In which ocean did the Titanic sank: all the secrets of the Titanic's sinking, the main reasons for the death of the ship and the shocking results of the investigation. Real stories of Titanic passengers (51 photos)

On the night of April 14-15, 1912, the most modern passenger liner at that time, the Titanic, making its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, collided with an iceberg and soon sank. At least 1,496 people died, 712 passengers and crew were rescued.

The Titanic disaster very quickly became overgrown with a mass of legends and speculation. At the same time, for several decades, the place where the lost ship rested remained unknown.

The main difficulty was that the location of the death was known with very low accuracy - we were talking about an area 100 kilometers in diameter. Considering that the Titanic sank in an area where the depth of the Atlantic is several kilometers, finding the ship was very problematic.

Titanic. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

The bodies of the dead were going to be raised with dynamite

Immediately after the shipwreck, relatives of wealthy passengers who died in the disaster came up with a proposal to organize an expedition to raise the ship. The initiators of the search wanted to bury their loved ones and, to be honest, return the valuables that had sunk to the bottom along with their owners.

The decisive attitude of the relatives came across a categorical verdict from experts: the technology for searching and lifting the Titanic from great depths simply did not exist at that time.

Then a new proposal was received - to drop dynamite charges to the bottom at the supposed site of the disaster, which, according to the authors of the project, were supposed to provoke the ascent of the corpses of the dead from the bottom. This dubious idea also did not find support.

The First World War, which began in 1914, postponed the search for the Titanic for many years.

Interior of the veranda for first class passengers of the Titanic. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Nitrogen and ping pong balls

They started talking about searching for the liner again only in the 1950s. At the same time, proposals began to appear on possible ways to raise it - from freezing the body with nitrogen to filling it with millions of ping-pong balls.

In the 1960s and 1970s, several expeditions were sent to the area where the Titanic sank, but all of them were unsuccessful due to insufficient technical preparation.

In 1980 Texas oil tycoon John Grimm financed the preparation and conduct of the first large expedition to search for the Titanic. But, despite the availability of the most modern equipment for underwater searches, his expedition ended in failure.

Played a major role in the discovery of the Titanic ocean explorer and part-time US Navy officer Robert Ballard. Ballard, who was involved in improving small unmanned underwater vehicles, became interested in underwater archeology and, in particular, the mystery of the Titanic sinkhole back in the 1970s. In 1977, he organized the first expedition to search for the Titanic, but it ended in failure.

Ballard was convinced that finding the ship was only possible with the help of the latest deep-sea bathyscaphes. But getting these at your disposal was very difficult.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Doctor Ballard's Secret Mission

In 1985, having failed to achieve results during an expedition on the French research vessel Le Suroît, Ballard moved to the American vessel R/V Knorr, with which he continued the search for the Titanic.

As Ballard himself said many years later, the expedition, which became historic, began with a secret deal concluded between him and the command of the Navy. The researcher really wanted to get the Argo deep-sea research vehicle for his work, but the American admirals did not want to pay for the work of the equipment to search for some historical rarity. The ship R/V Knorr and the Argo apparatus were supposed to carry out a mission to examine the sites of the sinking of two American nuclear submarines, Scorpion and Thresher, which sank back in the 1960s. This task was secret, and the US Navy needed a person who could not only carry out the necessary work, but also be able to keep it secret.

Ballard's candidacy was ideal - he was quite famous, and everyone knew about his passion for finding the Titanic.

The researcher was offered: he could get the Argo and use it to search for the Titanic if he first found and examined the submarines. Ballard agreed.

Only the leadership of the US Navy knew about the Scorpion and Thrasher; for the rest, Robert Ballard simply explored the Atlantic and looked for the Titanic.

Robert Ballard. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

"Comet tail" at the bottom

He coped with the secret mission brilliantly, and on August 22, 1985, he was able to again begin the search for the liner that died in 1912.

None of the most advanced technology would have ensured his success if not for the previously accumulated experience. Ballard, while examining the sinkhole sites of the submarines, noticed that they left at the bottom a kind of “comet tail” of thousands of fragments. This was due to the fact that the hulls of the boats were destroyed when sank to the bottom due to enormous pressure.

The scientist knew that during the dive on the Titanic, the steam boilers exploded, which meant that the liner should have left a similar “comet tail.”

It was this trace, and not the Titanic itself, that was easier to detect.

On the night of September 1, 1985, the Argo apparatus found small debris at the bottom, and at 0:48 the camera recorded the Titanic’s boiler. Then it was possible to discover the bow of the ship.

It was found that the bow and stern of the broken liner were located at a distance of approximately 600 meters from each other. At the same time, both the stern and the bow were seriously deformed when sank to the bottom, but the bow was still better preserved.

Ship layout. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

House for underwater inhabitants

The news of the discovery of the Titanic became a sensation, although many experts hastened to question it. But in the summer of 1986, Ballard carried out a new expedition, during which he not only described in detail the ship at the bottom, but also made the first dive to the Titanic on a manned deep-sea vehicle. After this, the last doubts were dispelled - the Titanic was discovered.

The last resting place of the liner is located at a depth of 3750 meters. In addition to the two main parts of the liner, tens of thousands of smaller debris are scattered along the bottom over an area of ​​4.8×8 km: parts of the ship’s hull, remains of furniture and interior decoration, dishes, and personal belongings of people.

The wreckage of the ship is covered with multi-layered rust, the thickness of which is constantly growing. In addition to multi-layered rust, 24 species of invertebrate animals and 4 species of fish live on and near the hull. Of these, 12 species of invertebrates clearly gravitate towards shipwrecks, eating metal and wooden structures. The interior of the Titanic was almost completely destroyed. The wooden elements were consumed by deep sea worms. The decks are covered with a layer of shellfish, and stalactites of rust hang from many of the metal elements.

A wallet recovered from the Titanic. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Are all the people left with shoes left?

During the 30 years that have passed since the discovery of the ship, the Titanic has been rapidly deteriorating. Its current state is such that there can be no talk of any lifting of the vessel. The ship will forever remain at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

There is still no consensus on whether human remains were preserved on the Titanic and around it. According to the prevailing version, all human bodies completely decomposed. However, information periodically appears that some researchers have nevertheless stumbled upon the remains of the dead.

But James Cameron, director of the famous movie "Titanic", who personally has over 30 dives to the liner on the Russian Mir deep-sea submersibles, is sure of the opposite: “We saw shoes, boots and other footwear at the site of the sunken ship, but our team has never encountered human remains.”

Things from the Titanic are a profitable product

Since the discovery of the Titanic by Robert Ballard, about two dozen expeditions have been carried out to the ship, during which several thousand objects were raised to the surface, ranging from personal belongings of passengers to a piece of plating weighing 17 tons.

The exact number of objects recovered from the Titanic is impossible to establish today, since with the improvement of underwater technology, the ship has become a favorite target of “black archaeologists” who are trying to obtain rarities from the Titanic by any means.

