Titanic is a British steamship of the White Star Line, one of three twin ships of the Olympic class. The largest passenger airliner in the world at the time of its construction. During its maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, it collided with an iceberg and sank 2 hours and 40 minutes later. There were 1,316 passengers and 892 crew members on board, for a total of 2,208 people. Of these, 704 people survived, over 1,500 died. The Titanic disaster became legendary and was one of the largest shipwrecks in history. Several feature films have been shot based on its plot.

Statistics

General information:

• Home port - Liverpool.
• Board number - 401.
• Call sign - MGY.
• Ship dimensions:
• Length - 259.83 meters.
• Width - 28.19 meters.
• Weight - 46328 tons.
• Displacement - 52310 tons.
• The height from the waterline to the boat deck is 19 meters.
• From the keel to the top of the pipe - 55 meters.
• Draft - 10.54 meters.

Technical data:

• Steam boilers - 29.
• Waterproof compartments - 16.
• The maximum speed is 23 knots.

Rescue equipment:

• Standard boats - 14 (65 seats).
• Collapsible boats - 4 (47 seats).

Passengers:

• I class: 180 men and 145 women (including 6 children).
• Class II: 179 men and 106 women (including 24 children).
• III class: 510 men and 196 women (including 79 children).

Team members:

• Officers - 8 people (including the captain).
• Deck crew - 66 people.
• Engine room - 325 people.
• Obs. personnel - 494 people (including 23 women).
• In total there were 2201 people on board.

Officers

• Captain - Edward J. Smith
• Chief Mate - Henry F. Wilde
• First Mate - William M. Murdock
• Second Mate - Charles G. Lightoller
• Third Mate - Herbert J. Pitman
• Fourth Mate - Joseph G. Boxhall
• Fifth Mate - Harold P. Lowe
• Sixth Mate - James P. Moody

Construction
Laid down on March 31, 1909 at the shipyards of the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding company in Queens Island (Belfast, Northern Ireland), launched on May 31, 1911, and underwent sea trials on April 2, 1912.

Specifications
height from the keel to the tops of the pipes - 53.3 m;
engine room - 29 boilers, 159 coal fireboxes;
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.

Bulkheads
Watertight bulkheads, designated from stem to stern by the letters "A" to "P", rose from the second bottom and passed through 4 or 5 decks: the first two and last five reached the "D" deck, eight bulkheads in the center of the liner reached only the deck "E". All bulkheads were so strong that they had to withstand significant pressure if they were breached.
The Titanic was built so that it could remain afloat if any two of its 16 watertight compartments, any three of its first five compartments, or all of its first four compartments were flooded.
The first two bulkheads in the bow and the last one in the stern were solid; all the rest had sealed doors that allowed the crew and passengers to move between compartments. On the flooring of the second bottom, in bulkhead “K”, there were only doors that led to the refrigerator compartment. On decks “F” and “E”, almost all bulkheads had hermetic doors connecting the rooms used by passengers; all of them could be sealed either remotely or manually, using a device located directly on the door and from the deck to which it reached bulkhead. To lock such doors on passenger decks, a special key was required, which was available only to the chief stewards. But on G deck there were no doors in the bulkheads.
In the bulkheads “D”—“O”, directly above the second bottom in the compartments where the machines and boilers were located, there were 12 vertically closed doors; they were controlled by an electric drive from the navigation bridge. In case of danger or accident, or when the captain or watch officer considered it necessary, electromagnets, upon a signal from the bridge, released the latches and all 12 doors were lowered under the influence of their own gravity and the space behind them was hermetically sealed. If the doors were closed by an electric signal from the bridge, then they could only be opened after removing the voltage from the electric drive.
There was an emergency hatch in the ceiling of each compartment, usually leading to the boat deck. Those who did not manage to leave the premises before the doors closed could climb up its iron ladder.

Lifeboats
In formal compliance with the current requirements of the British Merchant Shipping Code, the ship had 20 lifeboats, which were sufficient to board 1,178 people, that is, for 50% of the people on board at that moment and 30% of the planned load. This was taken into account with the expectation of increasing the walking space on the deck for the ship's passengers.

Decks
The Titanic had 8 steel decks, located one above the other at a distance of 2.5-3.2 m. The topmost one was the boat deck, below it there were seven others, designated from top to bottom with letters from “A” to “G”. Only decks "C", "D", "E" and "F" extended along the entire length of the ship. The boat deck and the “A” deck did not reach either the bow or the stern, and the “G” deck was located only in the front part of the liner - from the boiler rooms to the bow and in the stern - from the engine room to the stern. There were 20 lifeboats on the open boat deck, and there were promenade decks along the sides.
Deck “A”, 150 m long, was almost entirely intended for first class passengers. Deck "B" was interrupted at the bow, forming an open space above deck "C", and then continued in the form of a 37-meter bow superstructure with equipment for handling anchors and mooring gear. At the front of Deck C were the anchor winches for the two main side anchors, and there was also a galley and mess hall for sailors and stokers. Behind the bow superstructure there was a promenade (the so-called inter-superstructure) deck for third-class passengers, 15 m long. On deck “D” there was another, isolated, third-class promenade deck. Along the entire length of deck "E" were cabins for first and second class passengers, as well as cabins for stewards and mechanics. In the first part of deck “F” there were 64 cabins for second class passengers and the main living quarters for third class passengers, stretching 45 m and occupying the entire width of the liner.
There were two large salons, a dining room for third-class passengers, ship laundries, a swimming pool and Turkish baths. Deck "G" covered only the bow and stern, between which the boiler rooms were located. The bow part of the deck, 58 m long, was 2 m above the waterline; towards the center of the liner it gradually lowered and at the opposite end was already at the waterline level. There were 26 cabins for 106 third-class passengers, the rest of the area was occupied by a luggage compartment for first-class passengers, a ship's mailroom and a ballroom. Behind the bow of the deck there were bunkers with coal, which occupied 6 waterproof compartments around the chimneys, followed by 2 compartments with steam lines for piston steam engines and a turbine compartment. Next came the aft deck, 64 m long, with warehouses, storerooms and 60 cabins for 186 third-class passengers, which was already below the waterline.

