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{{Ship
| name=R.M.S. ''Titanic''
| image=Rms2.jpg
| flag=[[Image:Government Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|22pxx20px]] flag-caption=Merchant Navy (UK - RNR)
| port=[[Liverpool]], [[England]]
| owner=White Star Line
| built=Harland & Wolff, Shipyard<br/>[[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]]| authorized=July 31, 1908| keellaid=March 22, 1909| launched=1912May 31, 1911
| retired=
| status=Sunkafter iceberg collision<br>April 1415, 1912| type=LinerOcean liner<br/>''Olympic''-class
| displ=66,000 (max)
| length=882.75 ft.| beam=92.5 ft.| draft=34 ft. 7 in.
| speed=cruising:21 knots <br>max:23.75 knots
| test=
| pass=1,317 (maiden voyage)<br>First-class: 324<br>Second-class: 285<br>Third-class: 708
|}
}}'''[[R.M.S. ]] ''Titanic''''' was a luxury passenger liner which sank after striking an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, while on its maiden voyage from [[Southampton]], [[England]], to [[New York City]], dieing resulting in the deaths of 1,517 from passengers and crew. The men allowed women and children to go first in filling the lifeboats. This disaster has been the subject of films, plays, literature, and scientific scrutiny.
==Description==
''Titanic'' was built to sail the highly-competitive North [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] route by White Star Line. Its chief competitor was Cunard, whose vessels recently garnered attention for their speed and luxury. Designed and built by the Belfast firm Harland and Wolff, ''Titanic'' was at the time of her launch and outfitting the largest ship afloat: its gross tonnage was 46,329 tons, and displaced 66,000 tons fully-laden; it was 882.5 feet long and 92.5 feet across the beam. For safety it was built with a double-bottom hull, which was further divided into sixteen watertight compartments, which would not affect the ship's stability if four were flooded.
==Flag==
[[British]] merchant vessels normally fly the Red Ensign. However, as the captain and at least 12 crew were members of the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), a special warrant was issued to fly the Blue Ensign.<ref>http://www.nava.org/Flag%20Information/articles/Titantic/titanic.htm</ref>.
==Maiden voyage==
''Titanic'' left Southampton on April 10, 1912, picking up additional passengers at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, before heading out into the Atlantic.
==The sinking==
A later investigation showed that the ship had failed to follow all safety procedures. Besides traveling through dangerous waters at high speed (after receiving repeated warnings concerning the presence of icebergs), the Titanic also had aboard an insufficient number of lifeboats for the passengers and crew.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html]</ref>
On April 14, the Titanic's wireless operators received seven iceberg warnings, but the ship continued sailing through the North Atlantic at 23 knots. Conditions were clear and the water was calm, which should have helped the lookouts spot an iceberg well in advance.<ref>http://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/titanic_timeline.htm</ref>
At 11:40 p.m., while sailing 400 miles off the coast of [[Newfoundland]], lookout Frederick Fleet spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship, and alerted the bridge, calling "Iceberg, right ahead!" First Officer William McMaster Murdoch ordered the engines stopped and reversed, and ordered the tiller hard to starboard. The large ship could not slow down and turn quickly enough and its starboard side hit the iceberg, resulting in a long scrape below the waterline.<ref>http://www.cincymuseum.org/information_center/press_room/titanic/sinking_timeline.asp</ref>
The collision ruptured six watertight compartments on the starboard side, resulting in flooding of the bow, eventually flooding each watertight compartment. Water levels in the bow reached as high as 14 feet just 10 minutes after the impact with the iceberg.<ref>http://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/titanic_timeline.htm</ref>
At midnight, Captain Smith was informed that the ship was so badly damaged that it would stay afloat for just two more hours. Smith ordered radio distress signals sent and for deckhands to begin loading lifeboats. Wireless operator Harold Bide began sending the standard [[CQD]] distress call, before switching to the newer [[SOS]]. Contrary to popular myth, ''Titanic'' was not the first ship in history to send the SOS distress signal.<ref>http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/sos.asp</ref>
The crew quickly began loading lifeboats, but at far less than capacity. The first lifeboat was launched with just 26 people on board, despite having room for 65. By the time the last lifeboat left the ship, 1500 people remained on board.