Robert Ballard, lamenting this, remarked: “The ship is still a noble old lady, but not the same lady I saw in 1985.”

Items from the Titanic have been sold at auction for many years and are in great demand. So, in the year of the 100th anniversary of the disaster, in 2012, hundreds of items went under the hammer, including a cigar box that belonged to the captain of the Titanic ($40 thousand), a life jacket from the ship ($55 thousand), and a master key first class steward ($138 thousand). As for the jewelry from the Titanic, their value is measured in millions of dollars.

At one time, having discovered the Titanic, Robert Ballard intended to keep this place secret, so as not to disturb the resting place of one and a half thousand people. Perhaps he shouldn't have done this.

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Construction

Construction and equipment

Specifications

Bulkheads

The Titanic was built so that it could remain afloat if any 2 of its 16 watertight compartments, any 3 of the first 5 compartments, or all of the first 4 compartments were flooded.

The first 2 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 bolt 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 using 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.

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 the luggage compartment for first-class passengers, the ship's mailroom and the 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 charts 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. At the front 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. The RMS in the name stands for Royal Mail Ship. The ship had a post office and warehouse on decks "F" and "G", where 5 postal workers worked.

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 Titanic's propellers before the ship's launch

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 electricity at 100 volts. Next to them were two more 30-kilowatt generators. High-pressure steam from the boilers went to 2 triple expansion steam engines, which rotated the side screws. From the machines, steam then entered a low-pressure turbine, which drove the middle propeller. From the turbine, the exhaust steam entered the condensers, from where fresh water went back to the boilers in a closed cycle. The Titanic developed a decent speed for its time, although it was inferior to the turboprops of its competitor, the Cunard Line.

Pipes

The liner had 4 pipes, the diameter of each of which was 7.3 m, height - 18.5 m. The first three removed smoke from the boiler fireboxes, 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 shown in its model exhibited at the Deutsches Museum Munich, where it is clearly seen that the last chimney was not connected to the fireboxes. The fourth pipe was purely cosmetic to make the ship appear more powerful.

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. In addition, electricity was consumed by the telephone exchange and radio communications, fans in the boiler and engine rooms, apparatus in the gymnasium, 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 the two masts, some up to 75 m long. 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 this time monopolized the radio industry in Italy and England. Two young radio officers spent the entire day assembling and installing the station, and a test connection was immediately made with the coast station at Malin Head for verification ( English), 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", previously owned by 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.

Sailing and wrecking

Many celebrities of the time took part in the first voyage of the liner, including millionaire and major industrialist John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeleine 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 death of the ship, Sir Cosma Duff Gordon and his wife, fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff Gordon, popular at the beginning of the century, businessman and cricketer John Thayer, British journalist William Thomas Steed, Countess of Rotskaya, military assistant to US President Archibald Butt , film actress Dorothy Gibson and many others.

Northern and Southern transatlantic routes. Ice conditions

A threat to shipping in the North Atlantic is represented by icebergs breaking off from glaciers in western Greenland and drifting under the influence of currents. Ice fields originating in the Arctic Basin, as well as off the coast of Labrador, Newfoundland and in the Strait of St. Lawrence, and drifting under the influence of winds and currents.

The shortest route from northern Europe to the USA lies near the coast of Newfoundland, directly through the zone of fog and icebergs. In order to streamline navigation in the North Atlantic, in 1898, shipping companies entered into an agreement establishing 2 transatlantic routes, passing much further south. For each route, separate routes were determined for steamships moving west and east, spaced up to 50 miles from each other. From mid-January to mid-August, during the season of greatest ice danger, ships moved along the Southern Route. During the rest of the year, the Northern Route was used. This order usually made it possible to minimize the likelihood of encountering drifting ice. But 1912 turned out to be unusual. From the Southern Highway, along the western route of which the Titanic also moved, reports of icebergs came one after another. In this regard, the US Hydrological Service raised the issue of moving the route to the south, but the corresponding decisions were made belatedly, after the disaster.

Chronology

• 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. There are 922 passengers on board the Titanic.
  • 19:00 - stop in Cherbourg (France) to take on board 274 passengers and mail.
  • 21:00 - The Titanic left Cherbourg and headed for Queenstown (Ireland).

• 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.
  • 23:39 - 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 650 meters straight ahead.
  • 23:40 - Despite the maneuver, after 39 seconds the underwater part of the vessel touched down, the hull 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).

Stages of the sinking of the Titanic

• Monday, April 15, 1912
  • 00:05 - The trim on the bow became noticeable. The order was given to uncover the lifeboats and call crew members and passengers to their 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. The bow deck goes under water.
  • 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. The bow of the boat deck goes under water.
  • 02:08 - The Titanic shudders sharply and moves forward. A wave rolls across the deck and floods the bridge, washing passengers and crew members into the water.
  • 02:10 - the last radiotelegraph signals were transmitted.
  • 02:15 - The Titanic lifts its stern high, exposing the rudder and propellers.
  • 02:17 - the electric lights go out.
  • 02:18 - The Titanic, rapidly sinking, breaks into two parts.
  • 02:20 - Titanic sank.
  • 02:29 - At a speed of about 13 miles per hour, the bow of the Titanic crashes into the ocean floor at a depth of 3,750 meters, burrowing into the sedimentary rocks of the bottom.
  • 03:30 - signal flares fired from the Carpathia are noticed from the lifeboats.
  • 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, taking on board 710 people who escaped from the Titanic, heads for New York.
• Thursday 18 April 1912
  • Carpathia arrives in New York

Collision

Photo of an iceberg taken by the chief steward of a German ship " Prince Adalbert"On the morning of April 16, 1912. The steward did not know about the disaster at the time, but the iceberg attracted his attention because it had a brown streak at its base, indicating that the iceberg had collided with something less than 12 hours earlier. It is assumed that this is what the Titanic 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 the cry of “ice right on the nose!!!” (“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 “starboard”, at the same time transmitting the order “full back” to the engine room, and pressed the lever that turned on the closing of the watertight doors in the bulkheads of the boiler room and the engine room.

Photo of an iceberg taken from a cable-laying ship " Mine", which was one of the first ships to discover the corpses of passengers and the wreckage of the ship. Presumably, the Titanic could have collided with this particular iceberg, since, according to the crew, “ Mines", this was the only iceberg near the disaster site.

According to the terminology of 1912, the command “starboard” meant turning the stern of the ship to the right, and the bow to the left (on Russian ships, since 1909, natural commands were already used, for example: “left rudder”). Helmsman Robert Hitchens ( English) put his weight on the handle of the steering wheel and quickly turned it counterclockwise until it stops, after which Murdoch was told, “The steering wheel is right, 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. A. Oliver, in his testimony in the US Senate, however, definitely stated that upon entering the bridge he heard the command “left rudder” (corresponding to a turn to the right), and this command was carried out. According to Boxhall (British Inquiry, question 15355), Murdoch reported to Captain Smith: "I turned left and reversed, and was about to turn right to get around him, but he was too close."

