Titanic Ship

It was no short of a marvel, and its end was no short of a tragedy! When RMS Titanic set off on its maiden voyage on 10th April, 1912, little did the hundreds of people on board know that a disaster was awaiting. When everything seemed going fine four days into the journey, the Titanic crashed into a gigantic iceberg, and met its watery grave. The 1912 sinking of the Titanic, wherein as many as 1,517 people lost their lives, is considered to be one of the worst maritime accident the world ever witnessed. When a ship which was termed 'unsinkable' by the people who built it actually sank, it left many questions unanswered. While some of these questions have been answered as of today, others continue to be mysteries!

Titanic Ship: Chronology of Events

Who built the Titanic? Was it really unsinkable? How did the ship sink? Where did it sink? Were there any survivors? Who was responsible for the disaster? Questions are many, but not all of them have answers. The chronology of RMS Titanic disaster given below will shed light on some lesser known facts which unfold what actually happened in the Atlantic Ocean on 15th April, 1912.

Titanic: A Marvel in Making
The history of Titanic can be traced back to 31st March, 1909, wherein its construction began at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. The project was initiated by a British shipping company - the White Star Line, and funded by J.P. Morgan owned International Mercantile Marine Co. On 31st May, 1911, yet another milestone was achieved - the hull (or the frame of ship) of RMS Titanic was launched and the work on its outfitting began, which went on for the next whole year. Finally on 31st March, 1912, the construction of this cruise ship was complete. It took three whole years and a whopping amount of $7,500,000 to build this Olympic-class ocean liner. At 882 ft 9 inches in length and 175 ft height - the Titanic was the largest passenger steamship of that time.

The Beginning: Maiden Voyage
On 2nd April, 1912, RMS Titanic got its passenger certificate after passing the sea trials. On 10th April, 1912, the Titanic began its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, with Captain Edward J. Smith in command. On its journey to New York, the ship crossed English Channel and took its first halt at Cherbourg, France. At this point of time, there were 2,240 people aboard the ship, which included some of the most famous people from Europe and the United States. On 14th April, at around 11:30 PM, when the ship had crossed almost half of its scheduled Trans-Atlantic route, the lookouts spotted an iceberg at some distance right in the path of the ship.

A Disastrous End: Titanic Sinking
Realizing that the ship would crash into the iceberg, the lookouts gave the warning bell and tried the alert other crew members. The crew made all the possible efforts to avoid the iceberg, however, none of these yielded the desired results and iceberg brushed onto the right side of the ship. The damage caused as a result of this snapped the rivets at the waterline, and water started accumulating inside the compartments. Even though there were 2,240 people aboard, there were just 20 lifeboats on the ship - with a total capacity of 1,178 people. The next few hours were full of chaos - with the ship sinking on one hand, and the rescue efforts going on other. With the size and weight that RMS Titanic boasted of, it didn't take much time for the ship to sink, and by 02:40 AM on 15th April, 1912, the entire ship was under water with scores of people left freezing out in the cold. Adding to the woes was the fact that it was very difficult to determine where the Titanic sank in the vast Atlantic Ocean. At 04:10 help arrived in form of RMS Carpathia - that was almost one and a half hour after the ship sank. The rescue operation went on for four hours, and by the time the people on the last lifeboat were brought to safety it was already 08:30 in the morning. And thus a ship considered to be unsinkable was reduced to a mere ship wreck - which lies at the bottom of the Atlantic today.

The disastrous sinking of Titanic ship was followed by allegations and counter-allegations. The damage, however, was already done - with as many as 1,517 people dying in one of the most gruesome shipping disaster ever witnessed. That was one of the several Titanic facts which are difficult to brush off your memory. Based on survivor's accounts, many theories as to why the Titanic sank were put forth by the experts. At that point of time though, theories didn't quite matter. What mattered was the fact that thousands of people had lost their loved ones - something that was nothing short of a nightmare. Even today, the unfaithful day - 15th April, 1912, sends shivers down the spine of people - the day when the unsinkable Titanic disastrously met its watery grave.