Masts
One was in the stern, the other in the forecastle, each was steel with a teak top. On the front, at an altitude of 29 m from the waterline, there was a top platform (“crow’s nest”), which could be reached via an internal metal ladder.

Office premises
In the front part of the boat deck there was a navigation bridge, 58 m away from the bow. On the bridge there was a pilothouse with a steering wheel and a compass, immediately behind it was a room where navigation maps were stored. To the right of the wheelhouse were the charthouse, the captain's cabin and part of the officers' cabins, to the left were the remaining officers' cabins. Behind them, behind the forward funnel, was the radiotelegraph cabin and the radio operator's cabin. In the forward part of Deck D there were living quarters for 108 stokers; a special spiral ladder connected this deck directly to the boiler rooms, so that stokers could go to work and return without passing by cabins or passenger lounges. At the front of "E" deck were living quarters for 72 stevedores and 44 sailors. In the first part of deck “F” there were quarters of 53 stokers of the third shift. On deck "G" there were quarters for 45 stokers and oilers.

Comparison of the size of the Titanic with the modern cruise ship Queen Mary 2, the A-380 aircraft, a bus, a car and a person

Second bottom
The second bottom was located approximately one and a half meters above the keel and occupied 9/10 of the length of the vessel, excluding only small areas in the bow and stern. On the second bottom, boilers, reciprocating steam engines, a steam turbine and electric generators were installed, all of which were firmly mounted on steel plates, the remaining space was used for cargo, coal and drinking water tanks. In the engine room section, the second bottom rose 2.1 m above the keel, which increased the protection of the liner in case of damage to the outer skin.

Power point
The registered power of steam engines and turbines was 50 thousand liters. With. (actually 55 thousand hp). The turbine was located in the fifth waterproof compartment in the aft part of the liner, in the next compartment, closer to the bow, steam engines were located, the other 6 compartments were occupied by twenty-four double-flow and five single-flow boilers that produced steam for the main engines, turbines, generators and auxiliary mechanisms. The diameter of each boiler was 4.79 m, the length of the double-flow boiler was 6.08 m, the single-flow boiler was 3.57 m. Each double-flow boiler had 6 fireboxes, and the single-flow boiler had 3. In addition, the Titanic was equipped with four auxiliary machines with generators, each with a capacity of 400 kilowatts, producing a current of 100 volts. Next to them were two more 30-kilowatt generators.

Pipes
The liner had 4 pipes. The diameter of each was 7.3 m, height - 18.5 m. The first three removed smoke from the boiler furnaces, the fourth, located above the turbine compartment, served as an exhaust fan, and a chimney for the ship's kitchens was connected to it. A longitudinal section of the ship is presented on its model, exhibited at the German Museum in Munich, where it is clearly visible that the last pipe was not connected to the fireboxes. There is an opinion that when designing the vessel, the widespread opinion of the public was taken into account that the solidity and reliability of a vessel directly depends on the number of its pipes. It also follows from the literature that in the last moments of the ship going into the water almost vertically, its false pipe fell from its place and, falling into the water, killed a large number of passengers and crew members in the water.

Electricity supply
10 thousand light bulbs, 562 electric heaters, mainly in first class cabins, 153 electric motors, including electric drives for eight cranes with a total lifting capacity of 18 tons, 4 cargo winches with a lifting capacity of 750 kg, 4 elevators, each for 12 people, were connected to the distribution network, and a huge number of telephones. In addition, electricity was consumed by fans in the boiler and engine rooms, equipment in the gymnasium, and dozens of machines and appliances in the kitchens, including refrigerators.

Connection
The telephone switch served 50 lines. The radio equipment on the liner was the most modern, the power of the main transmitter was 5 kilowatts, power came from an electric generator. The second, an emergency transmitter, was battery-powered. 4 antennas were stretched between two masts, some up to 75 m high. The guaranteed range of the radio signal was 250 miles. During the day, under favorable conditions, communication was possible at a distance of up to 400 miles, and at night - up to 2000.
The radio equipment arrived on board on April 2 from the Marconi company, which by that time monopolized the radio industry in Italy and England. Two young radio officers spent the entire day assembling and installing the station, and test communications were immediately carried out with the coast station at Malin Head, on the north coast of Ireland, and with Liverpool. On April 3, the radio equipment worked like clockwork; on this day, communication was established with the island of Tenerife at a distance of 2000 miles and with Port Said in Egypt (3000 miles). In January 1912, the Titanic was assigned the radio call sign "MUC", then they were replaced by "MGY", which previously belonged to the American ship Yale. As the dominant radio company, Marconi introduced its own radio call signs, most of which began with the letter "M", regardless of its location and the home country of the ship on which it was installed.