It is known that the Titanic did not use binoculars for lookouts because the key to the safe with binoculars was missing. He was picked up by Second Mate Blair when the captain kicked him off the team, taking on board a crew member from Olympic. It is possible that the lack of binoculars was one of the reasons for the crash of the liner. However, the existence of binoculars became known only 95 years after the shipwreck, when one of them was exhibited at the Henry Eldridge and Sons auction house in Devizes, Wiltshire. David Blair was to become the second mate of the Titanic, for which he arrived on April 3, 1912 from Belfast to Southampton. However, the management of the White Star Line replaced him at the last moment with Henry Wild, the first mate from the similar ship Olympic, since he had experience in handling such large liners, as a result of which Blair, in his haste, forgot to hand over the key to the man who came to his place . However, many historians agree that the presence of binoculars would not have helped prevent the disaster. This is also confirmed by the fact that the lookouts in the “crow’s nest” noticed the iceberg earlier than those on the bridge, who had binoculars with them.

Titanic is sinking

Lifeboats

There were 2,224 people on board the Titanic, but the total lifeboat capacity 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 launch 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 65 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 65 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.

The crew did not even have time to lower all the boats that were on board. The twentieth boat was washed overboard when the front of the steamer went under water, and she floated upside down.

The report of the British commission on the results of the investigation into the circumstances of the sinking of the Titanic states that “if the boats 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 boats.” The reason for the low survival rate of 3rd class passengers can most likely be attributed to the obstacles caused by the crew to allow passengers to get onto the deck and the closing of the passage doors. 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.

Failure to provide assistance by the Californian

"Californian"

Serious criticism fell on the crew of the SS Californian and personally on the ship's captain, Stanley Lord. The ship was only a few miles from the Titanic, but did not respond to its distress calls and missile signals. The Californian warned the Titanic by radio about ice accumulation, which caused the Californian to stop for the night, but the warnings were condemned by the Titanic's senior wireless operator Jack Phillips.

Evidence from the British investigation showed that at 10:10 pm, the Californian observed the lights of a ship to the south. Captain Stanley Lord and third officer S. W. Groves (who was released by Lord at 11:10 pm) later decided that it was a passenger liner. At 11:50 p.m., the officer saw the ship's lights flash as if they were turned off or turned sharply, and that a port light appeared. On Lord's orders, Morse light signals were sent to the ship between 11:30 pm and 1:00 am, but they were not received.

Captain Lord retired to his cabin at 11:00 pm to spend the night, however, Second Officer Herbert Stone, while on duty, notified Lord at 1:10 that the ship had fired 5 missiles. Lord wanted to know if these were company signals, that is, colored flashes used for identification. Stone replied that he did not know and that the missiles were white. Captain Lord instructed the crew to continue signaling the ship with a Morse lamp, and went to bed. Three more missiles were spotted at 1:50 a.m. and Stone noted that the ship looked strange in the water, as if it was tilted. At 2:15 am, Lord was notified that the ship was no longer visible. The Lord asked again if the lights were of any color and was informed that they were all white.

The Californian eventually responded. At approximately 5:30 a.m., Chief Officer George Stewart awakened wireless operator Cyril Farmstone Evans and informed him that missiles had been sighted during the night and asked him to contact the ship. He received news of the sinking of the Titanic, Captain Lord was notified and the ship set out to provide assistance. It arrived long after the Carpathia, which had already picked up the survivors.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the ship seen by the Californian was actually the Titanic, and that the Californian could have come to its aid, so Captain Lord acted inappropriately by not doing so. However, Lord maintained his innocence for the rest of his life, and many researchers argue that the famous positions of the Titanic and Californian make it impossible that the former was the infamous "Mystery Ship", a topic that "has generated...millions of words and ... hours of heated debate,” and continues to do so [ unreputable source?] .

Composition of the dead and survivors

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.

338 men (20% of all adult men) and 316 women (74% of all adult women) survived, including Violet Jessop, Dorothy Gibson, Molly Brown, Lucy Duff Gordon, Countess of Rothe and others. Of the children, 56 survived (slightly more than half of all children).

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 at the age of 97 years. Her ashes were scattered to the wind on October 24, 2009 in the port of Southampton, where the Titanic began its only voyage.

A unique record belongs to Jessop's maid, Violet, who survived accidents on all 3 Olympic-class ships. She was working on the Olympic when it collided with the cruiser Hawk; escaped from the Titanic and subsequently survived the sinking of the Britannic by a mine during the First World War.

The death of the Titanic is one of the largest maritime disasters

Among disasters that occurred outside of hostilities, the Titanic ranks third in terms of the number of victims. The sad leadership is behind the Dona Paz ferry, which collided with an oil tanker in 1987. More than 4 thousand people died in the collision and subsequent fire. Second place is held by the wooden paddle steamer Sultana, which sank on April 27, 1865 on the Mississippi River near Memphis due to a steam boiler explosion and fire. The total number of deaths on the ship exceeded 1,700 people, this is the worst disaster on river vessels.

Theories about the causes of the accident

Sheathing

On the other hand, this test only proves that modern steel is much better than what was used at the beginning of the 20th century. It does not prove that the steel used to build the Titanic was of poor quality (or not the best) for its time.

In the first years of the 21st century, a number of media outlets, with reference to the latest research of the ship's hull by deep-sea submersibles, expressed the opinion that when it collided with an iceberg, the ship was not holed, and its hull withstood the impact. The cause of death was that the hull rivets could not prevent the divergence of its sheets, and sea water began to flow into the long gap that formed.

Radio operators

The internal communication system of the liner was extremely unsatisfactory; there was no direct communication with the captain - all messages had to be reported to him orally. The reason was that a radiotelegraph station was considered a luxury, and the main task of telegraph operators was to serve especially wealthy passengers - it is known that in just 36 hours of work, 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 very expensive, tips were received in large quantities.

The radio log from the Titanic did not survive, but based on the surviving recordings from various ships that had contact with the liner, it was possible to more or less restore a picture of the work of the radio operators. Reports of drifting ice and icebergs began to arrive on the morning of the fateful date - April 14, and the exact coordinates of the high-risk zone were indicated. The Titanic continued to sail further, without turning off course or slowing down. At 19:30, a telegram came from the transport ship Mesaba: “I report ice from 42 degrees to 41 degrees 25 minutes north latitude and from 49 degrees to 50 degrees 30 minutes west longitude. I saw a large number of icebergs and ice fields.” At this time, the Titanic's senior communications officer Jack Phillips was working for the benefit of passengers, transmitting an inexhaustible stream of messages to the Cape Ras station, while the most important message never reached the captain, getting lost in a heap of paper - the Mesaba radio operator forgot to mark the message as "Ice Report" with prefix MSG, which meant “personally to the captain.” This small detail overshadowed Phillips' dedication.

