Titanic blueprints on a blue background. Titanic blueprints

The anniversary of the most famous maritime disaster in the history of mankind. The name of the ship that left the port of Queenstown in Ireland a hundred years ago on its last voyage has become a household name. This disaster has become one of the most popular topics in popular culture, a huge number of books have been written, many films have been shot. The history of the shipwreck "Titanic" left a huge mark on world culture.

Now, after a hundred years (in my opinion, a sufficient period), we can soberly assess and analyze the significance of the "Titanic" and its tragic end for modern world... To do this, it is enough to recall some facts from its history. Now a lot of information about the "Titanic" has become available, tireless researchers continue to search for new facts and evidence.

For such an event as the centenary of the sinking of the "greatest" ship in history, I would like to timed a series of posts. I will not try to uncover the secrets of doom and short life ship "Titanic", but I will try to provide detailed information and collect various sources so that you can form a picture for yourself. The Titanic has been stirring people's imaginations for a long time, but many of them do not know individual facts or even entire episodes from the history of this ship. I will try, dividing it into several thematic posts, to cite what I myself partly learned only recently. Having started work on this post, I studied and read a lot of information about the "Titanic". By the way, have you ever wondered why the world of "Titanic" is so exciting. The fact of your tragic and somewhat mysterious collapse? A great engineering idea and its unparalleled embodiment for that time? Or maybe we are interested in the fate of people? I will try to include a little bit of everything in my post and then it may be possible to answer these questions.

As you know, the history of such a bold and large project for its time, the Titanic begins long before its maiden voyage. Up to this point, the main work on the design and construction of the ship has been done. So in the first post I will write about this "prehistory" of the ship, namely how it was possible to bring such a bold project to life.

The story of the Titanic begins on a warm summer evening in 1907, when a luxurious car pulled up at the Belgravia mansion, also known as Downshire House. The chauffeur opened the door for Mr. and Mrs. Ismay, who had come here to dine with Laura James Pirrier. At home, Khrzyayin was a business partner of Mr. Ismay, as well as the chairman of the shipbuilding company Harland & Wolff. Mr. Bruce Ismay himself was the managing director of one of the largest companies - operators of transatlantic and cruise routes of ocean liners - White Star Line. Bruce Ismay was seriously worried. The fact is that he recently received accurate specifications new ships of the White Star competitor - the Kunard company. One of these new ships was the Lusitania, a huge passenger ship that was to break existing speed records on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. The ship's speed was more than 26 knots, almost the same as that of the recently conquered Atlantic Blue Ribbon, another Cunard ship, the Mauritania. Both of these vessels exceeded 230 meters in length and had a carrying capacity of more than 40 thousand tons. In terms of luxury, the Lusitania surpassed all ships in the North Atlantic.

The White Star Line had no chance of competing with such a ship. All this greatly worried Bruce Ismay, and expressed his concerns to Lord Piria. He thought for a while and then proposed an excellent plan - to build three ships of a similar design at his shipyard, which would become the largest (30 meters longer than the Lusitania, the most luxurious and comfortable in the world. Speed ​​faded into the background, but nevertheless it should was enough to cross the Atlantic in a week. Their names had to reflect all these qualities and therefore it was decided to name them: "Olympic", "Titanic" and Britannic. "The largest was to be" Titanic "with a carrying capacity of 46 tons, length 270 meters Just recently, just four years ago, a new deep dock was built at the Harland & Wolfe shipyard in Belfast, capable of receiving huge ships. Ismay and Pyrrrie quickly moved from idea to drawing board. a real project while Harland & Wolff began converting three construction sites into two, which would include a 66 meter (220 ft) in height, the portal (metal supporting structure), the largest in the world.

James Piria

Bruce Ismay

The main criteria in the design of the ships' undercarriage were reliability, efficiency and fairly smooth running. The Titanic was equipped with a multistage steam turbine that rotated a central (tail) rotor and two four-cylinder piston engines that transmitted motion to the side propellers. The rated power of this power plant was 50,000 liters. with., but the capacity of 55,000 liters could be developed. with. At full speed, the Titanic could go at a speed of 24-25 knots. Initially, the project envisaged three pipes that led steam out of the boilers, but then, in order to give the ship more impressiveness, a fourth pipe was added to the profile - for ventilation of the kitchen and other rooms.

Titanic engine diagram

At Harland & Wolf, as I already wrote, hard work began on the creation and refinement of new liners. The team of the best designers of the company in parts, on huge sheets of paper, drew the project of the ship. Wooden templates were then created from these drawings. The photo above shows the two drafting offices where the plans for Titanic, Olympic and Britannic were prepared. The company tried to create the most comfortable working conditions, for example, in these rooms, high ceilings and large windows to ensure the flow of natural light.

The original proportional layout for the Titanic and its brother, the Olympic.

The design and engineering team was led by the talented young engineer Thomas Andrews. His uncle Lord Piria was the head of Harland & Wolff, but Thomas made his own career advancement. The first three months he worked in the carpentry department, then a month as a furniture maker, and after that he went to work on ships for two months. Thomas spent the last eighteen months of his five-year journey as an apprentice in the design department. In 1901, after 12 years of study, he became a construction manager for the company, and in the same year he was admitted to the Council of Naval Architects. In 1907 Thomas became CEO of Harland & Wolff.

It was Andrews who became the chief designer of the Titanic and headed the so-called "guarantee group" recruited from the best employees of the company in various fields of activity, who knew the ship best of all and had to ensure the operation of all systems during the maiden voyage. The best of the best, belonging to different strata of the population but united by a common goal - to ensure the normal operation of all mechanisms and components of the ship. All members of the guarantee team, including Andrews himself, were killed in the Titanic crash. According to eyewitnesses, Andrews showed heroism during the crash, helped passengers get into the boats, threw sun loungers from the promenade deck into the water so that passengers in the water could use them as life rafts, while he did not even try to escape.

Returning to the design features of the Titanic, it should be said that its hull was divided into 16 compartments by fifteen waterproof partitions. The watertight doors separating the compartments could be manually activated, or by a system that monitors the rising water level on the deck, or an electromagnet that could be controlled from the navigating bridge. As soon as the switch was clicked on the navigation bridge, the electromagnets were turned off and the doors automatically "fell", thus blocking the passages between the compartments. Even if two adjacent compartments or four located in different parts the ships were filled with water, the ship remained buoyant.

The Titanic had eight steel decks, of which only four were the length of the entire ship. They were located one above the other and were designated by letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
The interior of the ship was characterized by luxury and attention to detail never seen before in shipbuilding. Titanic received the title "Floating Palace" by right. As conceived by the designers, the first class, for example, was supposed to have a huge lounge, a smoking room, a large reception room, two palm courts (verandas), and a reading room. The dining saloon was supposed to occupy three decks in height and end with a glass dome.

A first-class passenger could use a large gymnasium, squash rooms, a swimming pool (new for that time, the only ship on which he appeared was the twin brother of the Titanic - Olympic) with heated sea water. After completing sports exercises, passengers could relax in a Turkish bath, where they could take a full course of spa treatments. Those interested could even have a haircut, because a hairdresser worked on the Titanic. There was even a photo lab on board the ship, where amateur photographers from among the passengers could develop their pictures. Passengers who were bored during the day could go to the library with a large selection of modern and classical literature. Anyone could send a message to their friends, relatives or business partners by wireless telegraph.

Gym

reading room

the reading room on the Titanic's twin brother, the Olympic

In the end, you could just relax in your cabin. Indeed, the first-class cabin was no worse than a room in the most expensive hotel of the time. Wrought iron beds, washbasins with hot and cold water, elegant decor in style Louis XIV, Tudors or Queen Anne - everything depended only on the tastes of the owner of the cabin. Instead of portholes, the cabin had large windows, and instead of steam radiators, fireplaces were installed. The most luxurious and exclusive cabins cost up to $ 4 thousand. This can be roughly compared with 50 thousand modern course... Such apartments had their own promenade deck. Each such room included two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and an entrance hall.

The second class cabins were slightly less luxurious and tasteful. In principle, in terms of comfort and luxury, they could be compared to the first class of any other ship in the North Atlantic. Passengers in this class were also able to use the smoking room, dining room and library on the upper deck. For second-class passengers, there was an electric lift on their deck that went down to the promenade deck (there were three for the first class). An elevator was also designed from one of the lower, F deck, to the upper boat. Elevators were also new to ships.
Even third class passengers felt comfortable enough. Clean, spacious enough cabins and quality food were the hallmarks of the third class. It was not necessary to huddle in the cabins, and they were calculated depending on the number of people (a whole cabin was allocated for individual families).

Titanic cabins interior

Master bedroom in first class stateroom. Photo taken by one of the passengers, Father Brown.

The smoking room and dining room of the Titanic were particularly luxurious and chic. The walls in the smoking room were paneled in mahogany, the chairs had leather upholstery and sat on a marble tile floor. The interior of this place emphasized its status as a stronghold of masculinity and wealth. It seemed that in this room they could look at watches only with gold chains, the smoke of only expensive cigars should soar in the air, and only the voices of railway tycoons, owners of international publishing houses and stock exchange millionaires should sound.

