The History of the R.M.S. Titanic

The Race for the Atlantic Passenger Trade

By the turn of the century, more and more immigrants and wealthy travellers as well wanted to cross the Atlantic. This fact brought John Pierpont Morgan, an American tycoon, into the arena, who had single-handedly built up his business to become the largest private banking house in America, before diversifying into railroads, steelmaking and shipping. He bought one shipping line after the other, among them the White Star Line: Founded first in 1845, it was sold to Thomas Henry Ismay after going bankrupt in 1867. Ismay established a prosperous shipping line which did not only rival, but even often surpassed the Cunard Line, a state-owned shipping line, over the next twenty years. After the death of T. H. Ismay in 1899, his son John Bruce Ismay took over the command of the line. In 1902, he had to sell it to the International Mercantile Marine (IMM), a trust owned by J. P. Morgan, due to increasing competition by Cunard, as well as German shipping lines, such as North German Lloyd and the Hamburg America Line, which could be faced easier with the financial assistance of a millionaire.

During the following years, faster and faster as well as bigger and bigger ships were built, such as the Lusitania and the Mauretania, two sister ships owned by Cunard, with a length of nearly 790 feet, an average speed of about 25 knots and a gross tonnage of more than 30,000 – by then the largest and fastest vessels in the world. Having no comparable ship neither in service nor in construction, the White Star Line had to do something soon in order to avoid being surpassed or even ruined by Cunard.

An Idea Is Born

In summer 1907, J. Bruce Ismay, the managing director of the White Star Line, and Lord James Pirrie, a partner in the firm of Harland and Wolff, the giant Belfast shipbuilder that built all White Star vessels, met each other at the London house of Lord Pirrie. They agreed on building two large vessels (and a third to be added later) whose principal characteristic was not speed, but luxury and comfort. These ships should be 50 per cent larger and nearly 100 feet longer than the Lusitania, though they would just reach an average speed of about 22 knots. Both men agreed on the fact that speed was not the only important characteristic for the wealthy passengers, but also sheer size and luxury.

Building a Legend

At the Belfast shipyard of Harland and Wolff, three slips were converted into two in order to accommodate the new large liners, and a 200-foot-high gantry was built over the slips. Finally, the plans and preparations were complete: On December 16, 1908, the first keel plate was laid for the first of the two giant sister ships, the Olympic. More than three months later – on March 31, 1909 – the first keel plate was finally laid for the Titanic. The following two years, thousands of workers built the hulls of the two huge sister ships.

After the launch of the Olympic on October 20, 1910, the Titanic was launched on May 31, 1911. Although there was no christening ceremony, the launching day of the vessel was anything but an ordinary day in Belfast. Tens of thousands of spectators gathered at the shipyard to watch the launching of the largest vessel in the world, the Titanic. Among them were well-known dignitaries, for example John Bruce Ismay and John Pierpont Morgan. On the same day, the Olympic was handed over from Harland and Wolff to the White Star Line, and left for Liverpool with most of the dignitaries present at the launch aboard.

After the launch, the Titanic consisted of almost nothing but a steel hull. All the machinery and the beautiful interior decorations were missing. The Titanic was hence fitted out with 29 boilers, two great sets of reciprocating engines, and a turbine engine among other things. The four huge funnels, of whom one was only added for appearance and was used for ventilation, were put in place. After that, a host of joiners, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other craftsmen prepared the accommodation for the passengers.
The fitting out was delayed by two incidents where the Olympic was damaged and had to return to Belfast. The Titanic had to be removed from the dry dock. These reparations took six respectively one week. During the repairs, the two sister ship could been seen together for the first and last time ever. Despite the fact that workers had to be transferred from the Titanic to the damaged ocean liner to repair it, the date of the maiden voyage of the Titanic, which was originally planned for March 20, 1912, was postponed only three weeks: April 10, 1912, was announced as the new in-service date.

