Titanic tragedy at 110: A look back at history’s greatest nautical disaster

It was a tragedy that captured the global imagination — a seemingly unsinkable behemoth, constructed at great cost and with the latest technology of the time, sunk in minutes by an iceberg. The sinking of the RMS Titanic continues to fascinate generations of enthusiasts, conspiracy theorists, and maritime explorers. On the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the legendary ship, FE Online takes a look back at one of history’s most devastating nautical disasters.

TRIUMPH OF ENGINEERING

The RMS Titanic was built in Belfast, the largest ocean line of its day. It was the most advanced ship of its time. There were experts at different technical problems on board — electricians, engineers, plumbers. It had a 30-40-feet-long electrical control panel that controlled all the fans, lighting, and generators. It also controlled the condensers that turned steam into water. There were machines that took salt out of the ocean water to make it drinkable.

HIGH-CLASS TRAVEL

In its only journey, the Titanic set sail from Southampton for New York. Prices of first-class tickets started from £30 pounds, the equivalent of $4,330 today. Many guests who could afford it included real estate tycoon and hotelier John Jacob Astor, among the world’s richest men at the time, and businessman Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress.

Many others saw the Titanic as a chance to cross over to the United States for a better life.

NO BINOCULARS ON HAND

On the night of April 14, Frederick Fleet, an experienced sailor who had been sailing since he was 12, was on lookout duty. Fleet spotted the iceberg — jutting out like a dark mass from the water — and reported it to his superiors. Despite the first officer’s prompt response, it was too late.

Fleet survived the sinking and later said that he did not have binoculars. The binoculars were locked in a cabinet and the keys were with an officer who was not aboard. Part of the crew was replaced before the first Atlantic crossing and the officer was among those.

The prices of first-class tickets varied, with the cheapest costing 30 pounds, the equivalent of about €4,000 ($4,330) today. Many of the guests could certainly afford it — wealthy guests included real estate mogul and hotel owner John Jacob Astor, one of the richest men in the world at the time, as well as businessman Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress. They all wanted to make history as the first passengers on the Titanic.

WARNINGS IGNORED

Fleet, however, was not the first one to be alert to the icebergs. By 7.30 PM on the night of the sinking, the Titanic had received at least five warnings from nearby ships. Jack Phillips, the Marconi wireless operator, took down a detailed message from another ship that pinpointed the location of heavy pack ice and several icebergs. Phillips, however, was busy sending passengers’ personal correspondences and did not show the warnings to any officer.

At 10.55 PM, the Californian radioed that it had come to a stop amid dense field ice. However, none of these messages came with the crucial code that would have prompted Phillips to show it to the ship’s captain.

NOT ENOUGH LIFEBOATS

During the initial planning stages, the ship was designed to have 32 lifeboats. While the designer planned for this, the shipping company, convinced that the liner, believed that having more lifeboats would take up deck space. The company, however, did not violate any safety laws as the number of lifeboats was based on the ship’s weight and not the number of passengers, according to regulations of the time. With just 16 lifeboats and four folding boats onboard, only 700 people could be rescued.

STAYING WARM

The sea temperature that night was around zero degrees Celsius, in which a person could survive for a maximum 15 minutes. Charles Joughin, the ship’s chief baker and one of its most famous survivors, went down with the ship but drank so much alcohol prior to that that he did not feel the cold of the water. After spending two hours in the water, he was pulled onto an overturned lifeboat and picked up by a rescue ship.

INCORRECT REPORTING

The Tampa Daily Times front page of its April 15, 1912, edition included a big mistake. The Times reported that the Titanic was being towed toward Halifax and the passengers had been transferred to another boat without any accident. Newspapers across the United States had similar incorrect reports in the days after the sinking.

SEARCH FOR THE WRECK

The search for the Titanic wreckage had become the life goals of many individuals, but it was not 1985 that underwater archaeologist Robert Ballard located the wreck and photographed it. He financed this endeavour by also agreeing to search for two sunken US Navy submarines on a secret mission. He had 12 days in which he was allowed to use Navy equipment to look for the Titanic. The behemoth was located 3,800 metres deep and in eternal darkness. The find came at a time microbes had already settled onto the wreck and begun decomposing the ship. Scientists believe that the wreck will be gone by 2030.