Collision

The iceberg that the Titanic is believed to have collided with

Recognizing an iceberg in the light haze, the lookout Fleet warned “there is ice in front of us” and rang the bell three times, which meant an obstacle straight ahead, after which he rushed to the telephone that connected the “crow’s nest” to the bridge. Sixth Officer Moody, who was on the bridge, responded almost instantly and heard a cry of “ice right ahead.” After politely thanking him, Moody turned to the officer of the watch, Murdoch, and repeated the warning. He rushed to the telegraph, put its handle on “stop” and shouted “right rudder”, at the same time transmitting the order “full back” to the engine room. In 1912 terminology, “right rudder” meant turning the stern of the ship to the right and the bow to the left. Helmsman Robert Hitchens put his weight on the handle of the steering wheel and quickly turned it counterclockwise as far as it would go, after which Murdoch was told “steer to starboard, sir.” At that moment, the helmsman on duty, Alfred Oliver, and Boxhall, who was in the chart room, came running to the bridge when the bell rang out in the crow’s nest. Murdoch pressed the lever that closed the watertight doors in the bulkheads of the boiler room and engine room, and immediately gave the order “left rudder!”

Lifeboats
There were 2,208 people on board the Titanic, but the total capacity of the lifeboats was only 1,178. The reason was that, according to the rules in force at that time, the total capacity of lifeboats depended on the tonnage of the ship, and not on the number of passengers and crew members. The rules were drawn up in 1894, when the largest ships had a displacement of about 10,000 tons. The displacement of the Titanic was 46,328 tons.
But these boats were only partially filled. Captain Smith gave the order or instruction "women and children first." Officers interpreted this order in different ways. Second Mate Lightoller, who commanded the launch of the boats on the port side, allowed men to occupy places in the boats only if oarsmen were needed and under no other circumstances. First Officer Murdoch, who commanded the lowering of the boats on the starboard side, allowed men to go down if there were no women and children. Thus, in boat number 1, only 12 of the 40 seats were occupied. In addition, at first many passengers did not want to take seats in the boats, because the Titanic, which had no external damage, seemed safer to them. The last boats were filled better because it was already obvious to the passengers that the Titanic would sink. In the very last boat, 44 of the 47 seats were occupied. But in the sixteenth boat that departed from the side there were many empty seats; 1st class passengers were saved in it.
As a result of the analysis of the operation to rescue people from the Titanic, it is concluded that with adequate actions of the crew there would have been at least 553 fewer victims. The reason for the low survival rate of passengers on the ship is the installation given by the captain to save primarily women and children, and not all passengers; the crew's interest in this order of boarding the boats. By preventing male passengers from accessing the boats, men from the crew were able to take seats in half-empty boats themselves, covering their interests with “noble motives” of caring for women and children. If all the passengers, men and women, took seats in the boats, the men from the crew would not get into them and their chances of salvation would be zero, and the crew could not help but understand this. Men from the crew occupied part of the seats in almost all boats during the evacuation from the ship, on average 10 crew members per boat. 24% of the crew were saved, approximately the same number as 3rd class passengers were saved (25%). The crew had no reason to consider their duty fulfilled - most of the passengers remained on the ship without hope of salvation, even the order to save women and children first was not carried out (several dozen children, and more than a hundred women never boarded the boats).
The British commission's report into the Titanic's sinking stated that "if the lifeboats had been delayed a little longer before being launched, or if the passage doors had been opened to passengers, more of them might have gotten onto the lifeboats." The reason for the low survival rate of 3rd class passengers can most likely be considered as obstacles caused by the crew to allow passengers to get onto the deck and the closing of passage doors. A comparison of the results of the evacuation from the Titanic with the results of the evacuation from the Lusitania (1915) shows that the evacuation operation on ships like the Titanic and Lusitania can be organized without a disproportion in the percentage of survivors depending on the gender or class of passengers.
People in boats, as a rule, did not save those in the water. On the contrary, they tried to sail as far as possible from the site of the wreck, fearing that their boats in the water would capsize or that they would be sucked into the crater of the sinking ship. Only 6 people were picked up alive from the water.

Official data on the number of dead and saved

Category	Percentage saved	Percentage of fatalities	Number of rescued	Death toll	How many were
Children, first grade	100.0	00.0	6	0	6
Children, second grade	100.0	00.0	24	0	24
Women, first class	97.22	02.78	140	4	144
Women, crew	86.96	13.04	20	3	23
Women, second class	86.02	13.98	80	13	93
Women, third class	46.06	53.94	76	89	165
Children, third grade	34.18	65.82	27	52	79
Men, first class	32.57	67.43	57	118	175
Men, crew	21.69	78.31	192	693	885
Men, third class	16.23	83.77	75	387	462
Men, second class	8.33	91.67	14	154	168
Total	31.97	68.03	711	1513	2224

The route of the Titanic and the place of its wreck.

Chronology
The route of the Titanic and the place of its wreck.

April 10, 1912
- 12:00 - The Titanic departs from the quay wall of the port of Southampton and narrowly avoids a collision with the American liner New York.
-19:00 - stop in Cherbourg (France) to take passengers and mail on board.
-21:00 — The Titanic left Cherbourg and headed to Queenstown (Ireland).

April 11, 1912
-12:30 - stop in Queenstown to take passengers and mail on board; one crew member deserts the Titanic.
-14:00 - Titanic departs Queenstown with 1,316 passengers and 891 crew on board.