On April 2, 1912, the Titanic finally left Belfast Harbour for her sea trials, which were originally planned for the day before, but were delayed due to bad weather. The machinery, the steering gear, and her ability to stop in an emergency were tested. Then, she was run for two hours in a straight line, and headed back to Belfast afterwards, where the Board of Trade's representative signed and handed over the certificate of seaworthiness after only twelve hours of sea trials. Finally, the Titanic was officially handed over from Harland and Wolff to the White Star Line.
At 8.00 p.m., the Titanic left Belfast for the last time, and set course for Southampton, where she arrived on April 3, 1912, just before midnight.

Touring the Titanic

Specifications

Titanic's Specifications
Length	882 ft. 9 in.
Extreme Breadth (Beam)	92 ft. 6 in.
Height (waterline to boat deck)	60 ft. 6 in.
Distance from keel to funnel	175 ft.
Draught	34 ft.
Gross Tonnage	46,328
Net Tonnage	21,831
Displacement	66,000 tons
Horsepower (reciprocating engines)	30,000
Horsepower (turbine engines)	16,000
Service Speed	21 knots
Maximum Speed	24-25 knots

In 1912, the Titanic was not only the largest vessel in the world, but also the largest moving object made by men. Being 175 feet tall from the keel to the top of her funnels, she was as high as an 11-stories-high building. Despite her size of 46,328 gross register tons (for more detailed specifications look at the figures on the right), the Titanic was elegant in design.

There were eight major decks, starting with the Boat Deck at the top, followed by the Promenade Deck (A-deck), the Bridge Deck (B-deck), the Shelter Deck (C Deck), the Saloon Deck (D-deck), the Upper Deck (E-deck), the Middle Deck (F-deck) and, finally, the Lower Deck (G-deck). Below these major decks could be found the Orlop Deck and the Tank Top, which were both completely taken up by the engines, boilers, and coal bunkers.

The Titanic was provided with 29 boilers in six different boiler rooms and steam propulsion machinery which could by found in the lower decks amidships. Two reciprocating compound steam engines and one steam turbine drove the three propellers. With a horsepower of about 46,000, a cruising speed of 21 knots could be maintained, although the maximum speed was supposed to be as high as 24 to 25 knots. This speed, however, was never reached. During her voyage from Belfast to Southampton, the Titanic had worked up to 23.25 knots, the fastest speed she is known ever to have attained.

Safety Precautions

In these days, the Titanic was considered unsinkable, though the owners never claimed that their new ship was unsinkable. Nevertheless, they were confident that the Titanic would survive all known incidents, as she was provided with lots of safety measures: Firstly, she had a double bottom which was 5 ft. 3 in. deep to prevent that the whole ship was flooded if she ran aground. Furthermore, the vessel was divided in 16 watertight compartments by 15 transverse watertight bulkheads with watertight doors. Twelve of these doors could be closed with the help of a single switch at the bridge, the rest (about 20 to 30) had to be closed by hand to prevent water rushing from one compartment to the other. The Titanic could stay afloat with any two compartments, any three of the first five compartments, or even with all of her first four compartments flooded. However, if more compartments were flooded, the water could spill over from one compartment to the next one, as the "watertight" compartments had no covering, and the lowest of the bulkheads were only carried up to E-deck underside (just two and a half to three feet above the water line). In the fateful night, the iceberg damaged severely the first five compartments and scratched the sixth, causing the ship to sink so deep that the water could flow over from one compartment to the other which resulted, in the end, in the sinking of the vessel. The builders, however, could not imagine any collision or any other accident which could cause a sinking – for them, the worst thing that could happen to the Titanic was a collision at the conjuncture of two compartments, causing the flooding of these two. In this case, the Titanic would have stayed afloat.
As an additional feature in the case of an emergency, the ship was equipped with a Marconi wireless installation for telegraphy which was very powerful. It had a guaranteed range of 350 miles, during night even more. The Titanic was also equipped with 16 thirty-foot-long lifeboats and four Englehardt collapsible boats which could carry together up to 1,176 people, only 30 per cent of the ship's total capacity. This was, however, well in excess of the regulations of the Board of Trade, which dated back to 1894. These rules were linked, to some curious reasons, to the gross tonnage of the vessel rather than the number of people aboard. The regulations made therefore no difference between a vessel of 10,000 gross register tons (grt) and the Titanic which had more than 46,000 grt. Due to this fact, the Titanic exceeded the requirements by over 17 per cent!
The Titanic was fitted with so-called Welin davits which could carry two, three or even four lifeboats each if necessary. Plans showing the vessel with two boats at each set of davit have been found in White Star Line property. It is hence supposed that it was planned to equip the ship with more lifeboats, but that their number was finally reduced, for the boat deck would be otherwise too cluttered. This, however, is only an assumption, and the true reason for the final reduction remains a mystery.

