RMS_Titanic

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The RMSTitanic was an Olympic-class passenger linerowned by the White Star Lineand was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, in what is now NorthernIreland. At the time of her construction, she was the largest passenger steamship in theworld.

Shortly before midnight on 14 April 1912, four days into the ship's maiden voyage,Titanic struck an icebergand sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on 15 April1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making itone of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The high casualty rate wasdue in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the shipdid not carry enough lifeboats for everyone aboard. The ship had a total lifeboat capacityof 1,178 people, although her maximum capacity was 3,547. A disproportionate numberof men died due to the women and children first protocol that was followed.

The Titanic was designed by some of the most experienced engineers, and used some ofthe most advanced technologies available at the time. It was popularly believed to have

been unsinkable.

[6]

It was a great shock to many that, despite the extensive safety features,the Titanic sank. The frenzy on the part of the mediaabout Titanic's famous victims, thelegends about the sinking, the resulting changes to maritime law, and the discovery of thewreckhave contributed to the continuing interest in, and notoriety of, the Titanic.

Construction

The Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, and designed tocompete with the rival Cunard Line'sLusitania and Mauretania. The Titanic, along with

herOlympic-class sisters, the Olympic and the soon-to-be-built Britannic (which was tobe called Gigantic at first), were intended to be the largest, most luxurious ships ever tooperate. The designers were Lord Pirrie,[7] a director of both Harland and Wolff andWhite Star, naval architectThomas Andrews, Harland and Wolff's construction managerand head of their design department,[8] and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard's chiefdraughtsman and general manager.[9]Carlisle's role in this project was the design of thesuperstructure of these ships, particularly the superstructures' streamlined joining to thehulls[citation needed] as well as the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design. Carlislewould leave the project in 1910, before the ships were launched, when he became ashareholder in Welin Davit & Engineering Company Ltd, the firm making the davits.[10]

Construction of RMS Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and hisInternationalMercantile Marine Co., began on 31 March, 1909. Titanic'shullwas launched on 31 May1911, and her outfitting was completed by 31 March the following year. Her lengthoverall was 882 feet 9 inches (269.1 m), the moulded breadth 92 feet 0 inches (28.0 m),[11] the tonnage 46,328 GRT, and the height from the water line to the boat deck of 59 feet(18 m). She was equipped with two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple-expansion steamengines and one low-pressure Parsons turbine, which combined drove three propellers.There were 29 boilers fired by 159 coal burning furnaces that made possible a top speed
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of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). Only three of the four 62 feet (19 m) funnels werefunctional: the fourth, which served only for ventilation purposes, was added to make theship look more impressive. The ship could carry a total of 3,547 passengers and crew.

Features

Gymnasium aboard the Titanic

The first-class Grand Staircase aboard the Titanic

Size comparison with the Airbus A380, a car, a bus and an average size human

Titanic surpassed all her rivals in luxury and opulence. The First-class section had an on-

board swimming pool, a gymnasium, a squash court, Turkish bath, Electric bath and aVerandah Cafe. First-class common rooms were adorned with ornate wood panelling,expensive furniture and other decorations. In addition, the Caf Parisien offered cuisinefor the first-class passengers, with a sunlit veranda fitted with trellis decorations. [12] Therewere libraries and barber shops in both the first and second-class.[13] The third classgeneral room had pine panelling and sturdy teak furniture.[14] The ship incorporatedtechnologically advanced features for the period. She had three electric elevators in firstclass and one in second class. She had also an extensive electrical subsystem with steam-
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powered generators and ship-wide wiring feeding electric lights and twoMarconiradios,including a powerful 1,500-watt set manned by two operators working in shifts, allowingconstant contact and the transmission of many passenger messages.[15] First-classpassengers paid a hefty fee for such amenities. The most expensive one-way trans-Atlantic passage was US$4,350 (which is more than US$95,860 in 2008 dollars).[16][17]

Lifeboats

For her maiden voyage, Titanic carried a total of 20 lifeboats of three different varieties:[18]

Lifeboats 1 and 2: emergency wooden cutters: 25'2" long by 7'2" wide by 3'2"deep; capacity 326.6 cubic feet or 40 persons

Lifeboats 3 to 16: wooden lifeboats: 30' long by 9'1" wide by 4' deep; capacity655.2 cubic feet or 65 persons

Lifeboats A, B, C and D: Englehardt "collapsible" lifeboats: 27'5" long by 8' wide

by 3' deep; capacity 376.6 cubic feet or 47 persons

The lifeboats were predominantly stowed in chocks on the boat deck, not connected tothe falls of the davits. All of the lifeboats, including the collapsibles, were placed on theship by the giant gantry crane at Belfast. Those on the starboard side were numbered 1, 3,5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 from bow-to-stern, while those on the port side were numbered 2, 4,6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 from bow-to-stern. The emergency cutters (lifeboats 1 and 2) werekept swung out, hanging from the davits, ready for immediate use while collapsiblelifeboats C and D were stowed on the boat deck immediately in-board of boats 1 and 2respectively. Collapsible lifeboats A and B were stored on the roof of the officer's

quarters, on either side of number 1 funnel. However there were no davits mounted onthe officer's quarters to lower collapsibles A and B and the both of them weighed aconsiderable amount empty. During the sinking, lowering collapsibles A and B proveddifficult as it was first necessary to slide the boats on timbers and/or oars down to theboat deck. During this procedure, collapsible B capsized and subsequently floated off theship upside down.