On the other hand, on April 14, in addition to this message, several more warnings about icebergs were received from other ships. The captain took certain measures, in particular, the officers were warned verbally and in writing about the danger, and those looking ahead were ordered to look for the presence of icebergs. Therefore, it cannot be said that Captain Smith did not know about them.

Iceberg

The news about the lack of binoculars from the lookout was received with criticism (according to many eyewitness accounts, binoculars were only on the Belfast-Southampton section; after this stop, Hogg, on the captain’s orders, for some reason put them in his cabin). There is an opinion that if you had binoculars looking ahead, despite the moonless night, you would notice the iceberg not a quarter of a mile (450 m) away, but 2 or 3 miles (4-6 km) away. On the other hand, binoculars narrow the field of view, so they are used only after after the lookout noticed something. Lookouts without binoculars spotted the iceberg before the watch officer with binoculars.

If there had been even a slight disturbance or swell in the ocean, he would have seen white caps at the “waterline” of the iceberg. As it later became known, the Titanic collided with a “black” iceberg, that is, one that had recently capsized in the water. The side facing the liner was dark blue, because of this there was no reflection (an ordinary white iceberg under such conditions could be seen a mile away).

The question of what prevented First Officer W. Murdoch from discovering the iceberg in a timely manner remains open. Captain Rostron of the Carpathia said that 75% of objects in the sea are detected from the bridge earlier than from the crow's nest. When his ship sailed at night to the site of the Titanic accident, all the icebergs on their way were noticed from the bridge before the lookouts discovered them (British investigation, questions 25431-25449).

Maneuvering

There is an opinion that if Murdoch had not given the order to reverse immediately after the command to "left rudder", the Titanic would probably have avoided the collision, since reverse negatively affects the efficiency of the steering wheel. In this case, however, the time required to execute the command is ignored. This takes at least 30 seconds and the command was probably received with a delay; - commands for the engine room along the route of the liner are rarely given (the last one was given three days before), so no one is standing at the engine telegraph. The command simply did not have time to be carried out, otherwise the Titanic would have experienced strong vibration, but no one mentions it. According to the testimony of survivors, the cars stopped and reversed after the collision, so this command had no practical significance.

There is also an opinion that the best decision would be to put only the left car into reverse. Working the propellers against each other would help speed up the turn and reduce the speed. The middle propeller was driven by a steam turbine that ran on residual steam from the onboard engines; this turbine had no reverse gear. Thus, a stopped propeller, behind which there was a single rudder of a very small area, created a turbulent flow, in which the already ineffective rudder almost completely lost its effectiveness. Perhaps even in order to avoid a collision, it would be necessary, on the contrary, to increase the speed of the middle propeller to increase the efficiency of the steering. Moreover, performing the reverse takes considerable time, and, therefore, there was practically no chance to quickly reduce the speed.

Attention should be paid to the fact that the disaster occurred on the first voyage. The navigators had no experience in operating this vessel, which explains the untimely and ineffective attempts to maneuver. At the same time, Captain Smith, First Officer Wilde, and First Officer Murdoch, who was on watch during the accident, had experience working on the Olympic, built according to a similar project. In 1903, in a critical situation, Murdoch, with his timely and decisive actions, overruled the command of his superiors, saved the Arabik steamship from a collision.

There are also suggestions that the Titanic would have remained afloat if the rudder had not been shifted and the ship would have “rammed” the iceberg, taking the blow on the stem. The design of the partitions was precisely aimed at the “survival” of the ship in a head-on collision, but the sides of the ship were not protected. “Wilding, a shipbuilder from Belfast, calculated that the bow of the ship would have been dented by 25-30 meters, but the ship would not have died. It would be instant death for those who were in the bow of the ship at that time, but the loss of inertia would be quite slow, comparable to a car traveling at that speed, whose brakes were instantly pulled all the way,” Barnaby reports. However, Murdoch is justified by the fact that he did not have the opportunity to measure the distance to the iceberg and could not know that the maneuver he had undertaken would not succeed. Therefore, one can hardly blame him for not giving a command that would obviously kill people.

Buoyancy

The liner was not designed to flood all of the first five compartments. Although such a design is possible, it is extremely expensive - the only ship built this way, the Great Eastern, was unprofitable. The unprofitability of this gigantic ship is confirmed by the fact that it was not found possible to use it for its intended purpose, and it went down in history as a cable ship used in laying the transatlantic telegraph cable. The likelihood of risk cannot be ignored either. After all, except for the Titanic, no ship suffered such damage in peacetime.

Reducing speed or avoiding an iceberg field

Despite warnings about icebergs, the captain of the Titanic did not slow down or change the route. But this was standard practice in those days. Thus, during the investigation into the circumstances of the death of the Titanic, Captain Gerard C. Affeld, who commanded 5 transatlantic ships, testified that, having received warnings about icebergs, he never changed the route and reduced speed only in case of fog or bad weather. He studied the logs of the ships entrusted to him. According to these logs, other captains, having received warnings about icebergs, also did not change their route and, as a rule, did not reduce speed. On the other hand, not everyone followed this practice: the ship closest to the Titanic, the Californian, having reached the iceberg field, stopped at its border (and gave the Titanic a warning, which was ignored).

Late reaction on the bridge

Lookout Reginald Lee testified that he spotted the iceberg from a distance of "half a mile, maybe more, maybe less." The Titanic would have covered half a mile in 80 seconds. Helmsman Hichens testified that by the time of the collision the ship had turned 2 points. Since the wheelhouse windows were completely darkened so that light would not interfere with observation from the bridge, Hichens did not see the iceberg. An experiment on the twin steamer Olympic showed that a turn of 2 points would take 37 seconds, counting from the moment the command was given. The authors of the book Report into the Loss of the SS Titanic: A Centennial Reappraisal, published on the centenary of the shipwreck, restore the timing of the accident, and put forward a version of the “lost 30 seconds” after the signal from the lookouts, who left Murdoch for then to visually detect an iceberg, assess the situation and make a decision.

Causes of the tragedy

Subjective reasons

The main subjective reason for the loss of life was the outdated rules of the British Merchant Shipping Code, which made the number of lifeboats dependent on the tonnage of the ship, and not on the number of passengers. The rules were established in 1894, when the tonnage of passenger ships did not exceed 12,952 tons, and all ships of 10,000 tons and above fell into the same category. For such ships, the rules required that the lifeboats have enough space for 962 people. The Titanic's tonnage was 46,328 tons.

The owners of the Titanic, having formally followed the instructions (and even slightly exceeded them, since the Titanic's boats had 1,178 seats, not 962), supplied the ship with an insufficient number of boats. Despite the fact that there were enough lifeboats to land 1,178 people, only 704 were saved. There were certain subjective reasons for this. For example, Second Mate Charles Lightoller, who commanded the launch of the boats on the port side, carried out Captain Smith's order “women and children first” literally: he allowed men to occupy places in the boats only if oarsmen were needed and under no other circumstances.

