Titanic Station

J. Bruce Ismay

2008-11-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

Me and my Dad had a short discussion last night about Ismay, and about how the choice me made shaped the rest of his life! So I though I would re-post this blog to give everybody something to think about.

Joseph Bruce, Ismay has received a lot of criticism over the past decades. Why? Because he got into a lifeboat when there were still women and children aboard. But is there any just foundation for this serious criticism? We'll look at the two sides of the story, 1. reasons for staying aboard, 2. reasons for getting on a lifeboat! Now this will be rather hard for me, since I already have an opinion of Ismay, but I will try to not let that come through..... you decide for yourself what he should have done!

1. First we'll look at the reasons that J. B. Ismay should have stayed aboard the sinking Titanic!
After the Titanic collided with an iceberg at about 11:45, it did not take long for John E. Smith to figure out there was not enough places for all the men, women and children in the lifeboats. So he gave the well known order, "women and children first." Now, did the Captain mean that there was no men to be allowed in the lifeboats? NO! The lifeboats needed officers, and sailors to make sure they were operated safely, and correctly. It was the spirit of the order that counted, if you did not have a legitimate reason for getting in a lifeboat, you had no place in one. Some fantastic men of measure did get off in a lifeboat, such as Harold Bride the wireless operator, Lightoller the Titanic's Second Officer, Archibald Gracie, Jack Thayer, and the list could go on.
Whats noticeable about these men, is they did not receive the criticism that Bruce, Ismay did, why is that?
Did Ismay have a responsibility to stay with the Titanic till she sank beneath the waves, like the Captain did? Lets look at some things that took place years earlier..... When the Titanic was still on blueprints the planning of how many lifeboats the Titanic would carry came up. The Titanic's designer at the time Andrew, Carlyle was pushing for 48 lifeboats which would have been enough for everyone one on board in case of a disaster. But there was one man standing in his way, John B. Ismay! When the rubber met the road Ismay said no, for various reasons. But when you get to the night of April 14, 1912 its a different story. Because of his choice, it puts him under some obligation to stay aboard and take whatever comes.
Here's possibly another reason that he should have stayed aboard. J. B. Ismay owned the White Star Line, which means he owned the Titanic. If a person owns something that is used for the public, and if fails in some way, and death follows, or injury, it seems that whoever owns it should take whatever other had to take as well. He was responsible for the passengers as well!
I guess one more thing that should have binded him to the Titanic in time of trouble, is the fact that there were still women and children on board, and he owed them all the safety that was in his power as a man. By giving up a spot in a lifeboat, and doing the courteous thing, and not to mention the polite thing!

2. It wouldn't be fair to explain one side of the story, so we'll make an argument for the opposite side. In this kind of situation we have to be fair, because Ismay is no longer around to speak for himself!
J. B. Ismay claims that there were no women in sight, and there are witness to back up the fact. Since that being true why should he stay on a sinking ship and face certain death? And if there was no women sight was he really breaking a rule? I think that if your standing on the side of a sinking ship, and there's an empty spot on a lifeboat, there are no women and children about, would we have the fortitude to remain on the ship? There are a lot of questions that come into play here, and what it comes down to is, was he doing something really out of the ordinary?
Why should he stay on a sinking ship if he could get off, and go back to his family, we can't really say that he had motives of the baser sort. He was the managing director of the White Star Line, he had a lot of responsibly back on shore.
Was there really a need to end his short life, just to make a name for himself?
And after all, you can't blame the entire construction of the ship on him, Thomas, Andrews obviously didn't have a problem with 20 lifeboats!
Just because countless men stayed aboard, doesn't mean that Ismay did if a opportunity presented himself.
To call this man a coward just because he got off a sinking ship, doesn't seem right! What would you have done in his position?

