My god that's a big ship...

[Krissy Phaserman 0]

I was watching the Titanic specials on the Discovery channel last night, and I was surprised at how massive RMS Titanic really was. She was built in the early 1900s, so I figured "Okay, large for her day. What? 500, 600 feet long, maybe 50 or 60 abeam?" I was off by a lot. According towww.rmstitanic.net, She measured 882 feet, 8 inches long, 92 feet, 6 inches abeam, and she was designed to draw 34 feet, 7 inches of water, displacing 52,310 tons. Compare her to the second most famous British vessel to come out of the first quarter of the 20th Century, HMS Hood. Titanic is 21 feet, 11 inches longer than Hood, though hood is wider by about 12 feet, 8 inches or so. Titanic also outdisplaces Hood in her original form, by nearly 6,000 tons. Titanic was huge. I almost didn't believe it. I didn't think they could build ships quite that big in the time she was built.

[Odie 0]

I have always believed Titanic to be a very large ship. Building large ship like the Titanic was well in there means since the early 19th century. I was following the ship since she was discovered in the 80's.

[Kor37 9]

Being a member of The Titanic Historical Society, you touch upon a subject near and dear to my heart. The Titanic and her two sister ships, The Olympic and The Britainic ,were indeed by far the largest ships of their time. I have many pics of the Titanic that show how she dwarfed most of the ships of her day. In fact, one of the main problems of her size was that there were very few ports that had a slip large enough to accomidate her. The Olympic was the first ship of the class and New York had to build a special dock just for her. The Titanic would have used the same dock had she actually made it to New York. Titanic's first stop on her voyage was at Cherbourgh, France. Titanic had to drop anchor some distance away from the dock because it was too small. Passengers and cargo had to be ferried out to her.

 

Another interesting Titanic story relating to her size is that when Titanic first left the dock at Southhampton, England, her draft was so large that the mooring lines to another ship, The New York snapped causing the New York to drift toward Titanic. A collision was missed by inches.

 

Titanic's sister ship, The Olympic, also had an episode relating to her size. During the first World War, she was used as a troop carrier. On one of her crossings, Olympic came across a German U-Boat. There was no time to avoid it so Olympic just ran right into and over the sub, sinking it in the process.

[trekz 7]

Wow, Kor, how long, if I may ask, have you belonged to the Titanic Historical Society? I've always been fascinated with the Titanic, and my interest was reawakened when the expedition of Robert Ballard rediscovered the remains of the Titanic. I would love to visit the Museum in Halifax and have been fortunate enough to see one smaller exhibit at Cobn (pronounced Cove) and then called Queenstown, in Ireland, at the Immigration Museum, which is near the point where the Titanic made its last port call before tragedy struck.

 

I came across a site dealing with the metalurgy of the Titanic, that talks about weaknesses of the processes then used for constructing the hull for a ship designed to sail in the cold waters of the North Atlantic and how the cold water could have affected the metal over time. Very interesting.

Edited April 16, 2006 by trekz

[LoveMalePecs1 0]

I saw also one of the Discovery Channels specials about The Titanic but late Sunday evening while watching tv but it was more about the Building of the ship itself and how many of those that helped build it lost there lives on the Maiden Voyage ( the Captain was going to retire shortly after landing in New York)but alas also went down with the ship (as many know from the film version).

[Krissy Phaserman 0]

The fate of a Captain and his ship are often one and the same.

[Kor37 9]

Wow, Kor, how long, if I may ask, have you belonged to the Titanic Historical Society?

 

I've been a member for over 20 years. I've always been facinated with the Titanic ever since I saw the movie "A Night To Remember" many years ago. The Society has a great convention every year and also sponsors trips to Titanic sites. If you are interested, go to www.titanic1.org.

 

I saw also one of the Discovery Channels specials about The Titanic but late Sunday evening while watching tv but it was more about the Building of the ship itself and how many of those that helped build it lost there lives on the Maiden Voyage

 

Titanic was built in Belfast. When she went down, there was hardly any families that didn't lose at least one relative. It devestated the entire city. Interestingly, the Harland & Wolfe shipyard, who built the Titanic, just went out of business last year. Its a real tragedy that all of those historic buildings are in the process of being demolished.

 

I came across a site dealing with the metalurgy of the Titanic, that talks about weaknesses of the processes then used for constructing the hull for a ship designed to sail in the cold waters of the North Atlantic and how the cold water could have affected the metal over time. Very interesting.

 

There has been some speculation that the weakness of the metal used to build the Titanic may have contributed to its sinking. This is BS. The steel used in the Titanic was the highest grade of its time. Its not nearly as strong as the steel used today but for its time it was the best.