Based on the stories of Charles Lightoller, his granddaughter Lady Patten put forward a new version of the death of the transatlantic liner. According to the writer, the Titanic sank not because it sailed too fast, which is why it simply did not have time to avoid a collision with an iceberg. There was plenty of time to avoid the ice block, but helmsman Robert Hitchens panicked and turned the wheel in the wrong direction. The ship received a hole, due to which it eventually sank. However, passengers and crew could have been saved if the Titanic had stopped immediately after the collision. Moreover, the nearest ship was only a few miles from the liner. The manager of the company that owned the huge ship, Joseph Bruce Ismay, convinced the captain to continue sailing, fearing that the incident could cause him considerable material damage. He wanted to save the Titanic, but thought exclusively about the financial side of the matter. The rate of water entering the liner's holds increased exponentially. Water entered the housing at a rate of approximately 400 tons per minute. As a result, the ship sank in a matter of hours. Lightoller told only his family about why the liner sank. According to Patten, her relatives feared for their reputation and therefore did not want to divulge the true causes of the 1912 disaster. “My relatives died a long time ago, and I realized that I was the only one in the world who knew about the true cause of the death of the Titanic,” said the writer.

Objective reasons

The cause of the collision and death of the vessel was a combination of unfavorable factors:

• 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 “lambs” around the iceberg.
• 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 when entering the iceberg belt, then perhaps the force of the impact on the iceberg would not have been enough to break through the Titanic’s hull.
• The failure to transmit several telegrams from neighboring ships by members of the radio room, busy sending private telegrams to wealthy passengers for money, about the dangerous proximity of icebergs to Captain Smith, which reduced his vigilance.
• The best steel of the time, from which the Titanic was made, became brittle at low temperatures. The water temperature that night was +2…+4 °C, which made the ship’s hull very vulnerable.
• The quality of the rivets that were used to connect the sheets of the ship’s side plating was poor; when an iceberg hit, the heads of the forged iron rivets, which replaced the originally provided steel ones, crumbled due to their “porosity” due to the inclusion of foreign impurities in them.
• The construction of partitions between the compartments was made with the expectation of a frontal impact, and the doors between the partitions simply could not withstand the pressure of water and broke under its pressure.

Flood depth

On September 1, 1985, an expedition led by the director of the Institute of Oceanology in Woods Hall, Massachusetts, Dr. Robert D. Ballard, discovered the site of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 3,750 meters.

The distance between the remains of the bow and stern of the Titanic is about 600 meters.

The remains of the ship were discovered 13 miles west of the coordinates that the Titanic transmitted in its SOS signal.

In April 2012, one hundred years after the shipwreck, the ship's remains gained protection under the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. From now on, states parties to the Convention have the right to prevent the destruction, looting, sale and unauthorized distribution of objects found at the shipwreck site. They can take all necessary measures to protect the wreck and ensure proper treatment of the human remains contained therein.

Conspiracy theory

Reflection of the Titanic in art

The crash of the airliner became one of the most famous disasters in human history. To some extent, the image of the Titanic became a symbol of the death of something that seemed powerful and unsinkable, a symbol of the weakness of human technogenic civilization in front of the forces of nature. The disaster was widely reflected in art, especially mass art. The first film dedicated to the disaster - “Rescue from the Titanic” - appeared in May 1912, a month after the crash. Also in 1912, but before the disaster occurred, Morgan Robertson's book "Futility, Or the Wreck of the Titan" was published, the action of which took place on board a passenger ship " Titan", similar in description and displacement to the Titanic. In this book, the Titan succumbs to an iceberg in the fog while sailing from New York to Great Britain. As a result, a legend appeared about Morgan Robertson’s “prediction” of the Titanic disaster. This fact is reinforced by the fact that despite the book being published in 1912, it was written in 1898.

The film “Titanic”, released in 1997, was the leader in box office receipts at the global box office for 13 years ($1,845,034,188, of which $600,788,188 in the USA), but in 2010, the record for “Titanic” was broken by the film “Avatar”, released by the same director; In April 2012, on the centenary of the disaster, Cameron released his old film, but in 3D format.

Many songs by performers and groups playing in different genres were dedicated to the death of the ship. In particular, in the song of the same name by the Austrian performer Falco (1992), the Titanic is seen as a symbol of decadence, the end of an era; in the song of the Russian group “Nautilus Pompilius” from the album of the same name “Titanic” (1994), the sailing ship appears as a symbol of death and doom.

see also

• Titanic Belfast (museum)

Notes

1. About the fate of the White Star Line superliners (Retrieved April 8, 2012)
2. Did you know | RU
3. Titanic Belfast Museum

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic liner set off from the port of Southampton on its first and last voyage, but 4 days later it collided with an iceberg. We know about the tragedy that claimed the lives of almost 1,496 people largely thanks to the film, but let's get acquainted with the real stories of the Titanic passengers.

The real cream of society gathered on the passenger deck of the Titanic: millionaires, actors and writers. Not everyone could afford to buy a first class ticket - the price was $60,000 at current prices.

3rd class passengers bought tickets for only $35 ($650 today), so they were not allowed to go above the third deck. On the fateful night, the division into classes turned out to be more noticeable than ever...

One of the first to jump into the lifeboat was Bruce Ismay, the general director of the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic. The boat, designed for 40 people, set sail with only twelve.

After the disaster, Ismay was accused of boarding a rescue boat, bypassing women and children, and also of instructing the captain of the Titanic to increase speed, which led to the tragedy. The court acquitted him.

William Ernest Carter boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his wife Lucy and two children Lucy and William, as well as two dogs.

On the night of the disaster, he was at a party in the restaurant of a first-class ship, and after the collision, he and his comrades went out onto the deck, where the boats were already being prepared. William first put his daughter on boat No. 4, but when it was his son's turn, problems awaited them.

13-year-old John Rison boarded the boat directly in front of them, after which the officer in charge of boarding ordered that no teenage boys be taken on board. Lucy Carter resourcefully threw her hat on her 11-year-old son and sat down with him.

When the landing process was completed and the boat began to descend into the water, Carter himself quickly boarded it along with another passenger. It was he who turned out to be the already mentioned Bruce Ismay.

21-year-old Roberta Maoney worked as a maid to the Countess and sailed on the Titanic with her mistress in first class.

On board she met a brave young steward from the ship's crew, and soon the young people fell in love with each other. When the Titanic began to sink, the steward rushed to Roberta's cabin, took her to the boat deck and put her on the boat, giving her his life jacket.

He himself died, like many other crew members, and Roberta was picked up by the ship Carpathia, on which she sailed to New York. Only there, in her coat pocket, did she find a badge with a star, which at the moment of parting the steward put in her pocket as a souvenir of himself.