April 14, 1912
-09:00 - Caronia reports ice in the area of ​​42° north latitude, 49-51° west longitude.
-13:42 — Baltic reports the presence of ice in the area of ​​41°51′ north latitude, 49°52′ west longitude.
-13:45 — “America” reports ice in the area of ​​41°27′ north latitude, 50°8′ west longitude.
-19:00 - air temperature 43° Fahrenheit (6 °C).
-19:30 - air temperature 39° Fahrenheit (3.9 ° C).
-19:30 — Californian reports ice in the area of ​​42°3′ north latitude, 49°9′ west longitude.
-21:00 - air temperature 33° Fahrenheit (0.6 °C).
-21:30 - Second Mate Lightoller warns the ship's carpenter and those on watch in the engine room that it is necessary to monitor the fresh water system - the water in the pipelines may freeze; he tells the lookout to watch for the appearance of ice.
-21:40 — “Mesaba” reports ice in the area of ​​42°—41°25′ north latitude, 49°—50°30′ west longitude.
-22:00 - air temperature 32° Fahrenheit (0 °C).
-22:30 - sea water temperature dropped to 31° Fahrenheit (−0.56 °C).
-23:00 — The Californian warns of the presence of ice, but the Titanic’s radio operator interrupts the radio exchange before the Californian manages to report the coordinates of the area.
-23:40 — At a point with coordinates 41°46′ north latitude, 50°14′ west longitude (later it turned out that these coordinates were calculated incorrectly) at a distance of about 450 meters, an iceberg was spotted straight ahead. Despite the maneuver, after 39 seconds the underwater part of the vessel touched down, and the hull of the vessel received numerous small holes over a length of about 100 meters. Of the ship's 16 watertight compartments, 6 were cut through (the leak in the sixth was extremely insignificant).
April 15, 1912
-00:05 - the order was given to uncover the lifeboats and call the crew members and passengers to the assembly points.
-00:15 - the first radiotelegraph signal for help was transmitted from the Titanic.
-00:45 - the first flare is fired and the first lifeboat (No. 7) is launched.
-01:15 - 3rd class passengers are allowed on deck.
-01:40 - the last flare is fired.
-02:05 - the last lifeboat is lowered.
-02:10 - the last radiotelegraph signals were transmitted.
-02:17 — the electric lighting goes out.
-02:18 — Titanic breaks into three parts
-02:20 — The Titanic sank.
-03:30 - flares fired from the Carpathia are noticed in the lifeboats.
-04:10 — “Carpathia” picked up the first boat from the “Titanic” (boat No. 2).

Titanic lifeboat, photographed by one of the passengers of the Carpathia

-08:30 — “Carpathia” picked up the last (No. 12) boat from the “Titanic”.
-08:50 — Carpathia, having taken on board 704 people who escaped from the Titanic, sets course for New York.

Exactly 100 years have passed since the day the most famous maritime disaster in history - the sinking of the Titanic. On the night of April 14-15, 1912, the ship collided with an iceberg and sank in the waters of the North Atlantic.

Among all maritime disasters that occurred in peacetime, the Titanic ranks third in terms of the number of victims - 1,517 people.

We remember the events of 100 years ago.

The Titanic was built in 1909-1911 by the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff (Belfast, Northern Ireland). In the photo: workers walk from the Harland and Wolf plant in Belfast. A ship still under construction can be seen in the background, 1911. (Photo Photographic Archive | Harland & Wolff Collection | Cox):

The Titanic was launched on May 31, 1911. In the photo: the ship at the Harland and Wolf shipyard before launching, 1911:

In April 1912, the largest passenger liner in the world set sail from the English port of Southampton to New York. on your first and last trip. On board were the richest people in the world. (Photo by United Press International):

Departure from the English port of Southampton, April 10, 1912. The dimensions of the Titanic are 269 meters long, 28.2 meters wide, 18.4 meters high. The Titanic was taller than most city buildings at the time. (AP Photo):

The Titanic was not only the largest, but also the most luxurious liner of its time, with gyms, swimming pools, libraries, upscale restaurants and luxurious cabins. In the photo: one of the restaurants. (Photo by The New York Times Photo Archives | American Press Association):

There were three classes on the Titanic: 1st, 2nd and 3rd. This photograph of the second class room. (Photo by The New York Times Photo Archives | American Press Association):

English naval officer (27 January 1850 - 15 April 1912). (Photo by The New York Times Archives):

William McMaster Murdoch - First Mate. It was he who was on watch and could not prevent a collision with the iceberg. William Murdoch died along with the Titanic.

James Cameron's film of the same name shows how Murdoch took money from a rich passenger for the right to board a boat, shot two passengers, and then shot himself. None of this is true. In fact, William Murdoch honestly fulfilled his duty and did everything to save as many people as possible. 75% of all those rescued from the Titanic were evacuated from the starboard side, where it was William Murdoch who commanded the rescue operation. (AP Photo):

A photograph of the 30-meter-high iceberg that the Titanic is believed to have collided with. The photo was taken from the cable-laying ship Mina, which was one of the first ships to discover the wreck of the Titanic. According to the Mina crew, it was the only iceberg near the disaster site.

