Many people have heard, many people have read, but many still do not know the real and bitter truth about the death of the world’s largest passenger liner with the mighty name “Titanic”. It belonged to the British company White Star Line. In just two years, shipbuilders managed to construct the impossible, and on May 31, 1911, the Titanic was launched. His first cruise voyage turned into a huge tragedy, news of which spread throughout the world within two days. What happened? How did the Titanic sink? How could the most unsinkable ship in the world end up at 4 km depth? The owners of the company stated that God himself could not sink the Titanic. Maybe he got angry at people?
But let's move on to more real facts. So, on April 10, 1912, the greatest ship of all time, the Titanic, set sail from the port of Southampton, on board which at that moment were the most famous people Great Britain. These were businessmen, actors and actresses, scientists and writers, etc. The Titanic set off on a 7-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to New York, stopping along the way at small ports to deliver and receive cargo, as well as disembark and embark passengers. The fifth day of an exciting journey became fatal for all passengers on the liner. While crossing the Atlantic, at about 3-00 am, the starboard side of the ship was cut by a small iceberg, which was not immediately noticed by the watching sailor. As many as five lower compartments were flooded in a matter of minutes.
After 2.5 hours, the Titanic disappeared into the depths of the sea. Of the 2,200 people, only 715 were able to escape. Almost 1,500 people tragically died. And now the most intriguing question arises: who is to blame for this tragedy? God? Shipbuilders? or not the professionalism of the ship's captain? But still, after numerous investigations, objective and subjective reasons for the death of the Titanic were collected, but we will talk about them a little later. First, we need to delve into these facts and analyze the broader reasons that influenced the outcome of events and the death of innocent people.
Those responsible for the sinking of the Titanic
Shipbuilders
Let's start, perhaps, with the shipbuilders, namely with the ship's hull itself. In 1994, a study was conducted with a piece of the plating of the sunken Titanic. The results were very disastrous, because... the plating was so thin that even the smallest piece of ice could have caused enormous damage to it, and if we take into account the huge Iceberg, the damage was not very great, thanks to the actions of the ship’s captain. The blow caused by the iceberg was tragic because the ship's hull hull contained phosphorus, which caused the hull to break at low temperatures. The inability of shipbuilders to create high-quality steel at that time, as well as ship designs, makes them also guilty of this tragedy. It was also known that the design of the Titanic included the use of necessary materials, but most of them were of poor quality or absent altogether. This is proven by the fact that some people made a lot of money from this and the shipbuilders may not be to blame for this.
Radio operators
Now about the equally important workers of the ship - the radio operators. In 1912, radio communication on the high seas was a novelty, and not every ship could install it. The point is that radio operators, not known reason were not part of the ship’s crew, but worked for the Marconi company, which was engaged in the transmission of paid messages in the form of Morse code. Currently they can be compared with SMS messages by phone.
Based on the surviving records, the radio operators managed to transmit on April 14, more than 250 radio telegrams, and the signals that came from other ships that were also sailing across the Atlantic were simply ignored by the radio operators, because. It was important for them to earn money. According to the records of the radio operators, which were not taken into account by them, it became known that the Titanic was notified of the danger with exact coordinates already from 20-00 on the evening of April 14. There were even messages sent personally to the captain, in which it was written about nearby icebergs, but the radio operators were too lazy to deliver this information to the captain and continued to send paid messages. But the entire crew of the ship was briefed in advance about possible glaciers, because... the route passed through them.
Iceberg
Video - Titanic. Mysteries of the death of the liner
As you can see, the Titanic was still able to sink, and not only for the above reasons, there are several more. Perhaps the most important of them is the lack of binoculars from the watching sailor, who was on the ship, but was locked in a safe, and the key was in the hands of the second mate. It was David Blair, who was removed from the flight for unknown reasons. He simply forgot to give this key to his replacement, so the lookout sailor could not see the danger. Having binoculars, trouble could be foreseen 6 km away, but without binoculars the sailor could notice it just 400 meters away. It was calm and the night was moonless. Even the weather conditions that night were against the ship, because... In any case, the light of the moon was able to reflect on the iceberg and give it away in advance.
It was also known that the iceberg was black, which means that it had turned upside down shortly before. It is possible that even under the moon the shine of the iceberg might not be noticeable, because... its white side was under water.
