RMS Titanic pictured in Queenstown, Ireland 11 April 1912 Source:Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh Ireland/Wikimedia Commons
Titanic arrives in Queenstown (now Cobh) Ireland at 11:30 am at Roches Point, the outer anchorage of Queenstown Harbor. Tenders PS Ireland and PS America would transport passengers from the White Star Line pier to the ship. The tenders also picked up mail bags at Deepwater Quay that had been brought in by train. 123 passengers embarked from Queenstown. Of the 123, three were first class, seven second class, and the remaining third class (called steerage back then). One of those disembarking was Francis Brown (later Father Brown, SJ) with his camera and photos of life aboard ship. Titanic departed at 1:30 pm for New York.
Sources:
Books
Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997
Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992
RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912.
Titanic captain Edward J. Smith boards ship at 7:30 am. At 12 noon, Titanic begins her maiden voyage. While departing, suction from propellers causes New York to break moorings. Collision is averted by tugs and extra speed from Titanic. She heads across the English Channel and arrives at Cherbourg, France at 5:30 pm. 274 passengers board including John Jacob Astor. 22 passengers disembark. She departs at 8:30 pm for Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland.
Here is a video on YouTube that incorrectly says it is of Titanic leaving Southampton. In reality it is RMS Olympic but you get an idea of what it was like on that departure day in 1912.
Sources:
Books
Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997
Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992
Fresh food was loaded today on Titanic in preparation for its departure. Feeding passengers and crew was no small thing back then. At maximum capacity, it would carry 2,453 passengers and around 900 crew. That meant having large quantities of just about everything- meats, dairy, vegetables, fruits, flour, bread, and cereals. Since the ship served alcohol, it also carried ale, wine, and liquor as well. And, of course, a gentleman back then would have a cigar with his brandy, so they had cigars as well. Drinking water had to be stored as well for the voyage along with crockery, glassware, and cutlery for food to be prepared, served and eaten on. You can view a list of food at Titanic Facts.
Sources:
Books
Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997
Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992
The only picture of the Marconi radio room onboard the Titanic. Harold Bride is seated at his station. Photo was taken by Father Francis Browne, SJ, while aboard Titanic. Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
Titanic fills the remaining vacancies in ship’s crew. Coal and cargo also begin loading today
688 crew members would be aboard Titanic when it sailed. The wireless operators, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, were actually employees of Marconi. For ship purposes, they were made part of the Victualling Department as they provided a service rather an essential operation. The ship’s orchestra were not employees of White Star but contracted from the Liverpool firm of C.W. & F.N. Black. This firm provided musicians for most British liners. They were treated as second class passengers.
Due to a miners’ strike that ended on 6 April, there was a shortage of coal. To make up for the shortage, coal from other White Star ships were transferred to Titanic so she could sail on 10 April. Passengers on those ships would be transferred as well to Titanic. The ship would carry 5, 892 tons, which was more than sufficient for the voyage.
Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997
Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992
After departing Belfast at 20:00 (8 pm), Titanic arrives in Southampton just after midnight. She would be towed to Berth 44. She traveled 577 nautical miles (664 miles) and her recorded maximum speed is 23 1/3 knots. That is approximately 26 miles per hour.
Titanic advertising from New York Times, 10 April 1912. Public Domain (Wikimedia)
Sources:
Books
Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997
Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992
Titanic leaving Belfast with two guiding tugs, 2 April 1912 Robert John Welch (1859-1936), official photographer for Harland & Wolff Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons
Due to delays in fitting out, repairs to Olympic and bad weather, Titanic began her sea trials on 2 April 1912. The trials began at 0600 (6 am). There were stokers, greasers and fireman along with crew members aboard. Thomas Andrews and Edward Wilding were aboard representing Harland & Wolff. Harold Sanderson represented IMM. Both Bruce Ismay and Lord Pirrie were ill and could not attend. Francis Carruthers from the Board of Trade was also present to see that the ship was fit to carry passengers. Marconi wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were also aboard.
The sea trials took 12 hours and tested the ship’s ability to travel at different speeds, turning ability, and ability to stop quickly. Titanic was tested both in the Irish Sea and in Belfast Lough. About 80 miles were covered during the trials. The ship would return to Belfast around 1900 (7 pm.). The surveyor from the Board of Trade signed papers that the ship was seaworthy for the next 12 months.
Titanic would depart an hour later to head to Southampton to take on additional crew, passengers, and supplies.
Sources:
Books
Behe, George TITANIC: SAFETY, SPEED AND SACRIFICE, Transportation Trails, Polo, IL 1997
Eaton John P. & Haas Charles, TITANIC TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY, SECOND EDITION, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, New York, 1995 First American Edition
Lord, Walter, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, New York, 1955. Multiple revisions and reprints, notably Illustrated editions (1976,1977,1978 etc)
Lord, Walter, THE NIGHT LIVES ON, Willian Morrow and Company, New York, New York, 1986 (First Edition)
Lynch, Don & Marshall Ken, TITANIC AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, Madison Press Books, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 1992
March 6, 1912: Titanic (right) had to be moved out of the drydock so her sister Olympic (left), which had lost a propeller, could have it replaced. Robert John Welch (1859-1936), official photographer for Harland & Wolff Public domain
“While Titanic was the largest man-made object afloat in 1912, it could easily fit inside today’s mega cruise ships.” Titanic measured 269m in length while the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, measures a whopping 362m. London’s Shard is 310m so is easily dwarfed by Wonder of the Seas although Titanic was smaller. Titanic had three classes onboard, first, second and third. Sheryl told Express.co.uk what passengers in each class could expect.