The iceberg belonged to a rare type of “black iceberg”, i.e. turned over so that their dark underwater part reaches the surface. Because of this, he was noticed too late. At the moment of the collision of the iceberg with the Titanic, a pressure of 2.5 tons per square cm arose. Thick metal would have held up, but the rivets holding the metal sheets of the Titanic's hull could not. The seams spread over a length of about 90 meters, immediately damaging 5 of the 16 conditionally waterproof compartments of the ship. (Photo by United States Coast Guard):

Almost all the women and children from the 1st and 2nd class cabins were saved from the Titanic. More than half of the women and children from the 3rd class cabins died because... it was difficult for them to get up through the labyrinth of narrow corridors. Also, almost all the men died. Total from the sinking of the Titanic 1,517 people died.

In the photo: the Titanic lifeboat, taken by one of the passengers of the Carpathia steamship. It was the Carpathia that removed from the lifeboats surviving passengers of the Titanic (712 people). (Photo: National Maritime Museum | London):

Another photograph taken by a passenger on the Carpathia steamer, showing the boats with the rescued passengers of the Titanic. (Photo: National Maritime Museum | London):

There were 2,229 people on board the Titanic, but the total capacity of the lifeboats was only 1,178 people. The reason was that, according to the rules in force at that time, the total capacity of lifeboats depended on the tonnage of the ship, and not on the number of passengers and crew members. And without a lifeboat, only wearing a life jacket, it was almost impossible to survive: the temperature of the sea water was only 0.56 degrees Celsius.

In the photo: a boat picks up a passenger in a life jacket from the water. (Photo by Paul Treacy | EPA | PA):

Surviving passengers disembark from the rescue ship Carpathia, New York, April 17, 1912. (Photo by American Press Association):

Greeting survivors from the Titanic, New York. (Photo by The New York Times Photo Archives | Times Wide World):

In the photo: the family that was on board the Titanic. The daughter and mother survived, the father died. (AP Photo):

New York, April 14, 1912. People on the streets are waiting for news about the fate of the passengers of the sunken Titanic. (AP Photo):

The latest news about the number of survivors and deaths is posted on the street in New York. (Photo by The New York Times Photo Archives):

The very first articles from Ogonyok magazine, published in April 1912. This is how they found out details in Russia at a time when there was no Internet, television or even radio. It is worth noting that when the Titanic sank, in Russia it was the morning of April 2 according to the Julian calendar, and in Europe and America it was the night from 14 to 15 according to the Gregorian calendar:

Postcard of the Titanic, 1912. (Photo New York Times Archives):

A rare exhibit - ticket on the first and last voyage of the Titanic. (Photo):

The wreck of the Titanic was discovered on September 1, 1985.. This was done by former US Navy Commander and Oceanology Professor Robert Dwayne Ballard. Initially, he planned to keep the coordinates of the ship's location secret so that no one could desecrate this place, which he considered a cemetery.

On the first dive, Ballard's team confirmed that the Titanic had broken in two during the dive.

In the photo: Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,750 meters. 1999 (Photo by P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology):

Among all the maritime disasters that occurred in peacetime, The Titanic ranks third in terms of the number of victims- 1,517 people.

Disappointing 1st place belongs to the Philippine ferry Dona Paz, which collided with an oil tanker in 1987. More than 4 thousand people died in the collision and subsequent fire.

2nd place belongs to the wooden paddle steamer Sultana, which sank on April 27, 1865 on the Mississippi River due to a steam boiler explosion and fire. More than 1,700 people died.

Starboard side of the Titanic, August 28, 2010. (Photo by Premier Exhibitions, Inc. | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution):

(Photo by Institute for Archaeological Oceanography & Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island Grad. School of Oceanography):

One of the ship's propellers lying on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo by Ralph White | AP):

A 17-ton section of the Titanic's hull is raised to the surface, 1998. (Photo by RMS Titanic, Inc., via Associated Press):

The same 17-ton piece from the Titanic, July 22, 2009. (Photo by RMS Titanic, Inc., via Associated Press):

A huge number of different objects were scattered along the seabed, including parts of the ship, interior items and personal belongings of passengers. At an auction in April 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, 5,000 items were sold as a single lot.

A gold-plated pocket watch recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth Associated Press):

Money. (Photo by Stanley Leary | Associated Press):

Photos from the collection of Lilian Asplund (right), a survivor of the Titanic. She was 5 years old then. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth | Associated Press):

Binoculars, comb, dishes and a cracked lamp. (Photo by Michel Boutefeu | Getty Images, Chester Higgins Jr. | The New York Times):

Glasses. (Photo by Bebeto Matthews | Associated Press):

Chronometer from the captain's bridge. (Photo by Alastair Grant | AP):

(Photo by Chang W. Lee | The New York Times):

Spoons. (Photo by Douglas Healey | Associated Press):

Gilded handbag. (Photo by Mario Tama | Getty Images):

Some more photos of the Titanic. The bow and stern parts of the vessel were found on the ocean floor 650 meters from each other. (Photo COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution):

This is the first full image of the sunken Titanic, collected from 1,500 individual high-resolution images obtained using sonars - means of sound detection of underwater objects using acoustic radiation. Top view. (Photo COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, WHOI). (Clickable, 2400×656 px):

Starboard. When plunging into the ocean, the Titanic first hit the bottom with its bow. (Photo COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, WHOI). (Clickable, 2400×668 px):

Opened food. Side view. In addition, the best steel of the time, from which the Titanic was made, became brittle at low temperatures. (Photo COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, WHOI). (Clickable, 2400×824 px):

Opened food. Top view. (Photo COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, WHOI):

(Photo COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by AIVL, WHOI). (Clickable, 2400×1516 px):

Two engines of the Titanic - the largest passenger liner in the world at the time of construction, which was considered unsinkable. (Clickable, 2400×1692 px):

Interesting fact: the last surviving passenger of the Titanic, Millvina Dean, who was 2.5 months old at the time of the sinking of the liner, died on May 31, 2009 at the age of 97 years.