The Titanic's dining room was very spacious and could seat up to 550 people. Its decoration was distinguished by a special style: its walls were finished in light walnut, large window niches were drawn with silk curtains. It was surrounded by a balustrade in the style of Louis XIV, the tables were covered with tablecloths of impeccable white linen, served with silver, and adjoined to them were oak chairs upholstered in green leather. Next door was the Café Parisien, which resembled a sun-drenched veranda covered with climbing plants, with wicker chairs near small tables. On Deck D, a huge first-class restaurant was stunning, with white walls, stucco ceilings and niches. It was entered through a spacious hall, the walls of which were also decorated with white panels with carvings in the style of the times of the English King James I, and on the floor there was a huge and very beautiful colored carpet. Two decks below, on deck F, in the center of the ship was a third-class restaurant, and in front of it, on the starboard side, there were, amazingly, a swimming pool measuring 10x5 meters, and a complex of Turkish baths with gilded lounges.

Dining room

First class restaurant
Of course, perhaps the most striking example of the creators' approach to the interior of the Titanic is its grand staircase. At the top of the stairs, a large clock with bronze figures of Honor and Glory crowning Time was built into the walnut wall.
Under all this splendor at the very bottom, in the boiler rooms of the ship, 29 steam boilers were installed - each weighing 100 tons, which were heated by the heat of 159 furnaces. Coal stoves heated water in boilers to generate steam. Then steam was fed to the piston engines. As soon as steam entered one of the four cylinders of the engine, the necessary force was generated to rotate one of the propellers.
By the way, from the very beginning, during the design of the Titanic, the most perfect fire-fighting system for that time was envisaged.

And the last thing that is probably worth mentioning when talking about the design stage of the "Titanic" is the number of boats. It was equipped with sixteen lifeboats, about 10 meters long, which were designed for 76 people. It is not difficult to calculate that there was immediately a discrepancy between the number of seats in the available boats and the number of passengers and crew members. A minimum of 48 boats would be required to rescue all passengers from the Titanic. In fact, the total capacity of the Titanic's boats was sufficient to accommodate 1,178 people. Perhaps this was the most terrible flaw in the ship's design. The reduction in the number of boats was known to have been done to please the increase in space on the promenade deck. The most interesting thing is that the "Titanic" was supplied with life-saving equipment absolutely without violating the safety standards in force in those years. The number of boats on a ship was determined not by the number of passengers, but by the tonnage of the ship. According to these requirements, the Titanic was supposed to have a volume of life-saving equipment equal to 274 cubic meters which was enough to accommodate 962 people.
That's probably all that can be said about the design features of the Titanic and its design. In the continuation of the post I will try to write a detailed history of its construction and maiden voyage.
Thank you all for reading this) I hope you enjoyed it and you could learn something new for yourself.

Blueprints of the Titanic, a steamer of the British shipbuilding company "White Star Line". The construction of a large ship took more than two years. The shipyard employed about 3,000 people. In May one thousand nine hundred and eleven, the steamer was launched, in a solemn atmosphere, on the water. In its voyage, namely in April one thousand nine hundred and twelve, the liner came across a large iceberg. Exactly 160 minutes later, the ship went under water. At that time, there were two thousand two hundred twenty-four people on board. One thousand three hundred and sixteen people are passengers and nine hundred and eight people are the crew. Courage to save - seven hundred and eleven people. The rest - one thousand five hundred and thirteen, drowned.

Specifications:
1.length, 26898cm;
2.width, 2820cm;
3. distance to the boat deck, 1840cm;

4.height, 5330cm;
5.displacement, 52310000kg;
6. draft, 1054cm;
7.Full load, 66000000kg;
8. engine (four-cylinder steam engine) - 2 pcs;
9.engine - 55000hp;
10. rotation of the screws (75 rpm) - 3 pcs;
11.speed - 25uz.;
12.Coal consumption - 825000kg / day;
13. capacity, people - 2224 (1316 passengers, 908 crew);
14. boats (capacity 59 people) - 20 pieces;

Cross section of the Titanic.

The open boat deck housed 20 lifeboats. In its front part there was a navigating bridge, located 58 meters from the bow of the vessel. On the bridge there was a wheelhouse with a steering wheel and a compass, immediately behind it was a room where navigational charts were kept. To the right of the wheelhouse were the navigator's cabin, the captain's cabin and some of the officers 'cabins, to the left - the rest of the officers' cabins. Behind them, behind the front chimney, is the radio telegraph cabin and the radio operator's cabin.

Longitudinal section of the Titanic.

(the bold blue line indicates the height of the watertight bulkheads)

• A nasal tip
• A - B cargo compartments
• B - C cargo compartments
• C - D luggage and mail compartments
• K - L section of piston steam engines
• L - M steam turbine compartment
• M - N main dynamos compartment
• N - P shafting tunnels
• After the bulkhead R aft end

NS Deck A, 150 meters long, was located above the boat deck. Almost all of it was intended for class I passengers. In front of it there were 34 cabins, and behind them were numerous common areas, including a reading room, a smoking salon and halls. Along the sides there are promenade decks.

H on the next deck, marked with the letter B, there were 97 suites for 198 1st class passengers, then a salon, a restaurant, and a 1st class kitchen. In the bow, Deck B was interrupted to form an open space above Deck C, and then continued as a 37-meter bow superstructure with equipment for servicing anchors and a mooring device. The Titanic had three anchors in the bow with a total weight of 31 tons. To transport one of them to the shipyard, 20 pairs of horses had to be harnessed. Two anchors were fixed in the hawses along the sides in the bow, and the third - spare - was on the tank. Its descent and ascent was provided by a special anchor crane. As in the bow, deck B aft was interrupted by the open space of deck C, which served as a promenade deck for Class III passengers, and continued with a 32-meter stern superstructure - the aft bridge.

D further down was Deck C, the first of four decks, stretching all the way from bow to stern. In its front part, under the deck of the tank, there were anchor winches for servicing the two main onboard anchors, there was also a galley for the crew and a dining room for sailors and stokers. Behind the bow superstructure there was a 15-meter-long promenade deck of the III class, the so-called inter-superstructure deck, and behind it was a wide superstructure 137 meters long with 148 class I cabins. On this deck were the office of the flight managing director and the information office, where they received telegrams from passengers for sending by wireless telegraph. There was also an isolated promenade deck and a class II library. The 15-meter aft inter-superstructure deck followed again, and behind it, under the aft superstructure deck, was the main entrance to the III class living quarters, located on the lower decks in the aft part of the vessel. A smoking salon and other common premises of the III class were equipped at the entrance.

V the front of Deck D contained living quarters for 108 stokers. A special spiral ladder connected this deck directly to the boiler rooms, so that the stokers could go to their workplaces and return without passing by the cabins or saloons intended for passengers. This was followed by another class III isolated promenade deck, followed by a class I block of cabins. There was a class I salon with a length of 25 meters with an impressive staircase and a class I restaurant with a length of 34 meters, followed by a kitchen. Closer to the stern there was another kitchen serving I and II classes, and behind it a number of rooms of the ship's infirmary and the cabins of medical personnel, a dining room and 38 cabins of the II class. The aft part of this deck was intended for Class III passengers.

V the front of the E-deck contained living quarters for 72 loaders and 44 sailors. Further along the entire length of the deck were the cabins of the II and III classes and the cabins of the stewards and mechanics.

V The first part of the F deck housed the crew quarters of 53 third-shift stokers, 64 class II cabins and the main class III living quarters, stretching 45 meters and occupying the entire beam of the ship. On this deck there were two large saloons and a class III dining room, the ship's laundries, a swimming pool and Turkish baths.

NS Aluba G ran along the entire length of the vessel, and covered only the bow and stern, between which the boiler rooms and engine rooms were located. The bow of this deck, 58 meters long, was two meters above the waterline, it gradually lowered towards the center of the vessel and at the opposite end was already at the waterline level. There were rooms for 45 stokers and oilers and 26 cabins for 106 passengers of the III class. The rest of the area was occupied by the luggage compartment for class I passengers, the ship's mail and the ballroom. Behind the bow of the deck, there were coal bunkers, which occupied six watertight compartments around the chimneys. Behind them were two compartments with steam lines for piston steam engines and a turbine compartment. This was followed by the aft part of the G-deck, 64 meters long with warehouses, storerooms and 60 cabins for 186 passengers of the III class, which was already below the waterline. Deck G B It was the lowest deck that accommodated passengers and crew. So, on decks A-G, 1,034 class I passengers, 510 class II passengers and 1,022 class III passengers, a total of 2566 people, could be accommodated. Some cabins could be cabins of both I and II class or both II and III class. These figures give an idea of ​​the scale of use of residential premises.

H the ship also had quarters for the crew, and this is 75 people of the so-called deck department, which included officers and doctors, 362 people in the engine room and 544 people in the service department, including the director of the flight and senior stewards.

NS Deck G contained the planking of the second bottom of the vessel, as well as deck G divided into front and rear parts of equal length. Both of them were allocated mainly for the transported cargo, and one room served as a giant refrigeration chamber.

