Aye, I'm tellin' ya: ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frederick Fleet, a lookout of the White Star Liner Titanic, started his shift at the Crow's Nest, together with Reginald Lee, at 10 p.m. on April 14, 1912. At approximately 11.40 p.m., unexpectedly, he saw an impressive mass of ice appear just ahead of them. These were the very words he shouted at the officer at the other end of the phone line to the bridge. These were the very words that marked the disaster...

Not even God himself could sink this ship.

White Star Line Employee

At Titanic's launch

May 31, 1911

In the early 20th century, two shipping companies, the WHITE STAR LINE and the CUNARD LINE, were in competition for the fastest transoceanic route. Bruce Ismay, director of the White Star Line, Lord William J. Pirrie, chairman of the Harland & Wolf shipyard of Belfast and J.P. Morgan, a rich banker and owner of the White Star Line, conceived the construction of three ships: the Olympic, the Titanic and The Gigantic, whose name was changed into Britannic after the Titanic disaster. They would be the biggest, most luxurious ships ever built. The three of them would have a tragic destiny.

(source: historyonthenet.com)

Technical features:

269 m. long
28 m. wide
Height: 32 m (keel to top of the funnels)
29 boilers
3 propellers
maximum speed: 24 knots (39 km/h)
2,228 people on board (passengers & crew): 324 first class, 285 second class, 708 third class, crew: 891.
Carried 20 lifeboats, enough for 1,178 people. (regulations of the time did not force shipping companies to include lifeboats for all the people on board)
16 watertight compartments (The Titanic could stay afloat with any two or with the first four compartments flooded - five of these compartments were damaged in the accident)

The Titanic departing from Southampton

Famous passengers on the Titanic:

John Jacob Astor - The richest man on board. Died in the sinking.
Benjamin Guggenheim - After helping some of the passengers to save their lives, he dressed up to 'die like a gentleman'
Margaret Brown, a.k.a. The Unsinkable Molly Brown: not only did she survive the disaster, but also took control of one of the lifeboats and tried to rescue any possible survivors.
Bruce Ismay: Manager of the White Star line. Survived, but became a social outcast, as people held him responsible for the disaster.
Thomas Andrews: the engineer who designed the Titanic. Died in the sinking.
Isador & Ida Straus: Isador was a parter of the Macy's Department Store. Ida refused to leave her husband behind. 'Wherever you go, I go'. Both died in the sinking.

This is the route that the Titanic followed on her way to New York. Her final resting place is marked. For a more detailed description of the route and what happened in each leg of the journey, click here.

The Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage at 12:00 on April 10, 1912. The journey started in Southamptom, England. The first stop was Cherbourg, France, where some passengers were picked up. Then she proceeded until Queenstown, Ireland. The Titanic left Queenstown towards New York at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday April 11, 1912. She sailed in clear waters for two days (Fri, Apr 12 & Sat, Apr 13), and, on Sunday, April 14, close to midnight, the Titanic hit an iceberg. Two hours and a half later, at 2:20 a.m. Monday April 15, she sank into the sea.

Titanic crew

Back (left to right): Herbert McElroy, Charles Lightoller, Herbert Pitman, Joseph Boxhall and Harold Lowe.

Front (left to right): James Moody, Henry Wilde, Captain Edward J. Smith and William Murdoch.

Radio operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips were continuously sending out distress calls: C.Q.D. and S.O.S., which was used for the first time ever, but for nothing. Only the RMS (=Royal Mail Steamer) Carpathia answered the calls, but it was too far, and arrived too late, at about 4 a.m., only to rescue the few survivors, and later, take them to New York. Another ship, the CALIFORNIAN, was much closer, at approximately six miles away. But apparently, its captain, Stanley Lord, ignored the distress signals and the rockets launched from the Titanic, and ordered his radio operators to switch off their radio.

WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC?

Both America and Britain held inquiries into the disaster. Both reached almost identical conclusions:

The American inquiry concluded that Captain Smith should have slowed the speed of the boat given the icy weather conditions. The British inquity, however, concluded that maintaining speed in icy weather conditions was common practice.
Both inquiries agreed on who was most at fault - Captain Stanley Lord of the Californian. The inquiries stated that if Lord had gone to assist the Titanic when the first rocket was seen, then everyone would have been saved.

Both inquiries made recommendations:

All ships must carry sufficient lifeboats for the number of passengers on board.
Ship radios should be manned 24 hours a day.
Regular lifeboat drills should be held.
Speed should be reduced in ice, fog or any other areas of possible danger.

(source: historyonthenet.com)

But did you know that...

In 1898, 14 years before the Titanic disaster, novelist Morgan Robertson publised a novel called 'Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan', where he described the disaster of a luxurious ship called 'Titan'. The similarities between what Robertson predicted and what really happened to the Titanic are quite striking. If you want to know more, click here:

Many events around the world have taken place to commemorate the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic. Among them, this firework and light display at the Grand Opening of the Titanic Belfast Exhibition:

To check for other celebrations in places connected to the Titanic, such as Southampton, Cherbourg, Halifax or New York, click here.

Sonar map of the wreckage area where the Titanic lies, in the North Atlantic Ocean. Both the bow and the stern sections of the ship are circled (left). To the right, the bow section.

As a conclusion, please take a few minutes to listen to the hymn that the band on the Titanic were allegedly playing at the moment of sinking: Nearer, my God, to Thee.