Titanic - facts about the ship.
Ship Name - Titanic
Vessel Type - Passenger Ship
Official Ship - 131428
Builder - Harland and Wolff LTD. Queens Island, Belfast.
Yard Number: 401
Laid Down: 30th March 1909
Launched: 31st May 1911
Handed over: 2nd April 1912
Post and date of registry: Liverpool, 25th March 1912
Managing owner and address: Harold Arthur Sanderson, 30 James Street, Liverpool.
DISCRIPTION
Titanic plans - exhibition Titanic Belfast (created by naval architect Cecil Arthur Allen)
- this was used in the enquiry into the loss of the titanic
White star offices where this was created.
Number of decks: 5 and 2 Partial
Number of Masts: 2
Rigged: Schooner
Stern: Elliptical
Build: Clencher
Framework and discription of vessel: Steel
Number of Bulkheads: 15
Number of Water ballast tanks: 17
DIMENSIONS
Length: 852.5 ft
Breadth: 92.5 ft
Depth: 64.9.1 ft
Gross registered tonnage: 46, 328, 57
MACHINERY
Engine Builder: 2x triple expansion inverted vertical direct acting surface condensing, 1 x low pressure turbine.
Cylinders: 2x 54; 2x 84; 4x 97 Inches
Stroke: 75 Inches
Nominal Horse power: 6,906
BOILERS
Description: Cylindrical Multi - tubular
Number: 24 double and 5 single ended
Iron or Steel: Steel
Pressure when loaded: 215 lb's
Screw: Triple
Speed: 21 Knots
Signal Letters: H.V.M.P.
NOTES
'Second of the 'Olympic' class, Yard No. 401 incorporated a number of design improvements and changes in the layout of the passenger accommodation following almost ten months operation of her older sister Olympic (Yard No. 400). The main difference between the two ships, externally, was the glassing in of the forward end of the Promenade Deck; in operation it was found that spray was landing on Olympic’s deck making it slippery for 1st Class passengers. Despite White Star’s concerns about the comfort of 1st and 2nd Class passengers this was not the primary reason for Titanic's construction. Her proper title is the 'Emigrant Ship Titanic' and without the record numbers of emigrants crossing the Atlantic ships like this would never have been constructed.
Time for the ‘Olympic’ class was running out long before an iceberg was sighted in Titanic’s path. The war clouds gathering across the Continent and, immediately after the Great War, restrictions on the numbers allowed to enter the United States, signaled the end of the giant emigrant ship era.
Titanic stands not only as one of the worst disasters at sea but also as a memorial to the zenith of mass migration across the world's oceans.' - from website and titanic museum.
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Who really designed the Titanic?
Alexander Carlisle - photograph from museum
Thomas Andrews did not design Titanic or her sister ships Olympic and Britannic. The man who deserves credit for the design is Alexander Carlisle.
He was born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim on the 8th July 1854.
In 1870 Alexander Carlisle started work at Harland and Wolff, aged 16 as a premium apprentice.
In 1899 Carlisle was made chief naval architect at the yard and from this date her designed some of the most famous liners belonging to the white star line.
At the end of June 1910 he resigned from the positions of General Manager and chairman of managing directors at the age of 55.
After the disaster with the Titanic, Carlisle was said to be heart broken and had to go to the courts to give evidence about the design of the ship.
Who Launched the Titanic?
Robert Keith - photograph from Museum
Robert Falconer Keith was the man who got to Launch the titanic. He was the Head Foreman Shipwright of Harland and Wolff; he joined the company in 1844.
Whilst working here he launched around 252 vessels - representing 2.5 Million gross tonnes.
There wasn't really a ceremony for any of the large white star line vessels.
this is a picture of Keith pushing the trigger and launching the titanic.
Keith and trigger for launch - Photograph from museum
The inquiry into the loss of the Titanic
Not only was the drawing above used in the enquiry of the Titanic, there were others used and newly drawn up to try understand what actually happened.
The inquiry lasted 36 days and cost a staggering 20, 549 pounds.. almost 1 million pounds in today money.
Harland and Wolff were paid 574 pounds for the attendance of 3 witnesses at the inquiry.
After the inquiry the plans and charts used were given back to White Starline. They were kept in case they were ever needed for investigation again however once the archive basement was cleared out in 1970's the plans were nearly lost as they were chucked out. It was by chance that Norman Kerr, a bookseller in the area who specialised in transportation related subjects saw them being thrown out. He spent a day digging them out of a skip.
references:
Titanic museum in Belfast
http://www.titanicbelfast.com/Discover/Advert-Archive/1910s.aspx
Reflection of research
This page was dedicated to my trip to Belfast and my visit the Titanic Belfast Museum. I have used some of the information I found out from here on the different Titanic Pages but these were the bits I felt needed their own page dedicated to the museum.
It was very informative and helped me understand what happened to the Ship and why the ship was thought to be so grand.
Not only did explain the ship, it actually helped me understand a bit more about the social segregation as their were bits about the separation of the classes on the ship.
This made me realise that maybe when James Cameron directed the film 'Titanic' that he researched and also realised how bad the social class split was and decided there would be a great story to make out of it.
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