It is unclear that the senior officer did not notice the iceberg first, because... You can always see better on the bridge than from the sailor’s “eagle’s nest.”
About the maneuver
It should be clarified that the captain of the ship was not on the bridge at the time of the crash; he was replaced by first mate Murdoch. The results of the research indicate that the first officer gave the order “Left Handle” and immediately after that gave the order “Reverse”. But the second command was carried out late and the reverse was made after a collision with an iceberg. There is an opinion that if Murdoch had ordered the opposite, to increase the speed, then the turn of the ship would not have been smooth, but sharp. Perhaps the team’s experience let us down in this situation, because... they did not participate in testing the ship after launching, but to create a maneuver of such huge ship without preparation it is very difficult. Some believe that if the Titanic had not changed course, but had rammed the iceberg, it would have remained unharmed, because... the bow of the ship was protected and could, at most, only receive a small dent.
Having considered the expanded picture of the circumstances of that night, we should return to the objective and subjective reasons for the sinking of the Titanic.
Subjective reasons for the sinking of the Titanic
1. The rules of the British Merchant Shipping Code were outdated. They stated that lifeboats were placed on a ship depending on its tonnage, and not on the number of passengers. This means that there were not enough lifeboats on the Titanic, so about 500 more people were not saved.
2. There is information that the helmsman, at the command “Take to the left,” turned the steering wheel to the right.
3. The director of the company, J. Ismay, was sailing on board the ship, but he ordered the captain to sail further and not take any action so as not to incur losses. The captain complied with his order, but water entered the compartments at a speed of 350 tons per minute.
4. To date, there is no one left alive after the crash. Those who escaped died a natural death. The last passenger on the Titanic died in 2009. This was the woman who was on Titanic 5 summer child. Only she knew the real truth the death of the ship, which her family told her, but the secret died with her.
Objective reasons for the sinking of the Titanic
1. Due to the fact that the iceberg turned over, because. At that time it was melting, it was not visible from the ship.
2. The speed of the ship was very high. As a result, the blow was as strong as possible. The fault here lies solely with the captain of the ship.
3. Radio operators busy sending paid messages did not convey to the captain important information about danger. Considering that they were not part of the team, this does not relieve them of responsibility.
4. The steel of the Titanic was not at that time best quality. The pressure on it from low temperatures led it to fragility and brittleness. The shipbuilders are not to blame here, because... they carried out work with the raw materials that were purchased by the management of the shipbuilding company.
5. All compartments of the ship were fenced with iron doors, but the water pressure was so strong that they simply shattered into small pieces. Thus, compartment after compartment was filled with water.
6. The lookout did not have binoculars, which reduced the radius of his vision from the “eagle’s nest”.
7. The ship did not have red flares, the launch of which meant a signal of danger. As a result of this, white missiles were launched, which had no meaning for neighboring ships.
This article did not discuss the ships that came to the aid of the Titanic on that fateful night, but it is worth noting the fact that the closest ship that was near the Titanic was a ship with poachers who were hunting seals that night, but after seeing the launch white rockets, they thought that this was a signal that they needed to stop and the captain of this ship ordered his crew to sail as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. Perhaps, thanks to these poachers, if they had not swam away, a lot of people would have been saved more people, but there was no radio communication on their ship.
Thus, having analyzed the most truthful facts about how the Titanic sank, one can only guess which reason is still the most truthful.
The sinking of the Titanic scientific facts video
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1. 3 million rivets were used to build the Titanic, most of which were made by hand.
2. To launch the ship, it took 23 tons of fat, locomotive oil and liquid soap- for lubrication of gangway guides.
3. The designers considered the liner unsinkable. The double bottom and 16 watertight bulkheads were know-how for that time. However, the designers did not know how penetrating an iceberg could be.
4. On the Titanic there was not such a simple thing as binoculars. The captain fired his second mate Blair, and in retaliation he stole the keys to the safe, where the binoculars for the lookouts were kept.
5. The shipwreck happened on April 14, 1912. The events have been recreated down to the smallest detail. Since the morning, ten times, the crews of other liners transmitted reports that icebergs were already nearby, but the Titanic ignored these warnings. The last report arrived on the Titanic 40 minutes before the collision. But the Titanic's radio operator did not even listen to the message and interrupted the connection.