Titanic’s Departure

2008-10-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

Sailing day! On Wednesday April 10th, 1912, the Titanic would depart from Southampton to Cherbourg, then from Cherbourg to Queenstown, stopping at these places to pick up passengers and mail. Then from these different places to New York.
We can only imagine the excitement of the owners and the officers about to take the biggest ship in the world across the Atlantic for the first time. Lord Pierre would not be able to make this trip because of poor health. J.B. Ismay would go in his place, with the chief designer, Thomas Andrews.
The passengers were amazed at the size and luxury of the Titanic, one person said “we were just dazzled when we got on this big lovely boat, it seemed like a floating palace.” Third class accommodations were the same as second class aboard other ships, and second class was just as nice, if not nicer than first class on other ships, and first class was equal to the best hotels of the day. It was a class of it’s own, nothing else could compare to it.
Like the Olympic, the Titanic had carpet in most first class rooms, but one passenger who had sailed on the Olympic, and sailed on the Titanic’s first voyage said “the Olympic had fine carpet, but the Titanic ahhh, you sank up to your knees in it.”
Leaving Southampton and rounding a bend, the Titanic was traveling at a slow speed when she went by the New York (a small steamer) tied to her moors. The suction from the Titanic went by the liner and snapped the thick ropes like dry vines, whipping them into the face of the crowed that had gathered for the occasion. As the New York pulled closer, Captain Smith ordered astern all engines hoping to push the smaller liner away, but she was too close. Collision mats were hung over the side of the Titanic to soften any collision that might happen. Two tugs (Samson and Hercules) were able to hold the New York back. This misfortune caused the Titanic’s progress to be pushed back by an hour. This also caused commotion with the passengers. Would these new leviathans be too big to handle? Were they a hazard to other ships? This was the second time that Captain Smith had been on the bridge something like this had occurred.
Some said it was a bad omen for the ship!
When she was sailing down a river in Southampton on her maiden voyage her suction was so powerful that a barge that had sunk a while back, was dragged by the Titanic for 800 yards under the water.
Everything else was uneventful leaving Queenstown with the total number of crew and passengers being 2,340 people.

Unknown to the passengers there was a coalbunker fire raging in No. 6 where hundreds of tons of coal were stored. When the coal was being stored, it was not wetted down properly and thus caught fire. The stokers worked in 4-hour shifts trying to get the fire under control, but to no avail. It was said that when they reached New York that the bunkers would have to be emptied out and have fireboats help put out the fire. Sadly enough, the fire was put out the night it sank.
On leaving Queenstown, the Titanic departed, never to see land again. She bid farewell to the land where she was born. As she sailed away, she would take many to their premature deaths.
Her maiden voyage had begun!

Yet, another dream

2008-10-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

The sinking of the Titanic has been a magnet to underwater ship-explorers. Even in 1912, after the Titanic sank, there was talk of trying to find her. They soon found out they really didn’t know where she was when she sank, nor how deep it was where she hit bottom.
But as the years went on, so did technology towards underwater exploration. Many different groups of people set out to find the great wreck, but all still came back empty-handed.
Not until July of 1985 did the American and French research team find the wreck. Once again the Titanic made world news, and once again she was in the spotlight. Now that the ship was found, it raised possibilities of going down in a small submarine that could withstand the deep-sea pressure. Exactly one year later, Bob Ballard and two other undersea explorers went, for the first time, down to the wreck. There was doubt in the minds of those going down to the wreck; they still didn’t know that the ship had broken in two. They didn’t know what to expect, what if all the rigging was intact, that would create a great hazard to maneuvering about the ship. Would the Titanic even be recognizable? Or would she be sitting perfect on the ocean floor?
As Bob Ballard and the other researchers reached the ocean floor, they tried to locate the Titanic. The submersible they were using, the Alvin, sprang a leak in her batteries. Now they only had a couple of minutes on the ocean bed and they had not seen the Titanic. Peering through the small portholes of the Alvin, a massive wall of black steel loomed up right in front of them, that was the only glimpse of the ship they got that time. The leak in the batteries would become critical if they didn’t surface.
Since that July in 1986, numerous dives have been made to the Titanic. Several people have spent more time with the Titanic underwater, than the Captain spent with her on the seas.
One thing is certain; the Titanic is in a state of complete devastation. The ship broke in two in between the third and fourth funnels; and all of those funnels are gone. In one square mile there are boilers, teacups, beds, tables, engines, wine bottles, suitcases, chairs, and the list could go on.
The beauty of the ship is now gone, her once proud hull glimmering in the bright sunlight, now is encrusted in rusting steel. Where her four behemoth funnels stood are now just gaping holes on top of the ship. Her once proud stern, the beauty of the ship, where at the end of Titanic’s short life, men and women alike met their fate, now lays almost unrecognizable due too the impact that she suffered when she hit the ocean floor.
There she will sit until countless ages have taken their toll on her, and there is nothing left but small piles of dust in the salty water.
Men will probably always go to her to seek just one more fact, something nobody else knows. Titanic may be sitting 2 ½ miles below the surface of the sea, but ask anyone what the most well known and famous shipwreck is, and they’ll tell you, it is the Titanic.
The Titanic will never be forgotten. She will always be alive in history.
Even though the Titanic is one among the many sea wrecks that litter the ocean floor, she still, to this day captivates the minds of underwater explorers, historians, and people like me. What more can be said? Titanic is still truly a great ship.