Titanic is a ship that challenged higher powers. A miracle of shipbuilding and the largest 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 of interesting photos of the ship, which depict the construction process, mechanisms and assemblies of the Titanic, and so on. 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 with 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 Wolf shipbuilding company in Belfast, Northern Ireland, launched on May 31, 1911, and underwent 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: “An iceberg is right on course!”... Everyone knows about further events that took place on the ship. The “unsinkable” Titanic was unable to withstand the elements of water and sank 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 the binoculars were kept could have saved the Titanic and the lives of 1,522 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 of them - 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,” said the mate. 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, the giant ship broke into three parts. The wreckage of the Titanic was scattered over an area with a radius of 1600 meters. Ballard found the ship's bow, which had sunk 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.

April 14th, 2010 , 02:24 am

I saw secret cards
I know where we're going.
Captain, I've come to say goodbye to you, to you
And your ship.

On April 14, 1912, one of the largest shipwrecks in the world occurred. During its maiden voyage, the British White Star Line, the largest passenger liner in the world at the time of its construction, the second of three Olympic-class twin steamships, the Titanic, collided with an iceberg and sank 2 hours 40 minutes later. There were 1,316 passengers and 892 crew members on board the Titanic, for a total of 2,208 people. Of these, 706 people survived, over 1,500 died. The Titanic disaster has become more than legendary... On the eve of the 98th anniversary of the disaster, we decided to make a post about the history of the Titanic with photographs of this liner.

I went down into the hold
I talked there
With Mr. Chief of the Rats.
Rats come ashore
At the nearest port
Hoping to be saved.

WHAT HE WAS

The Titanic was laid down on March 31, 1909 at the shipyards of the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding company, but two years later - on May 31, 1911, and almost a year later - on April 2, 1912 - it underwent sea trials... Until the fatal The trip was less than two weeks away...

Laying the keel of the Titanic. The very beginning of the story

A comparative outline drawing will help you imagine the dimensions of the Titanic:

Notice how another famous modern liner, Queen Mary 2, is larger than the Titanic. And how grandiose the Titanic is in comparison with other silhouettes... If you use numbers. we can say that the height of the ship from the keel to the tops of the pipes was 53 point 4 meters.

Why was the Titanic considered unsinkable... thanks to fifteen watertight bulkheads in the hold. In theory. they created sixteen watertight compartments. with the help of many more partitions, dividing into 46 waterproof compartments. In theory, the Titanic was built so that it could remain afloat if any two of its 16 watertight compartments, any three of the first five compartments, or all of the first four compartments were flooded... But... only in theory... .

The photo shows the “insides” of the ship: its steam engines, turbines, pipe shaft and rotor.

Lifeboats

One of the remarkable moments in the Titanic disaster was that the people on board were sorely short of lifeboats... It turns out that this is because, in formal accordance with the current requirements of the British Merchant Shipping Code, the ship had 20 lifeboats, which were enough for landing 1178 people, that is, for 50% of the people on board at that moment and 30% of the planned load. This was taken into account with the expectation of increasing the walking space on the deck for the ship's passengers.

Slipway and decks of the Titanic

On the slipway - "Titanic" and its twin brother "Olympic"

This is what the Titanic's propeller shaft looked like.

The hull of the Titanic is ready! The second photo shows the beginning of the Titanic's descent into the water!

The Titanic is slowly leaving the slipways.

Launched!

Towing the Titanic to the dock wall

Installation of boilers on the Titanic

The morning before the official launch. The photo conveys all the monumentality of the liner...

Towing the Titanic through the Belfast waterway

Titanic on its way to England

Celebrities aboard the Titanic

Many celebrities of the time took part in the first and last voyage of the liner, including millionaire and major industrialist John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeline Astor, businessman Benjamin Guggenheim, owner of the Macy's department store Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida, eccentric millionaire Margaret Molly Brown, who received the nickname “Unsinkable” after the sinking of the ship, Sir Cosma Duff Gordon and his wife, popular fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff Gordon at the beginning of the century, businessman and cricketer John Thayer, British journalist William Thomas Steed, Countess of Rotskaya, military assistant to the US President Richbald Butt, film actress Dorothy Gibson and many others...

Accepting passengers on board... Who knows, maybe the same “unsinkable” Molly Brown is now in the boat!

One of the most famous photographs of the ship - the Titanic setting sail...

An orchestra is playing on the upper deck,
And couples dance the foxtrot,
Steward pours fire into glasses
And watches the ice melt.
He looks at the dancers, who have forgotten about
That each of them will die.

"Titanic" on the way to New York... To the right of it is another giant of shipbuilding - "Oceanic"

Towing the Titanic into the ocean

"Titanic" from the coast of Ireland. The last two photos of the airliner BEFORE the crash

HOW HE DROWNED

Many works, both in cinema and in painting, are devoted to the moment of the collision of the liner with an iceberg. But we focus on the facts and give a chronology from... to...:

The path of the Titanic...