==Passengers==
Several of the wealthiest and most prominent persons in the world were passengers on the Titanic for its prestigious maiden voyage. To their credit, they voluntarily went down with the ship and died rather than take a spot on a lifeboat from others. Men allowed women and children to go first in filling the lifeboats, and the men in second class sacrificed their lives in greater percentage of all.<ref>http://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm</ref>
A full passenger list is available that highlights who survived and who did not. <ref>http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/titanic/p2.htm</ref>
Prominent Americans who went down with the ship included Mr. [[Benjamin Guggenheim]], of the family that donated the Guggenheim [[Museum of Modern Art ]] in New York City, Major Archibald Butt, a military aide to [[President Taft]], and Colonel J. J. Astor, whose great grandfather was the wealthiest American prior to the [[Civil War]]. Colonel J. J. Astor was an inventor and science fiction writer who helped build three great hotels in New York City: the Astoria (now the Waldorf-Astoria), the Knickerbocker, and the St. Regis. <ref> [httphttps://www.britannica.com/titanic/astor.html Astor] </ref>
==Inquiries==
Inquiries conducted in both Great Britain and the [[United States]] determined a number of factors which contributed to the loss of the ship and passengers.
The watertight compartments were designed without capping at the top; water filling the six ruptured compartments pulled the bow of the ship down far enough that water spilled over the top of the next compartment in line. ''Titanic'' also had 16 standard lifeboats and 4 collapsibles, with enough combined space to carry 1,178 passengers, far short of the 2,224 persons aboard; many of the lifeboats were lowered down the side only partialy partially filled with passengers (many of those remaining onboard on board initially believed the ship to be "unsinkable"). Although the number of lifeboats was determined to be inadequate, <ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepRec.php#a2</ref> the Titanic had in actuality exceeded the British Board of Trade's lifeboat regulations, which had been written down for much smaller ships.[[Image:Titanic.jpg|right]]
As a result of the loss of ''Titanic'', in 1913 the first International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was opened in London, England. Among the rules drawn up were requirements that each voyage hold lifeboat drills; that every ship have lifeboat space for each person on board; and ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch. The International Ice Patrol was also created to keep watch on North Atlantic sea lanes and give ships adequate warnings of icebergs found. The United States Congress also passed the Wireless Ship Act in 1912; it stipulated that all vessels carrying more than 50 people and traveling more than two hundred miles off the coast carry a wireless capable of at least a 100-mile range.
==''Titanic'' found==
[[Image:5462536r.jpg|right|thumb|Titanic's bow as seen from the Russian MIR I submersible.]]
The wreck was found on September 1, 1985 at 41°46′ N 50°14′ W, under 13,000 feet of water, by an American/French team led by Dr. [[Robert Ballard]] of Woods Hole Institute and Jean-Louis Michel of Ifremer. Remote submersibles photographed the wreckage, which was in two pieces lying upright, confirming some witness accounts of the ship breaking in two at the surface. Further explorations by Ballard and Ifremer could not find evidence of a long gash caused by the iceberg and cited on the original reports; instead it was postulated that a series of rivet popping combined with separation of seams and brittle fracturing in the hull plating allowed the water to rush in.
==In Popular Culture==
Books and novels have been written about the ''Titanic'' ever since its infamous sinking. The most well-known of these novels is ''[[A Night to Remember]]''. In 1997, director James Cameron produced the highest-grossing film in history, ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]''. However, this film is inaccurate in several areas. For one thing, it depicted the men on board as cowardly. In real life, most of them willingly stood aside while the women and children got into the lifeboats. In the film, they had to be held back at gunpoint, and two were killed. It also showed an officer shooting himself in the head. It also depicts Captain Edward Smith dying in the wheel room. This also is inaccurate, because several survivor accounts actually mention him swimming in the water, encouraging those clinging to a nearby capsized lifeboat before drowning.
==References==
*Wels, Susan. ''Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner'', Time-Life, New York (1997)
==LinksExternal links==
*[http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/USReport/AmInqRep03.php United States inquiry]
*[http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ Encyclopedia Titanica]
==Video links==*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFrDhpzigug Only existing film of ''Titanic'' before sinking]*[Categoryhttps:History//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUNfjnbGdYI&feature=related Film taken onboard RMS ''Olympic'', showing ''Titanic's'' captain E.J. Smith]*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEYqxTRQS-4&feature=related Film of SS ''Mackay Bennett arriving in Halifax harbor bearing bodies recovered from ''Titanic'' disaster]*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQw5RglP5KA&feature=related ''Carpathia'' arriving in New York with survivors]*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjgp7-H-45A&NR=1 ''Titanic'' survivors, 1950's] {{DEFAULTSORT:Titanic, RMS}}
[[Category:Ships]]
[[Category:Man-Made Disasters]]
[[Category:Ship Sinkings]]