Emily Richards was sailing with her two young sons, mother, brother and sister to her husband. At the time of the disaster, the woman was sleeping in the cabin with her children. They were awakened by the screams of their mother, who ran into the cabin after the collision.

The Richards were miraculously able to climb into the descending lifeboat No. 4 through the window. When the Titanic completely sank, the passengers of her boat managed to pull seven more people out of the icy water, two of whom, unfortunately, soon died of frostbite.

The famous American businessman Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida traveled in first class. The Strauss had been married for 40 years and had never been separated.

When the ship's officer invited the family to board the boat, Isidore refused, deciding to give way to women and children, but Ida also followed him

Instead of themselves, the Strauss put their maid in the boat. Isidore's body was identified by a wedding ring; Ida's body was not found.

The Titanic featured two orchestras: a quintet led by 33-year-old British violinist Wallace Hartley and an additional trio of musicians hired to give Café Parisien a continental flair.

Usually, two members of the Titanic orchestra worked in different parts of the liner and at different times, but on the night of the ship's sinking, all of them united into one orchestra.

One of the rescued passengers of the Titanic would later write: “Many heroic deeds were performed that night, but none of them could compare with the feat of these few musicians, who played hour after hour, although the ship sank deeper and deeper and the sea got closer. to the place where they stood. The music they performed entitled them to be included in the list of heroes of eternal glory."

Hartley's body was found two weeks after the sinking of the Titanic and sent to England. A violin was tied to his chest - a gift from the bride. There were no survivors among the other orchestra members...

Four-year-old Michel and two-year-old Edmond traveled with their father, who died in the sinking, and were considered "orphans of the Titanic" until their mother was found in France.

Michel died in 2001, the last male survivor of the Titanic.

Winnie Coates was heading to New York with her two children. On the night of the disaster, she woke up from a strange noise, but decided to wait for orders from the crew members. Her patience ran out, she rushed for a long time along the endless corridors of the ship, getting lost.

She was suddenly directed by a crew member towards the lifeboats. She ran into a broken closed gate, but it was at that moment that another officer appeared, who saved Winnie and her children by giving them his life jacket.

As a result, Vinny ended up on the deck, where she was boarding boat No. 2, which, literally by miracle, she managed to board..

Seven-year-old Eve Hart escaped the sinking Titanic with her mother, but her father died during the crash.

Helen Walker believes that she was conceived on the Titanic before it hit an iceberg. “This means a lot to me,” she admitted in an interview.

Her parents were 39-year-old Samuel Morley, the owner of a jewelry store in England, and 19-year-old Kate Phillips, one of his workers, who fled to America from the man's first wife, seeking to start a new life.

Kate got into the lifeboat, Samuel jumped into the water after her, but did not know how to swim and drowned. “Mom spent 8 hours in the lifeboat,” said Helen. “She was in only a nightgown, but one of the sailors gave her his jumper.”

Violet Constance Jessop. Until the last moment, the stewardess did not want to be hired on the Titanic, but her friends convinced her because they believed that it would be a “wonderful experience.”

Before this, on October 20, 1910, Violette became a stewardess of the transatlantic liner Olympic, which a year later collided with a cruiser due to unsuccessful maneuvering, but the girl managed to escape.

And Violet escaped from the Titanic on a lifeboat. During the First World War, the girl went to work as a nurse, and in 1916 she got on board the Britannic, which... also sank! Two boats with a crew were pulled under the propeller of a sinking ship. 21 people died.

Among them could have been Violet, who was sailing in one of the broken boats, but again luck was on her side: she managed to jump out of the boat and survived.

Fireman Arthur John Priest also survived a shipwreck not only on the Titanic, but also on the Olympic and Britannic (by the way, all three ships were the brainchild of the same company). Priest has 5 shipwrecks to his name.

On April 21, 1912, the New York Times published the story of Edward and Ethel Bean, who sailed in second class on the Titanic. After the crash, Edward helped his wife into the boat. But when the boat had already sailed, he saw that it was half empty and rushed into the water. Ethel pulled her husband into the boat.

Among the Titanic's passengers were the famous tennis player Carl Behr and his lover Helen Newsom. After the disaster, the athlete ran into the cabin and took the women to the boat deck.

The lovers were ready to say goodbye forever when the head of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, personally offered Behr a place on the boat. A year later, Carl and Helen got married and later became the parents of three children.

Edward John Smith - captain of the Titanic, who was very popular among both crew members and passengers. At 2.13 a.m., just 10 minutes before the ship's final dive, Smith returned to the captain's bridge, where he decided to meet his death.

Second Mate Charles Herbert Lightoller was one of the last to jump from the ship, miraculously avoiding being sucked into the ventilation shaft. He swam to collapsible boat B, which was floating upside down: the Titanic's pipe, which came off and fell into the sea next to him, drove the boat further from the sinking ship and allowed it to remain afloat.

American businessman Benjamin Guggenheim helped women and children into lifeboats during the crash. When asked to save himself, he replied: “We are dressed in our best clothes and are ready to die like gentlemen.”

Benjamin died at the age of 46, his body was never found.

Thomas Andrews - first class passenger, Irish businessman and shipbuilder, was the designer of the Titanic...

During the evacuation, Thomas helped passengers board lifeboats. He was last seen in the first class smoking room near the fireplace, where he was looking at a painting of Port Plymouth. His body was never found after the crash.

John Jacob and Madeleine Astor, a millionaire science fiction writer, and his young wife traveled first class. Madeleine escaped on lifeboat No. 4. John Jacob's body was recovered from the depths of the ocean 22 days after his death.

Colonel Archibald Gracie IV is an American writer and amateur historian who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Returning to New York, Gracie immediately began writing a book about his voyage.

It is she who has become a real encyclopedia for historians and researchers of the disaster, thanks to the large number of names it contains of stowaways and 1st class passengers remaining on the Titanic. Gracie's health was severely compromised by hypothermia and injuries, and he died at the end of 1912.

Margaret (Molly) Brown is an American socialite, philanthropist and activist. Survived. When panic arose on the Titanic, Molly put people into lifeboats, but she herself refused to board them.

“If the worst happens, I’ll swim out,” she said, until eventually someone forced her into lifeboat number 6, which made her famous.

After Molly organized the Titanic Survivors Fund.

Millvina Dean was the last surviving passenger of the Titanic: she died on May 31, 2009, aged 97, in a nursing home in Ashurst, Hampshire, on the 98th anniversary of the liner's launch. .

Her ashes were scattered on October 24, 2009 at the port of Southampton, where the Titanic began its first and last voyage. At the time of the death of the liner she was two and a half months old

The legendary maiden voyage of the Titanic should have been the main event of 1912, but instead it became the most tragic in history. An absurd collision with an iceberg, an unorganized evacuation of people, almost one and a half thousand dead - this was the only voyage of the liner.

