Introduction
"Unsinkable". In this way the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic was unanimously described in great headlines by the chroniclers of the time. And safety was one of the basic pillars of this colossal steamer, conceived as a true revolution in terms of ocean liners.
Security, distinction and unprecedented dimensions
With the watertight doors closed, the Titanic could remain afloat with two of its 16 compartments flooded and even with the first four full of water.
On the other hand, it had the Marconi wireless system, which at that time was a real novelty and was an important factor for security since it allowed operators to transmit calls in case of emergency. br />
Equipped with 20 lifeboats, with a total capacity of 1,178 people, it exceeded the legally required number, even though it would have been necessary to triple the number of boats to save all the passengers.
However, the careful implementation of these safety measures was not the only attraction of the Titanic: an ostentatious display of facilities in first class was intended to justify the £870 ticket cost compared to the two pounds paid by passengers. third class passengers.
Thus, with the aim of making the accommodation on board during the boat excursion unbeatable, the interior had 28 luxurious rooms - the main one displayed the grand wooden staircase with a glass skylight included - and suites decorated in the style of Louis XV. In addition, the monumental ship was equipped with facilities such as a gym, a squash court, four elevators and several Turkish baths available to the privileged first class passengers. The inclusion of the Café Parisien, a restaurant in the purest French fashion, was another detail of the distinguished Titanic.
Along with safety and luxury, we must highlight the incredible dimensions of this ocean liner. In fact, his name was not chosen arbitrarily: the word "titan", from Greek mythology, referred to a giant reputed for his great strength and size.
Titanic was just the name that the White Star Line company was looking for to baptize its creation, 300 meters long and about 30 meters wide. Powered by two steam engines - fed by 29 boilers - three propellers and a turbine, the ship reached a speed of 22 knots.
Their team consisted of approximately 900 crew members who, together with the passengers of the three classes, amounted to a total of 2,227 people, so enormous amounts of provisions were needed to supply the future diners: food and drink alone included 40 tons of potatoes, more than 600 pounds of butter and more than two tons of coffee, plus 20,000 bottles of beer and 15,000 of mineral water.
Likewise, hundreds of mail bags were transported. The prefix R.M.S (Royal Mail Steamer) indicated that the ship was legally authorized by the British Monarchy and the United States for this mission, as were two other ships - the Olympic and the Gigantic - belonging to the White Star Line and virtually identical to the Titanic both in size and structure, although this was called to be the company's flagship.
The irreparable collision
The Titanic, whose construction was carried out in the Irish shipyards of Harland & Wolf, cost about 8,500 million pesetas, and left Belfast on the afternoon of April 2, 1912 with a first embarkation point in Southampton (England). There he would spend a week during the final touches to cross the Atlantic, for the first time, in record time. After a short stop in Chebourg (France) and Queenstown (Ireland), the Titanic would be ready to reach its final destination: New York.
Although coal was in short supply in Southampton, due to a national miners' strike that lasted six weeks, the Titanic departed on schedule, on April 10.
Faced with the passengers' anxiety to reach New York, veteran Captain Edward J. Smith increased speed to maximum on the fourth day of sailing.
Precisely, throughout that fateful April 14, the Titanic had received seven warnings about the presence of icebergs, which were automatically ignored. At 11:40 p.m., at a speed of 22.5 knots, the White Star Company liner collided with an iceberg on the starboard side that pierced the double deck. At that moment, no one realized the extent of the collision; in fact, the third-class passengers took the opportunity to play soccer with the ice that had fallen on the deck.
The first five compartments were flooded and caused the ship to list so much on its bow that water began to enter the rest of the compartments. adjacent compartments.
At midnight, the Titanic issued its first distress call, which was received by five ships. The steamship Californian, which was a few miles away, completely ignored the distress signals, however, the ship Carpathia immediately undertook its rescue (although it did not arrive until dawn, it was able to save numerous passengers).
Thomas Andrews, manager of Harland & Wollf, analyzed the situation and calculated that they would have a maximum of two hours to act before the ship sank.
Serious mistakes were made during the rescue operation. Thus, in the first boats, half of the places allowed by their total capacity were occupied. On the other hand, the Titanic was equipped with two water pumps that would have been capable of reducing the flooding and, in this way, keeping the ship afloat for longer, but it was decided to allocate said energy to lighting the ship and the use of radio.
With the aim of alleviating the collective anguish, a famous anecdote tells that the orchestra was playing throughout the two and a half hours of the sinking, settling, at first, in the first class lounge to end up on the very deck of the lifeboats.
Finally, the steamer split in two - as research after the shipwreck has shown, the steel used to build the hull of the Titanic was extremely fragile, due to its high proportion of sulfur: the bow was It sank instantly and the stern was left in a vertical position, revealing the helplessness of many people, clinging to the railings, who would freeze to death.
At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, in a matter of two minutes, the Titanic was completely submerged, engulfed by the icy waters of the North Atlantic, finally coming to rest at a depth of approximately 4,000 meters.
As a consequence of this catastrophe, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was convened in London a year later, where the obligation to provide ships with a sufficient number of lifeboats for all passengers and the creation of the International Ice Patrol, whose function is to warn ships of the existence of possible icebergs.
Location and recovery attempts
Five days after the tragedy there was already a plan for the adjacent compartments.
At midnight, the Titanic issued its first distress call, which was received by five ships. The steamship Californian, which was a few miles away, completely ignored the distress signals, however, the ship Carpathia immediately undertook its rescue (although it did not arrive until dawn, it was able to save numerous passengers).
Thomas Andrews, manager of Harland & Wollf, analyzed the situation and calculated that they would have a maximum of two hours to act before the ship sank.
Serious mistakes were made during the rescue operation. Thus, in the first boats, half of the places allowed by their total capacity were occupied. On the other hand, the Titanic was equipped with two water pumps that would have been capable of reducing the flooding and, in this way, keeping the ship afloat for longer, but it was decided to allocate said energy to lighting the ship and the use of radio.
With the aim of alleviating the collective anguish, a famous anecdote tells that the orchestra was playing throughout the two and a half hours of the sinking, settling, at first, in the first class lounge to end up on the very deck of the lifeboats.
Finally, the steamer split in two - as research after the shipwreck has shown, the steel used to build the hull of the Titanic was extremely fragile, due to its high proportion of sulfur: the bow was It sank instantly and the stern was left in a vertical position, revealing the helplessness of many people, clinging to the railings, who would freeze to death.
At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, in a matter of two minutes, the Titanic was completely submerged, engulfed by the icy waters of the North Atlantic, finally coming to rest at a depth of approximately 4,000 meters.
As a consequence of this catastrophe, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was convened in London a year later, where the obligation to provide ships with a sufficient number of lifeboats for all passengers and the creation of the International Ice Patrol, whose function is to warn ships of the existence of possible icebergs.
Location and recovery attempts
Five days after the tragedy there was already a plan for the