E below, about one and a half meters above the keel, was the second bottom. It occupied nine-tenths of the length of the ship, not capturing only small areas in the bow and stern. Boilers, reciprocating steam engines, a steam turbine and power generators were installed here. All of this was firmly anchored on steel plates. The remaining space was used for cargo, coal and tanks with drinking water... In the engine room section, the second bottom rose 210 centimeters above the keel, which increased the protection of the vessel in the event of damage to the outer skin. In the middle part of the vessel, along both sides above the second bottom, wide steel strips of side keels with a length of 60 centimeters stretched for 100 meters. Under the second bottom was only the outer bottom of the ship. The space between it and the flooring of the second bottom, the so-called double bottom space, was divided by transverse and longitudinal partitions into 46 watertight chambers.

V The entire hold of the Titanic was divided by 15 transverse bulkheads into 16 large watertight compartments. Bulkheads, designated from bow to stern by letters from A to P, rose from the second bottom and passed through four or five decks: the first two and the last six reached deck D, the seven bulkheads in the center of the ship reached only deck E. All watertight bulkheads were so strong that had to withstand the significant pressure that could arise if the vessel was punctured.

NS The first two bulkheads in the bow and the last in the stern were solid. All the others had sealed doors that allowed the crew and passengers to move between the compartments. On the deck of the second bottom of the vessel in bulkhead K there were the only doors that led to the refrigerator. On Deck G, there were no bulkhead doors, and on Decks F and E, almost all bulkheads had sealed doors connecting passenger spaces. All these doors could be slid both remotely and manually from the deck to which the bulkhead reached, using a device located directly on the door. To close such doors on the passenger decks, a special key was required, which only the senior stewards had.

V bulkheads from D to O, directly above the second bottom in the compartments where the machines and boilers were located, there were 12 vertically closed doors. With the help of an electric drive, they were controlled from the navigation bridge. When these doors were opened, latches held them in place. In case of danger or accident, or when the captain or officer of the watch considered it necessary, the electromagnets, upon a signal from the bridge, released the latches and all 12 doors were lowered by their own gravity and the space behind them was hermetically sealed. If the doors were closed by an electric signal from the bridge, then they could be opened only after removing the voltage from the electric drive.

V the ceiling of each compartment, which was hermetically closed, was a spare hatch, usually it led to the boat deck. Those who did not manage to leave the room before the doors closed could climb its iron ladder.

H the Titanic had 16 main under-deck compartments, separated by bulkheads that ensured horizontal tightness. Only the flooring of the second bottom of the vessel from the steam turbine compartment to the stern and from the first bulkhead A to the bow was watertight. The rest of the decks were not airtight. They had a mass of hatches, ladders and shafts, including elevators, through which water could penetrate any compartment and reach the upper decks. Despite this drawback, the design of the ship was such that when any two compartments were filled with water, it was kept afloat and could not sink even when the first four compartments were flooded. The safety seemed to be extremely secure.

H the Titanic had three propellers and a combined power plant. It consisted of two groups of four-cylinder reciprocating steam engines driving two three-blade side screws, each weighing 38 tons, and a low-pressure steam turbine rotating a four-blade middle rotor weighing 22 tons.

Z The registered power of steam engines and turbines was 50,000 kW, but in reality it reached at least 55,000 kW, which allowed a speed of more than 23 knots. The turbine was housed in the fifth watertight compartment in the stern of the ship. In the next compartment, closer to the bow, there were steam engines, then six compartments were occupied by 24 double-flow and 5 single-flow boilers that produced steam for the main machines, turbines, generators and auxiliary mechanisms. The diameter of each boiler was 4.79 meters, the length of the two-flow boilers was 6108 meters, the single-flow ones - 3.57 meters. Each double-flow boiler had six furnaces, and the single-flow boiler had three furnaces. The Titanic was equipped with four auxiliary machines with generators, each with a capacity of 400 kilowatts, which produced a current of 100 volts. Next to them, there were two more generators of 30 kilowatts.
O a loud ship, such as the Titanic, had to have enough electricity. 10,000 light bulbs, 562 electric heaters, primarily in class I cabins, 153 electric motors, including electric drives for eight cranes with a total lifting capacity of 18 tons, four cargo winches with a lifting capacity of 750 kilograms, were connected to the distribution network. Electricity provided the operation of fans in boiler rooms and engine rooms, four elevators for passengers, each for 12 people, of which three served class I passengers and one class II, and a large number of telephones. In addition to the main telephone lines connecting the bridge to the bow, stern, engine room, watchhouse on the forward mast and other important areas, the Titanic had a switchboard with 50 lines that provided communication with other areas and posts of the ship. Electricity also fed the five-kilowatt generator of the Marconi wireless telegraph station, electrical appliances in the gymnasium, dozens of machines and appliances in kitchens, heaters and refrigerators.

H Hell the Titanic's decks towered four elliptical tubes. The diameter of each of them was 7.3 meters, a size sufficient for two locomotives to travel side by side. The distance between the upper edges of the pipes and the keel reached 53.5 meters. The first three pipes removed smoke from the boiler furnaces, and the last one, located above the turbine compartment, served as an exhaust fan. A pipeline was connected to it for ventilation of the ship's kitchens. Even more than the pipes, the front and rear masts were raised. Both masts were steel, and the top was made of teak. On the front mast, at a height of 29 meters above the waterline, there was an observation post, the famous "crow's nest". It could be reached by a metal ladder located inside a hollow mast, the entrance door to which was at the level of pipe C. At a height of 15 meters above the pipes, the antennas of the ship's radio station were stretched between both masts.

NS Just before noon, the Titanic sounded the sound of a signal bell and the echo of a ship's whistle echoed far over Southampton Bay, announcing that the largest ship in the world was sailing. Friends and relatives of passengers, journalists, photographers and other visitors hurriedly said goodbye, exchanged wishes and rushed to the shore. Port officials were the last to leave the ship. Just before the ladder was raised, several belated stokers with sailor suitcases over their shoulders rushed in and began to demand that they be allowed to board the ship. The sergeant at the gangplank refused to let them onto the deck. With a decisive gesture, he interrupted the discussion, the ladder was removed, and the latecomers remained on the shore, continuing to protest loudly. Until the end of their days, these people were probably grateful to the unknown sergeant, who, thanks to an unyielding sense of duty and discipline, did not allow them to step on the last ladder connecting the Titanic to the pier, and thereby literally saved their lives.

H Some time later, the pilot George Bowyer arrived on the ship. As soon as he stepped onto the deck, a flag flew up from the mast, announcing his presence. The pilot then introduced himself to Captain Smith on the bridge. Bowyer was called "Uncle George" by the commanders of the ships that came to Southampton. He was one of the most famous figures in the port, where his ancestors served as pilots from generation to generation. He himself began service at the age of twelve, spent more than thirty years sailing and the White Star Line always resorted to his services when one of his ships went to sea or returned. After a short conversation with the captain, the pilot went to make sure everything was ready and whether the officers were in place: the senior and second mates on the bow, the first mate at the stern, the third on the stern bridge, the fourth on the navigating bridge at the engine telegraph, ready to transmit the pilot and captain's commands. to the engine room, the fifth mate on the bridge by the phone. A whole brigade prepared at the dock to release the mooring lines: fifteen men at the bow and fifteen at the stern of the Titanic.

TO As soon as Captain Smith was informed that the last ladder had been removed and secured, the pilot got down to business. The fifth mate gave his command "Send in tugs" by telephone to the bow and stern. A report was soon adopted that the command was completed. A faint tremor of the hull indicated that machines were working deep below the decks. New pilot commands followed. At the quay, the mooring lines were given, which fastened the bow and stern to the powerful coastal bollards, and the sailors quickly chose them, reeling them on the view. Then the tugs got down to business. The long hull of the Titanic began to move away from the dock centimeter by centimeter. Finally the pilot ordered: "Small forward!" On the navigating bridge, the fourth mate turned the knob of the ship's telegraph, a bell rang in the engine room, and the two side propellers began to rotate. "Titanic" went to sea, on its first and last voyage:

Z and the complex sailing maneuvers were observed by hundreds of passengers on the Titanic's promenade decks and thousands of people on the shore. And then something happened that could end very sadly. The steamers New York and Oceanic stood in the harbor against the wall. At the moment when the Titanic passed New York and the bows of both ships were almost in line, six steel cables, which moored the New York -York ", suddenly stretched and there was a strong crack, like shots from a revolver, and the cables burst. Their ends whistled in the air and fell on the embankment into a frightened, scattering crowd. The freed New York, as if under the influence of an unknown force, stern forward, began to approach the Titanic uncontrollably. The sailors on the deck of the New York, urged on by the shouts of the officers, rushed to the stern, ready to hit the Titanic's side, and began to throw fenders overboard. Captain Smith instantly ordered the vehicles to be stopped. Here one of the tugs, which a minute ago helped the Titanic to move away from the pier, hastily bypassed the New York from the embankment, secured the cable thrown to him from the deck and with all the power of his machines tried to pull the ship back to the shore. with "New York" it did not end there. Despite the vain efforts of the small tug, she continued to move slowly towards the anchored Oushenik. Its bow was approaching the ship meter by meter. Only later, with the help of one more tug, it was possible to drag the "New York" to the parking lot.