Passenger Accommodation

First Class

The Titanic was the last word in luxury and offered her passengers everything their hearts could desire: The staterooms in first class, which could accommodate up to 708 passengers, were mostly decorated in styles of period grandeur – Italian Renaissance, Empire, Adams, Louis Quinze, Louis Seize, Georgian, Regency, Queen Anne, Modern Dutch, and Old Dutch. In addition, there were two parlor and two promenade suites, each offering a sitting room, two bedrooms, two wardrobe rooms, a private bath and lavatory. The promenade suites even offered a private fifty-foot promenade.
In general, all rooms in first class were lavishly decorated with wood panelling (for example oak panelling in the forward staircase or mahogany panelling in the smoking room), sometimes even with mother-of-pearl inlay, and were enlightened by impressive crystal chandeliers.
The most magnificent and impressing feature was, without doubt, the forward first-class staircase. It was covered by a huge glass dome, and enlightened by a beautiful crystal chandelier. It accessed six decks, leading down from Boat Deck to Saloon Deck, and then followed by a less lavishly decorated staircase. By this staircase, one could access all major public rooms:
On D-deck, one could find the dining saloon where the finest food one can think of could be enjoyed. It was the biggest room aboard the ship, measuring 114 feet in length. It could seat 550 passengers and was lavishly designed in Jacobean style. The Passengers could also enjoy their meals in the à la Carte restaurant, or have some tea or coffee in the lounge (which was also used for card games), in the Verandah Café (also known as the Verandah and Palm Court), or in the Café Parisien which was particularly popular with younger passengers.
After dinner, the men used to retire to the smoking room on A-deck where they smoked cigars while discussing politics. The reading and writing room, however, was (above all) designed as a retreat for the ladies. In this Georgian style room, one could lend books from the library.
To spend the leisure time, Turkish baths, a swimming-pool, and a gymnasium were equipped. The 32 by 13 feet swimming pool was a novel feature on the Olympic and the Titanic. A gymnasium was not very common either in these days. It offered horse riding, cycling, boat rowing and even a mechanical camel to its visitors.
Another leisure time activity was offered by the ship's orchestra which played for both first- and second-class passengers. This orchestra of eight musicians, which was usually divided into a trio and a quintet, was led by Wallace Hartley.

Second Class

In second class, 510 passengers could be accommodated in 207 cabins. Although the design of the rooms was not as lavish as in first class, the second-class accommodation on Titanic rivalled that of first class on other liners of the day. The dining saloon was a little bit smaller than the equivalent in first class – it could seat 394 passengers – but it was nevertheless a welcoming, handsome room, as was the lounge.

Steerage (Third Class)

The accommodation was superior to what many of the passengers would have known at home, though the decor was simple and straightforward. The 222 cabins – mostly twin-berth cabins, which were also a novelty, for on other liners, there used to be four- or eight-berth cabins or even communal dormitories – where situated in the less desirable parts of the ship, near the engines. Therefore, most of the cabins could be found on E-deck and below.

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