6. There were many celebrities of that time on the liner. Among them, for example, was millionaire and feminist Margaret Brown. She was famous for knowing five languages and swearing in them like a shoemaker. After the collision with the iceberg, Margaret helped put people on the boats, but she was in no hurry to leave the ship. Finally, someone forcefully pushed her into a boat and sent her out to sea. Having reached another ship, the Carpathia, Margaret immediately began looking for blankets and food for the victims, compiling lists of survivors, and collecting money. By the time the Carpathia arrived in port, she had raised $10,000 for the survivors.
7. Another famous Titanic passenger, businessman Benjamin Guggenheim, put his companion in a lifeboat. He convinced her that they would see each other soon, although he understood that the situation was hopeless. Together with the valet, he returned to the cabin and changed into a tailcoat, and then sat down at a table in the central hall and began to drink whiskey. When someone suggested that they still try to escape, Guggenheim replied: “We are dressed in accordance with our position and are ready to die like gentlemen.”
8. An outstanding ticket to the Titanic's launching ceremony went under the hammer at a London auction for $56,300. A menu from the ship with a list of 40 dishes was sold in New York for $31,300. Another similar menu in London cost £76,000. The keys to the ship's room, which contained lanterns for the lifeboats, were also preserved and were sold for £59,000.
9. The liner sank to the music. The orchestra stood on the deck until the last minute and played the church hymn “Closer, Lord, to Thee.”
10. Russian deep-sea submersibles "Mir" in 1991 and 1995 dived to the ship, which is now at a depth of 3.8 kilometers. Then the devices shot a video that was included in the notorious James Cameron film. This year, in honor of the centenary of the sinking of the liner, our submariners again promised to dive to the Titanic.
11. UNESCO waited a hundred years to declare the wreck of the Titanic a site. cultural heritage. For such cases they have a special convention. Now UNESCO will ensure that items from the Titanic do not go to uncultured divers.
12. Released in honor of the centenary, the film Titanic 3D has already collected an impressive amount of $17.4 million in the United States. James Cameron's 1997 Titanic was a phenomenal success and the box office was huge at that time: $1.8 billion. This record was broken only 12 years later by the film Avatar.
13. The ill-fated black iceberg, or rather its photograph, was found 90 years after the sinking of the Titanic. A few days after the tragedy, a certain Stefan Regorek from Bohemia sailed past the disaster site on another liner and photographed the iceberg. After a thorough examination, it was proven that the dents on the iceberg could well have been made by a ship. So the ice block was also damaged.
14. Jack Dawson, the hero of the very film that brought Cameron fame and fortune, - real character. True, Cameron later assured that he took the name out of thin air and that it was a coincidence. However, the real Jack Dawson was a coal miner on the Titanic. True, he was in love not with green-eyed Kate Winslet (she had not yet been born), but with the sister of his friend, who persuaded him to become a sailor. In the end, everyone died, of course.
15. Legends are still told about the Titanic. For example, lovers of mysticism point out that in 1898 the writer Morgan Robertson wrote the novel “Vanity” - about a huge transatlantic liner and its smug passengers. A lot of things coincide in the story: the name of the ship is “Titan” and even the collision with an iceberg on a cold April night.
16. Another legend says that once every six years radio operators catch a ghost SOS signal from the Titanic on the air. This was first stated by the crew of the battleship Theodore Roosevelt in 1972. The radio operator delved into the archives and found notes from his colleagues that they too had received strange radio messages allegedly from the Titanic: in 1924, 1930, 1936 and 1942. In April 1996, the Canadian ship Quebec received an SOS signal from the Titanic.
17. Although official version says that the Titanic sank an iceberg, but not everyone believes it. For example, some claimed that the Titanic was sunk by a German torpedo fired by employees of the company that built the liner to collect insurance. However, this sounds unconvincing, considering how many company employees died on April 14, 1912.
18. The Titanic was not the only large liner of the White Star Line. The Olympic ship began construction at the same time as the Titanic. In 1911, when embarking on its 11th voyage, the Olympic collided with the English cruiser Hawk. The latter miraculously remained afloat, while the Olympic escaped with minor damage.