NS After preventing a collision with the "New York", the "Titanic" machines started working again, and he began to slowly approach the exit from the harbor. When he passed Oceanic, the dramatic situation repeated itself. The thick ropes that anchored the Oceanic were taut like strings. The ship was approaching the Titanic with such force that it was seen how he banked. This time, fortunately, the cables survived. After that, the Titanic headed for the waters of the Southampton Bay. The crew and passengers were animatedly discussing the event that had excited them, which they had witnessed. The Titanic was walking along the bay at low speed. At the entrance to the strait that separates the coast of South England from the northern shores of the Isle of Wight, he slowed down even more, turning to the right, bypassed the Kalshot Spit, entered the rather narrow and shallow Thorn Canal, passed the buoys that marked dangerous shoals, and at a speed of only a few knots changed course to the left, east, along the northern coast of the Isle of Wight.

V In the afternoon, the Titanic passed the English Channel. A faint breeze was blowing and the sea remained almost calm. The sun bathed in the light of the deck, but it was rather cold. However, this did not prevent many of the passengers sitting in the sun loungers on the promenade decks from spending time in pleasant conversation. When the sun disappeared over the horizon, the coast of France appeared, the large lighthouse at Cape Hag and the long breakwater that protected the entrance to the port of Cherbourg. Cars on the Titanic were stalled, and two White Star Line auxiliary vessels, Nomadic and Traffic, approached her board, bringing in new passengers and bags of mail.

NS the shores of Ireland appeared the next day after dinner. The cars stopped running again to take an Irish pilot on board a few miles from Queenstown. Then, slowly, incessantly measuring the depth, the Titanic moved towards the port and anchored about two miles from the coast. As in Cherbourg, shortly after stopping, two auxiliary ships approached the Titanic, a gangway was lowered, and the steamer took on board the last 130 passengers, their luggage and almost 1,400 bags of mail. The short parking lot was used by journalists and photographers. Captain Smith received them very kindly and allowed them to be examined, which was in the best interest of the company.

R At half-past twelve, a dial tone sounded, and all the guests left the ship. While the small ships were retreating to a safe distance, the ramps and anchor were lifted on the Titanic, its propellers turned again. Now all the participants of the maiden voyage were on the decks of the liner, a total of 2201 people. The crew consisted of 885 people, including 66 deck crew, 325 engine crew and 494 service personnel, including 23 women. Eight crew members were included in the list of II class passengers. After leaving Queenstone, the number of passengers on the Titanic was 1,316 people: in the first class - 180 men and 145 women (including 6 children), in the second class - 179 men and 106 women (including 24 children) and in the third class - 510 men and 196 women (including 79 children). This meant that the 1st class living quarters were occupied by 45%, the 2nd class cabins by 40% and the 3rd class by 70%.

"T The Titanic "headed west and began to increase speed. He was accompanied by flocks of hungry seagulls, attracted by food debris and other debris that fell into the water. Throughout the afternoon," Titanic "sailed along the southern coast of Ireland at a distance of four to five miles from the coast, circling Southwest Cape Fastnet Rock and after sunset found itself in the waters of the second largest ocean on Earth.

H and the second day of sailing in the evening, on Thursday 11 April, the Titanic was sailing at a speed of 21 knots through dark and cold waters Atlantic Ocean... Passengers on the brightly lit decks were amused, admiring the excellent equipment of the ship and its stability, and paid tribute to the almost inaudible operation of the machines.

Have throm April 12 on the distant horizon suddenly appeared pink solar disk... He slowly ascended to the sky, illuminating the endless greenish water plain with rays. And on the fourth day of the voyage, on Saturday, April 13, complete calm reigned on the deck of the Titanic. The weather was great, the comfort and luxury were as promised: the days were running too fast. Every morning the bell of the Titanic announced that breakfast was served in the restaurants, and stewards brought passengers who were willing to pay a few shillings a twelve-page copy of the Atlantic Daily Bulletin.

V April 14th, a scruffy morning, promised another pleasant day. Shortly after breakfast, the captain, accompanied by the Chief Officer, Flight Manager, Chief Engineer, Chief Steward and Chief Physician, began an inspection of the vessel. This ceremonial procedure, during which the captain and the heads of individual services, dressed in full dress, walked throughout the ship from bow to stern and from the uppermost deck to the bottom, was performed on such flights every Sunday. At 11 o'clock, those of the passengers who wished it, gathered in the first class restaurant for the divine service. It was the captain's privilege to see him off. EJ Smith recited prayers in his calm, even voice, and religious chants sounded to the music of the ship's orchestra.

TO As soon as the service was over, the stewards began to prepare the restaurant for dinner. In the middle of the spacious and bright room was the captain's table. He loved to dine and dine in the company of passengers. It was considered an honor to receive an invitation to his table. On this Sunday, the weather was as good as on the previous days. The sea was calm, a light breeze was blowing, the visibility was excellent. This morning, couples were lit in reserve boilers. The machines were working fine, and Ismay and Smith were confident that the Titanic would do better than its sibling Olympic on its maiden voyage a year ago. During the day, the Titanic was sailing at a speed of 21 knots, and for many seasoned passengers, the constant increase in speed did not go unnoticed. Everyone was confident that the Titanic would anchor in New York port on Tuesday evening.

V The second half of Sunday passed as calmly as the previous days of sailing. But one change nevertheless happened - it got noticeably colder, and with the approach of evening it became even colder. The weather was the same clear, with almost complete calm, but the fast speed of the ship created an unpleasant cold wind, protecting from which those few passengers who still dared to stay on the open decks wrapped themselves in warm coats. The rest chose to go indoors or to the closed promenade decks.

T Only at about eleven o'clock the halls, restaurants and smoking rooms began to empty. In parting, the orchestra performed excerpts from Jacques Offenbach's opera "Hoffmann's Tales". And only in the first class smoking saloon on deck A were a few young night owls left. Suddenly, it became sharply cold, and some passengers, before going to bed, turned on their electric radios in their cabins. But the night was extraordinarily beautiful.

AND From twenty-nine boilers of the Titanic, twenty-four worked, more than at the beginning of the voyage. When the Titanic went to sea, it had 6,000 tons of coal in its bunkers, and it absorbed about 101 tons in a four-hour shift. In the engine room, mechanics listened attentively to the operation of the turbine and piston engines, the slightest deviation from the normal rhythm should not have passed their attention.

Have for several days, the Titanic radio station received messages from ships passing near the Great Newfoundland Bank, which drew attention to an unusually large accumulation of icebergs, which turned out to be much farther south than it happened at this time of the year. Each such message, after being received, was transmitted to the officer of the watch, and then to the navigator's cabin. However, on Sunday, April 14, the situation looked much more serious.

NS Overnight watches on the bridge on Sunday were distributed as follows: from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. First Mate Murdoch was on duty, Senior Officer Wilde until 6 pm, Second Mate Lightoller until 10 pm, and then Murdoch again. The junior officers took over the watch in the following order: from 12 o'clock to 4 pm - the third mate Pitman and the fifth mate Lowe, from 4 to 6 pm - the fourth mate Boxhall and the sixth mate Moody. Then from 6:00 to 8:00 pm - Pitman and Lowe and from 8:00 to midnight - Boxhall and Moody.

NS It was approaching the eleventh hour of the evening. In the "crow's nest" Reginald Robinson Lee peered intently at the horizon. Suddenly it seemed to him that far ahead he saw a slight haze. He soon became convinced that he was wrong. The fog noticed and Frederick Fleet ... Haze or light fog in drifting icebergs is common, but very difficult to spot at night. Low fog, creeping above the water surface, is dangerous at night primarily because it can often be seen only from a great height, for example, from the Crow's Nest, but not from the bow superstructure or bridge, from where it is impossible to discern where the horizon line ends and the firmament begins as both are equally black. Officer of the watch, Murdoch, who watched the sea in front of the ship from the bridge, was twenty-three meters above the water surface, while those on duty in the "crow's nest" were six meters higher. Therefore, it is quite understandable that Murdoch did not see what Lee and Fleet saw, otherwise an experienced officer like him, with the deteriorating visibility, would probably call the captain and suggest to slow down. But Murdoch saw nothing, and no warnings came from the crow's nest. Even during the day, light fog significantly reduced the likelihood of early detection of a drifting iceberg. It got even more difficult at night.

O However, the Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world, was sailing across the North Atlantic in drifting ice at about 11:00 pm on April 14, 1912, at a speed of 21 and maybe 21.5 knots. The arrows on the bridge showed 23 hours 39 minutes. The two lookouts, Fleet and Lee, continued to peer from the foremast into the mist-shrouded horizon: the fog seemed to thicken, it became more distinct. Suddenly Fleet saw something even darker than the surface of the ocean right in front of the ship. For one or two seconds he peered into this dark shadow, it seemed to him that it was approaching and growing.