At the design stage Carlisle suggested that Titanic use a new, larger type of davit,manufactured by the Welin Davit & Engineering Co Ltd, each of which could handlefour lifeboats. Sixteen sets of these davits were installed, giving Titanic the ability tocarry 64[19] wooden lifeboatsa total capacity of over 4,000 people, compared with

Titanic's total carrying capacity of about 3,600 passengers and crew. However, the WhiteStar Line, while agreeing to the new davits, decided that only 16 wooden lifeboats (16being the minimum required by the Board of Trade, based on the Titanic's projectedtonnage) would be carried (there were also four folding lifeboats, called collapsibles),which could accommodate only 1,178 people (33% of Titanic's total capacity). At thetime, the Board of Trade's regulations stated that British vessels over 10,000 tons mustcarry 16 lifeboats with a capacity of 5,500 cubic feet(160 m3), plus enough capacity inrafts and floats for 75% (or 50% in case of a vessel with watertight bulkheads) of that in
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the lifeboats. Therefore, the White Star Line actually provided more lifeboataccommodation than was legally required.[20]

The regulations had made no extra provision for larger ships since 1894, when the largestpassenger ship under consideration was the Cunard Line'sLucania, only 13,000 tons. Sir

Alfred Chalmers, nautical adviser to the Board of Trade from 1896 to 1911, hadconsidered the matter "from time to time", but because he thought that experiencedsailors would have to be carried "uselessly" aboard ship for no other purpose thanlowering and manning lifeboats, and the difficulty he anticipated in getting away agreater number than 16 in any emergency, he "did not consider it necessary to increase[our scale]".[21]

Carlisle told the official inquiry that he had discussed the matter with J. Bruce Ismay,White Star's Managing Director, but in his evidence Ismay denied that he had ever heardof this, nor did he recollect noticing such provision in the plans of the ship he hadinspected.[10][22] Ten days before the maiden voyage Axel Welin, the maker ofTitanic's

lifeboat davits, had announced that his machinery had been installed because the vessel'sowners were aware of forthcoming changes in official regulations, but Harold Sanderson,vice-president of the International Mercantile Marine and former general manager of theWhite Star Line, denied that this had been the intention.[23]

Pumps

Titanic was fitted with five ballast and bilgepumps, used for trimming the vessel, andthree bilge pumps.[24] Two 10-inch main ballast pipes ran the length of the ship and valvescontrolling the distribution of water were operated from the bulkhead deck, above. [25]Thetotal discharge capacity from all eight pumps operating together was 1700 tons or 425000

gallons per hour.[24]

Comparisons with the Olympic

The Titanic closely resembled her older sister Olympic. Although she enclosed morespace and therefore had a larger gross register tonnage, the hull was almost the samelength as the Olympic's. Two of the most noticeable differences were that half of theTitanics's forward promenade A-Deck (below the boat deck) was enclosed againstoutside weather, and her B-Deck configuration was different from the Olympic's. As builtthe Olympic did not have an equivalent of the Titanic's Caf Parisien: the feature was notadded until 1913. Some of the flaws found on the Olympic, such as the creaking of the aft

expansion joint, were corrected on the Titanic. The skid lights that provided naturalillumination on A-deck were round, while on Olympic they were oval. The Titanic'swheelhouse was made narrower and longer than the Olympic's.[26] These, and othermodifications, made the Titanic 1,004 gross register tons larger than the Olympic andthus the largest active ship in the world during her maiden voyage in April 1912.

Ship history
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Sea trials

Titanic's sea trials took place shortly after she was fitted out at Harland & Wolffshipyard. The trials were originally scheduled for 10.00am on Monday, 1 April, just 9days before she was due to leave Southampton on her maiden voyage, but poor weather

conditions forced the trials to be postponed until the following day. Aboard Titanic were78 stokers, greasers and firemen, and 41 members of crew. No domestic staff appear tohave been aboard. Representatives of various companies travelled on Titanic's sea trials,including Harold A. Sanderson of I.M.M and Thomas Andrews and Edward Wilding ofHarland and Wolff. Bruce Ismay and Lord Pirrie were too ill to attend. Jack Phillips andHarold Bride served as radio operators, and performed fine-tuning of the Marconiequipment. Mr Carruthers, a surveyor from the Board of Trade, was also present to seethat everything worked, and that the ship was fit to carry passengers. After the trial, hesigned an 'Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew', valid for twelve months,which deemed the ship sea-worthy.[27]

Maiden voyage

Titanic on her way after the near-collision with the SSNew York. On the left can be seenthe Oceanic and theNew York.