19. The younger brother of the Titanic, the ship Britannic, was supposed to be named Gigantic, but after the crash of the first liner, the builders decided to moderate their ambitions. Britannic was the most comfortable of the three ships: it had two hairdressers, a children's game room, gymnasium for second class passengers. Unfortunately, passengers did not have time to appreciate the advantages of the new liner. After the outbreak of war, she was converted into a hospital ship and soon hit a mine near Greece. True, most of the people on board were saved.
20. The last of the Titanic passengers died in 2009 at the age of 97. At the time of the shipwreck she was 2.5 months old.
To point 13.
Let me clarify: both the RMS Olympic and subsequent ships of the Titanic and Britannic series - transatlantic liners of the White Star Line had a unique design for their time: they could remain afloat if any 2 of the 16 waterproof compartments were flooded , any 3 of the first 5 compartments, or all 4 bow compartments in a row, starting from the forepeak.
Unfortunately, no one imagined that water would flow into six bow compartments at once and, as the trim on the bow increased, it would begin to overflow through the watertight bulkheads, because usually the above-mentioned ones do not reach the quarters of the masts and consistent flooding of the compartments would begin. It was not a warship...
To point 12.
And, for example: "Hans Hedtoft", January 7, 1959? SOS - January 7, 1959, around 02:00: "Encountered an iceberg. Position 59.5 north - 43.0 west." 02 "The engine room is flooded with water." 03 "We took a lot of water into the engine room." Approximately 05 "We are drowning and need immediate assistance." That's all... There were no rescued people, no bodies or debris found. 55 passengers and 39 crew members were killed.
For reference: "Hans Hedtoft": Danish cargo-passenger ship with a displacement of 3000 tons, second voyage on the line Greenland - continental ports. It was designed for navigation in ice (double the thickness of the sides in the ice belt, double bottom, 7 waterproof compartments, special reinforcement at the bow and stern ends).
To point 9.
According to the investigation, 37.5 seconds passed between the call from lookout Frederick Fleet (10/15/1887 - 01/10/1965) and the moment the iceberg touched down. During this time, the airliner traveled 1,316 feet and deviated from course by 23 degrees (109 feet/33.22 meters to the left of the original trajectory).
By the way. Frederick Fleet was found hanged on January 10, 1965, in his Norman Street garden. The coroner's report indicated that he had suffered from mental confusion, but acquaintances believed that it was all due to his depressive state, which began after the death of his wife, and was partly caused by the fact that Fleet never got rid of the guilt he felt for the deaths of the passengers . He was buried without any honors in a pauper's grave in Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton. There was not even a tombstone on his grave, and only in 1993 the Titanic Historical Society Inc. Using money from private donations, a memorial plaque with an engraving depicting the Titanic was installed. Another victim of the disaster, isn't it?
To point 8.
There was no "mirage". There was a “black” iceberg: when it turns over, the part that was previously in the water does not differ in color from the water. Especially on a moonless night. There was no rough sea at all, so there was no white strip of foam at the “waterline” of the iceberg either. And the lookouts didn’t have binoculars - historical fact. They just didn't see him...
To point 3.
Incorrect photo. It should have been signed like this: “The boats of the Titanic. In total, thirteen of them were found. And here they are at the 13th pier in New York, where this magnificent liner was supposed to arrive.”
...
This is a bit of a hobby of mine, in any case, I have assembled a normal library at different languages and am familiar with the documents of the official investigation. To begin with, I recommend: www.titanicinquiry.org - complete breakdowns of investigations in the States and Britain ( English language).
Therefore, let me make a value judgment that the Titanic was destroyed by the command “Stop the car - full reverse” (movement of McMaster Murdoch’s hand), which could not be carried out.
Alas, it only took more than 15 minutes to completely reverse the machines “from full forward to full reverse” (an investigative experiment at the Olympic and I won’t describe the features of steam engines) - while the airliner went through about 2 miles - about 3.7 km. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the features of the rudder group. Three propellers, one rudder blade, were driven by steam engines (reversible), the middle one - by a turbine (non-reversible). "The airliner actually lost control and, instead of circulating (in a circle with a diameter of 3850 feet), began to move in a spiral with an increasing radius tending to infinity. At the same time, if the command “Full speed ahead, full steam forward” had been given, then the on the turn course of 23 degrees, he would have been 8 seconds earlier and by the time of “37.5” he would have gone 92.6 meters to the left. True, there were nuances, like the rolling of the stern, usually solved by the “coordinate” maneuver (Vicki?), but. that's a completely different story...