• Ice is in front of us! - he shouted and immediately struck the bell hanging in the "crow's nest". Three strikes were a signal that an object was directly in the course. At the same time, he rushed to the telephone connecting the crow's nest to the bridge. J.P. Moody's sixth assistant responded almost instantly.
• Ice right on the nose! Fleet shouted.
• Thank you, - replied Moody (his polite answer will later become part of the legend), hung up and turned to the officer of the watch Murdoch, who came running from the first wing of the bridge and was alarmed by the sound of the bell.
• Ice right on the nose, sir, ”repeated Moody the ominous news he had just heard.

M Erdock rushed to the telegraph office, put its pen on "Stop!" and immediately shouted to the helmsman: - Right of the rudder! At the same time, he sent to the engine room: - Full back!

NS about the terminology that existed in 1912, the order "Right rudder" meant turning the stern of the ship to the right, and the bow to the left. Helmsman Robert Hitchens put all his weight on the handle of the steering wheel and began to rotate it rapidly counterclockwise until he felt that the steering wheel had stopped in the extreme position. Moody's sixth mate reported to Murdoch: Steering wheel right sir!

V at that moment two more men came running to the bridge - the helmsman Alfred Oliver, who was also on watch, and junior officer JG Boxhall, who was in the conning tower when the bell rang in the crow's nest. Murdoch pressed the lever that activated the system of closing the watertight doors in the bulkheads of the boiler rooms and engine rooms, and immediately gave the order to the helmsman: - Left rudder!

A in the "crow's nest" Frederick Fleet, as if hypnotized, looked at the dark and ever-increasing silhouette. The Titanic was moving forward at high speed by inertia. It took an eternity before his bow slowly began to turn to the left. A block of ice approached inexorably on the starboard side, towering above the deck of the bow superstructure. At the last second, she walked past the bow and slid along the side of the ship. It seemed to both of the watchmen in the "crow's nest" that the "Titanic" nevertheless managed to miss the iceberg. The bow had already turned 20 degrees to the left when the ship shuddered slightly and from below, from under the right cheekbone of the mighty hull, there was a grinding sound. that in the "crow's nest" they did not feel the jolt at all, only heard a faint creak.

H but in reality everything was different and much more tragic. It was almost impossible to prevent the collision. Subsequent experiments with the Olympic showed that it took about 37 seconds to change course as the Titanic did at the time of the collision, that is, by 22 degrees or two points on the compass. During this time, the ship, moving at a speed of about 21 knots, will advance about 430 meters, and if we take into account the few seconds while the order to change the course was given, the true distance will be 460 meters. In all likelihood, this was the distance between the iceberg and the Titanic at the moment when Fleet saw him and transmitted the message to the bridge.

H on the Titanic's boat deck, all of the lifeboats had already been uncovered. Second Mate Lightoller asked First Mate Wilde for permission to lower the boats to deck level. Wilde considered such a step premature. But the lightoller had a different opinion and, considering that there was not much time left, he went straight to Captain Smith. He allowed the boats to be dumped overboard. Several minutes passed, and Lightoller again asked the elder if it was possible to start landing. Wilde refused a second time. Lightoller set off again to find the captain. The noise of the steam coming out was so loud that the second mate, putting his hands to his mouth, had to shout in the captain's ear: “Wouldn't it be better, sir, for women and children to go down into the boats? The captain just nodded his head in agreement. Lightoller ordered the N4 boat to be lowered to the level of deck A and, together with a group of passengers, descended, believing that from there it would be easier to land.

NS Gradually, the unbearable hum of steam coming out of the cauldrons finally died down. Compared to what it was a few minutes ago, a terrible silence reigned over the boat deck of the Titanic, despite the very lively bustle around the lifeboats. And at that moment everyone suddenly realized that something unreal was happening: the music was playing! The ship's band, led by Wallace Henry Hartley, first assembled in the spacious first-class lobby, where passengers were crowded, waiting for further developments. The bright lights and familiar melodies, especially ragtime, helped to a great extent to calm down and relieve increased nervousness and tension. Then eight musicians went to the boat deck at the exit to the main staircase and continued their impromptu concert.

NS At about half past midnight, the first boats began to fill up with women and children. Many women hesitated, they still did not consider the situation so dangerous as to leave the seemingly safe deck of a huge steamer and go into small boats hanging on ropes above the black abyss of the ocean at a height of more than twenty meters. Others did not want to leave their husbands. So far, there were no noticeable signs of panic anywhere, no screams or running around were heard. The passengers stood quietly on the deck, watching the work of the crew preparing the boats, and awaiting orders. Suddenly one of the officers appeared, apparently Lightoller, and shouted: - Women and children get into the boats, men step aside! From the starboard side, First Mate Murdoch was in charge of launching the boat N7. Women and children, with the help of the crew members, struggled to overcome the space separating the deck from the side of the suspended boat. The boarding was slow, with most of the passengers still hesitating.

V While events accelerated on the boat deck and elsewhere on the huge vessel, the helmsman, George Thomas Rowe, continued to watch on the aft bridge. From the moment he saw an iceberg in the terrifying proximity of the ship an hour ago, he had not spoken to anyone, received no instructions from anyone, and knew nothing. Only with amazement when he saw a lifeboat on the water not far from the starboard side, he decided to call the bridge and ask what had happened. On the other end of the line was the fourth mate Boxhall, who was literally pissed off by this question. But it soon became clear that Rowe had simply been forgotten, and Boxhall ordered him to come immediately to the bridge and bring back flares. Rowe went down the deck below, into the storeroom, took a tin box with a dozen rockets, and went to the bow.

A in the wheelhouse, the radiotelegraph operator Phillips was continuously transmitting distress signals, recording the responses of the ships, answering their questions and refining the initial information. Bride there for a time served as a liaison between the wheelhouse and the navigating bridge. Captain Smith dropped by from time to time. In the beginning, he very much counted on the help of the "Olympic", which has all the necessary equipment to carry out such a rescue operation, but it soon became clear that this was unrealistic. The vessel was at a distance of 500 miles from the Titanic. It was too far away. Even at too high a speed, it could not come before the Titanic sank.

H the launching of the lifeboats continued on the boat deck. When Third Mate Pitman invited the women to board boat N5, Fifth Mate Lowe joined him. Almost only class I passengers gathered around the boat. When there were no more women around, Pitman's third mate allowed several men to board the boat. On the starboard side of the boat deck, during the entire time of launching the boats, the rule was in effect: women and children sit down first, but when they were no longer nearby or they did not dare to sit down, and there were empty seats in the boats, men could take them. On the port side, the categorical Lightoller was not so supportive of men, he basically did not let them into the boats.

Have Second Mate Lightoller, on the port side, was suddenly faced with a serious problem - a shortage of people to launch boats. The deck crew of the Titanic, in addition to the captain and seven officers, consisted of 59 sailors. Some of them were occupied by davits, where their number decreased with each lowered boat, some were engaged in other matters - for example, opening windows on deck A. In addition, ten minutes ago, Lightoller sent the boatswain with six sailors down to open ports on the left sides in front of the cargo hatch N2. From there Lightoller wanted the women and children of Grade III who were still on the lower decks to get into the launch boats. Boatswain Nichols and the six sailors left and were never seen again. Most likely, in the bow of the vessel, they were suddenly covered by gushing water, and they all died. When Lightoller calculated how many people he was missing, it turned out that with each new boat he could send a maximum of two if he wanted to ensure the continuous evacuation of passengers.

V at zero hours 55 minutes, when on the starboard boat N5 was preparing to launch, Lightoller began to lower boat N6. But he had only one sailor left to serve the hoists. All the while the launching of the lifeboats continued, signal flares were launched from the Titanic. After all the missiles were fired, it became clear that the Titanic was doomed, and even the greatest optimists, who still believed in its unsinkability, were sober.

NS As the huge vessel slowly plunged into the water, the officers sought to speed up the launch of the boats, since no one knew exactly how much time remained. Having collected a large amount of water in the hold, the Titanic began to heel to the port side, and a meter gap formed between the railing of the boat deck and the sides of the boats.

V While boat N13 was descending from the starboard side, boat N14 was being prepared for launching on the port side under the direction of Fifth Mate Lowe. Almost two hours had passed since the collision with the iceberg, most of the lifeboats had already been launched, and on the boat deck, where discipline had so far been managed without any problems, the situation began to deteriorate. A crowd of third-class passengers got out of the hold, and many of them were horrified by the sight of the heavily tilted deck and empty davits. Stewards and other crew members formed a cordon around the last lifeboats through which only women and children could pass, but the tension grew by the minute.

NS hatch N14 quickly filled with women and children, mostly from Class III, who were only now on the boat deck. The boat was almost full when the sixth mate J.P. Moody, who was standing at a distance, noticed that there were already five lifeboats on the port side, but none of them had any officers, so at least one of them must get into the N14. Moody suggested that Lowe sit down and decided to wait for the next one.

M Between one and two o'clock in the morning on April 15, 1912, when most of the Titanic's lifeboats had already been launched, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ship signals filled the air south of Newfoundland, responding to the desperate calls for help that were tirelessly transmitted by Jack. Phillips. The station at Cape Reis transmitted to the continent a message about the collision with an iceberg of the largest ship in the world. From the moment this message was caught by a young radio operator David Sarnoff on the roof of Wanamaken's trading house in New York, it has spread like an avalanche across the United States and Canada. The journals of radiotelegraph operators of passenger ships recorded the events of the terrible sea tragedy minute by minute.

