Titanic was a huge British cruise ship that sank in 1912. When Titanic sank, it was the largest ship in the whole world. It was constructed using modern technology and had so many facilities which no ship ever had before it. Despite a lot of safety measures and the best technology on board, the ship sank on its very first journey, resulting in the death of more than 1500 people.
Titanic was constructed in Britain and nearly 15,000 people worked on its construction. It was more than 100 feet tall and more than 850 feet long, making it the largest ship at the time. Inside the ship, there were ten levels. The construction of the ship took two years.
The latest ship-building technology was used in its construction and a double-steel hull was used to ensure its safety. Inside the ship, many luxuries were also provided in the first class area. These included many stylish cafes, a swimming pool, library, squash court and a gym.
In all, the ship was so huge that it could easily carry around 2500 people as well as nearly 1000 crew members. The engines of the ship provided 46,000 horse power in order to move it at great speeds.
Titanic began its first journey on April 10, 1912. This journey began at Southampton, England. The ship was supposed to go from Europe all the way to America through the Atlantic Ocean. On the way, the ship also made some other stops around Europe in order to pick up more passengers.
The next day, the ship entered the Atlantic Ocean. It had to pass across the northern waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The ship crew had been warned that there were many icebergs in the northern waters.
On April 15, 1912, only 3 days after leaving England, the lookout crew on Titanic spotted an iceberg which was directly in the path of the ship. However, they had spotted the iceberg too late. The captain of the ship tried to steer it away from the iceberg but the ship was traveling at great speeds and despite his efforts, the ship’s side hit against the iceberg.
The hit against the iceberg ripped many holes into the side of the ship and many different levels of the ship quickly began filling up with water. The crew realized that the damage was too severe and that the ship would sink soon. So they started trying to evacuate the passengers.
Evacuation of the passengers
There were around 2300 people on Titanic. And although the ship was equipped to carry a total of 32 life boats, there were only 20 life boats on board. This meant that not all people could be evacuated as the ship sank. So women and children were evacuated first.
On 2:20 a.m., April 15, 1912, Titanic sank. Only about 710 people could be saved on the life boats. Nearly 1500 died as the ship sank. Another ship was close by but it couldn’t come to the aid of Titanic in time.
Learn More about The Sinking of Titanic 1912 at Wikipedia