Two weeks from now, the Titanic disaster happened, 95 years ago! So I hope to post continually that day so you can get a feel of how the day of April 14, 1912 went, and everything that happened. I'll start that morning with how things may have gone, different things and comments that passengers said, then moving on into the afternoon and the ice-warnings that the wireless operators got, and what happened to them! Then go into late afternoon, and the last meal on the Titanic, and people going to bed, and different things that took place. Then finally the tragic night of April 14, the collision, orders on the bridge, inspection of the ship after impact, lifeboats being lowered, brave men standing back, and the cowardliness of some men, things that happened on the boat deck, {were shots really fired to keep men from getting into boats???} the fate of the crew below, and the ill fated band, Titanic's final moments in the frigid waters of the icy Atlantic, and then rescue.
So I ask as much as possible on the 14, of April 2007, check my blog all day to find out what happened that fateful day!!!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Living A Dream
Finally! The Titanic was ready for her maiden voyage. Wednesday, April 10th 1912, was a very exciting day for Joseph Bruce Ismay. Finally, after five years of waiting, and then waiting some more, the Titanic was ready! Ismay and the chief designer of the Titanic, Thomas Andrews, would accompany the Titanic.Over the course of five years, Lord Pierre had aged dramatically; he was a sick old man. He had a tumor in his left eye, which would need surgery. He would not be able to make the Titanic’s maiden voyage, to his major disappointment.
Ismay had undoubtedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean many, many times. But this time it would be different! For the first time in his life he was living a dream, not that this was the first ship he had built, but this ship, the Titanic, was his own invention, a ship of his own making.Maybe some of us have had a chance to live our dreams, if you have, you might know what Ismay was experiencing. A sense of fulfillment! A sense of achievement! A sense of arrival! And possibly a sense of excellence!
Ismay would only have four days to live his dream. Four days, only four days. This magnificent ship would only have four days to prove her self-worthiness on the sea. To be the Queen of the Seas. Ismay’s pride in the matter affected more than just him. It affected the Titanic’s passengers, it affected the crew, and it definitely affected the White Star Line. It affected the world by being the first news to be worldwide.
Once the Titanic departed from the coast of Ireland, she would never see land again. For some on board, it would be the last time they viewed solid ground. As the huge liner swept past the Irish coast and progressed farther and farther away; until she was a mere speck, and then vanishing completely, the world would never set eyes upon her again. Titanic had a short and sad life, and the life that she did have was rushed to keep up with schedules, regulations and dates. It was almost as if she was built to sink.
Once the Titanic was on sea, she became a world of her own, at least to the passengers. Each class of passengers enjoying their own different luxuries their class afforded them. Titanic was also making excellent speed, much to her owner’s approval. From the time she left Queenstown, she was making more and more speed every day. Finally, on Sunday, April 14, 1912, she made 75 revolutions a minute, and covered 549 miles. But Monday the 15th was going to be the final test; she was going to attempt about 24 ½ knots compared to 22 knots on Sunday, putting Titanic at full speed, at Ismay’s request…
Ismay had undoubtedly crossed the Atlantic Ocean many, many times. But this time it would be different! For the first time in his life he was living a dream, not that this was the first ship he had built, but this ship, the Titanic, was his own invention, a ship of his own making.Maybe some of us have had a chance to live our dreams, if you have, you might know what Ismay was experiencing. A sense of fulfillment! A sense of achievement! A sense of arrival! And possibly a sense of excellence!
Ismay would only have four days to live his dream. Four days, only four days. This magnificent ship would only have four days to prove her self-worthiness on the sea. To be the Queen of the Seas. Ismay’s pride in the matter affected more than just him. It affected the Titanic’s passengers, it affected the crew, and it definitely affected the White Star Line. It affected the world by being the first news to be worldwide.
Once the Titanic departed from the coast of Ireland, she would never see land again. For some on board, it would be the last time they viewed solid ground. As the huge liner swept past the Irish coast and progressed farther and farther away; until she was a mere speck, and then vanishing completely, the world would never set eyes upon her again. Titanic had a short and sad life, and the life that she did have was rushed to keep up with schedules, regulations and dates. It was almost as if she was built to sink.