NS After the flooding of the boiler room N5 in the next four to the stern of the boiler compartments, the stokers made every effort so that the steam pressure did not drop, so that the pumps could work and the generation of electricity was maintained. The darkness on the huge ship, with more than eight hundred passengers remaining on the decks even after most of the boats were launched, would have caused panic and commotion. When the collision occurred, many of the off-duty stokers, before being ordered to go to the boiler rooms, saw on the boat deck preparations for launching the boats, the embarkation of women and children, and the first lifeboats leaving. It was clear to them that the situation was very serious. They told about what they saw to their comrades. And nevertheless, the stokers descended deep into the hold, into the most dangerous and terrible room on the sinking ship, and worked there until the last minute.

O In about 1 hour and 20 minutes, water began to penetrate between the steel sheets of the floor of boiler room N4. She arrived quickly, although the pumps were running at full capacity. There was nothing to do but extinguish the fire in the furnaces and leave this room.

V 2 hours 5 minutes on the boat deck, it was the turn of the folding boat D. For its lowering, the davits freed up after the launch of the boat N2 had to be used. Boat D was moved to the edge of the deck, lifted and uprighted by its canvas sides, and then quickly suspended from davits. Second Mate Lightoller had already begun to seat women and children in it.

NS ate already three o'clock in the morning. The Titanic lurched to the port side, and its bow was sinking deeper and deeper. Water poured in through large round windows on Deck C and flooded the luxurious Class I cabins. In the deserted salons, restaurants and halls, crystal chandeliers were burning, which now hung at a strange, unnatural angle, and where hundreds of people in tuxedos and ladies in black toilets were enjoying life four hours ago, a dead silence reigned. In the long corridors, only occasional hurried footsteps were heard from one of the crew members and passengers fleeing to the open boat deck.

WITH take away the passengers, first of all the III class, and a significant part of the crew members were afraid to leave the ship. For most of them, mainly passengers of the III class, no one explained what they should do.

NS After the launch of the boat D on the Titanic, only two foldable boats A and B remained. Both were fixed on the roof of the officers' cabins in front of the first chimney. Like the boats C and D, they had to be launched from the davits on which the boats N1 and N2 had been hanging until that time. First of all, it was necessary to move them to the davits.

TO Apitan Smith walked around the boat deck and from time to time shouted into a megaphone to keep the lifeboats on the water close to the ship. He knew that they were not fully loaded, and wanted them to pick up some more victims who would inevitably have to seek salvation in cold water... But none of the boats answered his calls. The fear of what would happen when the ship went underwater was stronger. Around the same time, mechanics appeared on the boat deck. The water was already flooding the bow deck superstructure, the compartments were filling one after the other in the hold, and the stern was lifted up higher and higher. It was clear to everyone that the last act of tragedy was coming.

V the eight musicians of the ship's orchestra, donning life jackets, never left their place, which they occupied more than an hour ago on the boat deck at the entrance to the main staircase. All this time, they tirelessly played melodies that used to cheer up and create an atmosphere of calm and carelessness, but now they helped to overcome anxiety and drive away the oppressive feeling of growing fear. When Captain Smith gave permission for the crew to leave the ship, Wallace Bandmaster Henry Hartley signaled. The sounds of merry ragtime died away, and the majestic melody of "Autumn," one of the Church of England hymns, sounded. A solemn sound floated over the deserted decks of the world's largest ship, plunging into a black abyss.

TO When, at 3:00 am, the prohibition on men from the third class to go to the boat deck was lifted, a huge crowd rushed out of the hold, in which there were many women who until that moment had remained with their husbands, brothers or acquaintances. The water had already flooded the bow of the boat deck, and these people in complete despair retreated further and further to the stern. Meanwhile, thousands of tons were poured into the hold sea ​​water... The bow of the Titanic was sinking more and more, but it was happening slowly, in fact, going on for two hours. However, at about 2:15 pm, a sudden change occurred, heralding an inevitable end. The bow suddenly dropped sharply, the ship moved noticeably forward, and a powerful wave swept along its bow. At this moment, the Titanic resembled a huge diving submarine. The stern, in turn, slowly rose, a mass of water poured through the bow superstructure, flooded the bridge, the roofs of the officers' cabins and washed away all the folding lifeboats. The wave washed into the sea Captain Smith, who a few seconds ago had been seen on the bridge with a megaphone in his hand, First Officer Wilde, First Officer Murdoch, Sixth Officer Moody, eight band members, many crew members and passengers.

T the living Titanic was still lit. Even in the part that was already under water, in the windows of the cabins and on the promenade decks, the light continued to burn and a phantasmagoric glow flickered through the layer of water. The hull slope reached 45 degrees, the bow dropped faster and faster, and the stern was lifted higher and higher. Suddenly all the lights were extinguished and the ship disappeared into darkness. Suddenly it was once again illuminated for an instant with a blinding flash, and the light was extinguished forever. At the same time, there was a rolling thunder coming from the hold. It was steam engines, boilers that fell from the foundation and collapsed on the bow bulkheads of the watertight compartments. The lighter stern began to rise sharply, while the bow, where a huge mass of steam engines and boilers was added to thousands of tons of water, began to sink just as quickly.

TO When the rumble stopped, the Titanic's stern rose almost vertically above the surface of the water. The Titanic froze for a few seconds, and then its hull began to sink rapidly. It wasn't long before the water closed over the stern flagpole. The third mate Pitman, who was in boat N5, looked at his watch: it was 2 hours 20 minutes in the morning on April 15, 1912. The agony of the largest and most beautiful ship in the world, the most perfect of all that man has created to conquer the ocean, is over. The ocean has won ...

2 hours 17 minutes. The bow sank into the water, the first pipe collapsed. A large wave moves to the stern and washes away the navigating bridge, superstructures with officers' cabins and a glass dome above the main staircase.

H The main part went under water, the second pipe breaks off. The stern rises at a 45 degree angle and the keel is under tremendous strain.

2 hours 18 minutes. The body breaks, the third and fourth pipes collapse. The stern is immersed in the water, and after the keel breaks, both parts of the ship separate from each other.

H The main part sinks to the bottom, the feed is immersed in water. A large amount of debris falls to the bottom.

2 hours 19 minutes. The front part of the stern is filled with water and mechanisms shifted to it, it becomes almost vertical and rotates around its axis. After about a minute, she disappears under the water.

V 2 hours 20 minutes , "Titanic" disappeared into the depths of the ocean, but just now, the tragedy of this night has reached a climax. Horror gripped hundreds of men, women and children who fought for life on the surface of the water covered with all sorts of debris. It was a futile struggle. All these unfortunates gradually lost their strength in the icy water, the piercing cold bound their bodies, and they died one after another.

AND Captain Smith is known to have ordered the lifeboat commanders to stay close. He hoped that if there were room in the boats, they would pick up those in the water. This last order of the captain of the Titanic was not carried out. The boats were moving away from the Titanic for fear that they could be sucked in by a powerful whirlpool, which will arise after the ship sinks, or if the boilers exploded, they would be covered by flying debris. Therefore, when people began to jump from the decks - at first there were few of them - only a few reached the boats. When, in the last critical minutes, hundreds of passengers immediately left the ship, the crew of the boats, fearing for their lives, were afraid to approach this terrible mass.

H Some boats were fully loaded during the descent and could no longer take anyone, others only half. Their commanders were faced with the most difficult choice in their lives: to return and take risks, knowing that dozens of people mad with fear will hang on the sides of the boat, who at any cost will strive to get into the boat, or not approach and leave them to their fate? They knew, they were almost sure that the boats would not withstand the onslaught, would capsize, and dozens of people who had already found themselves about relative safety would end their lives in the icy water - I was mostly women and children. The danger was increased by the fact that the crew members of the Titanic assigned to the lifeboats had not received the necessary training and could neither properly navigate nor row. Most of the boat commanders were not cowards. These were normal people, but found themselves in a very difficult situation and in the end decided not to return to the dive site of the ship, from where desperate calls for help were coming. And only a few dared, but it was already too late.

V ringing all the circumstances, we can say that at least in cases where the boats were half-empty, for example, in the boat N7, there were 27 people, in the boat N6 - 28 people, and in the boat N1 - only 12, it was necessary to take care of the rescue of the drowning ( the Titanic had wooden lifeboats with a capacity of 65 and 40 people). The only organized attempt to save people was made by the fifth mate of the Titanic, Lowe. Although he made his decision very late, several people owed their lives to him.

WITH Passing boat N5 (she was one of the first to be launched) was commanded by Third Mate Pitman. After launching, the boat immediately moved three or four hundred meters away from the vessel. Then lifeboat N7 appeared close by, and Pitman ordered both boats to "dock." He was convinced that if a ship came up before dawn, the two boats, especially if those in them got up, would be more visible in the dark than one. To equalize the load, he allowed two men and one woman with a child to go from boat N5, which had 41 people, to boat N7, which had 27 people.