The vessel began her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, bound forNew YorkCity, New Yorkon 10 April 1912, with Captain Edward J. Smith in command. As theTitanic left her berth, her wake caused the linerSSNew York, which was docked nearby,to break away from her moorings, whereupon she was drawn dangerously close (aboutfour feet) to the Titanic before a tugboat towed the New Yorkaway.[28] The incidentdelayed departure for one hour[citation needed]. After crossing theEnglish Channel, the Titanicstopped at Cherbourg, France, to board additional passengers and stopped again the nextday at Queenstown (known today as Cobh), Ireland. As harbour facilities at Queenstownwere inadequate for a ship of her size, Titanic had to anchor off-shore, with small boats,known astenders, ferrying the embarking passengers out to her. When she finally set out

for New York, there were 2,240 people aboard.[29]
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Captain Edward J. Smith, master of the Titanic

John Coffey, a 23-year-old crewmember, jumped ship by stowing away on a tender andhid amongst mailbags headed for Queenstown. Coffey stated that the reason for

smuggling himself off the liner was that he held a superstition about sailing andspecifically about travelling on the Titanic. He later signed on to join the crew of theMauretania.[30]

On the maiden voyage of the Titanic some of the most prominent people of the day weretravelling in first-class. Among them were millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and his wifeMadeleine Force Astor, industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim,Macy's ownerIsidor Strausand his wife Ida, Denver millionairess Margaret "Molly" Brown (known afterwards asthe 'Unsinkable Molly Brown' due to her efforts in helping other passengers while theship sank), SirCosmo Duff Gordon and his wife couturire Lucy (Lady Duff-Gordon),George Elkins Widener and his wife Eleanor; cricketer and businessman John BorlandThayer with his wife Marian and their seventeen-year-old son Jack, journalist WilliamThomas Stead, the Countess of Rothes, United States presidential aide Archibald Butt,author and socialite Helen Churchill Candee, authorJacques Futrellehis wife May andtheir friends, Broadway producers Henry and Rene Harris and silent film actress DorothyGibson among others.[31]J.P. Morgan was scheduled to travel on the maiden voyage, butcancelled at the last minute.[32]. Travelling in firstclass aboard the ship were White StarLine's managing directorJ. Bruce Ismay and the ship's builder Thomas Andrews, whowas on board to observe any problems and assess the general performance of the newship.[31]

Sinking

Main article: Timeline of the sinking of the RMS TitanicFurther information:Ship floodability
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Route and location of the RMS Titanic.

On the night of Sunday, 14 April 1912, the temperature had dropped to near freezing andthe ocean was calm. The moon was not visible (being two days before new moon),[33] andthe sky was clear. Captain Smith, in response to iceberg warnings received via wireless

over the preceding few days, had drawn up a new course which took the ship slightlyfurther southward. That Sunday at 13:45,[a] a message from the steamerAmerika warnedthat large icebergs lay in the Titanic's path, but as Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, theMarconi wireless radio operators, were employed by Marconi[34] and paid to relaymessages to and from the passengers,[35] they were not focused on relaying such "non-essential" ice messages to the bridge.[36] Later that evening, another report of numerouslarge icebergs, this time from the Mesaba, also failed to reach the bridge.

At 23:40, while sailing about 400 miles south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland,lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of theship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge exclaiming,

"Iceberg, right ahead!". First Officer Murdochgave the order "hard-a-starboard", usingthe traditional tiller order for an abrupt turn to port (left), and adjusted the engines (heeither ordered through the telegraph for "full reverse" or "stop" on the engines; survivortestimony on this conflicts).[37][38][39] The iceberg brushed the ship's starboard side (rightside), buckling the hull in several places and popping outrivetsbelow the waterline overa length of 299 feet (90 m). As seawater filled the forward compartments, the watertightdoors shut. However, while the ship could stay afloat with four flooded compartments,five were filling with water. The five water-filled compartments weighed down the shipso that the tops of the forward watertight bulkheads fell below the ship's waterline,allowing water to pour into additional compartments. Captain Smith, alerted by the jolt ofthe impact, arrived on the bridge and ordered a full stop. Shortly after midnight on 15

April, following an inspection by the ship's officers and Thomas Andrews, the lifeboatswere ordered to be readied and a distress call was sent out.

Photograph of an iceberg in the vicinity of the RMS Titanic's sinking taken on 15 April1912 by the chief steward of the linerPrinz Adelbertwho stated the berg had red anti-fouling paint of the kind found on the hull from below Titanic's waterline.

Wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy sending out CQD, theinternational distress signal. Several ships responded, including Mount Temple,Frankfurtand Titanic's sister ship, Olympic, but none was close enough to make it in time.[40] Theclosest ship to respond was Cunard Line's Carpathia58 miles (93 km) away, which could
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arrive in an estimated four hourstoo late to rescue all ofTitanic's passengers. The onlylandbased location that received the distress call from Titanic was a wireless station atCape Race,Newfoundland.[40]