Once the Titanic was on sea, she became a world of her own, at least to the passengers. Each class of passengers enjoying their own different luxuries their class afforded them. Titanic was also making excellent speed, much to her owner’s approval. From the time she left Queenstown, she was making more and more speed every day. Finally, on Sunday, April 14, 1912, she made 75 revolutions a minute, and covered 549 miles. But Monday the 15th was going to be the final test; she was going to attempt about 24 ½ knots compared to 22 knots on Sunday, putting Titanic at full speed, at Ismay’s request…
Monday, March 19, 2007
Titanic's Chief Officer
Henry Tingle Wilde was not a man given to flights of fancy.
A tall powerfully built man, just 38, had worked up from the ranks from apprentice to chief officer, in May 1911. The White Star Line held him in high regard, and captain Smith valued his experience and skill.
He was 39 at the time of the disaster.
He was born in Liverpool, England and his residence in 1912 was also in Liverpool, England.
He made 25.00.00 [in English pounds] a month.
Smith requested Wilde for this maiden voyage because of his experience at sea.
He was born September 21, 1872. Nothing is known about his childhood, parents, or upbringing.
At the captain’s request, Wilde’s addition to the ship’s officers bumped everyone else down a notch, completely bumping David Blair off the ship’s roll.
Chief officer Henry Tingle Wilde did not survive the Titanic’s sinking! This is part of a book I wrote on the Titanic!!!
A tall powerfully built man, just 38, had worked up from the ranks from apprentice to chief officer, in May 1911. The White Star Line held him in high regard, and captain Smith valued his experience and skill.
He was 39 at the time of the disaster.
He was born in Liverpool, England and his residence in 1912 was also in Liverpool, England.
He made 25.00.00 [in English pounds] a month.
Smith requested Wilde for this maiden voyage because of his experience at sea.
He was born September 21, 1872. Nothing is known about his childhood, parents, or upbringing.
At the captain’s request, Wilde’s addition to the ship’s officers bumped everyone else down a notch, completely bumping David Blair off the ship’s roll.
Chief officer Henry Tingle Wilde did not survive the Titanic’s sinking! This is part of a book I wrote on the Titanic!!!
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Heavy Duty Power
Let us talk a bit about what pushed a 66,000 ton ship through the Atlantic swell. The Titanic was 92 feet wide, 883 feet long, 175 feet from the keel to the funnels, and 30 feet of that was under the water. She weighed in at 66,000 tons of steel and iron, massive weight, massive length, and massive width. What would it take to push this mass of steel through water? The answer, some heavy duty power...
The Titanic had two reciprocating engines, to go into a little more detail, they were reciprocating, four cylinder, triple expansion, direct acting inverted engines. And there were two of them, they drove the side propellers. How much horsepower? 30,000 hp for one of these engines, 30,000 hp driving one propeller, that's impressive. I'm not an engineer, but I'll explain as best as I can how they work... first steam from the boilers is fed through pipes till they reach the engines, then the steam is fed into the cylinders at very high pressure, such as 2,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, this high pressure steam forces a shaft to turn, and in the end of that shaft, is a propeller. And where did all that excess steam go? Continue reading! I'm sure a mechanic could explain it better, but that will have to do.
Altogether, 60,000 hp with just these and were not done yet...
The Titanic was also equipped with a low pressure, Parsons turbine that drove the center propeller, this engine created 16,000 hp. This third engine would allow the Titanic's cruising speed to be brought up to 23-24 knots, which is about 27 miles per hour!!!
These engines were simply Titanic! They were as tall as a three story building. Our church is two story in the back, so just imagine these engines towering above that, about 8 feet.
So Titanic's total hp was 76,000 hp, that's a whole lot of horses. Think of it like this, chain 76,000 horse's to the Titanic and let them pull their hearts out, it's hard for me to conceive of 76,000 horses in one spot at the same time, but that's what is couped up in these massive engines.
