the water

The giant ship almost left the slipways

Titanic's launch is successful

And now the Titanic is ready, the morning before the first official launching in Belfast

The Titanic was officially launched and transported to England. The photo shows the ship in the port of Southampton before its fateful voyage. Few people know, but during the construction of the Titanic, 8 workers died. This information is available in a selection of interesting facts about the Titanic.

This is the last photograph of the Titanic taken from the shore in Ireland.

The first days of the voyage were successful for the ship, nothing foreshadowed trouble, the ocean was completely calm. On the night of April 14, the sea remained calm, but icebergs were visible in some places in the sailing area. They did not embarrass Captain Smith... At 11:40 in the evening, a cry was suddenly heard from the observation post on the mast: “There’s an iceberg right ahead!”... Oh further events what happened on the ship is known to everyone. The “unsinkable” Titanic failed to resist water element and went to the bottom. As already mentioned, many factors turned against the Titanic that day. It was fatal bad luck that killed the giant ship and more than 1,500 people

The official conclusion of the commission investigating the causes of the sinking of the Titanic stated: the steel used to sheath the hull of the Titanic was of low quality, with a large admixture of sulfur, which made it very brittle at low temperatures. If the casing were made of high-quality, tough steel with a low sulfur content, it would significantly soften the force of the impact. The metal sheets would simply bend inward and the damage to the body would not be so serious. Perhaps then the Titanic would have been saved, or at least would have remained afloat for a long time. However, for those times this steel was considered the best; there was simply no other. This was only the final conclusion; in fact, a number of other factors occurred that did not allow us to avoid a collision with the iceberg

Let us list in order all the factors that influenced the sinking of the Titanic. The absence of any of these factors could save the ship...

First of all, it is worth noting the work of the Titanic's radio operators: the main task of the telegraph operators was to serve especially wealthy passengers - it is known that in just 36 hours of work, the radio operators transmitted more than 250 telegrams. Payment for telegraph services was made on the spot, in the radio room, and at that time it was quite large, and tips flowed like a river. Radio operators were constantly busy sending telegrams, and although they received several messages about drifting ice, they did not pay attention to them

Some criticize the lookout's lack of binoculars. The reason for this lies in the tiny key to the binoculars box. A tiny key that opened the cabinet where binoculars were stored could have saved the Titanic and the lives of 1522 dead passengers. This should have happened if not for the fatal mistake of a certain David Blair. Keyman Blair was transferred from service on the “unsinkable” liner just a few days before the ill-fated voyage, but he forgot to give the key to the binocular locker to the employee who replaced him. That is why the sailors on duty at the observation tower of the liner had to rely solely on their eyes. They saw the iceberg too late. One of the crew members on watch that fateful night later said that if they had binoculars, they would have seen the ice block earlier (even if it was pitch black) and the Titanic would have had time to change course.”


Despite warnings about icebergs, the captain of the Titanic did not slow down or change the route, so confident was he that the ship was unsinkable. The speed of the ship was too high, due to which the iceberg hit the hull with maximum force. If the captain had ordered the ship's speed to be reduced in advance, upon entering the iceberg belt, then the force of the impact on the iceberg would not have been enough to break through the Titanic's hull. The captain also did not make sure that all the boats were filled with people. As a result, far fewer people were saved

The iceberg belonged to a rare type of so-called. “black icebergs” (overturned so that their dark underwater part reaches the surface), which is why it was noticed too late. The night was windless and moonless, otherwise the lookouts would have noticed the whitecaps around the iceberg. The photo shows the same iceberg that caused the sinking of the Titanic.

