1. Introduction to Titanic
Name: RMS Titanic (Royal Mail Ship)
Type: British luxury passenger liner
Builder: Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Ireland
Owner: White Star Line
Maiden Voyage: April 10, 1912
Route: Southampton (UK) → Cherbourg (France) → Queenstown (Ireland) → New York (USA)
Size: 269 meters long, 28 meters wide
Passengers & Crew: Over 2,200 people
Lifeboats: Only 20 lifeboats, insufficient for all passengers
The Titanic was considered "unsinkable" due to its advanced design, including 16 watertight compartments.
It set sail from Southampton on April 10, 1912 and made stops in France and Ireland before heading toward New York.
Date & Time: April 14, 1912, at 11:40 PM (ship’s time)
Location: North Atlantic Ocean, about 600 km south of Newfoundland
Speed: 22.5 knots (~41.7 km/h)
Warnings: The Titanic received six iceberg warnings but continued at high speed.
Impact:
The iceberg scraped the starboard (right) side of the ship.
It ripped open five watertight compartments, causing water to flood in.
The ship was designed to stay afloat if only four compartments were breached, but five flooded.
12:00 AM: Captain Edward Smith realized the ship would sink in two hours.
12:15 AM: The first distress signals were sent via radio.
12:45 AM: The first lifeboat was launched, but many left half-full.
2:00 AM: The ship’s stern lifted as water filled the front.
2:18 AM: The Titanic broke into two.
2:20 AM: The ship completely sank.
Water Temperature: -2°C (causing hypothermia within minutes).
The RMS Carpathia, 93 km away, responded but arrived at 4:00 AM.
Only 705 survivors were rescued from lifeboats.
Over 1,500 people died, mostly due to drowning or hypothermia.
First-Class passengers had a much higher survival rate than Third-Class.
Insufficient Lifeboats – The ship had lifeboats for only 1,178 people instead of 2,200+.
High Speed – The ship was moving at full speed despite iceberg warnings.
Poor Emergency Response – Many lifeboats were launched half-empty.
Brittle Steel & DBTT – The steel used had a high Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT), making it fragile in cold waters.
Delayed Rescue – The nearest ship, Californian, saw Titanic’s flares but didn’t respond.
Found in 1985 by Robert Ballard, 3,800 meters (12,500 ft) underwater.
The ship lies in two main pieces with debris scattered across the ocean floor.