From the bridge, the lights of a nearby ship could be seen off the port side. The identity

of this ship remains a mystery but there have been theories suggesting that it was probably either the Californian or a sealer called the Sampson.[41] As it was notresponding to wireless, Fourth Officer Boxhall and Quartermaster Rowe attemptedsignalling the ship with a Morse lamp and later with distress rockets, but the ship neverappeared to respond.[42] The Californian, which was nearby and stopped for the nightbecause of ice, also saw lights in the distance. The Californian's wireless was turned off,and the wireless operator had gone to bed for the night. Just before he went to bed ataround 23:00 the Californian's radio operator attempted to warn the Titanic that there wasice ahead, but he was cut off by an exhausted Jack Phillips, who had fired back an angryresponse, "Shut up, shut up, I am busy; I am working Cape Race", referring to theNewfoundland wireless station.[43] When the Californian's officers first saw the ship, they

tried signalling her with their Morse lamp, but also never appeared to receive a response.Later, they noticed the Titanic's distress signals over the lights and informed CaptainStanley Lord. Even though there was much discussion about the mysterious ship, whichto the officers on duty appeared to be moving away, the master of the Californian did notwake her wireless operator until morning.[42]

Lifeboats launched

Sinking of the Titanic by Henry Reuterdahl, drawn based on radio descriptions.

The first lifeboat launched was Lifeboat 7 on the starboard side with 28 people on boardout of a capacity of 65. It was lowered at around 00:40 as believed by the British Inquiry.[44][45]

Lifeboat 6 and Lifeboat 5 were launched ten minutes later. Lifeboat 1 was the fifthlifeboat to be launched with 12 people. Lifeboat 11 was overloaded with 70 people.Collapsible D was the last lifeboat to be launched. The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats with atotal capacity of 1,178 people. While not enough to hold all of the passengers and crew,the Titanic carried more boats than was required by the British Board of TradeRegulations. At the time, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship'sgross register tonnage, rather than her human capacity.
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Titanic was given ample stabilityand sank with only a few degrees list, the design beingsuch that there was very little risk of unequal flooding and possible capsize.[11]

Furthermore the electric power plant was operated by the ship's engineers until the end.Hence Titanic showed no outward signs of being in imminent danger, and passengers

were reluctant to leave the apparent safety of the ship to board small lifeboats. As aresult, most of the boats were launched partially empty; one boat meant to hold 40 peopleleft the Titanic with only 12 people on board. With "Women and children first" theimperative for loading lifeboats, Second Officer Lightoller, who was loading boats on theport side, allowed men to board only if oarsmen were needed, even if there was room.First Officer Murdoch, who was loading boats on the starboard side, let men on board ifwomen were absent. As the ship's list increased people started to become nervous, andsome lifeboats began leaving fully loaded. By 02:05, the entire bow was under water, andall the lifeboats, save for two, had been launched.

Final minutes

Around 02:10, the stern rose out of the water exposing the propellers, and by 02:17 thewaterline had reached the boat deck. The last two lifeboats floated off the deck,collapsible B upside down, collapsible A half-filled with water after the supports for itscanvas sides were broken in the fall from the roof of the officers quarters. Shortlyafterwards, the forward funnel collapsed, crushing part of the bridge and people in thewater. On deck, people were scrambling towards the stern or jumping overboard in hopesof reaching a lifeboat. The ship's stern slowly rose into the air, and everything unsecuredcrashed towards the water. While the stern rose, the electrical system finally failed andthe lights went out. Shortly afterwards, the stress on the hull caused Titanic to break apartbetween the last two funnels, and the bow went completely under. The stern righted itself

slightly and then rose vertically. After a few moments, at 02:20, this too sank into theocean.

Only two of the 18 launched lifeboats rescued people after the ship sank. Lifeboat 4 wasclose by and picked up five people, two of whom later died. Close to an hour later,lifeboat 14 went back and rescued four people, one of whom died afterwards. Otherpeople managed to climb onto the lifeboats that floated off the deck. There were somearguments in some of the other lifeboats about going back, but many survivors wereafraid of being swamped by people trying to climb into the lifeboat or being pulled downby the suction from the sinking Titanic, though it turned out that there had been very littlesuction.

As the ship fell into the depths, the two sections behaved very differently. Thestreamlined bow planed off approximately 2,000 feet (609 m) below the surface andslowed somewhat, landing relatively gently. The stern plunged violently to the oceanfloor, the hull being torn apart along the way from massive implosions caused bycompression of the air still trapped inside. The stern smashed into the bottom atconsiderable speed, grinding the hull deep into the silt.
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After steaming at 17.5 knots for just under four hours, the RMS Carpathia arrived in thearea and at 04:10 began rescuing survivors. By 08:30 she picked up the last lifeboat withsurvivors and left the area at 08:50 bound for New York.[46]

Aftermath

Arrival ofCarpathia in New York

Carpathia docked at Pier 54 in New York following the rescue.