Wednesday 10 April 1912
12:00 - The Titanic departs from the quay wall of the port of Southampton and narrowly avoids a collision with the American liner New York.
19:00 - stop in Cherbourg (France) to take passengers and mail on board.
21:00 - The Titanic left Cherbourg and headed for Queenstown (Ireland).

Thursday 11 April 1912
12:30 - stop in Queenstown to take passengers and mail on board; one crew member deserts the Titanic.
14:00 - Titanic departs Queenstown with 1,316 passengers and 891 crew on board.

Sunday, April 14, 1912
09:00 - Caronia reports ice in the area of ​​42° north latitude, 49-51° west longitude.
13:42 - Baltic reports the presence of ice in the area of ​​41°51′ north latitude, 49°52′ west longitude.
13:45 - "America" ​​reports ice in the area of ​​41°27′ north latitude, 50°8′ west longitude.
19:00 - air temperature 43° Fahrenheit (6 °C).
19:30 - air temperature 39° Fahrenheit (3.9 ° C).
19:30 - Californian reports ice in the area of ​​42°3′ north latitude, 49°9′ west longitude.
21:00 - air temperature 33° Fahrenheit (0.6 ° C).
21:30 - Second Mate Lightoller warns the ship's carpenter and those on watch in the engine room that it is necessary to monitor the fresh water system - the water in the pipelines may freeze; he tells the lookout to watch for the appearance of ice.
21:40 - “Mesaba” reports ice in the area of ​​42°-41°25′ north latitude, 49°-50°30′ west longitude.
22:00 - air temperature 32° Fahrenheit (0 °C).
22:30 - sea water temperature dropped to 31° Fahrenheit (−0.56 °C).
23:00 - The Californian warns of the presence of ice, but the Titanic's radio operator interrupts the radio exchange before the Californian manages to report the coordinates of the area.
23:40 - At a point with coordinates 41°46′ north latitude, 50°14′ west longitude (later it turned out that these coordinates were calculated incorrectly), an iceberg was spotted at a distance of about 450 meters straight ahead. Despite the maneuver, after 39 seconds the underwater part of the vessel touched down, and the hull of the vessel received numerous small holes over a length of about 100 meters. Of the ship's 16 watertight compartments, 6 were cut through (the leak in the sixth was extremely insignificant).

“There’s ice in front of us!” Flit shouted and immediately struck the bell hanging in the crow’s nest. Three strikes were a signal, meaning that some object was directly ahead. At the same time, he rushed to the telephone connecting the crow’s nest " with the bridge. Sixth Mate J.P. Moody responded almost instantly.
“Ice is straight ahead,” Flit shouted.
“Thank you,” Moody replied (his polite answer later became part of the legend).”

Monday, April 15, 1912
00:05 - the order was given to uncover the lifeboats and call crew members and passengers to the assembly points.
00:15 - the first radiotelegraph signal for help was transmitted from the Titanic.
00:45 - the first flare is fired and the first lifeboat (No. 7) is launched.
01:15 - 3rd class passengers are allowed on deck.
01:40 - the last flare is fired.
02:05 - the last lifeboat (collapsible lifeboat D) is lowered.
02:10 - the last radiotelegraph signals were transmitted.
02:17 - the electric lights go out.
02:18 - The Titanic, rapidly sinking, breaks into three parts (this became known in 1996 after the Narjolet expedition) [source not specified 30 days].
02:20 - Titanic sank.
03:30 - the lifeboats notice flares fired from the Carpathia.
04:10 - Carpathia picked up the first boat from the Titanic (boat No. 2).
08:30 - Carpathia picked up the last (No. 12) boat from the Titanic.
08:50 - Carpathia, having taken on board 704 people who escaped from the Titanic, heads for New York.

The first news about the sinking of the Titanic. By the way, in the early days the newspapers reported incorrect information about the number of victims, based on conflicting rumors

But
While the Titanic is sailing.
Nobody wants to think about it
Bye, bye, while the Titanic is sailing.

Dead and survivors of the disaster

Almost all the women and children from the 1st and 2nd class cabins were saved. More than half of the women and children from the 3rd class cabins died because they had difficulty finding their way up through the labyrinth of narrow corridors. Almost all the men also died. The tragedy of the Paulson family claimed the lives of Alma's mother and all her four young children, for whom father Nils waited in vain in New York.

323 men (20% of all adult men) and 331 women (75% of all adult women) survived, including Violet Jessop, Dorothy Gibson, Molly Brown, Lucy Duff Gordon and others.

In May 2006, the last American eyewitness to survive the sinking of the Titanic died at the age of 99. The Boston funeral home made the announcement. She died the day before at her home. Swedish-born Lillian Gertrud Asplund, who was five years old at the time of the disaster, lost her father and three brothers. Her mother and brother, who was three years old at the time, survived. They were third class passengers and escaped in lifeboat No. 15. Asplund was the last person to remember how the tragedy occurred, but she avoided publicity and rarely spoke about the event.

The last of the Titanic passengers, Millvina Dean, who was two and a half months old at the time of the sinking of the liner, died on May 31, 2009. Her ashes were scattered to the wind on October 24, 2009 at the port of Southampton, where the Titanic began its only voyage.

Sorry... A little "dark humor" about this wouldn't hurt either

The sailors sold the propeller to the Eskimos for a barrel of wine,
And the judge and the priest argue all night,
Finding out whose fault it is.
And the judge says it's all about the law,
And the priest - that it's about love.
But in the light of lightning it becomes clear -
Everyone has blood on their hands.