Meanwhile. It has been documented that closer to midnight on April 14, 1912, there were only two oilers at the control post of the Titanic’s engines (according to the table of ranks, they were at the level of ordinary stokers, only those were trained to use a shovel, and these were trained to use an oil can). This is not surprising - after all, the previous command from the bridge was received more than three days ago...
Sorry, it was long, but I haven’t said everything yet...
On April 10, 1912, the Titanic liner set off from the port of Southampton on its first and last voyage, but 4 days later it collided with an iceberg. We know about the tragedy that claimed the lives of almost 1,496 people largely thanks to the film, but let's get acquainted with real stories passengers of the Titanic.
The real cream of society gathered on the passenger deck of the Titanic: millionaires, actors and writers. Not everyone could afford to buy a first class ticket - the price was $60,000 at current prices.
3rd class passengers bought tickets for only $35 ($650 today), so they were not allowed to go above the third deck. On the fateful night, the division into classes turned out to be more noticeable than ever...
Bruce Ismay was one of the first to jump into the lifeboat - CEO the White Star Line company, which owned the Titanic. The boat, designed for 40 people, set sail with only twelve.
After the disaster, Ismay was accused of boarding a rescue boat, bypassing women and children, and also of instructing the captain of the Titanic to increase speed, which led to the tragedy. The court acquitted him.
William Ernest Carter boarded the Titanic at Southampton with his wife Lucy and two children Lucy and William, as well as two dogs.
On the night of the disaster, he was at a party in the ship's restaurant. first class and After the collision, he and his comrades went out onto the deck, where the boats were already being prepared. William first put his daughter on boat No. 4, but when it was his son's turn, problems awaited them.
13-year-old John Rison boarded the boat directly in front of them, after which the officer in charge of boarding ordered that no teenage boys be taken on board. Lucy Carter resourcefully threw her hat on her 11-year-old son and sat down with him.
When the landing process was completed and the boat began to descend into the water, Carter himself quickly boarded it along with another passenger. It was he who turned out to be the already mentioned Bruce Ismay.
21-year-old Roberta Maoney worked as a maid to the Countess and sailed on the Titanic with her mistress in first class.
On board she met a brave young steward from the ship's crew, and soon the young people fell in love with each other. When the Titanic began to sink, the steward rushed to Roberta's cabin, took her to the boat deck and put her on the boat, giving her his life jacket.
He himself died, like many other crew members, and Roberta was picked up by the ship Carpathia, on which she sailed to New York. Only there, in her coat pocket, did she find a badge with a star, which at the moment of parting the steward put in her pocket as a souvenir of himself.
Emily Richards was sailing with her two young sons, mother, brother and sister to her husband. At the time of the disaster, the woman was sleeping in the cabin with her children. They were awakened by the screams of their mother, who ran into the cabin after the collision.
The Richards were miraculously able to climb into the descending lifeboat No. 4 through the window. When the Titanic completely sank, the passengers of her boat managed to pull seven more people out of the icy water, two of whom, unfortunately, soon died of frostbite.
The famous American businessman Isidor Strauss and his wife Ida traveled in first class. The Strauss had been married for 40 years and had never been separated.
When the ship's officer invited the family to board the boat, Isidore refused, deciding to give way to women and children, but Ida also followed him
Instead of themselves, the Strauss put their maid in the boat. Isidore's body was identified by wedding ring, Ida's body was not found.
The Titanic featured two orchestras: a quintet led by 33-year-old British violinist Wallace Hartley and an additional trio of musicians hired to give Café Parisien a continental flair.
Typically, two members of the Titanic orchestra worked in different parts of the liner and in different time, but on the night of the ship’s death, all of them united into one orchestra.
One of the rescued passengers of the Titanic would write later: “A lot was accomplished that night. heroic deeds, but none of them could compare with the feat of these several musicians, who played hour after hour, although the ship sank deeper and deeper, and the sea approached the place where they stood. The music they performed entitled them to be included in the list of heroes of eternal glory."