NS After the launch of the lifeboat N3, none of its passengers, and these were mostly class I passengers, did not want to move too far from the Titanic: near the huge ship, everyone felt more or less safe, no one believed that it could sink, eventually it will be possible to return to their cabins. But time passed, the outlines of the ship seemed to decrease, the lights disappeared, and the bow sank into the water. Only now the rowers were leaning on the oars. There was nothing in the boat that could support the forces in case they had to stay in the ocean for a long time. With the provision of lifeboats with food, water and other essential items such as compasses, flares, lanterns, the situation was disastrous. Not a single lifeboat was to be launched without regular equipment. Nevertheless, most of the boats left the ship without rescue equipment and without a boat crew capable of active operations. Even in boat N3, although it had 15 crew members, no one knew how to handle the boat competently and had no idea about navigation. Two of them could not even cope with the oars and quickly lost them, so all attempts to go with the oars did not lead to anything and had to just drift. It was a great happiness for everyone that the ocean was unusually calm that night. What would happen with strong winds and strong waves? Nobody even wanted to think about it.

V While a tense atmosphere reigned in some of the lifeboats, with heated arguments and mutual insults, the situation was different in the lifeboat N13. And here, of course, the inexperienced stokers and stewards who made up her crew had big problems with steering the boat. As soon as the boat moved away from the sinking Titanic, its crew did not even know what to do and where to sail. It was clear that no one knew what to do to stay alive. Some of the crew members, obviously, before leaving the Titanic, heard something about the fact that they managed to communicate by radio with other ships, but specifically spoke only about the Olympic coming to the rescue. Immediately, as soon as the boat N13 was on the water, everyone saw some lights on the horizon and, no doubt, took them for the lights of a ship going to help, but the lights began to recede and soon disappeared. Several more times everyone who was in the boat believed that they saw the lights of the ship, but each time it turned out that these were only stars shining brightly near the horizon. Such errors are not surprising. After the launch of the boat, the lights on the decks and in the cabins of the Titanic were still on, and nothing seemed to indicate that the large ship was mortally wounded. But one detail alerted those in the boat: the rows of lights on the Titanic were at an angle near the ocean's surface, and the angle increased markedly. The lights in the bow disappeared under the water, and at the stern they rose up, but many in the boat still hoped that the ship would remain afloat. When the Titanic swallowed up the initiative, the crew of boat N13 screamed to keep in touch with other boats in the vicinity. None of them had lights, so it was almost impossible to see anything in the dark. There was a growing fear that without signal lights, the boats could easily end up under the rods of ships hurrying to the crash site.

R hull of the Titanic Walter Perkis, the commander of the N4 lifeboat, was one of the few who obeyed the captain's order not to move away from the Titanic. Some women in the boat, frightened by objects falling from the decks into the water and the terrible sounds coming from the womb of a heavily heeling ship, wanted to get away from it as soon as possible, but Perkis did not disobey the captain's order.

T A swarm of those who jumped from the Titanic into the water managed to swim to boat N4, where they were dragged. They were the sailor Samuel Hemming, who had been helping Lightoller at the last minute at the folding boat B, the storekeeper Prentice and the drunken fireman Paddy Dillon. The Titanic was sinking rapidly, the boat could be pulled under the water. Perkis could no longer hesitate. When the waters closed over the "Titanic" and hundreds of people were on the surface calling for help, the boat was almost three hundred meters away from them. Perkis and his assistant W. McCarthy consulted and decided to return and try to save someone. The boat approached almost a thousand-headed mass of unfortunates, and sailor McCarthy with one of the passengers dragged five into it. All of them were already so numb that they could hardly move. Two of them, the sailor Lyons and the steward Sibert, had died by morning.

WITH Passing boat N14 was commanded by Fifth Mate Harold G. Lowe. At about two o'clock in the morning, one hundred and fifty meters from the sinking Titanic, he gathered together three boats - N10, N12 and folding boat D. In half an hour they were joined by boat N4, and Lowe took command of this small flotilla.

V Lowe soon made an organized attempt to save the drowning. It was clear that it was suicide to return the five loaded boats to the maddened mass of people fighting for their lives. So Lowe transferred 57 people from his boat to the other four and, with the best rowers, volunteers from all five boats, sailed to the crash site. Six men went with him, five of them he put on the oars, the first class sailor Joseph Scarroth designated the lookout, and he took the helm.

V During the American investigation, it was established that on the night of April 14-14, in the area of ​​the sinking of the Titanic, the air temperature was minus three degrees, the water temperature was minus two degrees. More than a thousand people survived in the icy water for about half an hour, and the majority - much less.

AND Of the twenty-five people who survived the terrible night on the bottom of the folding boat, about twenty got over to boat N4, and the rest were taken by boat N12. Boat N12 was already dangerously overloaded. Lightoller, taking command, getting behind the wheel, counted 65 people, but this is without those who lay at the bottom. Seeing them, he figured that there were 75 people in the boat.

V 6 hours 30 minutes in the morning , the boat moved towards the "Carpathia". She sat deep in the water, and Lightoller ruled very carefully - the storm was beginning to rise. Therefore, more than two hours passed before the boat covered the four miles separating it from the Carpathia, and the people finally realized that they were saved.

V 2 hours 35 minutes the ship's doctor Dr. McGee climbed onto the bridge of the "Carpathia" and reported to Captain Rostron that his orders had been fulfilled and everything was ready to receive casualties. At this moment Rostron saw a green signal flare on the horizon. He shouted excitedly: - There is fire! They are still afloat!

Have an hour ago, radio operator Harold Cottam received a radiogram about the sinking of the Titanic's engine room, and it became clear that the position of the giant ship was critical. Since then, not a single message has been received, but that did not mean that it was all over. The Titanic could continue its transmissions, just the power of the Carpathia radio station was insufficient to receive fading signals. The green rocket rekindled hope that it would still be possible to reach the crash site in time. That this rocket was one of four, which launched from the lifeboat Boxhall, no one on the "Carpathia" then, of course, did not know.

WITH a minute or two after spotting the missile, second mate Bisset said it was three-quarters of a mile on the iceberg's course. At that moment, Captain Rostron saw him and ordered him to change course and slow down to small. Moving to the left wing of the bridge and seeing that they had passed the iceberg safely, he gave the command to lie down on the previous course and increase the speed to full. But more and more icebergs appeared. They were discovered in time, and the "Carpathia", without slowing down, maneuvered between them for more than half an hour. In these dramatic moments, Captain Rostron performed the pilotage of his ship masterfully, fully realizing that the lives of the passengers of the sinking Titanic depend on his attention, quick decision-making and timely steering wheel rotation.

R Ostron was a man of average height with sharp features and a keen gaze. He was an adherent of strict discipline and differed from the "sea wolves" intolerant attitude to alcohol, smoking and foul language.

"TO Arpatia "was approaching the point, the coordinates of which were transmitted by the radio operator of the Titanic. Captain Rostron ordered to fire flares every quarter of an hour, thus informing that help was near. But the minutes passed, and even the greatest optimists on the ship began to lose hope.

V 3 hours 35 minutes The Carpathia was almost there. They should have seen the Titanic by now! But he was not there. At about four o'clock Rostron ordered the cars to be stopped. It was dawning.

V 4 hours First Mate Hankinson replaced First Mate Dean, and a new helmsman took over at the helm. And then a green rocket shot up about four hundred meters away. Everyone immediately realized that this was a signal from the boat. They gave a course - the captain decided to approach the boat with the port side, so that it would be on the leeward side. But at that moment the second mate Bisset noticed a drifting iceberg directly on the course, and Rostron could no longer perform the planned maneuver: the boat was on the starboard side. In the dawn twilight, her outlines stood out more and more clearly, she almost did not move forward, as if the rowers had lost strength. It was boat N2, commanded by the fourth mate Boxhall.

V the trail of the lifeboat N2, which in 4 hours 10 minutes first reached the "Carpathia", others began to approach. Dinghy N13 last moment was forced to bypass a large iceberg, caught directly between her and the ship. At 4:30 the boat approached the left side of the "Carpathia", and the women were the first to climb the ladders along the storm. For greater reliability, the sailors of the "Carpathia" secured them with ropes threaded under the armpits. Small children were raised in sacks. Then the men and the boat crew got up.

Almost a hundred years have passed since the giant eight-deck Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship of the early 20th century, sank on a frosty night from April 14-15, 1912 south of Newfoundland Island, colliding with a drifting iceberg. 1,500 passengers and crew members were killed. And although the XX century was marked by several terrible tragedies, interest in the fate of this ship does not wane today. It especially increased in 1985, when the American-French expedition managed to find its hull at a depth of 4000 meters. The Titanic, the pride of the British merchant marine, was designed by the most experienced designers, built with the highest quality materials, in one of the finest shipyards in the world and staffed by a carefully selected team.