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA...

On September 1, 1985, an expedition led by the director of the Institute of Oceanology in Woods Hall, Massachusetts, Dr. Robert Ballard, discovered the Titanic's location at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,750 meters. Here are the first photos of the Titanic AFTER the tragedy:

While the Titanic is sailing.
Nobody wants to think about it
Bye, bye, while the Titanic is sailing.

I saw sharks astern
Sharks swallow saliva
Captain, all the sharks are aware,
That we will soon go down.

That, in fact, is all... Of course, one could say that Cameron is going to shoot his film in 3D - exactly for the centenary of the disaster, one could recall other works, from books to other films, but why... From the point of view of reflecting the Titanic disaster in art, I personally am more impressed by the song from Butusov. By the way, what’s funny is that nowadays tourists are offered to tickle their nerves on a voyage similar to the route of the Titanic:
“The new superliner Golden Princess, accommodating 3,800 passengers, will soon set sail for the shores of Antarctica, Vzglyad reports.

This is the largest ship in the history of Antarctic tourism. The huge cruise ship, like the infamous Titanic, has no ice protection and will sail in little-explored waters, making a voyage to Antarctica a very risky undertaking.”

Ahead stands like a cold wall
Arctic ice.
But no one wants to think about it
Where is the Titanic sailing?
Nobody wants to think about it
Bye, bye, while the Titanic is sailing.

I didn’t compose all this myself at night, I simply collected in one post the fruits of other people’s work - rather for myself (since childhood, obsessed with the Titanic disaster - long before the film, by the way). I would like to thank these people:
1. For the most complete photo selection of the history of the Titanic - thank you.

UPD: Stories of several men who died on the Titanic, found in LiveJournal mi3ch and carried away with his kind permission:

Lieutenant Colonel John Jacob Astor IV - American millionaire, businessman, writer, participant in the Spanish-American War. In 1894, he wrote the novel Travels to Other Worlds, which describes travels to Saturn and Jupiter in 2088. Astor was the richest passenger aboard the Titanic.
He put his wife on the boat along with a maid and a nurse. He asked permission to sit with them. He was refused. He didn't insist.

Major Archibald Willingham Butt - chief military aide to US Presidents Roosevelt and Taft. Helped women and children find their places in boats.

Benjamin Guggenheim is a millionaire. He put his beloved and her maid into the boat. Realizing that the situation was much more serious and he would not be able to escape, Guggenheim returned with the valet to the cabin, where they changed into tailcoats. Together with him, he sat down at a table in the central hall, where he leisurely sipped whiskey while watching the disaster. When someone suggested that they try to escape, Guggenheim replied: “We are dressed according to our position and are ready to die like gentlemen.”

Lieutenant William McMaster Murdoch was the officer in charge on the bridge on the night of the Titanic's collision with the iceberg. After the collision, Murdoch supervised the starboard evacuation of passengers, during which he launched 10 lifeboats, saving 75% of all survivors of the disaster.

Francis Davis Millett is an American artist and sculptor. He was last seen helping put women and children into lifeboats.

Juozas Montvila is a Lithuanian Catholic priest. According to surviving eyewitnesses, he did not take the opportunity to take a seat in the lifeboat, but instead consoled people and listened to those who wanted to confess.

James Paul Moody - sixth officer of the Titanic. Helped lower boats 12, 14 and 16. When loading boat 14, fifth officer Harold Lowe wanted a junior officer to board, but Moody gave him his place.

William Thomas Steed is a British journalist, publicist, social activist, Esperantist, propagated the principle of “Peace through Arbitration”, a likely contender for the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize, and one of the pioneers of investigative journalism. After the ship hit an iceberg, he helped put women and children into lifeboats. Then he went into the smoking room, where he was last seen reading a book in a chair.

George Danton Widener is an American businessman and millionaire. After the ship collided, he put his wife and maid into a lifeboat.

John George Phillips was the eldest of the Titanic's radio operators and the first operator in history to issue an international S.O.S. signal. Until the last minute he did not leave the radio room, transmitting signals for help.

Wallace Henry Hartley - British violinist and leader of the Titanic orchestra. After the Titanic hit an iceberg, Hartley and his orchestra began playing music to keep passengers calm while boarding lifeboats. Many survivors said that the orchestra continued to play until the very end. None of the orchestra members survived.

Isidor Strauss is a German-American entrepreneur, co-owner of the largest American chain of department stores, Macy's. Member of the US House of Representatives. After the disaster, one of the officers invited Isidor and his wife Ida to get into the boat together, but Isidor refused, deciding to share the fate of the other drowning men ship. He tried to put Ida in the boat, but she refused to leave her husband. The Strauss put their maid in the boat instead.

Thomas Andrews Jr. - Irish businessman and shipbuilder, designer of the Titanic. During the evacuation, he helped passengers board the boats. He was last seen in the smoking room near the fireplace, where he was looking at a painting of Port Plymouth. It was assumed that the Titanic would visit it on its way back. According to other accounts, Thomas Andrews was last seen throwing deck chairs into the water from the promenade deck so that stranded passengers could use them as life rafts.

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 pipe - 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 superliner Titanic 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.

In the evening, the temperature began to drop, reaching zero Celsius by 22:00.

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.

By order of the captain, 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 sinking of the ship.

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

At 00:25, the coordinates of the Titanic were accepted by the ship Carpathia, which was located 58 nautical miles from the site of the wreck of the liner, 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