Titanic's Departure

2008-09-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Sailing day! On Wednesday April 10th, 1912, the Titanic would depart from Southampton to Cherbourg, then from Cherbourg to Queenstown, stopping at these places to pick up passengers and mail. Then from these different places to New York.
We can only imagine the excitement of the owners and the officers about to take the biggest ship in the world across the Atlantic for the first time. Lord Pierre would not be able to make this trip because of poor health. J.B. Ismay would go in his place, with the chief designer, Thomas Andrews.
The passengers were amazed at the size and luxury of the Titanic, one person said “we were just dazzled when we got on this big lovely boat, it seemed like a floating palace.” Third class accommodations were the same as second class aboard other ships, and second class was just as nice, if not nicer than first class on other ships, and first class was equal to the best hotels of the day. It was a class of it’s own, nothing else could compare to it.
Like the Olympic, the Titanic had carpet in most first class rooms, but one passenger who had sailed on the Olympic, and sailed on the Titanic’s first voyage said “the Olympic had fine carpet, but the Titanic ahhh, you sank up to your knees in it.”
Leaving Southampton and rounding a bend, the Titanic was traveling at a slow speed when she went by the New York (a small steamer) tied to her moors. The suction from the Titanic went by the liner and snapped the thick ropes like dry vines, whipping them into the face of the crowed that had gathered for the occasion. As the New York pulled closer, Captain Smith ordered astern all engines hoping to push the smaller liner away, but she was too close. Collision mats were hung over the side of the Titanic to soften any collision that might happen. Two tugs (Samson and Hercules) were able to hold the New York back. This misfortune caused the Titanic’s progress to be pushed back by an hour. This also caused commotion with the passengers. Would these new leviathans be too big to handle? Were they a hazard to other ships? This was the second time that Captain Smith had been on the bridge something like this had occurred.
Some said it was a bad omen for the ship!
When she was sailing down a river in Southampton on her maiden voyage the suction was so powerful that a barge that had sunk a while back, was dragged by the Titanic for 800 yards under the water.
Everything else was uneventful leaving Queenstown with the total number of crew and passengers being 2,340 people.

Unknown to the passengers there was a coalbunker fire raging in No. 6 where hundreds of tons of coal were stored. When the coal was being stored, it was not wetted down properly and thus caught fire. The stokers worked in 4-hour shifts trying to get the fire under control, but to no avail. It was said that when they reached New York that the bunkers would have to be emptied out and have fireboats help put out the fire. Sadly enough, the fire was put out the night it sank.
On leaving Queenstown, the Titanic departed, never to see land again. She bid farewell to the land where she was born. As she sailed away, she would take many to their premature deaths.
Her maiden voyage had begun!

Birth of a Legend

2008-08-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

In 1907, a limousine pulled up in front of a mansion. A man of medium height, with a dark mustache steps out of the car. He walked quickly up the walk, and up the steps to the entrance. As he enters, the butler quickly removes his long overcoat, and top hat. This man’s name is John Bruce Ismay; he is the president of the White Star Line.

Through the next years, the White Star Line would abound in profits. The shipping company also acquired new ships such as the Germanic, Teutonic, Majestic, Celtic, Cedric, Baltic, and Adriatic, all of these built in between 1875 and 1907. The Teutonic won the Blue Ribbon for being the fastest ship on the seas at the time.

In 1902 the International Mercantile Marine [IMM] took over many ship-lines, and Bruce Ismay wanted no part of it. But! He could not compete with it, so he joined it. So, by 1903 the White Star Line was part of a large American conglomerate, owned and directed by John Pierpont Morgan.

As John Bruce Ismay entered Lord Pierre’s home, he had something on his mind, something very serious. After formal greetings were made all around, Ismay was shown into the dining room. Ismay and Pierre had a long friendship, not just as partners in the struggle to be the best shipping-line and ship-builders, it was deeper than that, they had a true friendship that went beyond the expectations of the shipping world. After the elaborate dinner and dessert, they set around a small table discussing many different things that had been going on. It was then, when they were sitting there smoking cigars and drinking hot tea, that one of the most important discussions of the age took place. Sooner or later shipping came up; there was a major problem.