Hartley's body was found two weeks after the sinking of the Titanic and sent to England. A violin was tied to his chest - a gift from the bride. There were no survivors among the other orchestra members...
Four-year-old Michel and two-year-old Edmond traveled with their father, who died in the sinking, and were considered "orphans of the Titanic" until their mother was found in France.
Michel died in 2001, the last male survivor of the Titanic.
Winnie Coates was heading to New York with her two children. On the night of the disaster, she woke up from a strange noise, but decided to wait for orders from the crew. Her patience ran out, she rushed for a long time along the endless corridors of the ship, getting lost.
She was suddenly directed by a crew member towards the lifeboats. She ran into a broken closed gate, but it was at that moment that another officer appeared, who saved Winnie and her children by giving them his life jacket.
As a result, Vinny ended up on the deck, where she was boarding boat No. 2, which, literally by miracle, she managed to board..
Seven-year-old Eve Hart escaped the sinking Titanic with her mother, but her father died during the crash.
Helen Walker believes that she was conceived on the Titanic before it hit an iceberg. “This means a lot to me,” she admitted in an interview.
Her parents were 39-year-old Samuel Morley, the owner of a jewelry store in England, and 19-year-old Kate Phillips, one of his workers, who fled to America from the man's first wife, eager to start new life.
Kate got into the lifeboat, Samuel jumped into the water after her, but did not know how to swim and drowned. “Mom spent 8 hours in the lifeboat,” said Helen. “She was in only a nightgown, but one of the sailors gave her his jumper.”
Violet Constance Jessop. Before last moment The stewardess did not want to be hired on the Titanic, but her friends convinced her because they thought it would be a “wonderful experience.”
Before this, on October 20, 1910, Violette became a stewardess of the transatlantic liner Olympic, which a year later collided with a cruiser due to unsuccessful maneuvering, but the girl managed to escape.
And Violet escaped from the Titanic on a lifeboat. During the First World War, the girl went to work as a nurse, and in 1916 she got on board the Britannic, which... also sank! Two boats with a crew were pulled under the propeller of a sinking ship. 21 people died.
Among them could have been Violet, who was sailing in one of the broken boats, but again luck was on her side: she managed to jump out of the boat and survived.
Fireman Arthur John Priest also survived a shipwreck not only on the Titanic, but also on the Olympic and Britannic (by the way, all three ships were the brainchild of the same company). Priest has 5 shipwrecks to his name.
On April 21, 1912, the New York Times published the story of Edward and Ethel Bean, who sailed in second class on the Titanic. After the crash, Edward helped his wife into the boat. But when the boat had already sailed, he saw that it was half empty and rushed into the water. Ethel pulled her husband into the boat.
Among the Titanic's passengers were the famous tennis player Carl Behr and his lover Helen Newsom. After the disaster, the athlete ran into the cabin and took the women to the boat deck.
The lovers were ready to say goodbye forever when the head of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, personally offered Behr a place on the boat. A year later, Carl and Helen got married and later became the parents of three children.
Edward John Smith - captain of the Titanic, who was very popular among both crew members and passengers. At 2.13 a.m., just 10 minutes before the ship's final dive, Smith returned to the captain's bridge, where he decided to meet his death.
Second Mate Charles Herbert Lightoller was one of the last to jump from the ship, miraculously avoiding being sucked into the ventilation shaft. He swam to collapsible boat B, which was floating upside down: the Titanic's pipe, which came off and fell into the sea next to him, drove the boat further from the sinking ship and allowed it to remain afloat.
American businessman Benjamin Guggenheim helped women and children into lifeboats during the crash. When asked to save himself, he replied: “We are dressed in our best clothes and are ready to die like gentlemen.”
Benjamin died at the age of 46, his body was never found.
Thomas Andrews - first class passenger, Irish businessman and shipbuilder, was the designer of the Titanic...
During the evacuation, Thomas helped passengers board lifeboats. Last time he was seen in the first class smoking room near the fireplace, where he was looking at a painting of Port Plymouth. His body was never found after the crash.
John Jacob and Madeleine Astor, a millionaire science fiction writer, and his young wife traveled first class. Madeleine escaped on lifeboat No. 4. John Jacob's body was recovered from the depths of the ocean 22 days after his death.
