On April 15, 1912, the world was shocked by one of the most famous tragedies in history. The RMS Titanic, known as the largest and most luxurious ship of its time, sank in the icy North Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, its first journey was its last.
The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on April 10, heading for New York City. Measuring 883 feet long and featuring 16 compartments, it was designed to be watertight.
The engineering of the RMS Titanic was highly advanced for its time. Titanic used a combination of two reciprocating steam engines and a low-pressure Parsons turbine for the central propeller. The hull was divided into 16 watertight compartments with doors that could be closed instantly from the bridge for safety.
The first four compartments were designed smaller than the others, allowing them to take on water without sinking the ship. The ship was built using massive gantries that, at the time, were the largest in the world, managed by Harland & Wolff in Belfast.
On board were 2,200 people, including some of the wealthiest famous heirs of the time. The voyage went smoothly until just before midnight on April 14. Despite receiving several warnings about ice in the area, the ship struck an iceberg about 400 miles south of Newfoundland.
The impact ruptured five of the watertight compartments, and as the bow filled with water, it pulled the ship down, eventually lifting the stern high into the air. At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, the Titanic broke in half and disappeared beneath the waves.
Image Credit: Library of Congress
During its final hours, the ship’s wireless telegraph became its only lifeline. Operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride worked nonstop to send out distress signals, using the SOS call. They reached a ship called the Carpathia, but it was over three hours away. Another ship, the Californian, was much closer but had turned off its radio for the night and never heard the calls for help.
Because there weren’t enough lifeboats for everyone, more than 1,500 people died. Most of the survivors were women and children. When the Carpathia finally arrived an hour after the sinking, it could only pull survivors from the lifeboats and a few people from the freezing water.
In 1913, after the tragedy, new rules were created through the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea. From then on, every ship was required to have enough lifeboats for every person on board, hold regular lifeboat drills, and keep a 24-hour radio watch so that no distress signal would go unheard.
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