Edited April 16, 2006 by Kor37

[trekz 7]

The Society has a great convention every year and also sponsors trips to Titanic sites. If you are interested, go to www.titanic1.org.

 

Titanic was built in Belfast. Interestingly, the Harland & Wolfe shipyard, who built the Titanic, just went out of business last year. Its a real tragedy that all of those historic buildings are in the process of being demolished.

 

I came across a site dealing with the metalurgy of the Titanic, that talks about weaknesses of the processes then used for constructing the hull for a ship designed to sail in the cold waters of the North Atlantic and how the cold water could have affected the metal over time. Very interesting.

 

There has been some speculation that the weakness of the metal used to build the Titanic may have contributed to its sinking. This is BS. The steel used in the Titanic was the highest grade of its time. Its not nearly as strong as the steel used today but for its time it was the best.

Thanks for the webiste info! What are they building in the place of the shipyard buildings?

 

I agree that it doesn't seem likely that the metal was a factor. Not on the maiden voyage. From what I've read, they tried to avoid the iceberg but couldn't avoid it in time. With today's improved detection technology, they quite likely would have avoided the tragedy, but they didn't have those advantages.

[Krissy Phaserman 0]

Well, the problem was how they tried it. Hard to starboard, full reverese. Actually, the correct idea would be hard over away from the object, and all ahead FULL, so the engines are pushing you through the turn, away from the object.

[Kor37 9]

From what I've read, they tried to avoid the iceberg but couldn't avoid it in time. With today's improved detection technology, they quite likely would have avoided the tragedy, but they didn't have those advantages

 

One of the dumbest reasons they didn't see the iceberg in time is because the binoculars for the crow's nest were accidently locked in a locker and nobody knew where the key was.... The lookouts were up there with no equipment other than their eyes!

 

Although nobody in their right mind would have thought of doing this, but had the Titanic plowed straight into the iceberg instead of trying to avoid it, it would have survived. The front of the ship would have crumpled but it would have stayed afloat.

[Krissy Phaserman 0]

You'd need a crazy skipper to try that kind of menuever, Kor. You'd have alot of injured passengers, but I suppose that's better than alot of dead passengers.

[Kor37 9]

I just got the latest issue of the Titanic Commutator. Thats the quarterly magazine you get when you join the Titanic Historical Society. The big news is that explorers have found large sections of Titanic's double bottom. How this has eluded them for the past 20 years is beyond me. It was found in a separate debris field some distance from the stern. This has completely changed the belief of how the ship went down in its final moments. Conventional belief in the past (and depicted as such in the movie) is that Titanic broke completely in two just underneath the surface. At this point the stern section rose up in the air and then slammed down again only to slowly rise up again a few minutes later before taking its final plunge. After examining the pieces of Titanic's double bottom, the new theory is as follows. When Titanic broke in two, it did not break completely in two right away. The pieces of the double bottom were still barely attached. When those pieces finally did break off, the stern section only rose about 30 degrees. It sat there for awhile until it finally rose up and took its final plunge. This is consistant with survivor accounts that said that there were no waves at all when Titanic went down. If the stern section rose up and then splashed down again, it would have created a huge wave.

[Data 0]

From what I've read, they tried to avoid the iceberg but couldn't avoid it in time. With today's improved detection technology, they quite likely would have avoided the tragedy, but they didn't have those advantages

 

One of the dumbest reasons they didn't see the iceberg in time is because the binoculars for the crow's nest were accidently locked in a locker and nobody knew where the key was.... The lookouts were up there with no equipment other than their eyes!

 

Although nobody in their right mind would have thought of doing this, but had the Titanic plowed straight into the iceberg instead of trying to avoid it, it would have survived. The front of the ship would have crumpled but it would have stayed afloat.

 

 

The sad thing about the whole thing is that the ship did not steer very well. Your last point was brought up in the Discovery show.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

[Kor37 9]

The last US survivor of the Titanic has died. Lillian Asplund died in her sleep. She was 99 years old. She was 5 years old at the time of the disaster. She is the last survivor to actually have any memories of the disaster. The 2 remaining survivors were just infants at the time. Taking the advise of her mother, Ms. Asplund never talked about the tragedy other than saying she remembers watching the ship sink. She refused many offers of money for telling her story. I respect her decision not to talk but it was truly a loss for appreciators of history.

[Charface 0]

My current fascination is with the Freedom of the Seas ship.

 

It's maiden voyage was just a week or so ago, and it's sister ship is currently being built.

 

I would love to get lost on this thing.

[Kor37 9]

The only problem I have with current cruise ships is that they look like floating hotels. I miss the classic ship design of the old time liners.