On 18 April, the Carpathia docked atPier 54 at Little West 12th Street in New York withthe survivors. It arrived at night and was greeted by thousands of people. The Titanic hadbeen headed for 20th Street. The Carpathia dropped off the empty Titanic lifeboats at Pier59, as property of the White Star Line, before unloading the survivors at Pier 54. Bothpiers were part of the Chelsea Piers built to handle luxury liners of the day. As news ofthe disaster spread, many people were shocked that the Titanic could sink with such greatloss of life despite all of her technological advances. Newspapers were filled with stories

and descriptions of the disaster and were eager to get the latest information. Manycharities were set up to help the victims and their families, many of whom lost their solebreadwinner, or, in the case of third class survivors, lost everything they owned.[47]Thepeople of Southampton were deeply affected by the sinking. According to theHampshireChronicle on 20 April 1912, almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almostevery street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than one resident and over 500households lost a member.[48]

Survivors, victims and statistics

See also:Maritime disasters, List of passengers on board RMS Titanic, andList of crewmembers on board RMS Titanic

CategoryNumber

aboard

Number of

survivors

Percentage

survivedNumber lost

Percentage

lost

First class 329 199 60.5 % 130 39.5 %
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Second class 285 119 41.7 % 166 58.3 %

Third class 710 174 24.5 % 536 75.5 %

Crew 899 214 23.8 % 685 76.2 %

Total 2,223 706 31.8 % 1,517 68.2 %

New York Heraldfront page about the Titanic disaster.

Of a total of 2,223 people aboard the Titanic only 706 survived the disaster and 1,517perished.[49] The majority of deaths were caused by hypothermia in the 28 F (2 C)water.[50]At this water temperature, death could be expected in less than 15 minutes.[51]

Men and members of the 2nd and 3rd class were less likely to survive. Of the malepassengers in second class, 92 percent perished. Less than half of third-class passengerssurvived.

6 of the 7 children in first class survived. All of the children in second class survived,whereas less than half were saved in third class. 4 first class women died, 86 percent ofthe women survived in second class and less than half survived in third class. Overall,only 20 percent of the men survived, compared to nearly 75 percent of the women. Menin first class were four times as likely to survive as men in second class, and twice aslikely to survive as those in third.[52]
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Another disparity is that a greater percentage of British passengers died than Americanpassengers; some sources claim this could be because many Britons of the time werepolite and queued, rather than forcing their way onto the lifeboats. The captain, EdwardJohn Smith, shouted out: "Be British, boys, be British!" as the ocean liner went down,according to witnesses.[53][54]

In one case in the third class, a Swedish man lost his wife, Alma Plsson, and hisfour children, all aged under 10. The father was waiting for them to arrive at thedestination. "Paulson's grief was the most acute of any who visited the offices ofthe White Star, but his loss was the greatest. His whole family had been wipedout."[55]

The sailors aboard the ship CS Mackay-Bennett which recovered bodies fromTitanic, who were very upset by the discovery of the unknown boy's body, paidfor a monument and he was buried on 4 May 1912 with a copper pendant placedin his coffin by the sailors that read "Our Babe". The unknown child was laterpositively identified as Sidney Leslie Goodwin.

One survivor, stewardess Violet Jessop, who had been on board theRMS Olympic when she collided with HMSHawke in 1911, went on to survivethe sinking ofHMHSBritannic in 1916.

There are no living survivors of the Titanic disaster. The last living survivor wasMillvina Dean, who was only nine weeks old at the time of the sinking. She diedon 31 May 2009, the 98th anniversary of the launching of the ship's hull. Shelived in Southampton, England.[56]

There are many stories relating to dogs on the Titanic. Apparently, a passengerreleased the dogs just before the ship went down; they were seen running up anddown the decks. At least two dogs survived.[57]

Retrieval and burial of the dead

Marker of the unknown child who was later positively identified as Sidney LeslieGoodwin.

Once the massive loss of life became clear, White Star Line chartered the cable ship CSMackay-Bennettfrom Halifax, Nova Scotia to retrieve bodies. Three other ships followedin the search, the cable ship Minia, the lighthouse supply ship Montmagny and the sealingvesselAlgerine. Each ship left with embalming supplies, undertakers, and clergy. Of the333 victims that were eventually recovered, 328 were retrieved by the Canadian ships and
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five more by passing North Atlantic steamships. For some unknown reason, numbers 324and 325 were unused, and the six passengers buried at sea by the Carpathia also wentunnumbered.[58] In mid-May 1912, over 200 miles (320 km) from the site of the sinking,theOceanic recovered three bodies, numbers 331, 332 and 333, who were occupants ofCollapsible A, which was swamped in the last moments of the sinking. Several people

managed to reach this lifeboat, although some died during the night. When Fifth OfficerHarold Lowerescued the survivors of Collapsible A, he left the three dead bodies in theboat: Thomas Beattie, a first-class passenger, and two crew members, a fireman and aseaman. The bodies were buried at sea from Oceanic.[59]

The first body recovery ship to reach the site of the sinking, the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett found so many bodies that the embalming supplies aboard were quicklyexhausted. Health regulations permitted that only embalmed bodies could be returned toport.[60] Captain Larnder of the Mackay-Bennett and undertakers aboard decided topreserve all bodies of First Class passengers, justifying their decision by the need tovisually identify wealthy men to resolve any disputes over large estates. As a result the

burials at sea were third class passengers and crew. Larnder himself claimed that as amariner, he would expect to be buried at sea.[61] However complaints about the burials atsea were made by families and undertakers. Later ships such as Minia found fewerbodies, requiring fewer embalming supplies, and were able to limit burials at sea tobodies which were too damaged to preserve.

