PREPARE FOR THE UNPREDICTED

TITANIC

The world's interest in the fascinating history of Titanic has endured for almost 100 years. April 15, 2010 will mark the 98th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic ship .

April 15, 1912, The Sinking of the Titanic - When the Titanic embarked on her maiden voyage the world was filled with hope and awe. In just a few short days those emotions turned to horror and grief.
In 1912 the sinking of the Titanic began late on the night of April 14th. Information on the sinking Titanic indicates that the ship approached a massive iceberg, and although efforts were made to steer clear of the large frozen mass, all efforts were to no avail. Sadly, further records of the Titanic accident history indicate that the Titanic disaster may very well have been able to have been completely avoided had officers on ship paid heed to reports received earlier regarding the frozen waters they were approaching.
Neighboring ships in the area had reported earlier in the evening that the waters ahead contained numerous masses of solid ice and that approaching ships should proceed with caution. The Titanic, however, thought to be unsinkable, plowed full speed ahead. This proved to be a fatal mistake and is certainly one of the factors that led to the disaster.

There were 2228 people on board of the Titanic, 337 in first class, 285 second class, 721 in third class and 885 crew members. The ship was equipped with only 20 lifeboats, so that precious deck space for the first class passengers would not be taken up by bulky lifeboats.

The infamous ship set sail on April 10, 1912 under the command of Captain John Smith.

Molly Brown includes the famous passenger on titanic for being the only woman to have rowed a lifeboat to safety.

One of the most touching stories regarding the passengers on the Titanic is the tale of an elderly wealthy couple, the Straus'. When it became apparent that no male passengers on the Titanic could be allowed to board the limited lifeboats, Mrs. Straus chose to stay by the side of her husband; even though it meant certain death. The couple perished with the ship.
Of the 2,228 passengers and crew members who set sail, only 705 Titanic passengers survived.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS :

•The ship was loaded with only enough lifeboats to hold half of the Titanic passengers. There were 20 of them with a total capacity of 1178 people.

•Some of the limited lifeboats were lowered to the waters only half-full.

•Further facts on the Titanic indicate that the ship received information earlier regarding the presence of ice floes in the vicinity, yet continued to speed full throttle ahead towards tragedy.

•Among the property reported as lost on the Titanic were over 3000 bags of mail and an automobile.

•Each first class passenger paid a whopping $4,350 for a parlor suite ticket and $150 for a berth ticket.

•The ship contained a heated swimming pool, a first for any sailing vessel.

•The ship was still so brand new when passengers boarded it on April 10, 1912 that the paint was still wet in some spots.

•Every stateroom contained electric lighting and heat.

•Of the 1517 people of perished in the sinking of the Titanic, only 306 bodies were recovered.

•The largest percentage of survivors came from first class passengers.

•Even though directions have been given for women and children to board the lifeboats first, a number of men were reported as survivors while a surprisingly large number of women and children perished in the disaster. Most of the women and children lost in the sinking came from second and third class.

•Sadly, Captain Smith had made plans to retire after seeing the Titanic safely across the Atlantic on her maiden voyage.

•It cost $7,500,000 to build the Titanic.

•It took three years to fully construct the ship.

•Among the provisions when the Titanic set sail in Southampton, England were 40,000 eggs, 75,000 pounds of fresh meat and 1,000 bottles of wine.

•The Titanic's total capacity was 3547 passengers + crew.

•The Titanic's weight fully loaded was 46,328 tons.

•The Titanic was 882 feet/268 meters long.

•There were 29 boilers on board of the ship.

•The ship consumed 825 tons of coal in one day.

•The top speed of the Titanic was 23 knots

It took 3 years for building of the Titanic to be completed and in the end it cost $7.5 million dollars for the ship to be finished . The White Star Line published numerous marketing materials claiming that the ship was 'designed to be unsinkable.'  Titanic construction included sixteen compartments that were reported to be watertight. Builders of the Titanic had included steel doors that were supposed to have been capable of being shut in 25 seconds or less; thereby enclosing any water that might have seeped in to threaten the safety of the ship and her occupants.

Numerous other vessels had reported the presence of several ice floes in the area on the day the ship sank, yet the Titanic made no effort to slow down her speed.

When it became obvious that the ship was about to collide with a huge iceberg crew members attempted to turn the ship, hoping to avoid the berg all together.
There were also hundreds of second and third class passengers who also perished with the ship. These poor souls were at an unfortunate advantage due to the fact that ship did not carry enough lifeboats for all the people in the Titanic as it was BELIEVED to be UNSINKABLE !