There were no red rescue flares on the ship to signal distress. Confidence in the ship's power was so high that no one even thought of equipping the Titanic with these missiles. But everything could have turned out differently. Less than half an hour after meeting the iceberg, the captain’s mate shouted:
Lights on port side, sir! The ship is five or six miles away! Boxhall clearly saw through his binoculars that it was a single-tube steamer. He tried to contact him using a signal lamp, but the unknown vessel did not respond. “Apparently, there is no radiotelegraph on the ship, they could not help but see us,” Captain Smith decided and ordered helmsman Rowe to signal with emergency flares. When the signalman opened the box with the missiles, both Boxhall and Rowe were dumbfounded: the box contained ordinary white missiles, not emergency red ones. “Sir,” Boxhall exclaimed in disbelief, “there are only white rockets here!” - Can't be! - Captain Smith was amazed. But, convinced that Boxhall was right, he ordered: “Shoot the whites.” Maybe they'll realize we're in trouble. But no one guessed, everyone thought it was a fireworks display on the Titanic

The cargo-passenger steamer California, on a London-Boston flight, missed the Titanic on the evening of April 14, and a little over an hour later it was covered in ice and lost speed. Its radio operator Evans contacted the Titanic at about 11 p.m. and wanted to warn about the difficult ice conditions and that they were covered in ice, but the Titanic’s radio operator Philippe, who had just had difficulty establishing contact with Cape Race, rudely interrupted him: “Leave me alone!” I'm busy working with Cape Race! And Evans “fell behind”: there was no second radio operator on the California, it was a difficult day, and Evans officially closed the radio watch at 23:30, having previously reported this to the captain. As a result, all the blame for the biased investigation into the sinking of the Titanic fell on the captain of the California, Stanley Lord, who proved his innocence until his death. He was acquitted only posthumously after Hendrik Ness, captain of the ship Samson, testified...


On the map the place where the Titanic sank

So, the night of April 14-15, 1912. Atlantic. On board the fishing vessel "Samson". "Samson" returns from a successful fishing trip, avoiding encounters with US ships. On board are several hundred slaughtered seals. The tired crew rested. The watch was kept by the captain himself and his first mate. Captain Ness was in good standing with his owners. The voyages of his ship were always successful and brought good profits. Hendrik Ness was known as an experienced and risk-taking captain, not too scrupulous about violating territorial waters or exceeding the number of animals killed. “Samson” often found himself in foreign or forbidden waters, and he was well known to US Coast Guard ships, with whom he successfully avoided close acquaintance. In a word, Hendrik Ness was an excellent navigator and a gambling, successful businessman. Here are the words of Ness, from which the whole picture of what is happening becomes clear:

“The night was amazing, starry, clear, the ocean was calm and gentle,” Ness said. “The assistant and I chatted, smoked, sometimes I went out of the control room onto the bridge, but I didn’t stay there for long - the air was absolutely freezing.” Suddenly, accidentally turning around, I saw two unusually bright stars in the southern part of the horizon. They surprised me with their brilliance and size. Shouting to the watchman to hand over the telescope, I pointed it at these stars and immediately realized that these were the masthead lights of a large ship. “Captain, I think this is a coast guard ship,” the mate said. But I thought about it myself. There was no time to figure it out on the map, but we both decided that we had entered the territorial waters of the United States. The meeting with their ships did not bode well for us. A few minutes later, a white rocket flew over the horizon, and we realized that we had been discovered and were being asked to stop. I still hoped that everything would work out and we would be able to escape. But soon another rocket took off, and after some time a third... Things turned out badly: if we had been searched, I would have lost not only all the loot, but also, possibly, the ship, and we would all have gone to prison. I decided to leave.

He ordered to turn off all the lights and give full speed. For some reason we were not followed. After some time, the border ship disappeared altogether. (This is why witnesses from the Titanic claimed that they clearly saw a large steamer in the distance, leaving them. The ill-fated California at that time was sandwiched in ice and was not visible from the Titanic at all.) I ordered a change of course to the north, we were going at full speed and only slowed down in the morning. On the twenty-fifth of April we dropped anchor off Reykjavik in Iceland and only then did we learn about the Titanic tragedy from newspapers delivered by the Norwegian consul.