Colonel Archibald Gracie IV - American writer and an amateur historian who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Returning to New York, Gracie immediately began writing a book about his voyage.
It was she who became a real encyclopedia for historians and disaster researchers, thanks to its large number of names of stowaways and 1st class passengers remaining on the Titanic. Gracie's health was severely compromised by hypothermia and injuries, and he died at the end of 1912.
Margaret (Molly) Brown is an American socialite, philanthropist and activist. Survived. When panic arose on the Titanic, Molly put people into lifeboats, but she herself refused to get in.
“If the worst happens, I’ll swim out,” she said, until eventually someone forced her into lifeboat number 6, which made her famous.
After Molly organized the Titanic Survivors Fund.
Millvina Dean was the last surviving passenger of the Titanic: she died on May 31, 2009, aged 97, in a nursing home in Ashurst, Hampshire, on the 98th anniversary of the liner's launch. .
Her ashes were scattered on October 24, 2009 at the port of Southampton, where the Titanic began its first and last voyage. At the time of the death of the liner she was two and a half months old
The Titanic was a great ship brought to its knees by an iceberg. This is a ship that few people on Earth have not heard of - a fairy tale from life, retold to subsequent generations so that we can learn a lesson from this incident. Don't set the bar too high or you may get hurt. Although we all know about the Titanic tragedy, there are many small amazing facts about the great ship, which not everyone knows about. And, as in other tragedies of mankind, the facts show not only the cynical side, but also the respect and compassion of people. Below are ten little-known and surprising facts about the Titanic...
1.The silent film star survived and profited from the tragedy
Dorothy Gibson was widely known in her time. The silent film star, along with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, was a first class passenger on the Titanic. She became popular for her comedic roles in Miss Pretender (1911) and Love Will Do (1912). But unlike the 1,502 people who died on the ship, Gibson survived and told her story. And she not only told, but also starred in her story in leading role. Filming for "Survivors of the Titanic" began just 5 days after the Titanic sank. It was an incredibly successful silent film and the first of many hits about the Titanic (though the film was destroyed in a fire in 1914). Gibson even wore the same clothes she was wearing on the ship at the time of the tragedy - a dress, sweater, gloves and black pumps.
Over time, the shadow of the 20th century, of course, covered Gibson. After a relatively short film career, she moved to Europe. Although she was initially a fascist supporter, by 1944 she had renounced the Third Reich. Her subsequent arrest by the Nazis and brief imprisonment in San Vittore led to her death two years later, at the age of 56, from a heart attack.
2.The captain of the ship is not used to steering ships
At the time of the Titanic's departure, Captain Edward John Smith had already spent 37 years on ships, and planned to retire after the end of the Titanic's voyage. He worked for the White Star Line for 28 years, but in truth, Smith was not best choice to manage the court. Smith spent most of his career operating sailing ships, and only occasionally had to deal with steamships. At the age of 62 old sailor could no longer learn anything new, and his lack of experience became apparent the moment he ordered the team to save maximum speed in an area known for its icebergs... and we all know how that ended. To his credit, the captain did not abandon his ship, but his final hours on board remain a mystery. Many eyewitnesses say that the captain lost confidence in himself and was deeply shocked by the situation.
3.Women, children and... dogs are the first to be saved
It is well known that not only were there not enough lifeboats on the Titanic to save all the passengers, but those that were available were not full enough when they were launched (the first lifeboat in this case was irrationally used - it contained only seven crew members and five passengers, a total of 12 people, although it could have accommodated about 40 people). However, a little known fact is that among the 713 survivors, there were also three dogs - two Pomeranians and one Pekingese. Twelve dogs were passengers on the ship, but only three of them were saved by lifeboats.
4.B nearby ships could have saved hundreds of passengers
While the Titanic was sinking, standard distress signals were sent out. But no one answered them until it was too late. Few people know that someone could respond to these signals. Namely, the captain of the ship Californian (SS Californian). The Californian was only 15-25 kilometers from the Titanic's wreck, but his crew did not respond to the mysterious lights in the night sky (which were flares launched from the Titanic). A member of the Californian crew woke up the captain, but he went back to sleep, citing the fact that the radio operator was already resting after his watch (the reason why distress signals were not heard on the ship).