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Titanic Grave markers at Fairview Cemetery Halifax N.S William B. Grice (Wikimedia)
In the dark days after the tragedy, the Nova Scotia capital became chief mourner, coroner and undertaker. “It gathered, identified and buried the bodies, and it did so with great diligence and respect,” British newspaper The Daily Telegraph said in 2012 during the 100-year memorial events. “The poignant tales of love and loss uncovered in the process ensure that the sinking is remembered, not just as a historic event, but as a human tragedy on a colossal scale.”
A documentary telling the story of six Chinese Titanic survivors will play at the Beloit International Film Festival, featuring the story of a local restaurant owner’s family. “The Six,” which follows six Chinese natives rescued from the freezing North Atlantic after the sinking of the Titanic, will have one of its first US showings in Beloit. According to BIFF executive director Greg Gerard, finding the film has been a fun process among the local community. “It turns out that there’s a person who was on the Titanic that’s buried in a cemetery in Beloit. I mean, these things we we never knew about before are coming to light. So it’s kind of it’s been very fun,” Gerard said
In the immediate aftermath, a swirl of rumour, fake news, and conspiracy theories sprang up; was the ship’s state of the art design riddled with mistakes, were engineers rushed to complete it by its wealthy owner, did the needs of insurers come before saving souls, and was it an iceberg that caused the disaster? Northern Irish playwright Ron Hutchinson, whose grandfather helped build the doomed ship, spotlights these conspiracies in Ghosts of The Titanic, which blends fact with fiction as a bereaved woman tries to discover the truth about her fiancee’s death.
At the Titanic Museum of Pigeon Forge the decorations and crew celebrate March with the Irish Fairy Cottages. On the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic there were 187 Irish on-board the ship and the Titanic Museum of Pigeon Forge pays homage to these individuals with their March decor. When you visit the museum, keep an eye out because there are some new additions that are truly remarkable. There are five Irish Fairy Cottages throughout the tour and each has it’s own personality and theme, not to mention that each has been hand-crafted and therefore one-of-a-kind.
When a new cemetery is established on dry land, the grounds are thoughtfully curated. But when a ship is lost without warning, there’s no time for such plans. As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website observes, accidental shipwrecks “show the past as it really was” by “preserving a single moment in time.” Sunken vessels captivate us. They inspire grief, wonder, romance—and horror. Here are stories of famous ships that went under, leaving a changed world in their wakes.
An initiative to send two Indigenous artists to the Titanic site is aiming to help commemorate the site and raise interest among Indigenous people in maritime careers. It’s very important that the expedition captures the last days of the Titanic as it slowly dissipates,” said Shayne McDonald, director of Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Services, a joint business venture between Miawpukek First Nation and Horizon Maritime Services that offers marine services like tugboats and subsea cable repair and maintenance. It’s a unique story in history, and as we keep it alive, we keep alive the stories of the individuals that died on the voyage.”
Belfast’s part in the story would likely have faded into the background had the ship’s story run a normal course. The same would have been the case for Queenstown, later Cobh. And Addergoole in County Mayo would have been off the map altogether, though some in the village might have harbored memories of family members having once sailed to America on a ship named, well, didn’t its name begin with a T?
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Afternoon Tea by Francisco Miralles Galup (1848-1901) Public Domain
Can you imagine finding out some tea cups you bought at yard sale were actually related to Titanic? Well in this case, it happened. The cups were made for the White Star Line. They may never have been on Titanic but perhaps used on Olympic or Brittanic.
“Not the Titanic, that would be quite difficult. If they were from the Titanic, I would be standing back and saying these are worth a lot of money.” But they could have been from the Olympic or the Britannic the sister-ships, which of course, were virtually the same,” he continued. “And all the White Star Lines had this White Star china. These were from the first-class accommodation so if you went down for breakfast, afternoon tea, these are the cups you drink from.
Ballard will always be remembered for Titanic but did find a lot of other ships and uncovered a lot of information about the undersea world
Ballard would go on to find numerous shipwrecks, but his greatest achievement: “We found a whole other life system that was living not off the sun, but the energy of the earth itself,” he said. At 79, Ballard said he’s still discovering new things – even about himself. He realized late in life that he has dyslexia. “It’s a gift that I was able to turn into a gift,” he said. Ballard believes it forced him to think differently and face failure, which he calls the greatest teacher of all. “And so that’s the message. Don’t let them knock you down and keep you down. Get up. You’ll be fine,” he said.
The stories of two working class Brits who survived the Titanic have been pieced together for the first time. The sinking 110 years ago cost 1,517 people their lives. But while some 60% of first class passengers were saved, only 25% of those in third class made it – and just 207 of the 892 crew. But the survival stories of two on board, a ladies’ maid and a ship’s stoker, have been unravelled for a new series of Tony Robinson’s History of Britain on Channel 5.
We’re all familiar with the story of the RMS Titanic, the British passenger liner that hit an iceberg in the Atlantic ocean and sank during her maiden voyage in 1912. What few people realize, however, is that the Titanic was not the first ship to sink during its first journey, and by no means the last. Some faced a similarly overwhelming number of casualties, while others were more fortunate. From German battleships to Dutch trading vessels, here are ten lesser-known ships that sank during their maiden voyages.
What happened during those years is the subject of rumors and theories. It was said that, initially, Gibson was a sympathizer of Nazism and also that he was an intelligence agent, although the information that has reached our days in this regard is unreliable and contradictory. In 1944, Gibson refused to participate in the Nazi regime and was arrested as an anti-fascist agitator. The exactress was incarcerated in a prison in Milan, from where she managed to escape with two other prisoners, a journalist and a general, both Italians. The Archbishop of Milan, Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, was a key figure in rescuing him. The second of his life.
A historic adventure at the Titanic Museum
