CONTENTS

1. Construction............................................................4

2. White Star Line.......................................................9

3. The Big Bertha.........................................................13

4. The Journey Begins................................................16

5. Iceberg Right Ahead!.............................................16

6. Lifeboat Shortage And Overconfidence...........18

7. SOS! Come To Our Assistance Immediately!...23

8. The Great Rescue....................................................28

9. The Aftermath.........................................................30

10. Why The Open Door?..........................................37

11. Why Did So Many People Die?..........................38

12. Why Did the Titanic Sink Despite Being Called

"Unsinkable"?...................................................................40

13. Did a fire on the ship contribute to the sinking?.42

14. Why did the lifeboats not hold enough people for everyone on board? ..........................................................44

15. Why did many third-class passengers not make it to the lifeboats?......................................................................46

16. What happened to Captain Smith?........................48

17. Why did the lifeboats not return to pick up more survivors from the water?..............................................51

18. A Haunting Tale...........................................................53

19. Glossary ......................................................................54

Chapter 1: Construction

    Construction on the R.M.S. Titanic began on March 31, 1909. It involved approximately 15,000 workers. Building the Titanic was hard, dangerous work. The workers all had different jobs. The jobs to build the Titanic were shipbuilders, engineers, riveters, planners, overseers, and laborers. They worked hard to make sure that the ship was ready for May 31st, 1911 (the launch date of Titanic). 

A group of men next to Titanic's propellers.

Unsinkable?

    Many people believed that the Titanic was Unsinkable due to its watertight compartment system. The Titanic had a double hull. The hull was divided into 16 watertight compartments that were separated with bulkheads. If water reached a certain height, the bulkheads would close, dividing the hull in the 16 watertight compartments. Although, the walls of these compartments did not reach the top of the hull. So when the ship struck the iceberg, the water simply flowed over the top of the compartments like a waterfall, which ended up sinking the ship. So no, the Titanic was not unsinkable.

Titanic's watertight compartments.

The Titanic with her sister ship the Olympic at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Chapter 2:  White Star Line

    The White Star Line was the company that owned the Titanic. The White Star Line was founded in 1845, 

originally owned by Thomas Ismay. But then in 1899, the owner of White Star Line was J. Bruce Ismay because Thomas Ismay sadly passed away. The White Star Line was in a race with the Cunard Line, along with a couple other shipping companies. But the White Star and Cunard were the most popular at the time. The White Star Line was focused on luxury and size. But the Cunard Line was focused on speed and luxury. At the time there was the R.M.S. Olympic, also owned by 

The White Star Line logo in 1912.

White Star Line, was the biggest ship in the world.

The Trio

    The White Star Line decided to make three huge ships that were breathtaking. These ships would be called the R.M.S. Titanic, R.M.S. Olympic, and the R.M.S. Gigantic, (Due to the sinking of Titanic and WWl, she would later be renamed to H.M.H.S Britannic.) These three ships were supposed to be the biggest and most luxurious ships the world has ever seen. And they were.

The Titanic with her sister ships, the Olympic and Britannic.

Chapter 3: The Big Bertha

    The Titanic, Olympic, & The Britannic were built at the Belfast Harland And Wolff Shipyard owned by William James Pirrie. 

Who Constructed The Titanic

    The Titanic was designed by Thomas Andrews, who sadly went down with the Titanic. The Titanic was supposed to be "Unsinkable" Although, we have learned that it was indeed not unsinkable because it sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 14th-15th, 11:40 PM - 2:20 AM.

   The Building

     The Titanic took approximately 15,000 workers to build Titanic. Sadly, 246 people suffered an injury, 28 severe and sadly, 8 workers died during the construction. The original plan included tall bulkheads, 64 lifeboats were supposed to be included, but only 20 lifeboats were loaded, 16 wooden lifeboats, and 4 collapsible boats. But, all these plans were changed by J. Bruce Ismay. He said that the Titanic was unsinkable, so that resulted in him cutting the number of lifeboats, and lowering the height of the bulkheads.

J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line.

Chapter 4:  The Journey Begins

    On April 10th, 1912, the Titanic departed, traveling from Southampton England, to Cherbourg, France, then to Queenstown (Now Cobh), Ireland, and then to New York City, USA.

    The first 2 ports were a success. But tragically, the Titanic never made it to New York City. 

    Now, everyone was comfortable in their cabins, nobody knows what is ahead of them... The night of April 14th, 1912, the night of the "Unsinkable" ship sinks.

The Titanic at Southampton, England.

        The Titanic picked up approximately 274 passengers in Cherbourg, 123 passengers in Queenstown, before heading to New York City. But, as we all know, the Titanic never made it.

Chapter 5: Iceberg Right Ahead!

    At 11:40 PM, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg, and he called the bridge and 6th officer James Moody answered the phone and Fleet said, "Hello?! Is anyone there?!" Asked Frederick Fleet.

    "Yes. What do you see?" Said James Moody

    "Iceberg Right Ahead!" Said Fleet

    "Okay. Thanks." Said James Moody.

    "Hard A' Starboard!" Said James Moody.