Bodies recovered were preserved to be taken to Halifax, the closest city to the sinkingwith direct rail and steamship connections. The Halifax coroner, John Henry Barnstead,developed a detailed system to identify bodies and safeguard personal possessions. Hisidentification system would later be used to identify victims of theHalifax Explosion in1917. Relatives from across North America came to identify and claim bodies. A large

temporary morgue was set up in a curling rink and undertakers were called in from allacross Eastern Canada to assist.[59] Some bodies were shipped to be buried in theirhometowns across North America and Europe. About two-thirds of the bodies wereidentified. Unidentified victims were buried with simple numbers based on the order inwhich their bodies were discovered. The majority of recovered victims, 150 bodies, wereburied in three Halifax cemeteries, the largest being Fairview Lawn Cemeteryfollowedby the nearby Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirschcemeteries.[62] Much floating wreckagewas also recovered with the bodies, many pieces of which can be seen today in theMaritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.

Memorials
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The Anna Bliss Titanic Victims Memorial in Woodlawn Cemetery

The memorial to the Titanic's engineers in Southampton

In many locations there are memorials to the dead of the Titanic. In Southampton,England a memorial to the engineers of the Titanic may be found in Andrews Park onAbove Bar Street. Opposite the main memorial is a memorial to Wallace Hartleyand theother musicians who played on the Titanic. A memorial to the ship's five postal workers,which says "Steadfast in Peril" is held by Southampton Heritage Services.[63]

A memorial to the liner is also located on the grounds of City Hall in Belfast,NorthernIreland.

In the United States there are memorials to the Titanic disaster as well. The TitanicMemorialin Washington, D.C. and a memorial toIda Straus at Straus Parkin Manhattan,New Yorkare two examples.

On 15 April 2012, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic is planned to becommemorated around the world. By that date, the Titanic Quarterin Belfast is plannedto have been completed. The area will be regenerated and a signature memorial project

unveiled to celebrate Titanic and her links with Belfast, the city that had built the ship.

[64]

TheBalmoral, operated byFred Olsen Cruise Lines has been chartered by Miles MorganTravel to follow the original route of the Titanic, intending to stop over the point on thesea bed where she rests on 15 April 2012.[65]

Investigations into the RMS Titanic disaster
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See also: Changes in safety practices following the RMS Titanic disasterandInternational Maritime Organization

Political cartoon from 1912 which shows the public demanding answers from theshipping companies about the Titanic disaster

Before the survivors even arrived in New York, investigations were being planned to

discover what had happened, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. The UnitedStates Senate initiated an inquiry into the disaster on 19 April, a day after Carpathiaarrived in New York.

The chairman of the inquiry, Senator William Alden Smith, wanted to gather accountsfrom passengers and crew while the events were still fresh in their minds. Smith alsoneeded to subpoena the British citizens while they were still on American soil. This prevented all surviving passengers and crew from returning to the UK before theAmerican inquiry, which lasted until 25 May, was completed.

Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade'sinquiry into the disaster.

The British inquiry took place between 2 May and 3 July. Each inquiry took testimonyfrom both passengers and crew of the Titanic, crew members of Leyland Line'sCalifornian, Captain Arthur Rostronof the Carpathia and other experts.

The investigations found that many safety rules were simply out of date, and new lawswere recommended. Numerous safety improvements for ocean-going vessels wereimplemented, including improved hull and bulkhead design, access throughout the shipfor egress of passengers, lifeboat requirements, improved life-vest design, the holding ofsafety drills, better passenger notification, radio communications laws, etc. Theinvestigators also learned that the Titanic had sufficient lifeboat space for all first-classpassengers, but not for the lower classes. In fact, most third class passengers had no idea

where the lifeboats were, much less any way of getting up to the higher decks where thelifeboats were stowed.

SS Californian inquiry
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The SS Californian.

Both inquiries into the disaster found that the SS Californian and her captain, StanleyLord, failed to give proper assistance to the Titanic. Testimony before the inquiryrevealed that at 22:10, the Californian observed the lights of a ship to the south; it waslater agreed between Captain Lord and Third Officer C.V. Groves (who had relievedLord of duty at 22:10) that this was a passenger liner. The Californian warned the ship byradio of the pack ice because of which the Californian had stopped for the night, but wasviolently rebuked by Titanic senior wireless operator, Jack Phillips. At 23:50, the officer

had watched this ship's lights flash out, as if the ship had shut down or turned sharply,and that the port light was now observed. Morse light signals to the ship, upon Lord'sorder, occurred five times between 23:30 and 01:00, but were not acknowledged. (Intestimony, it was stated that the Californian's Morse lamp had a range of about four miles(6 km), so could not have been seen from Titanic.)[42]

Captain Lord had retired at 23:30; however, Second OfficerHerbert Stone, now on duty,notified Lord at 01:15 that the ship had fired a rocket, followed by four more. Lordwanted to know if they were company signals, that is, coloured flares used foridentification. Stone said that he did not know that the rockets were all white. CaptainLord instructed the crew to continue to signal the other vessel with the Morse lamp, andwent back to sleep. Three more rockets were observed at 01:50 and Stone noted that theship looked strange in the water, as if she were listing. At 02:15, Lord was notified thatthe ship could no longer be seen. Lord asked again if the lights had had any colours inthem, and he was informed that they were all white.

