RMS Titanic

RMS Titanic (also SS Titanic) was the second of a trio of superliners intended to dominate the transatlantic travel business.{{ref|trio_ref}} Owned by the White Star Line and built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, the Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time of its launching. During Titanic's maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM (ship's time) on Sunday evening April 14, 1912, and sank two hours and forty minutes later at 2:20 AM Monday morning.

Aftermath and consequences

As news of the disaster spread, many people were shocked that the Titanic could sink with such great loss of life despite all of its technological advances. Newspapers were filled with stories and descriptions of the disaster and were eager to get the latest information. Many charities were set up to help the victims and their families, many of whom lost their sole breadwinner, or, in the case of third class survivors, lost everything they owned.

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The people of Southampton were deeply affected by the sinking. According to the Hampshire Chronicle on April 20 1912, almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almost every street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than one resident and over 500 households lost a member.

Related Topics:
April 20 - 1912

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Before the survivors even arrived in New York, investigations were being planned to discover what had happened to Titanic, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. The United States Senate initiated an inquiry into the Titanic disaster on April 19, a day after the Carpathia arrived in New York with the survivors. The chairman of the inquiry, Senator William Alden Smith, wanted to gather accounts from passengers and crew while the events were still fresh in their minds. Smith also needed to subpoena the British citizens while they were still on American soil. The American inquiry lasted until May 25. Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster. The British inquiry took place between May 2 and July 3. Each inquiry took testimony from both passengers and crew of Titanic, members of Californian's crew, and other experts.

Related Topics:
United States Senate - April 19 - Senator William Alden Smith - Subpoena - May 25 - British Board of Trade's - May 2 - July 3

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The investigations found that many safety rules were out of date and as a result numerous safety measures were enacted. Both inquiries into the disaster found the Californian and its captain failed to give proper assistance to the Titanic. The inquiries found that the Californian was closer to the Titanic than the 19½ miles (31 km) that Captain Lord had figured and that Lord should have awakened the wireless operator after the rockets were first reported to him. As a result of Californian's off duty wireless officer, 29 nations ratified the Radio Act of 1912, which streamlined radio communications, especially in the event of emergencies.

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The disaster also led to the convening of the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea in London, England, on November 12, 1913. On January 20, 1915, a treaty was signed by the conference and resulted in the formation and international funding of the International Ice Patrol, an agency of the United States Coast Guard that to the present day monitors and reports on the location of North Atlantic Ocean icebergs that could pose a threat to transatlantic sea lane traffic. It was also agreed in the new regulations that all passenger vessels would have sufficient lifeboats for everyone on board, that appropriate safety drills would be conducted, and that radio communications would be operated 24 hours a day along with a secondary power supply, so as not to miss distress calls. In addition, it was agreed that the firing of red rockets from a ship must be interpreted as a distress signal.

Related Topics:
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea - London - England - November 12 - 1913 - January 20 - 1915 - International Ice Patrol - United States Coast Guard - North Atlantic Ocean

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The sinking of the Titanic also changed the way passenger ships were designed, and caused many existing ships, like the RMS Olympic, to be refitted for increased safety. Besides increasing the number of lifeboats on board, improvements included extending the height of the watertight bulkheads. The bulkheads on the Titanic extended 10 feet (3 m) above the waterline, and after Titanic sank the bulkheads on other ships were extended higher to prevent the water from spilling into other watertight compartments as it did on Titanic. In addition, the Titanic had a double?plated bottom, but the rest of ship's hull was not reinforced. Some older steamships had double hulls, which could prevent water from flowing into a ship after being damaged, but many modern ships at the time had just a single hull which saved costs and space. After the Titanic sank, many existing ships' double bottoms were extended up the sides of the hull to a point above the waterline, and newer ships were designed with double hulls.

Related Topics:
Waterline - Double?plated bottom - Double hull

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