The Cunard Line, the rival shipping company had built two ships like the world had never seen. Not in size, or luxury, or beauty like the others, but in speed. These new liners, the Lusitania, and Mauritania, had set new speed records, they were faster than any other cruise ship in the world at the time. Pierre and Ismay were not concerned about speed, but these new ships were cutting into their profits. The White Star Line didn’t have a ship to challenge these new queens. Ismay begin to sketch something on a piece of paper, things were running through Ismay’s mind, a new ship! That’s what we need to compete with the Cunard Liners! It would have to be a ship of grand scale, something like the world had never seen, something that would put the Cunard shipping line back in their seats. Something that would overcome the elements, something that would attract the paying eye, something….something…… We will build a ship that has more luxuries than any other ship, we will build a ship that is indestructible, and we will build a ship like the world has ever seen. That was definitely the answer! A new class of ships!

But what will this cost people, it was simple, the same fixed rate. Which was cost +10%, something everybody could afford, from first class, to third class. This would not be unusual for the White Star Line. They had been more concerned with luxury more than speed for the last several years. On the other hand the Cunard Line was definitely more concerned with speed. Ismay didn’t want to compete with the speed of these new ships, he would lose. This was a battle that neither party could afford to lose. As Lord Pierre, and Ismay started discussing this new class of liners, what were they doing? They were planning on building something that would cause men to worship, something that they could make for themselves that they could see, and touch, something almost as big as God himself. We don’t know how spiritually inclined either of these men were, but the fact that when somebody came up with the term later on “no, not even God himself could sink this ship” Ismay didn’t have a problem with it.

As the evening drew on, Ismay took his leave. Back at his house, he must have been more excited than words could tell, it wasn’t every day you get to build and own the biggest ship in the world!

This class of liners would need to have names that would fit them properly. Until this moment they were known as ships 400, 401 and 402. The first to be named, was Olympic, after the Greeks. Such a name sounded fitting for such a ship! What would they call ship 401, the second in the group of three? What about the mighty Titans, rivals of the Olympians in the early days, surely this ship must be named TITANIC! Ship 402 would have a simple name, but fitting never the less, Gigantic.

On July 31, 1908, the order was put in at H&W for the new class of ships, R.M.S Olympic, and Titanic. Gigantic was ordered after Titanic and Olympic’s launch. As John Bruce Ismay signed the contract with Harland & Wolff, these ships would be built no matter what happened. When Ismay put his pen to the contract, he had untold joy in his heart, finally these new ships were becoming a reality. For over a year he had dreamed of this moment.

Speed up

2008-08-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

There are several contributors to the disaster on April 14th 1912. One was the complete disregard to 7 ice warnings that were received just days before the tragedy! There were only enough binoculars for the crew on the bridge, and not any for the lookouts in the crows nest. There were only lifeboats for half the stated capacity of the Titanic. Captain E.J. Smith was not at the bridge at the most critical part of the voyage. The so called watertight bulkheads only went up to E deck. That is not really water tight, but that's what got Titanic her nickname as unsinkable!
The list could go on and on... unfortunately! But I think the main cause was SPEED!
On the maiden voyage of a ship they usually didn't run the ships at full steam. They would give it a little time to let the engines settle in, let all the machinery get worked in, all this should take place on the maiden voyage! But that was not the case with Titanic. For the first couple of days 4 boilers had not been lit, and the engines were not running to their fullest capacity.
Captain Smith was prepared to make an easy voyage, he was in no hurry. He had crossed the Atlantic hundreds of times with a flawless record. Think about that!!!... This man had been a captain for 40 years, he had spent his whole life at sea... with a perfect safety record! That in and of itself is amazing. That is an incredibly long time doing something, and never mess up. He was a seasoned veteran of the Atlantic Ocean! He knew all the routes, dangers, currents, weather, he knew it all. In fact this was his last crossing as a captain, he had served 40 years with the White Star Line, and was going to retire. It would have been a indescribable career of success! John Edward Smith was the one chosen to captain the Titanic on her maiden voyage. That was an honor beyond comprehension, TITANIC the last word in luxury, the millionaires special, the biggest ship in the world, and he above all else was chosen to captain her on its maiden voyage!
On the other hand we have a man named John Bruce Ismay, the owner of the White Star Line. This man had experience in business, he had made his career of running a fleet of liners across the Atlantic Ocean. Somewhere in the voyage he must have gotten excited and wanted to set a new record. Everybody new of Titanic's size, luxury, magnificence, and grace. But Ismay wanted to see something else in the papers besides how big and impressive she was! He wanted to concentrate on her speed now! The Titanic was scheduled to dock in New York sometime Wednesday morning, but Ismay was pressing Smith hard about lighting the last 4 boilers and getting there Tuesday night, and put the world in shock once more! He wanted to give the papers something new to print, something new to talk about! Well he got his headlines!!!
On Sunday April 14th 1912 he somehow convinced Smith to have the last 4 boilers lit, and put the engines at full speed! Everything I have read which is a considerable amount leads me to believe that captain Smith was not really excited about this change of plans. But he had crossed the Atlantic many times, and what would hurt setting a record on his last voyage, and as Ismay put in "end with a bang eh EJ". Well he got his bang! He must have gone against his gut feeling and ordered the Titanic full ahead, with night approaching!
21 knots equal to 26mph is what doomed the ill fated liner, through a ice-field at night. If you get a Ocean Liner thats weighs over 50,000 tons going 26mph, it takes a whole lot to slow down, much less stop!
Now we can stand back and say how childish is that? They were men! Men like speed! How often do we pull up to a red light, and floor it when it turns green because we can't stand the thought of someone being a little bit ahead of us? The thing is, when we go somewhere we want to get there fast and in style, thats all Ismay wanted. It just turned on him! His passion to offer passengers the best service and speed affected everyone on board! We do things all the time that cause us to speed through life, but when an other man does it, we wonder what was he thinking!? I am quite sure that Ismay was doing nothing that none of us wouldn't have done in his position!