The Californian eventually responded. At 05:30, Chief Officer George Stewart awakenedwireless operatorCyril Evans, informed him that rockets had been seen during the night,and asked that he try to communicate with any ships. The Frankfurtnotified the operatorof the Titanic's loss, Captain Lord was notified, and the ship set out for assistance.

The inquiries found that the Californian was much closer to the Titanic than the19.5 miles (31.4 km) that Captain Lord had believed and that Lord should have awakenedthe wireless operator after the rockets were first reported to him, and thus could haveacted to prevent loss of life.[42]

In 1990, following the discovery of the wreck, the Marine Accident Investigation Branchof the British Department of Transport re-opened the inquiry to review the evidencerelating to the Californian. Its report of 1992 concluded that the Californian was farther
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from the Titanic than the earlier British inquiry had found, and that the distress rockets,but not the Titanic herself, would have been visible from the Californian.[66]

Rediscovery of the Titanic

See also: List of shipwrecks

Titanic's bow, with the forestayshackle fallen forwards, as seen from the Russian MIR Isubmersible.

The idea of finding the wreck ofTitanic, and even raising the ship from the ocean floor,had been around since shortly after the ship sank. No attempts were successful until 1September 1985, when a joint American-French expedition, led by Jean-Louis Michel(Ifremer) and Dr. Robert Ballard (WHOI), located the wreckusing the side-scan sonarfrom the research vessels Knorrand Le Suroit. In June 1985, the French ship Le Suroit began systematically crossing the 150-square-mile target zone with her deep-searchsonar.Le Suroitcovered 80 percent of the zone, leaving only 20 percent for the AmericanshipKnorr.[67] It was found at a depth of 2.5 miles (4 km), slightly more than 370 miles

(600 km) south-east ofMistaken Point, Newfoundland at 414355N 495645W /

41.73194N 49.94583WCoordinates: 414355N 495645W / 41.73194N49.94583W, 13 miles (21 km) from fourth officerJoseph Boxhall's last position readingwhere Titanic was originally thought to rest. Ballard noted that his crew had paid out12,500 feet (3,810 m) of the sonar's tow cable at the time of the discovery of the wreck, [68]

giving an approximate depth of the seabed of 12,450 feet (3,795 m).[69] Ifremer, the

French partner in the search, records a depth of 3,800 m (12,467 ft), an almost exactequivalent.[70] These are approximately 2.33 miles, and they are often rounded upwards to2.5 miles or 4 km. Video cameras aboard the unmanned submersibleArgo were the firstto document the Titanic's visual state on the bottom of the ocean. The submersible wasbased on the Knorr and the images retrieved were featured in National Geographic byDecember 1985.[71] In 1986, Ballard returned to the wreck site aboard the Atlantis II toconduct the first manned dives to the wreck in the submersibleAlvin.
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Ballard had in 1982 requested funding for the project from the US Navy, but this wasprovided only on the then secret condition that the first priority was to examine thewreckage of the sunken US nuclear submarinesThresherand Scorpion. Only when thesehad been photographed did the search forTitanic begin.[72]

The most notable discovery the team made was that the ship had split apart, the sternsection lying 1,970 feet (600 m) from the bow section and facing opposite directions.There had been conflicting witness accounts of whether the ship broke apart or not, andboth the American and British inquiries found that the ship sank intact. Up until thediscovery of the wreck, it was generally assumed that the ship did not break apart.

The bow section had struck the ocean floor at a position just under the forepeak, andembedded itself 60 feet (18 m) into the silt on the ocean floor. Although parts of the hullhad buckled, the bow was mostly intact. The collision with the ocean floor forced waterout ofTitanic through the hull below the well deck. One of the steel covers (reportedlyweighing approximately ten tonnes) was blown off the side of the hull. The bow is still

under tension, in particular the heavily damaged and partially collapsed decks.

[73]

The stern section was in much worse condition, and appeared to have been torn apartduring its descent. Unlike the bow section, which was flooded with water before it sank,it is likely that the stern section sank with a significant volume of air trapped inside it. Asit sank, the external water pressure increased but the pressure of the trapped air could notfollow suit due to the many air pockets in relatively sealed sections. Therefore, someareas of the stern section's hull experienced a large pressure differential between outsideand inside which possibly caused an implosion. Further damage was caused by thesudden impact of hitting the seabed; with little structural integrity left, the deckscollapsed as the stern hit.[74]

Surrounding the wreck is a large debris field with pieces of the ship, furniture,dinnerware and personal items scattered over one square mile (2.6 km). Softer materials,like wood, carpet and human remains were devoured by undersea organisms.

