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If you ask, I'll let you copy and paste for a good (but very short) report! (Scroll down and to the right)
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THE SHIP
The R.M.S.(Royal Mail Steamer) Titanic was a magnificent ship dubbed unsinkable that sailed in 1912, hitting an iceberg, sinking, and taking over 1500 lives.
The Titanic was first started in 1907 as an idea of J. Bruce Ismay,head of the White Star Line, and Lord William Perrie, chairman of Harland and Wolff, a shipbuilding company. They had a vision to design three amazingly large, safe, and luxurious ships: Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic. They set to work designing plans with the help of Thomas Andrews a year later. Some of their ideas for making the three ships as safe as possible where watertight doors, a double-plated hull, and a turbine engine. The month later they started work on the Olympic.
In 1909, work on Titanic began. For well over a year, 15000 men worked on getting the great ship built. In May 1911 it was launched in front of thousands of spectators, using several tons of oil, grease, and sop to get her into the water. Then the fitting out began. Fitting out takes about a year, and it is doing the inside work, from hiring staff, polishing the grand staircase,laying rugs, and making sure the kitchen has enough crates of eggs, among many many other things.
On Wednesday, April 10, 1912, the Titanic finally set sail. It left from Southampton England at 12:00 noon and carried 2200 passengers and crew and lots of cargo.This included: 40 tons of potatoes, 6000 pounds of butter,20000 bottles of beer, 450 grandfather clocks, 3 tons of coal, 312 peacock feathers, and 7000 dishes. Her launch was watched by thousands of excited spectators. No one realized the ill fate to follow.
The Titanic was the grandest ship in the world. Amazing 8-course meals were prepared every night, and there was a large library, gymnasium, and swimming pool. Not to mention the suites, which had large comfy beds, art on the walls, gleaming gilded lamps, and ornate fireplaces. The smallest details were made sure that everything was of highest quality. Some of the ships most famous passengers were Molly Brown, J.J. Astor(a millionaire with a nineteen year old wife), Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon, and the Countess of Rothes.
The Titanic carried lifeboats for less than half of its passengers and crew. It was going too fast on April 14-15, 1912. It was a windless night with no moon, making icebergs impossible to see. The Captain, EJ Smith, had recieved several ice warnings that day, and ignored them all. These were all likely reasons of the sinking.
On April 14, 1912, the lookouts were Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee. At 11:40, Fleet saw an iceberg on the horizon. He tolled the iceberg warning, three sharp rings, on the emergency bell and called the main bridge, warning "Iceberg, right ahead!". First Officer Murdoch cried out "Hard to port!!" but it was too late. Within 30 seconds the Titanic hit the iceberg along the starboard side, punching holes in the side of the ship. The watertight doors closed automatically, trapping several workers inside. Despite this, 5 of the compartments filled up, and the sixth had a golfball sized hole. The Titanic, designed for safety, could stay afloat with four compartments full of water. But not five. The hole quickly get larger, leaking icy water all over at an alarming rate. Quickly, First Officer William Murdoch, Captain EJ Smith, Thomas Andrews, and J. Bruce Ismay met to assess the damage. Murdoch peered over the side and reported that there was no damage. Captain Smith and Thomas Andrews ran down to the lowest level and found 5 or 6 full compartments and many boiler rooms halfway under. They knew the ship would sink. Captain Smith informed the officers and crew. The stewards informed all the passengers(who were already standing half-dressed in the halls, unaware the ship was in grave danger) to put on their lifebelts and report to deck. Many either did it reluctantly or flat-out refused( One passenger, who did not survive, said " It will take more than an iceberg to get me out of bed".). The ones that did go up to deck halfheartly stood around while crewmen prepared the boats. None of the boats were launched fully(partly because on one half, the rule was women and children first. On the other side, the rule was women and children ONLY.), as the passengers still thought nothing was wrong. At least, the first class passengers. The steerage were kept below decks, informed that they would be released once all the first class had been put into lifeboats. None of the steerage would have survived if it hadn't been for some men who broke the gates down and scrambled up. As the bow visibly began to dip down, passengers realized the ship really was sinking and more began to board the boats. Still, the boats could have held a great deal more people. Partly because the crewmen later said, falsly,were not sure of the weight. Soon, the stern was high in the air and most of the half-full boats were gone. The passengers began to panic. The crew hurredly set up the two collapsible lifeboats, both of which floated of deck half swamped and half full.Realizing all the boats were gone, the remaining passengers ran to the stern, which was now nearly straight up. Father Thomas Biles heard confessions and prayed with them. The lifeboats rowed as far away as possible, afraid of a suction whirlpool. Suddenly the lights onboard went out. It was a new moon so there was almost no light. The ship then split in two, and the bow section planed away underwater. The remaining stern again went vertical, bobbed like a cork and then went under at 2:20 AM, April 15,1912. Hundreds were left in the freezing waters. Some depended on their lifejackets, others flailed their arms and legs, and still others scrambled on wooden debris. They called out to the twenty nearby lifeboats. The wailing chant of 1500 soon died out to individual cries from the blackness(We know you can hear us! Save one life!) The 700 people in the lifeboats built for 1200 gripped their seats and told themselves that it wasn't the cries of their loved ones. Only one boat came back, just saving one person.
A few hours later, the 20 lifeboats were saved by the Carpathia. The Carpathia sailed to New York and delivered the tired, upset passengers to their loved ones on land.
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