Ship blueprints

This set of drawings of the ship Titanic Italian company Amati attaches to its model Titanic 1: 250 scale, model length 107 cm. 8 sheets of drawings in 90x70 cm format are made on hard paper and contain plans of all decks with their construction; diagrams of hundreds of small parts and mechanisms; necessary explanatory sections; color schemes; blueprints pipes; plans for the placement of auxiliary mechanisms; patterns of flat frame body parts; patterns of belts for outer plating of lower decks and templates for their positioning; blueprints photo-etched parts. The ninth, largest sheet of drawings (sheet format approximately 140x100 cm) shows full-scale side views from both sides, top view, longitudinal and cross sections, aft and bow views. All views on this sheet are in color. The two explanatory assembly instructions that come with the ship's blueprints are step-by-step color photographs of how to assemble the Titanic model. Instructions on English language... All numbering on drawings and instructions are the same. Additionally, color prints are attached for facing the outer (recessed into the hull) walls of the cabins (with windows and doors). According to this set of drawings, the frame of the ship model is made of plywood with a thickness of 4 mm, plywood with a thickness of 1 mm is used for decks, and linden strips of 0.5x2 mm are offered for decking. The casing is made of 1.5x7 mm linden slats and 0.6 mm thick plywood.

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Thanks to the community mosblog last Sunday I was aboard one of the most famous ships in the history of navigation, the Titanic. I did not have a chance to go down in the bathyscaphe to the place of the ship's eternal resting place, instead, I went with other bloggers to the exhibition "Titanic" in the Moscow shopping center "Afimall". The exhibition will run until February 15, whoever has the opportunity - hurry up, it's worth a visit.

What is the exhibition about? In my opinion, not only about the Titanic and its first and last voyage across the Atlantic, but also about that amazing time when a man, with a rivet hammer or slide rule in his hands, unexpectedly surpassed the ancient titans and cyclops in skill.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States had a vast territory that constituted a single domestic market. The country had no dangerous neighbors: neither Canada nor Mexico threatened to invade, which saved unnecessary military spending.

America was rich in minerals and fertile lands. The availability of easily accessible deposits of coal, iron, oil and copper provided the industry with the necessary raw materials. Farms and cities grew rapidly throughout the country, providing a steady demand for manufactured goods and labor. But the long voyage across the ocean on a sailing packet boat was a very dangerous endeavor. According to later estimates, in early XIX For centuries, the Atlantic in other years took away every seventh emigrant.

John Absolon (1815-1895), UK "The Emigrant Ship"

Despite this, in the twenties of the nineteenth century, about one hundred and fifty thousand immigrants arrived in the country, in the next decade the number of foreigners who entered was approaching six hundred thousand, in the forties it exceeded one and a half million, and in the fifties - for two and a half.

The creation of passenger steamships capable of crossing the Atlantic completely changed the matter - in the period from 1870 to 1914 alone, 25 million people washed up on the American coast. This led to an extraordinary rapid development transatlantic passenger transport.

The White Star Line Company was founded in Liverpool in 1845 and was engaged in passenger transportation to Australia. Things were going smoothly, and by 1868 the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, Thomas Henry Ismay acquired it for only 1000 pounds.

Thomas Henry Ismay

The new owner did things differently, and the company began operations on the Liverpool-New York line. The new ships ordered by Ismay were popular with passengers and late XIX century White Star Line became the largest shipping company in Britain.

White Star Line Uniform Sweater and Peaked Cap for Deck Sailors

The secret of success was a different approach to passenger service, White Star ships stood out for the better with the comfort and convenience of all classes of premises. In 1899, the family business passed to his son Joseph Bruce Ismay, who was usually called Bruce Ismay.

Bruce Ismay, circa 1912

Oddly enough, the constant growth of passenger traffic by the beginning of the twentieth century only intensified competition on routes in the United States. The White Star rivals (the British Cunard Line and the German GAPAG and North German Lloyd) enjoyed massive government support, which allowed them to build larger and faster ships. Despite the commissioning of the so-called "Big Four", the "Boltic" airliners, White Star, working at her own peril and risk, began to hand over little by little.

Bruce Ismay's original autograph

American banker and railroad king John Pierpoint Morgan persisted in creating the International Merchant Marine Trust (IMM) and White Star, acquired by mutual agreement, took a very important place in it. However, everything went on in the company as before, and in 1904 Ismay even became chairman of IMM.

Bruce Ismay's checkbook

In 1907, Cunard brought his greyhounds to the Atlantic, the liners Mauritania and Lusitania, equipped with the latest steam turbines for that time. Already on the first voyage, Mauritania broke the speed record, which it then held for almost 20 years. At the same time, information began to leak from Germany about the beginning of the design of turbine liners with luxurious finishes. It was impossible to delay further.

A sample of curtain fabric from the Titanic's first class cabin

As always, White Star ordered the new liners to her long-standing and only supplier, the Harland & Wolf shipyard from Belfast. With a displacement of 45 thousand tons, they should have become largest ships of its time. At first, Ismay planned to build two liners, but then another ship was ordered. This made the schedule grid more convenient.

Samples of silverware ordered for the first class of the Titanic

White Star was not chasing records, but she wanted to get ships, albeit at a moderate speed, but simple and cheap to operate, as well as with increased comfort. Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic fully met these requirements. Depending on the current demand, the class of some of the cabins of the first and second class could be lowered by the crew, and the premises of the third class could be adapted for cargo. In addition, the liners received voluminous holds and a mail storeroom - the transportation of urgent cargo and mail has always been an important source of income.

Samples of linoleum and ceramic tiles intended for the first class premises of the Titanic

The decoration of the premises of all classes overshadowed the ships of competitors. In fact, third-class passengers received the conveniences of second, second-class passengers - first, and first-class passengers, who had two-thirds of the ship at their disposal, were surrounded by a hitherto unprecedented luxury. The best artists and decorators were involved in the creation of the interiors.

Drawing room of KB "Harland and Wolf"

While the engineers pored over the drawings and calculations, the shipyard had to be completely rebuilt, the new ships were too large for her. Instead of three old slipways, two new ones of much greater length and a huge dry dock were built.

"Olympic" and "Titanic" on the stocks

The first was laid in December 1908 "Olympic", the construction of the "Titanic" began in May 1909. Gigantic, which became the third in the series, was laid down in November 1911 shortly after the launch of the Olympic. The elder brother freed the cradle.

Wooden number used to keep track of workers during the construction of the Titanic

The new liners were much larger than their predecessors, so the port authorities of Southampton and New York reluctantly gave the company permission to lengthen the berths. However, the transatlantic also accepted passengers in Cherbourg and Queenstown (now Cob), but could not get up to their berths without the help of tugs. This would greatly increase travel time and would be unacceptable.

"Nomadik" (in the foreground) and "Traffic" were built simultaneously with the "Olympians"

The solution was to use tenders - relatively small steamers that delivered passengers and luggage to the ships in the roadstead. To work in Cherbourg, White Star ordered a Nomadic for first and second class passengers and Traffic, which carried third graders and luggage. Fate was pleased to preserve "Nomadik" to this day.

A poster from White Star American offices advertising the first flight of the Titanic

The theater begins with a coat rack, and a sea voyage in those years began with a visit to the office of a ship company. No money was spared on advertising, and the tickets were richly illustrated brochures with a detailed plan of the ship. He was absolutely necessary in the early days of the voyage to find a restaurant or promenade deck. Given the sheer size of the Titanic, detailed deck plans and a cross section have been placed under the spoiler.

Carefully, on click, the drawings will open at a very large size.

At about two o'clock in the morning, the water approached the bridge. Captain's Mate Murdoch, First Officer Wilde, Second Radio Operator Bride, and several passengers, including the Williams, were trying to free the folding boats stored on the superstructure roof so that they would float to the surface when the Titanic sank. Suddenly "Titanic" under the influence of the water filling the nose moved forward. The rising wave finally flooded the deck and washed away almost everyone who worked with the boat, and from above, spewing out sheaves of sparks and soot, the front pipe of the steamer fell on the people, rearing a powerful water shaft ...

Newspaper headlines announcing the sinking of the Titanic

Despite his long fur coat, Richard Williams was able to swim to the folding boat "A". Little by little, thirty people gathered in it, and the current slowly carried the boat away from the sinking ship. However, those who were in it could not raise the canvas sides and spent the whole night waist-deep in ice water. By morning, only 12 men and a third-class passenger, Mrs. Rose Abbott, survived. They were rescued by the fifth mate Harold Lowe, who returned to the crash site in boat No. 14.

Folding boat "D" at the side of "Carpathia"

The long stay in the cold water was not in vain, Richard Williams had severe frostbite on his legs and the ship's doctor of the "Carpathia" insisted on immediate amputation. However, Williams was able, on his own responsibility, to persuade him to postpone the operation to the shore. He quickly recovered and the very next year he won the tennis championship, in 1916 he became the number 2 racket in the world, and in 1923 the gold medalist of the Paris Olympics.

Marconigram sent from "Carpathia" by a rescued passenger

During World War I, Richard Williams fought in Europe and was awarded the French Military Merit Cross and the Legion of Honor. He died on June 2, 1968, at the age of 77.

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Sources:
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/
http://www.vmasshtabe.ru/
And, of course, Wikipedia as a photo source