History of the ship

Banal rivalry served as the impetus for the start of construction of the Titanic. The idea of ​​​​creating a liner better than that of a competing company came to the mind of the owner of the British shipping company White Star Line, Bruce Ismay. This happened after their main rival, the Cunard Line, launched its largest ship at that time, the Lusitania, in 1906.

Construction of the liner began in 1909. About three thousand specialists worked on its creation, and over seven million dollars were spent. The last work was completed in 1911, and at the same time the long-awaited launch of the liner took place.

Many people, both rich and poor, sought to get the coveted ticket for this flight, but no one suspected that just a few days after departure the world community would be discussing only one thing - how many people died on the Titanic.

Despite the fact that the White Star Line managed to surpass its competitor in shipbuilding, the subsequent sinking of the Titanic dealt a severe blow to the company's reputation. In 1934 it was completely absorbed by the Cunard Line.

The first voyage of the “unsinkable”

The ceremonial departure of the luxury ship became the most anticipated event of 1912. It was very difficult to get tickets, and they were sold out long before the scheduled flight. But as it turned out later, those who exchanged or resold their tickets were very lucky, and they did not regret not being on the ship when they found out how many people died on the Titanic.

The first and last voyage of the White Star Line's largest liner was scheduled for April 10, 1912. The ship departed at 12 o'clock local time, and just 4 days later, on April 14, 1912, a tragedy occurred - an ill-fated collision with an iceberg.

Tragic prediction of the sinking of the Titanic

The fictional story of a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, which later turned out to be prophetic, was written by British journalist William Thomas Stead in 1886. With his publication, the author wanted to draw public attention to the need to revise navigation rules, namely, he demanded to ensure the number of seats in ship boats corresponding to the number of passengers.

A few years later, Stead returned to a similar theme again in a new story about a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, which was the result of a collision with an iceberg. The death of people on the liner occurred due to the lack of the required number of lifeboats.

This work of the author turned out to be prophetic. A major shipwreck occurred exactly 20 years after it was written. The journalist himself, who was on the Titanic at that moment, failed to escape.

How many people died on the Titanic: composition of those who drowned and those who survived

More than 100 years have passed since the most discussed shipwreck of the 20th century, but each time, during the next court proceedings, new circumstances of the tragedy are revealed and updated lists of those killed and survived as a result of the sinking of the liner appear.

This table gives us comprehensive information. The ratio of how many women and children died on the Titanic speaks most of all about the disorganization of the evacuation. The percentage of surviving representatives of the fairer sex even exceeds the number of surviving children. As a result of the shipwreck, 80% of the men died, most of them simply did not have enough space in the lifeboats. High percentage of deaths among children. These were mostly members of the lower class who were unable to get on deck in time for evacuation.

How were people from high society saved? Class discrimination on the Titanic

As soon as it became clear that the ship would not remain on the water for long, the captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith, gave the order to put women and children into lifeboats. At the same time, access to the deck for third class passengers was limited. Thus, advantage in salvation was given to representatives of high society.

The large number of people killed has caused investigations and legal disputes to continue for 100 years. All experts note that there was discrimination based on gender and class on board during the evacuation. At the same time, the number of surviving crew members was greater than that of the III class. Instead of helping the passengers into the boats, they were the first to escape.

How was the evacuation of people from the Titanic carried out?

The unorganized evacuation of people is still considered the main cause of mass death. The fact of how many people died during the sinking of the Titanic indicates a complete lack of any control over this process. The 20 lifeboats could accommodate at least 1,178 people. But at the beginning of the evacuation, they were launched into the water half filled, and not only with women and children, but also with entire families, and even with lap dogs. As a result, the boats' occupancy rate was only 60%.

The total number of ship passengers excluding crew members was 1,316, meaning the captain had the ability to save 90% of the passengers. III class people were able to get onto the deck only towards the end of the evacuation, and therefore even more crew members were eventually saved. Numerous investigations into the causes and facts of the shipwreck confirm that responsibility for how many people died on the Titanic lies entirely with the captain of the liner.

Memoirs of eyewitnesses of the tragedy

All those who pulled out a lucky ticket from a sinking ship to a lifeboat received an unforgettable experience from the first and last voyage of the Titanic. The facts, the number of deaths, and the causes of the disaster were obtained thanks to their testimony. The memoirs of some of the surviving passengers were published and will forever remain in history.

In 2009, Millvina Dean, the last woman to survive the Titanic passengers, passed away. She was only two and a half months old at the time of the shipwreck. Her father died on the sinking liner, and her mother and brother escaped with her. And although the woman did not retain the memories of that terrible night, the disaster made such a deep impression on her that she forever refused to visit the site of the shipwreck and never watched feature films or documentaries about the Titanic.

In 2006, at an English auction where about 300 exhibits from the Titanic were presented, the memoirs of Ellen Churchill Candy, who was one of the passengers on the ill-fated voyage, were sold for 47 thousand pounds.

The published memoirs of another Englishwoman, Elizabeth Shutes, helped in drawing up a real picture of the disaster. She was a governess for one of the first class passengers. In her memoirs, Elizabeth stated that the lifeboat on which she was evacuated had only 36 people, that is, only half of the total number of places available.

Indirect causes of the shipwreck

All sources of information about the Titanic indicate a collision with an iceberg as the main cause of its death. But as it turned out later, this event was accompanied by several indirect circumstances.

During the study of the causes of the disaster, part of the ship's hull was raised to the surface from the bottom of the ocean. A piece of steel was tested, and scientists proved that the metal from which the hull of the airliner was made was of poor quality. This was another circumstance of the crash and the reason for how many people died on the Titanic.

The perfectly smooth surface of the water did not allow the iceberg to be detected in time. Even a small wind would be enough for the waves hitting the ice to detect it before the collision occurred.

The unsatisfactory work of the radio operators, who did not inform the captain in time about the ice drifting in the ocean, the too high speed of movement, which did not allow the ship to quickly change course - all these reasons together led to the tragic events on the Titanic.

The sinking of the Titanic is a terrible shipwreck of the 20th century

A fairy tale that turned into pain and horror - this is how one can characterize the first and last voyage of the Titanic. The true history of the disaster, even after a hundred years, is the subject of controversy and investigation. The death of almost one and a half thousand people with unfilled lifeboats still remains inexplicable. Every year, more and more new reasons for the shipwreck are named, but not one of them is capable of returning lost human lives.

You have already read and heard about the Titanic many times. The history of the creation and crash of the liner is overgrown with rumors and myths. For more than 100 years, the British steamship has been exciting the minds of people trying to find the answer - why did the Titanic sink?

The history of the legendary liner is interesting for three reasons:

• it was the largest ship in 1912;
• the number of victims turned the disaster into a global failure;
• finally, with his film, James Cameron singled out the story of the liner from the general list of maritime disasters, and there were quite a few of them.