During the conversation with the consul, it was as if I had been hit on the head: I thought: weren’t we at the scene of the disaster then? As soon as the consul left our board, I immediately rushed to the cabin and, looking through the newspapers and my notes, realized that the dying people saw us not as the Californian, but as us. This means that it was us who were called to help with rockets. But they were white, not red, emergency ones. Who would have thought that people were dying very close to us, and we were leaving them at full speed on our reliable and large “Samson”, which had both boats and boats on board! And the sea was like a pond, quiet, calm... We could save them all! Everyone! Hundreds of people died there, and we saved stinking seal skins! But who could know about this? But we didn’t have a radiotelegraph. On the way to Norway, I explained to the crew what happened to us and warned that all of us had only one thing left to do - remain silent! If they find out the truth, we will become worse than lepers: everyone will shy away from us, we will be kicked out of the fleet, no one will want to serve with us on the same ship, no one will give us a hand or a crust of bread. And none of the team took any oath.

Hendrik Ness spoke about what happened only 50 years later, before his death. However, no one can be directly blamed for the sinking of the Titanic. If the rockets had been red, he would certainly have rushed to help. In the end, no one had time to help. Only the steamship "Carpathia", developing an unprecedented speed of 17 knots, rushed to the aid of the dying people. Captain Arthur H. Roston ordered the preparation of beds, spare clothing, food, and quarters for the rescued. At 2 hours 45 minutes, “Carpathia” began to encounter icebergs and their fragments, large ice fields. Despite the danger of a collision, the Carpathia did not slow down. At 3 hours 50 minutes on the Carpathia they saw the first boat from the Titanic, at 4 hours 10 minutes they began to save people, and by 8 hours 30 minutes the last living person was picked up. In total, Carpathia saved 705 people. And “Carpathia” delivered all those rescued to New York. The photo shows a boat from the Titanic


Now let's move on to the second part of the story. Here you will see the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean in the form in which it remained after the tragedy. For seventy-three years the ship lay in its deep underwater grave as one of countless evidence of human carelessness. The word "Titanic" has become synonymous with adventures doomed to failure, heroism, cowardice, shock and adventure. Societies and associations of surviving passengers were created. Entrepreneurs involved in the recovery of sunken ships dreamed of raising a superliner with all its countless riches. In 1985, a team of divers led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard found it, and the world learned that under the enormous pressure of the water column giant ship fell apart into three parts. The wreckage of the Titanic was scattered over an area with a radius of 1600 meters. Ballard found bow ship, penetrating deep into the ground under its own weight. Eight hundred meters away from her lay the stern. Nearby were the ruins of the middle part of the hull. Among the wreckage of the ship, various objects of material culture of that distant time were scattered throughout the bottom: a set of kitchen utensils made of copper, wine bottles with corks, coffee cups with the emblem of the White Star shipping line, toiletries, door handles, candelabra, kitchen stoves and ceramic heads dolls with which small children played... One of the most stunning underwater images that Dr. Ballard's movie camera captured was a broken sloop beam hanging limply from the side of the ship - a silent witness to a tragic night that will forever remain on the list of world disasters. The photo shows the wreck of the Titanic, taken by the Mir submersible

Over the past 19 years, the hull of the Titanic has undergone serious destruction, the reason for which was not sea water at all, but souvenir hunters who are gradually plundering the remains of the liner. For example, the ship’s bell or mast lighthouse disappeared from the ship. In addition to direct plunder, damage to the ship is caused by time and the action of bacteria, leaving behind only rusty ruins

In this photo we see the Titanic's propeller

Huge ship anchor

One of the Titanic's piston engines

Preserved underwater cup from the Titanic

This is the same hole that formed after the encounter with the iceberg. Perhaps, in addition to weak steel, the rivets between the sheets of metal failed, and water poured into 4 compartments of the Titanic, leaving no chance of salvation. There was no point in pumping water out; it was equivalent to pumping water from ocean to ocean. The Titanic sank to the bottom, where it rests to this day. There is talk of raising the Titanic to the surface in order to set up a museum, meanwhile various souvenir lovers continue to take the ship apart piece by piece. How many more secrets does the Titanic keep? It is unlikely that anyone will answer this question in the near future.

 

It might be useful to read: