Titanic: Background
On March 31st, 1909 in Belfast, Ireland the construction of the largest boat to sail the ocean was being created. Captain John Edwards Smith lead the voyage from Britain to New York. The Titanic was financed by J. P. Morgan and the International Mercantile Marine Co. The gargantuan and luxurious boat held a whopping 2,227 people. Several celebrities such as millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and Benjamin Guggenheim, and cricket player John Borland Thayer rode the Titanic. Many people thought The Titanic was a "luxary liner" but it was more of an emigrant boat designed for many people in the Euorpe port as well as Britain. The boat’s lower section consisted of sixteen watertight compartments with steel doors. the boat weighed 46,000 tons, was 25 stories high and 900 feet long! A boat company named White Star Line built this remarkable ship. The Harland & Wolff company deliberately constructed the Titanic to be the largest boat to sail the ocean. The Royal Mail Steamer Titanic cost 7.5 million dollars and 3,000 men to build. Creating the ship took three years. After assembling the ship, nobody could ever imagine such a fine boat being sinkable until April 14,1912 when the Titanic was sailing along the North Atlantic Ocean and collided with an iceberg. 1,503 passengers miserably died while only 705 survived the devastating event.
Captain John Edwards Smith was the leading man in charge with the Titanic, along with the Republic, the Coptic, Majestic, Baltic, Adriatic and Olympic. Smith died as the Titanic sank in the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean on April 15th, 1912.
Time:1. April 14th, 1912-11:40 PM
2. April 15th, 1912-12:00 AM 3. April 15th, 1912-12:05 AM 4. April 15th, 1912-12:25 AM 5. April 15th, 1912-12:25 AM 6. April 15th, 1912-12:45 AM 7. April 15th, 1912-2:05 AM 8. April 15th, 1912-2:17 AM 9. April 15th, 1912-2:20 AM 10. April 15th, 1912-4:10 AM | Event:1. The "unsinkable" Titanic hits the iceberg in the bow on the right side.
2. Captain Smith is given orders that the ship will only stay afloat for a few more hours and that he must send out radio messages asking for help. 3. The Crew is told to lower the lifeboats, which can only hold half of the passengers. 4. Lifeboats are being loaded, women and children sailing in first class are put on the boat first. 5. 58 miles away the Carpathia gets distress calls and starts sailing towards the Titanic. 6. First lifeboat is lowered into the water with 28 people aboard, even though the lifeboats have the capacity for 65 people. 7. 1,500 hopeless people were left behind as all the lifeboats sailed away, the Titanic was lowering more and more into the frozen Atlantic Ocean. 8. Captain Smith sent out the final radio meaasage and said "Every man for himslef". 9. The RMS Titanic completely sinks. Many people slowly freeze to death while waiting for help to arrive. 10. The Carpathia saves the first lifeboat full of survivors. |