Dr. Ballard and his team did not bring up any artefacts from the site, considering this to be tantamount to grave robbing.[75] Under international maritime law, however, therecovery of artefacts is necessary to establish salvage rights to a shipwreck. In the yearsafter the find, Titanic has been the object of a number of court cases concerningownership of artefacts and the wreck site itself. In 1994, RMS Titanic Inc.was awardedownership and salvaging rights of the wreck, even though RMS Titanic Inc. and othersalvaging expeditions have been criticised for taking items from the wreck. Among theitems recovered by RMS Titanic Inc. was the ship's whistle, which was brought to thesurface in 1992 and placed in the company's travelling exhibition. It has been operatedonly twice since, using compressed air rather than steam, because of its fragility.[76]

Approximately 6,000 artefacts have been removed from the wreck. Many of these wereput on display at theNational Maritime Museum inGreenwich, England, and later as partof a travelling museum exhibit.
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Current condition of the wreck

Many scientists, including Robert Ballard, are concerned that visits by tourists insubmersibles and the recovery of artefacts are hastening the decay of the wreck.Underwater microbes have been eating away at Titanic's steel since the ship sank, but

because of the extra damage visitors have caused theNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration estimates that "the hull and structure of the ship may collapse to the oceanfloorwithin the next 50 years."[77][78]

Ballard's bookReturn to Titanic, published by theNational Geographic Society, includesphotographs depicting the deterioration of the promenade deckand damage caused bysubmersibles landing on the ship. The mast has almost completely deteriorated and hasbeen stripped of its bell and brass light. Other damage includes a gash on the bow sectionwhere block letters once spelled Titanic, part of the brass telemotor which once held theship's wooden wheel is now twisted and the crow's nest is completely deteriorated.[79]

Ownership and litigation

Titanic's rediscovery in 1985 launched a debate over ownership of the wreck and thevaluable items inside. On 7 June 1994 RMS Titanic Inc., a subsidiary of PremierExhibitions Inc., was awarded ownership and salvaging rights by the United StatesDistrict Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.[80] (SeeAdmiralty law)[81] Since 1987,RMS Titanic Inc. and her successors have conducted seven expeditions and salvagedover 5,500 historic objects. The biggest single recovered object was a 17-ton section ofthe hull, recovered in 1998.[82] Many of these items are part of travelling museumexhibitions.

In 1993, a French administrator in the Office of Maritime Affairs of the Ministry ofEquipment, Transportation, and Tourism awarded RMS Titanic Inc.'s predecessor title tothe relics recovered in 1987.

In a motion filed on 12 February 2004, RMS Titanic Inc. requested that thedistrict courtenter an order awarding it "title to all the artifacts (including portions of the hull) whichare the subject of this action pursuant to the Law of Finds" or, in the alternative, a salvageaward in the amount of $225 million. RMS Titanic Inc. excluded from its motion anyclaim for an award of title to the objects recovered in 1987, but it did request that thedistrict court declare that, based on the French administrative action, "the artifacts raisedduring the 1987 expedition are independently owned by RMST." Following a hearing,

the district court entered an order dated 2 July 2004, in which it refused to grant comityand recognise the 1993 decision of the French administrator, and rejected RMS TitanicInc.'s claim that it should be awarded title to the items recovered since 1993 under theMaritime Law of Finds.

RMS Titanic Inc. appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.In its decision of 31 January 2006 [83] the court recognised "explicitly the appropriatenessof applying maritime salvage law to historic wrecks such as that of Titanic" and denied
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the application of the Maritime Law of Finds. The court also ruled that the district courtlacked jurisdiction over the "1987 artifacts", and therefore vacated that part of the court's2 July 2004 order. In other words, according to this decision, RMS Titanic Inc. hasownership title to the objects awarded in the French decision (valued $16.5 millionearlier) and continues to be salver-in-possession of the Titanic wreck. The Court of

Appeals remanded the case to the District Court to determine the salvage award ($225million requested by RMS Titanic Inc.).[84]

On 24 March 2009, it was revealed that the fate of 5,900 artefacts retrieved from thewreck will rest with a US District Judge's decision. [85] The ruling will decide whether theartefacts should be placed in a public exhibit or in the hands of private collectors. Thejudge will also rule on the RMS Titanic Inc.'s degree of ownership of the wreck as wellas establishing a monitoring system to check future activity upon the wreck site.[86]

Possible factors in the sinking

The iceberg buckled Titanic's hull allowing water to flow into the ship

It is well established that the sinking of the Titanic was the result of an iceberg collisionwhich fatally punctured the ship's front five watertight compartments. Less obvioushowever are the reasons for the collision itself (which occurred on a clear night, and afterthe ship had received numerous ice warnings), the factors underlying the sheer extent ofthe damage sustained by the ship, and the reasons for the extreme loss of life.

Construction and metallurgy

Originally, historians thought the iceberg had cut a gash into Titanic's hull. Since the partof the ship that the iceberg damaged is now buried, scientists used sonarto examine the

area and discovered the iceberg had caused the hull to buckle, allowing water to enterTitanic between her steel plates.

The steel plate used forTitanic hull was of 1 to 1 inch (2.5 to 3.8 cm) thickness.[87]Adetailed analysis of small pieces of t

Documents

RMS_Titanic