The History of the R.M.S. Titanic

Introduction

No other ship in history has fascinated people all over the world as much as the Titanic. But what is so special about this ship? It was not the first nor the last ship to sink and causing serious loss of life – still, it fascinates people until today. Is it the sheer immensity of the disaster – the largest ship in the world, proclaimed unsinkable, foundering on her maiden voyage in the middle of the Atlantic, pulling down some 1,500 souls with her? Is it because it represents the blind faith in technology, which is also typical of today's world? Is it the heroism of those aboard the vessel – Mrs. Straus refusing to enter a lifeboat, staying with her husband; Benjamin Guggenheim putting on his best dinner suit to "go down like a gentleman"; men assisting their wives to get into a lifeboat and then stepping back, bravely awaiting their death? Is it the chaining of unfortunate coincidences which have led, all together, to the disaster – if only the sea had not been that calm; if only they had heeded the warnings; if only they had sighted the iceberg a few seconds sooner, or a few seconds later; if only the watertight bulkheads had been one deck higher; if only there had been enough lifeboats; if only the ship on the horizon had come; if only ... if only. Or is it because the disaster represents the progression of almost any tragedy in our lives from initial disbelief to growing uneasiness to final, total awareness?

The reason for the fascination might be a different one for everyone. Nevertheless, they will all agree that the short, but eventful life of this huge, gigantic, mammoth – in short: titanic – ocean liner is a remarkable one. So may I present you the history of the most famous ship in the world – the history of the R.M.S. TITANIC ...

Bernhard Kabelka

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