    Hard A' Starboard means to put the helm to the starboard side. Sadly, at around 11:40, the Titanic struck the iceberg, breaching the hull.

An illustration of the Titanic's boiler rooms flooding.

Chapter 6:  Lifeboat Shortage And Overconfidence

     After Titanic struck the iceberg, it immediately woke up Captain Edward John Smith, and went to the bridge. Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer, quickly rushed down to the lower decks with Captain Edward John Smith, and knew that the Titanic, the "Unsinkable" ship will sink, in less than 1 hour, or maybe 2 if the Titanic is lucky.

    While they were handling that business, on the upper decks, crew quickly banged on cabins, and told them to put on life jackets and hurry to the upper decks. No one believed that the Titanic will sink, but they were dead

One of Titanic's lifeboats.

wrong. No one wanted to go up to the upper decks, but they did anyway. Everyone believed that the "Unsinkable" ship will not sink because of its watertight compartment system. 

    Captain Smith immediately ordered to ready the lifeboats and launch them. 1st officer William Murdoch followed the rule of the sea. "Women and children first!" Commanded Murdoch. 

    No one wanted to get in the lifeboats. They said they are safer on the biggest, most "Unsinkable" ship in the world, then on the tiny wooden lifeboats being lowered into the dark water.  

    Sadly, the people onboard Titanic were not right. The 

lifeboats were safer than the sinking Titanic.

    By the time you could feel the ship slanting more and more by the minute, all the lifeboats were gone. 

     The crew had never had a lifeboat drill. The crew didn't know if the davits could hold more people in the lifeboats, so they were launched half full. Which was not good because there was already a lifeboat shortage, with 1,500 people still trapped on the sinking ship. 

The Titanic sinking in James Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic.

Chapter 7: SOS! Come To Our Assistance Immediately!

        "SOS! We have struck berg! Sinking fast! Come to our assistance immediately!" said Jack Phillips.

    CQD! Struck berg! Sinking fast! Come to our assistance immediately!" said Jack Phillips again.

    The Titanic is sinking, bow first, while the stern is rising in the air. The engineers down below were keeping the lights on until the very end. The captain, Edward John Smith, sadly went down with his ship. His last words were, "Be British." 

    Then in the wireless operating room, wireless operators, Harold Bride & Jack Phillips, were busy sending distress signals to other ships. 

    One ship was 10 miles away and some said they could see the lights of a ship nearby. It was the Californian, which had turned off its Marconi system for the night. The ship could have saved everyone on board, but it didn't know that the Titanic was in trouble. 

    Then at around 2:18 AM, the Titanic's lights went out, shortly after, the ship split in half. The bow sunk down to the bottom of the North Atlantic ocean. 

The Titanic splitting in half.

    While the was stern still above the water, it stood still for a couple moments, and then it went vertical because part of the double hull never broke apart, causing the stern to follow the bow tumbling straight down. The stern, now vertical, stood still for a couple of moments, then started slipping beneath the waves. Now, the Titanic, once the largest, most luxurious ship, the "Unsinkable" one, has now sunk about 2 miles down the ocean.

Really Charles!

2nd officer Charles Lightoller ordered the port side d-deck gangway door to be opened! He believed that 

people could load onto lifeboats from that level. This did not help. In fact, it made Titanic sink even faster than it was before, letting in water to the first-class reception area. Although, this idea did not work. "Thanks a lot" Lightoller.

The D-Deck gangway door open during the sinking.

Chapter 8:  The Great Rescue

    You know how I said that Jack Phillips & Harold Bride were busy sending out distress signals, well one ship, the Carpathia, heard the distress signals, and captain Arthur Rostron, raced at max speed to the last reported location of the Titanic. At around 4:00 AM, the Carpathia reached the site of the Titanic. The survivors were rescued!

    The Carpathia took 13 lifeboats from the Titanic, leaving 7 lifeboats behind. The location of the lifeboats now, are unknown. They most likely dissolved from the sea and sank to the ocean floor.

The Carpathia rescuing survivors.

Chapter 9:  The Aftermath

    No one expected the Titanic to sink, but it did, on the night of April 14th-15th, 1912. When the Carpathia released the information, the world was shocked. They could not believe that once the biggest, most luxurious, and "Unsinkable" ship had sunk on its maiden voyage. After the news spread, inquiries were launched, and questions were asked, and many books, articles, magazines, and rules were changed. All ships had to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers, lifeboat drills every so often, and an international ice patrol was launched.

A little boy selling newspapers about the tragic sinking of the Titanic.

Chapter 10: Why The Open Door?    

    The D-Deck gangway door was open during the sinking! Why? 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller thought that it would be smart to open the gangway door. He thought that people could board lifeboats from that deck. But the water line was up to the door already, so when a group of seamen opened it, water just started pouring into the sinking Titanic. This actually made the ship sink faster! So, Charles Lightoller basically contributed to the Titanic's demise like he was doing charity work. Bro, it isn't a good decision to OPEN A GANGWAY DOOR WHEN THE SHIP IS SINKING! BRUUU!