Titanic Links +

THIS PAGE IS GETTING A FACELIFT!(see, one day, I was just messing around and I kinda accidentally deleted this page, so now I am rebuilding it to be better than before!)

I'm pretty sure that you have seen the movie "Titanic"; But I haven't! "How does he know anything about the Titanic?", you might say. Well, I have studied the Titanic's amazing history for many years, which may be why you are here. I think that I should stop yammering and get to the point; Don't you?

The Titanic was the second of the Olympic Class liners owned by the White Star Line. Being such a magnificent ship, with so very many safety features and more life boats than required by an outdated British law for a vessel that massive, she was practically unsinkable (even though she sank)! One thing that brought about this belief that she was unsinkable about was her sister ship, the Olympic. What I mean by this is an incident that occured on the return from her Maiden Voyage, when she was accidentaly struck by the H.M.S. Hawke, a vessel built to sink enemy warships by ramming them with her concrete bow. Because the 45,000 ton Olympic didn't sink, she and the still under construction 45,000 ton Titanic were considered unsinkable.

Why did the Titanic sink? It is most commonly believed she struck an iceberg, which I, also, believe. But some others say different. One old movie and several people say she was torpedoed, while others believe it might have been fate. "I mean, isn't it pretty coincidential that a man writes a book... (called Futility) ...about a vessel called the Titan, which also strikes an iceberg and sinks, on her Maiden Voyage, bringing with her more than half of her passengers and crew? That's no coincidence, man, I'm tellin' ya, it's definitely fate!!!" one person told me.What do you believe? It's up to you to believe what you want to believe.

The Titanic was also a challenge to build. The builders at Harland & Wolff, of Belfast, Ireland, had troubles with the vessels, Olympic and Titanic, even before they were built; For example, the first problem they faced were the massive, towering gantrys. How should they be built? What should they look like? That problem was solved by Thomas Arrol & Co. of Glasgow, Scotland. He sent them a design they liked and the gantrys were built. Then construction began, first on Olympic, then on Titanic. It many months and years to build such massive vessels. Some people thought it bad, such massive vessels being built. Personally, I think of it as the space shuttle of their time, having new technologies and hard work. At one time, reports of a mysterious banging noise from one of the bulkheads were made, a man must have been trapped in the bulkhead sometime during construction. This was considered a bad omen by many people. That is one thing that could help the fatalists uphold their beliefs!

After everything, the Titanic, the largest, most luxurious vessel of her time, was ready for her Maiden Voyage. As passengers got on board, the crew was loading her with cargo, including a couple's beautiful, brand-new car. The Titanic was built to be the safest vessel in her time, and to complete thousands of Atlantic crossings. This was to be an especially special voyage because the chairman of the White Star Line, Mr. Isidor Straus, was also coming along on the voyage. The owner of the department store Macy's was also on board, as well as many others. This was to be the voyage of a lifetime, and though it ended tragically for most, it still made the history books.

Now, the Titanic is in her final resting place. The way she looks is ghastly compared to her past glory. She lies in two pieces, bow and stern. Behind the bow, a massive debris field sprouts. Within the debris field are many things. Boots where bodies once lay. Wine bottles, broken or with the cork stuck inside. Bench pieces. Dishes are very common in some places. Boilers, safes, hull pieces, washbasins (sinks), leather suitcases, leather bags, but most of all, there are tons of coal, spilled when the vessel was pulled apart and while she sank to the bottom. It is a grim reminder of the past. It is unfortunate she could not finish at least one voyage across the Atlantic.

Someday, this site and many others wil be all that will be left of the Titanic's legacy. The movies will be forgotton and nobody will go to see her wreckage because what will be left will be a massive silt deposit 2.5 miles beneath the ocean's surface, and maybe some debris. Let's hope we can learn as much as possible about her before she is forever gone...