Titanic: Knowledge of a Teenage Girl

It was a brand new ship; perfect in, what seemed to be, every way. It carried the rich and the poor . She was touted “unsinkable”, due to her design. Titanic was a wonderful ship. God himself couldn’t sink that ship. Wrong!! Ironically, her doom lay ahead and her fate was sealed when she hit an iceberg. The stories live on, and they caught my attention at the age of eight. Why, might you ask yourself, did this happen? It is a disturbing concept that still fascinates even the youngest of minds.

The largest object, at the time, ever to be made by the hand of man, Titanic was truly a sight. She was 882.5 feet long,and weighed over 46,000 tons! Just one of her anchors weighed 60 tons! Each of her three massive engines was four stories high. Titanic towered over Belfast, Ireland, the place where she was built. She was the best example of turn-of-the-century elegance.In first class, passengers enjoyed accommodations such as electric elevators, barber shops, fine restaurants, and a heated pool. All first class passengers had elegant rooms, but the most exquisite were two rooms on B deck. They were called the Millionaire Suites. Each were 50 feet long, and had a large parlor, two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a private promenade deck. Among those in first class were Thomas Andrews, chief designer of Titanic, Bruce Ismay, President of the White Star Line[ the company that built Titanic ], Mr. and Mrs. Stause, the elderly owners of Macey’s Department store, Molly Brown, a women who’s husband had hit gold somewhere, and John Jacob Astor IV, and his 19- year-old , pregnant wife, Madeline. Second class was on decks C,D, and E. All rooms had two marble sinks, electric heater and a porthole. Eva Hart and her mother and father were transferred to Titanic from another ship , where they could have been first class.Third class was located below the fore and aft decks, and far in the bow and stern. They had the same accommodation as second class only the rooms were smaller. There were two bunks in each room.

On April 10th, 1912, Titanic set sail from Southampton, England. Millions gathered to watch her leave not knowing that they would never see it again. As Titanic was pulling away, she already started causing problems. The ropes holding the New York, a ship docked near Titanic, broke, and Titanic began pulling her in. Captain Smith, 62, took action quickly, stopping Titanic just in time to miss New York. It was a close call and deja vu. Earlier, Captain Smith had severely crippled Titanic’s sister ship, Olympic, in a identical accident. Many people became skeptical to the idea that Captain Smith was the best for the job. For four days Titanic’s trip ran smoothly, but on the fourth day they started getting numerous ice warnings. Titanic kept her dangerously fast speed despite the warnings of ice. One of the last warnings was sent by the California, informing Titanic of an ice field right in her path. Titanic responded by saying:
“Shut up, shut up! I’m busy!”
By now in was getting dark. The watchmen headed up to the crows nest without the aid of binoculars. Through some moving around of things, they had been misplaced. Slightly before 11:40 p.m., the watchmen noticed a shadow lurking in the water. It soon came into focus. The watchmen rang the bell three times and then called the bridge.
“Hello, Bridge. What is it?”
“Iceberg, right ahead!!”
The bridge took action immediately, using the order “Hard to Starboard”. It seemed the world stood still. Everyone watched, anticipation growing, but Titanic was slow to turn. The iceberg ran along the starboard side of the ship, making a loud scratching sound as it went.Chunks of ice slid on the decks. Thomas Andrews was called to survey the damage and give any estimates needed. When he returned he broke the news:
“ There is damage from the bow to boiler room # five , they are already starting to flood. That’s five compartments. She’s designed to stay afloat with four compartment filled, but not five.”
“But this ship can’t sink!” exclaimed Ismay.
“She’s made of iron, sir, I assure you she can, and she will,” said Mr. Andrews.
“How long do we have?” asked the captain.
Mr. Andrews quickly calculated, then grimly said, “I give her an hour, maybe two.”
That conversation told of the unthinkable truth. Titanic was going to sink. S.O.S messages were sent to nearby ships, and the closest one to respond, Carpathia, was four hours away. They had to load the lifeboats, in which there were only enough for half the people on the ship. Crew were sent down to inform the passengers. In first class there was a kind knocking, and a pleasant conversation. In second class there was a rapping on the doors, and a kind command. In third class there was a banging on the door and a straight forward command. Very few passengers, and even crew, were told that the ship was actually sinking. Many people refused to board the lifeboats, even when the ship was obviously slanting.They protested that Titanic was unsinkable. Lifeboats were beginning launched with only 20 or 30 or even 12 people, instead of the 65 it was capable of. All 20 lifeboats were launched, most half full. From the lifeboats there was a horrible sight. Titanic rose out of the water with it’s stern aloft, as if pointing to the sky, yet the the lights were still on. Now, with the ship at about a 45 degree angle, the lights went out. Although this was a shock, nothing could have prepared anyone for what happened next. There was a loud cracking sound and Titanic split in two, only held together by a small piece of the keel! The bow sank and pulled the stern straight in the air. The stern bobbed in the water for a minute or two. Even then, people were shouting,”See, it stopped. I told you it couldn’t sink”, but they spoke too soon. At 2:20, the remanning part of the ship sank as well.
And then it was gone. Titanic was gone forever.

