The sinking of the RMS Titanic caused the
deaths of 1,517 of its 2,229 passengers and crew (official numbers vary
slightly) in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in
history. The 712 survivors were taken aboard the RMS Carpathia. Few
disasters have had such resonance and far-reaching effects on the fabric
of society as the sinking of the Titanic. It affected attitudes toward
social injustice, altered the way the North Atlantic passenger trade was
conducted, changed the regulations for numbers of lifeboats carried
aboard passenger vessels and created an International Ice Patrol (where
commercial ships crossing the North Atlantic still, today, radio in
their positions and ice sightings). The 1985 discovery of the Titanic
wreck on the ocean floor marked a turning point for public awareness of
the ocean and for the development of new areas of science and
technology. April 15, 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the
Titanic disaster. It has become one of the most famous ships in history,
her memory kept alive by numerous books, films, exhibits and memorials.
-- Paula Nelson.
The British passenger liner RMS Titanic
leaves from Southampton, England on her maiden voyage, April 10, 1912.
Titanic called at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland before
heading westward toward New York. Four days into the crossing, she hit
an iceberg at 11:40 p.m., 375 miles south of Newfoundland. Just before
2:20 am Titanic broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people
still on board. Those in the water died within minutes from hypothermia
caused by immersion in the freezing ocean.(Frank O. Braynard Collection)
A 1912 photograph of a dining room on the Titanic. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. (The New York Times Photo Archives/American Press Association)
Captain Edward John Smith, commander of the
Titanic. The ship he commanded was the largest afloat at the time of
her maiden voyage. Titanic was a massive ship - 883 feet long, 92 feet
wide, and weighing 52,310 long tons (a long ton is 2240 pounds). It was
175 feet tall from the keel to the top of the four stacks or funnels,
almost 35 feet of which was below the waterline. The Titanic was taller
above the water than most urban buildings of the time. (The New York
Times Archives)
This is believed to be the iceberg that sank the
Titanic on April 14-15, 1912. The photograph was taken from the deck of
the Western Union Cable Ship, Mackay Bennett, commanded by Captain
DeCarteret. The Mackay Bennett was one of the first ships to reach the
scene of the Titanic disaster. According to Captain DeCarteret, this was
the only berg at the scene of the sinking when he arrived. It was
assumed, therefore, that it was responsible for the sea tragedy. The
glancing collision with the iceberg caused Titanic's hull plates to
buckle inward in a number of locations on her starboard side and opened
five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea. Over the next
two and a half hours, the ship gradually filled with water and sank.
(United States Coast Guard)
A photograph released by Henry Aldridge &
Son/Ho Auction House in Wiltshire, Britain, 18 April 2008, shows an
extremely rare Titanic passenger ticket. They were the auctioneers
handling the complete collection of the last American Titanic Survivor
Miss Lillian Asplund. The collection was comprised of a number of
significant items including a pocket watch, one of only a handful of
remaining tickets for the Titanic's maiden voyage and the only example
of a forward emigration order for the Titanic thought to exist. Lillian
Asplund was a very private person and because of the terrible events she
witnessed that cold April night in 1912 rarely spoke about the tragedy
which claimed the lives of her father and three brothers. (Henry
Aldridge & Son/Ho)
R.M.S. Titanic's bow in 1999. (P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology)
This Sept. 12, 2008 image shows one of the propellers of the RMS Titanic on the ocean floor during an expedition to the site of the tragedy. Five Thousand artifacts are scheduled to be auctioned as a single collection on April 11, 2012, 100 years after the sinking of the ship. (RMS Titanic, Inc., via Associated Press)
Source and more at: boston.com