Another ship, Samson, a 250 ton Norwegian schooner, was even closer to the wreck site - only 8-12 kilometers. However, some believe that Samson would not have responded to the signals, whatever they were, for a simple reason - they were engaged in illegal fishing. Both ships were closer than the Carpathia, the ship that later rescued Titanic survivors.
5.Conditions on the ship were far from luxurious
Even though they were surrounded by water, there was not enough water on the ship itself. Long before the days of high-pressure showers, people had to use good old-fashioned bathtubs. And although sharing a bath with others was something common in those days, third class passengers shared two baths - one for men, the other for women, for 700 people. Yes, you heard right. 700 people for two baths. It was not very easy to wait for our turn.
6. A true hero
Captain Second Rank Charles Herbert Lightoller was the most senior officer to survive the sinking of the Titanic. Lightoller took command of the capsized rescue boat, quelled panic and commanded the boat's thirty survivors, ensuring their safe passage aboard the rescue ship Carpathia. Lightoller was not only the hero of the Titanic. He served in the British naval forces during the First and Second World Wars and took part in the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk.
On the other hand, Douglas Spedden was only 6 years old when his nanny took him from the Titanic to a rescue boat. Although the boy survived, he died just three years later. He was hit by a car in one of the first road accidents in Maine, USA.
7. "Please accept our condolences for the tragic death your son, here's the bill for you"
According to legend, all eight members of the Titanic's men's band died in the shipwreck while still playing their instruments. However, only three bodies of musicians were found, including John Hume Law. Just two weeks after the tragic events, Lowe's father received a shocking bill from C.W. & F.N. Black, an employment service based in Liverpool, England, which hired the orchestra. The bill was for 5 shillings and 4 pence - the price of Lowe's son's uniform. By contrast, a month after the shipwreck, a concert was held in honor of the fallen musicians at the Apollo Club in Brooklyn, New York. The proceeds were transferred to the families of the victims.
8.The Titanic may be widely known now, but at that time few people knew about it.
Contrary to what we are shown in the films, White Star Line never claimed that the Titanic was “unsinkable.” In fact, apparently, no one cared before the Titanic's maiden voyage. Olympic, Titanic's twin brother, attracted much more attention when she sailed from Southampton to New York in 1911. In fact, there is not even footage of the Titanic leaving the shores of Great Britain, and when news outlets realized that they had no photographs to report on the tragedy, they had to use images of the Olympic and erase its name.
9.The Titanic was used by the Nazis as a PR stunt
Some thirty years after the sinking of the Titanic, the propaganda wing of the National Socialist German workers' party released the Nazi Titanic, created by none other than propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. In a strange interpretation of the facts, the Nazi Titanic tells the story of a ship attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean in record time in order to boost the White Star Line's stock price. While in reality lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee, both Englishmen, spotted the iceberg, in the Nazi Titanic the man who could have saved the ship from disaster was, of course, a German officer whose warning was ignored.
Next, in real life J Bruce Ismay (English), chairman and managing director of the White Star Line, was condemned in the international press for taking one of the lifeboats for himself. In Goebbels's retelling, he was able to exaggerate even this, portraying Ismay as a Jewish businessman who forced the captain (a German, of course) to ram an iceberg and actually killed everyone on board (in James Cameron's 1997 film, Ismay did the same).
Ismay's story is one of the most distorted stories in all film versions of the event. The real Ismay was not such a selfish person as he was shown. A 1912 investigation by the British Chambers of Commerce, led by Lord Mersey, concluded that Ismay had actually helped other passengers before he rescued himself in the last lifeboat. This dislike for Ismay appears to be due to the fact that he was the highest-ranking White Star of the 713 survivors.
10.One key could save thousands of lives
What does the lookout need most? Not only good vision, but also good binoculars. And this is what forward lookouts Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee should have had. When second mate David Blair was kicked out of command a few days before the ship set sail, he forgot to give his more experienced replacement, Henry Wilde, the senior officer of the Olympic, the key to the safe in which the binoculars.
To top it all off, when Fleet, a survivor of the shipwreck, gave his testimony at official investigation, he said that if the lookouts had binoculars, they would have noticed the iceberg much earlier and, most likely, would have been able to save the ship from tragedy.