When Titanic sunk, it left more than 1,500 people in the 28-degree water, and 700 in the lifeboats. In 28-degree water, hypothermia kicks in in 30 seconds. After that, you have less than five minutes to live. Lifeboats refused to go back. Finally, one boat out of 20 went back. It returned with six people, the only ones alive out there. Six out of 1,500 !!! Later, on the Carpathia, one of the six would die of prolonged exposer to the icy conditions. One of the six was the ships baker, who made no attempted to get on a lifeboat. He drank a whole bottle of whisky, climbed on the poop railing, and when the ship went down, he just stepped off; his head didn’t even get wet. The alcohol kept him alive until a lifeboat could pull him in. Obviously, he had a major, yet well worth it, hang-over. Carpathia reached the lifeboats around dawn and began pulling in survivors. Among those in the lifeboats were Molly Brown, Madeline Astor, Eva Hart and her mother, and Bruce Ismay. Among the dead were John Jocab Astor, Mr. and Mrs. Straus, Thomas Andrews, and Captain Smith. Thomas Andrews was last seen in a sort-of trance in the ships lounge, staring at the clock. Captain Smith disappeared and his body was never recovered.

For a long time, we thought the iceberg ripped a 300-foot gash along the side. That was found to be wrong. The iceberg left tiny holes. and tiny gashes, much like the Morse code, along the side. The damage equaled the total area of an average-sized human. Another idea was that if the water tight doors were left open, Titanic would have stayed afloat longer. In a test, there was a scale sized model of Titanic made, it was sunk the way she did on April 15, 1912. She sunk right on cue. Then she was sunk with the water tight doors open, keeping track of the loading of the lifeboats, progress of Carpathia, and the sinking of Titanic. At one point, Titanic tipped over enough so that the last six lifeboats couldn’t be launched. Then it toppled over completely, sinking a half an hour sooner then it really did. To decrease the death toll, they could have over-loaded the lifeboats. The lifeboats had a capacity of 60-65, yet the were tested with over 70 men in the most roughest of seas.That water was dead calm. If the would have loaded 70 or 80 people to a boat they would have gotten almost everyone of the ship.

The story of Titanic is one that’s pure fact will send shivers done your spine, but there was also many haunting instances that some say predicted the Titanic’s fatal demise. In the year 1898, a book was released called Futility, written by Morgan Robertson. It is about a gigantic, supposedly unsinkable British ocean liner named the Titan. On it’s maiden voyage it strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic on it’s way to New York and sinks. Sound familiar? Coincidentally, both the Titanic and the Titan sailed in April, had about the same number of lifeboats and passengers, and sank in around the same spot. Robertson even correctly predicted which side of the ship the iceberg would strike. What is even more disturbing is that of a dying orphan girl named Jessie. At 11:00 p.m. on April 14, 1912, Salvation Army caption W. Rex Sowden was sitting at her bedside as she predicted that tragedy that would unfold in a few short hours. “Can’t you see that big ship sinking in the water?” she said. W. Rex Sowden tried to calm her by telling her it was just a dream, but she persisted. “Look at all those people who are drowning!” With that she fell into a coma and died shortly thereafter.

Titanic sure made headlines, the movie that is. Hollywood's new release starring some of todays hottest stars made 1 billion worldwide. That movie is pure truth. Well, at least everything that doesn’t have to do with Jack and Rose. It is well done, and has only a few mess-ups.One is when Jack is talking about ice fishing on Lake Wissota. That is a man-made lake that wasn’t made until 1917, and Titanic sank in 1912.Another is when Jack is drawing Rose. The hand you see doing the Drawing is the left hand, but both Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack are right handed. The last one I am aware of is a scene where if you look over a persons shoulder, out a porthole, you see desert instead of ocean. In the home video release, all mess-ups I have mentioned, with the exception of the historical line mistake, have been fixed.

Titanic is truly a legend in her own time. In 10 or 15 years, Titanic may be gone, due to some activity that is slowly decomposing it. If we can find a way to preserve it than it will be here for years to come, but if we can’t, well, we will have to make do with what we have. Titanic is a story with many stories in it. It will be enjoyed for generations to come. We still have questions, and Titanic still has answers as she lays in her ghost-like appearance at the bottom of the ocean.

A List of those lost and saved on the Titantic
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