Propellers are not the only things that the engines powered, they sent power to generaters to give power to the Marconi wireless, to all the lights and heaters.
I guess for a behemoth ship you need huge engines!
The Titanic's engines preformed well for the short time they were needed. On the night of April 14th 1912, the Titanic's engines were pumping at almost full speed, speeding through a known ice field. When first officer Murdoch put the engines "full astern",what he was really doing was slamming the brakes on the biggest liner the world had ever seen, and more than that, he threw it in reverse, one second these engines are spinning one way at full speed, and then in another second they're supposed to be spinning in the other direction. You can imagine the stress they were under. I have had the opportunity to be in a vehicle going 70 miles per hour when it was thrown into reverse, it's a pretty chilling experience. This had worse effects than putting the engines under stress, if Murdoch would not of put the engines in reverse, she may not of hit the iceberg at all, and I'll explain! The rudder of a ship and the propellers are situated in the back, the propellers are right under the rudder, ok, if you're traveling at a high rate of speed and you turn the rudder hard over and put the engines in reverse, you will lose the flow of water around the rudder. Because you have a mass moving in one direction, and you have propellers spinning to make it go the other direction, you create a stillness of water around the rudder, if he would not have put the engines in reverse, the water would have flowed freely around the rudder, and thus turned more quickly!!! It was a fatal mistake, and one that should not have been made by an officer!
The Titanic had two reciprocating engines, to go into a little more detail, they were reciprocating, four cylinder, triple expansion, direct acting inverted engines. And there were two of them, they drove the side propellers. How much horsepower? 30,000 hp for one of these engines, 30,000 hp driving one propeller, that's impressive. I'm not an engineer, but I'll explain as best as I can how they work... first steam from the boilers is fed through pipes till they reach the engines, then the steam is fed into the cylinders at very high pressure, such as 2,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, this high pressure steam forces a shaft to turn, and in the end of that shaft, is a propeller. And where did all that excess steam go? Continue reading! I'm sure a mechanic could explain it better, but that will have to do.
Altogether, 60,000 hp with just these and were not done yet...
The Titanic was also equipped with a low pressure, Parsons turbine that drove the center propeller, this engine created 16,000 hp. This third engine would allow the Titanic's cruising speed to be brought up to 23-24 knots, which is about 27 miles per hour!!!
These engines were simply Titanic! They were as tall as a three story building. Our church is two story in the back, so just imagine these engines towering above that, about 8 feet.So Titanic's total hp was 76,000 hp, that's a whole lot of horses. Think of it like this, chain 76,000 horse's to the Titanic and let them pull their hearts out, it's hard for me to conceive of 76,000 horses in one spot at the same time, but that's what is couped up in these massive engines.
Propellers are not the only things that the engines powered, they sent power to generaters to give power to the Marconi wireless, to all the lights and heaters.
I guess for a behemoth ship you need huge engines!
The Titanic's engines preformed well for the short time they were needed. On the night of April 14th 1912, the Titanic's engines were pumping at almost full speed, speeding through a known ice field. When first officer Murdoch put the engines "full astern",what he was really doing was slamming the brakes on the biggest liner the world had ever seen, and more than that, he threw it in reverse, one second these engines are spinning one way at full speed, and then in another second they're supposed to be spinning in the other direction. You can imagine the stress they were under. I have had the opportunity to be in a vehicle going 70 miles per hour when it was thrown into reverse, it's a pretty chilling experience. This had worse effects than putting the engines under stress, if Murdoch would not of put the engines in reverse, she may not of hit the iceberg at all, and I'll explain! The rudder of a ship and the propellers are situated in the back, the propellers are right under the rudder, ok, if you're traveling at a high rate of speed and you turn the rudder hard over and put the engines in reverse, you will lose the flow of water around the rudder. Because you have a mass moving in one direction, and you have propellers spinning to make it go the other direction, you create a stillness of water around the rudder, if he would not have put the engines in reverse, the water would have flowed freely around the rudder, and thus turned more quickly!!! It was a fatal mistake, and one that should not have been made by an officer!
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