We will tell you everything about the Titanic, as it happened in reality. About the length of the Titanic in meters, how long the Titanic sank, and who really was behind the large-scale disaster.

Where and where did the Titanic sail from?

From Cameron's film, we know that the liner was heading to New York. The American development city was to be the final stop. But not everyone knows exactly where the Titanic sailed from, believing that London was the starting point. The capital of Great Britain was not among the seaports, and therefore the ship could not depart from there.

The fatal flight began from Southampton, a major English port from where transatlantic flights operated. The Titanic's path on the map clearly shows the movement. Southampton is both a port and a city located in the southern part of England (Hampshire).

See the route of the Titanic on the map:

Dimensions of the Titanic in meters

To understand more about the Titanic, the causes of the disaster need to be revealed, starting with the dimensions of the ship.

How many meters is the Titanic in length and other dimensions:

exact length – 299.1 m;

width – 28.19 m;

height from the keel - 53.3 m.

There is also the following question: how many decks did the Titanic have? There were 8 in total. Boats were located on top, which is why the upper deck was called the boat deck. The rest were distributed according to letter designation.

A – 1st class deck. Its peculiarity is its limited size - it does not fit the entire length of the vessel;

B - anchors were located in the front part of the deck and its dimensions were also shorter - 37 meters on deck C;

C – deck with galley, crew mess and promenade for III class.

D – walking area;

E – cabins of I, II classes;

F – cabins of II and III classes;

G – deck with boiler rooms in the middle.

Finally, how much does the Titanic weigh? The displacement of the largest ship of the early 20th century is 52,310 tons.

Titanic: the story of the wreck

In what year did the Titanic sink? The famous disaster occurred on the night of April 14, 1912. This was the fifth day of the trip. Chronicles indicate that at 23:40 the liner survived a collision with an iceberg and after 2 hours 40 minutes (2:20 a.m.) it went under water.

Things from the Titanic: photos

Further investigations showed that the crew received 7 weather warnings, but this did not prevent the ship from reducing its maximum speed. The iceberg directly ahead was spotted too late to take precautions. The result is holes in the starboard side. Ice damaged 90 m of skin and 5 bow compartments. This was enough to sink the liner.

Tickets for the new liner were more expensive than for other ships. If a person was used to traveling in first class, then on the Titanic he would have to change to second class.

Edward Smith, the ship's captain, began the evacuation after midnight: a distress signal was sent, the attention of other ships was attracted by flares, and lifeboats were launched into the water. But the rescue was slow and uncoordinated - there was empty space in the lifeboats while the Titanic was sinking, the water temperature did not rise above two degrees below zero, and the first steamer arrived only half an hour after the disaster.

Titanic: how many people died and survived

How many people survived on the Titanic? No one will tell you the exact data, just as they could not say this on the fateful night. The list of Titanic passengers initially changed in practice, but not on paper: some canceled the trip at the moment of sailing and were not crossed off, others traveled anonymously under assumed names, and still others were listed as dead on the Titanic several times.

Photos of the sinking of the Titanic

It is only possible to say approximately how many people drowned on the Titanic - about 1500 (minimum 1490 - maximum 1635). Among them was Edward Smith with some assistants, 8 musicians from the famous orchestra, large investors and businessmen.

Class was felt even after death - the bodies of the dead from the first class were embalmed and placed in coffins, the second and third classes received bags and boxes. When the embalming agents ran out, the bodies of unknown third-class passengers were simply thrown into the water (according to the rules, unembalmed corpses could not be brought to the port).

Bodies were found within a radius of 80 km from the crash site, and due to the Gulf Stream, many were scattered even further.

Photos of dead people

Initially, it was known how many passengers were on the Titanic, although not thoroughly:

crew 900 people;

195 first class;

255 second class;

493 third class people.

Some passengers disembarked at intermediate ports, while others entered. It is believed that the liner set out on the fatal route with a crew of 1,317 people, of which 124 were children.

Titanic: sinking depth - 3750 m

The English ship could accommodate 2,566 people, of which 1,034 seats were for first class passengers. The airliner's half occupancy is explained by the fact that transatlantic flights were not popular in April. At that time, a coal miners' strike broke out, which disrupted coal supplies, schedules and changes in plans.

The question of how many people were saved from the Titanic was difficult to answer because the rescue operations took place from different ships, and slow communications did not provide fast data.

After the crash, only 2/3 of the delivered bodies were identified. Some were buried locally, the rest were sent home. For a long time, bodies in white vests were found in the area of ​​the disaster. Of the 1,500 dead people, only 333 bodies were found.

At what depth does the Titanic lie?

When answering the question about the depth at which the Titanic sank, you need to remember about the pieces that were carried away by currents (by the way, they learned about this only in the 80s; before that it was believed that the liner sank to the bottom entirely). The wreckage of the liner on the night of the crash went to a depth of 3,750 m. The bow was thrown 600 m from the stern.

The place where the Titanic sank on the map:

In which ocean did the Titanic sink? - in the Atlantic.

The Titanic was raised from the bottom of the ocean

They wanted to raise the ship from the moment of the crash. Initiative plans were put forward by the relatives of the victims from the first class. But 1912 did not yet know the necessary technologies. The war, lack of knowledge and funds delayed the search for the sunken ship for a hundred years. Since 1985, 17 expeditions have been carried out, during which 5,000 objects and large hulls were brought to the surface, but the ship itself remained on the ocean floor.

What does the Titanic look like now?

In the time since the crash, the ship has become covered in marine life. Rust, the painstaking work of invertebrates and natural processes of decomposition have changed the structures beyond recognition. By this time, the bodies had already decomposed completely, and by the 22nd century, only the anchors and boilers - the most massive metal structures - would remain from the Titanic.

Already, the interiors of the decks have been destroyed, the cabins and halls have collapsed.

Titanic, Britannic and Olympic

All three ships were produced by the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolf. Before the Titanic, the world saw the Olympic. It is easy to see a fatal predisposition in the fate of the three ships. The first airliner crashed as a result of a collision with a cruiser. Not such a large-scale disaster, but still an impressive failure.

Then the story of the Titanic, which received wide resonance in the world, and, finally, Gigantic. They tried to make this ship especially durable, taking into account the mistakes of previous liners. It was even launched, but the First World War disrupted the plans. Gigantic became a hospital ship called Britannic.

He just managed to carry out 5 calm flights, and on the sixth there was a disaster. Having been blown up by a German mine, the Britannic quickly sank. The mistakes of the past and the preparedness of the captain made it possible to save the maximum number of people - 1036 out of 1066.

Is it possible to talk about evil fate when remembering the Titanic? The history of the creation and crash of the liner was studied in detail, the facts were revealed, even through time. And yet the truth is only now being revealed. The reason why the Titanic attracts attention is to hide the true motive - the creation of a currency system and the destruction of opponents.