The Titanic thread...

[3xpendable]

I have a technical construction manual for the hull of the Titanic thats the thcikness of a bible, if you like I can photograph the relevant section on the water tight bulkheads. But yeah thats strange, they were not like baffles and i'm not sure what they mean when they refer to Carlisles documents because i've seen them, and they don't show the WTB's to be like baffles.

April 11th.

Captain Smith takes Titanic through some additional practice turns en route to Queenstown to test manoeuvrability and the ships compass.

11:30am
Titanic lands anchor at Queenstown, 2 miles offshore. 113 third class and seven second class passengers board via the tenders America and Glasgow along with 1385 bags of mail. John Coffey, an Irish fireman, deserts the ship by hiding under a pile of mailbags. As his home address was Ireland is it presumed he signed on Titanic to get a free ride home

1.30pm

The starboard anchor is raised for the last time and Titanic departs for New York. Estimated number of persons on board is 2227. As she sails away from the tenders, Father Thomas Brown snaps the last photographs of Titanic afloat. In 4 days she would be in pieces at the bottom of the North Atlantic.

Titanic countdown: 4 days to her foundering.

[alfaSleep]

Father Thomas Brown snaps the last photographs of Titanic afloat. In 4 days she would be in pieces at the bottom of the North Atlantic.

Titanic countdown: 4 days to her foundering.

..... OK, give us the total number of days (from sinking) to the iconic shot of her bows @ 2 1/2 Miles Down < cue corny Irish music >....?

alfaSleep

[Maaarrghk]

I guess most of you will have a copy of Robert Ballards book, full of fascinating "then and now" photo's.

An interesting one for the conspiracy theorists. I remember watching a documentary some years ago about the grave robber who set up the exhibition of artifacts. He had come across information that suggested that Captain Smith may have been relieved of his command at some point prior to the iceberg being struck. It all boiled down to a survivors account of Smith handing a telegram (believed to be a warning of icebergs) to Ismay as if he were expecting Ismay to make a decision. Curious, but I guess we will never know.

I was looking at a news article on one of these new wonderous "floating resort" liners a few years back. Seems that they are not much longer than Titanic, but almost 3 times as wide.

[Luxobarge]

Great thread this Welshie - really enjoying your updates, but what's happened recently? I'm agog!

Cheers

[3xpendable]

..... OK, give us the total number of days (from sinking) to the iconic shot of her bows @ 4 Miles Down < cue corny Irish music >....?

alfaSleep

That would be 73 years, 4 months and 16 days until she was found, but submersibles didnt dive down there to take the shots you refer to until a year later, so add a year to that

I guess most of you will have a copy of Robert Ballards book, full of fascinating "then and now" photo's.

An interesting one for the conspiracy theorists. I remember watching a documentary some years ago about the grave robber who set up the exhibition of artifacts. He had come across information that suggested that Captain Smith may have been relieved of his command at some point prior to the iceberg being struck. It all boiled down to a survivors account of Smith handing a telegram (believed to be a warning of icebergs) to Ismay as if he were expecting Ismay to make a decision. Curious, but I guess we will never know.

I was looking at a news article on one of these new wonderous "floating resort" liners a few years back. Seems that they are not much longer than Titanic, but almost 3 times as wide.

This has been an argument running for years, that Ismay was the 'real captain' of the Titanic and to be honest most of it has been built up by the media and historians wishing to make a name for themsevles. There is no doubt that Ismay was more than 'Just an ordinary passenger' as he claimed to be at the American enquiry, but to propose he was forcing Captain smith to go faster is not something that bears much weight in my opinion. Why? Because this 'fact' originated from one passenger claiming to overhear a conversation between Captain Smith and Mr Ismay in the Cafe Parisien about reaching New York early. I think this was a lie. It would have been dangerous and fruitless to arrive in New York on the Tuesday night for the main reason that berthing the largest man made moving object was hard enough in daytime, let alone night time. Secondly, Ismay, the show man for White Star, would not have wanted the Titanic to arrive under cover of night, he wanted all bells and whistles with massive crowds and media greeting her on her arrival.

There WAS a speed tast scheduled for Monday 15th April, but only a short burst and was common practice on all new transatlantic liners. Ismay did indeed take an ice warning from the Captain but he later asked for it back to be added to the log.
Yes, modern liners are very 'top heavy' compared to Titanic, hence why the Concordia rolled over.

Great thread this Welshie - really enjoying your updates, but what's happened recently? I'm agog!

Cheers

Thanks. Lack of updates is due to lack of activity! All she did on the 12th and 13th was sail. But as of tonight the ice warnings start coming and the action picks up.

[3xpendable]

April 13th:

Titanic covers 519 miles. Various ice warnings are recieved which is not uncommon for this time of year in the North Atlantoc. At 10:30pm she receives an ice warning from passing Rappahannock, which has sustained ice damage coming through the ice field.

Titanic responds via morse "Message recieved, thank you, good night"

[alfaSleep]

..... OK, give us the total number of days (from sinking) to the iconic shot of her bows @ 2.5 Miles Down < cue corny Irish music >....?

alfaSleep

That would be 73 years, 4 months and 16 days until she was found, but submersibles didnt dive down there to take the shots you refer to until a year later, so add a year to that

Ahh!... 26, 804 [Sank 14/4/1912 - Photo taken 2/9/1985]
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duratio ... 02&y2=1985

alfaSleep

[3xpendable]

April 14th:

9am - Titanic picks up a wireless message from the Caronia warning of field ice and icebergs in 42ºN from 49º to 51ºW

10.30am - Divine service held in first class dining room. The Captain, among others is in attendance

11.40am - Dutch liner Noordam reports 'much ice' in roughly the same position as the Caronia. At noon the officers gather on the wing's navigating bridge to calculate daily position. Since noon the previous day Titanic has covered 546 miles

1:42pm - Iceberg warning recieved via the Baltic and 'large quantities of field ice' in 41º51'N, 49º52' W. About 250 miles ahead of Titanic. This is the message that Capt smith gives to Ismay, who then puts it in his pocket. Smith asks for its return later that afternoon.

1.45pm - "Large iceberg" warning received via German liner Amerika (41º 27' N, 50º 8' W). Message not sent to the bridge.

More updates later

[3xpendable]

5:50pm - Captain smith waits an extra two hours before making 'the turn', allowing the ship to travel South of the normal route as a pracaution to avoid ice. Air temperature has dropped to 33ºF

6pm -m Second officer Lightoller relieves Chief officer Wilde on the Bridge watch

[3xpendable]

7.15pm - First Officer Murdoch orders forward forcastle hatch closing to stop the glow from inside interfering with the crow's nest watch above.

7.30pm - Three warning messages concerning large icebergs intercepted from the californian. Message is delivered to the bridge while the captain is attending a dinner party below. Ice is now only 50 miles ahead