Its something to think about...

Hello..................

2008-08-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

If there is anybody still reading please leave a short comment saying you are! I am probably going to get this thing off the ground again! I would just like to see who is still reading if there is anybody...

........

2007-12-03T06:19:00.000-08:00

Seems like I'm always gone, but again I'll be gone all week at my uncles house, so see ya'll later!!!

Couldn't resist......

2007-11-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Now I like playing hard football, But even I have my limit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9maXyh_-weY

Just copy, paste, and enjoy!!!

Titanic's moral purpose......

2007-11-29T12:11:00.000-08:00

Why did the Titanic make an instant hit? What made her a national icon? How could she not? She was the biggest ship ever constructed, by far passing any other ship in size, luxury, and elegance. Think about it, the reason Titanic made a perfect hit, was because this ship by-passed other ships in so many areas, with the exception of speed. Until 1912 none ever thought of a ship, of such magnitude. Lets put it into today’s perspective, if a ship were built that was larger than anything that we could imagine, and by-passed every other ship in every area, she would probably make world news. Today we have ships that would make the Titanic look like a toy boat. But! In 1912, she was as big as they came. Through my knowledge, and my lifetime, I can’t think of a ship that over-awed the world. That’s why the Titanic made an instant hit, because the world had never seen anything like her, and never has since then.

How could she not make a national icon? Her fame went along with her country, the United Kingdom. This was something that Great Britain could be proud about. If America built a ship today that was as equally stupendous as the Titanic, would we not be proud of it? This was a sign of technological advancement for her country, and her people. It was an age where everything was getting bigger and better. An age when the automobile was making it’s first seen on the world page, an age when flying started its page in history. It was an age when, for the most part the world was at peace; none of the major World Wars had been fought yet. The Titanic was just as example of that age.

You could probably guess her main purpose; she was built to carry passengers between two great countries. She was built and designed to hold people in the utmost elegance, luxury, and comfort.
Fully booked, she would be able to hold well over 3,000 passengers and crew.

The Titanic had different classes just as any other ship. You have first class, second class, and lastly third class. It was kind of like a layer cake, the foundation of these layers consisted of sweaty stokers, firemen, and trimmers. Then you have the first layer of people, third class, poor immigrant families coming to America to start a new life. Then you have even another layer, getting better financially as the layers go. Second-class passengers, a little better off then those in third class, were people coming back from Europe, maybe spending time with family, or sight-seeing, just normal people in the world just trying to make a decent living. Then you have the cream of the crop, the sweet frosting on two layers of human life. First class passengers, prominent leaders in the world of art, wealth, political offices, writers, presidents of railway companies, bankers, and merchants. Such a distinguished group of people, for such a distinguished ship.

First class passengers paid $69,000 to sail in one of three first-class suites on the Titanic, and the third class passengers paid only $640. They both paid different amounts of money to travel on the same ship, going to the same place, and would get there the same time.

Compare Colonel John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest man in the world, to Bill Gates! Compare Molly Brown, to Martha Stewart! Major Archibald Butt, military aid to the president, to president aid Peter Pace! Compare, Charles M. Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railway, to Cecil Groves, the president of Southwestern Airlines! Compare, W. T. Stead, a famous author, to Ethan Hawke, a famous author! Compare Francis D. Millet, one of the best-known American artist, to Diego Velasquez, he too is a famous artist! Compare Isidor Straus, owner of the Macy’s Department store, to Ken Hicks, the owner of JC Penny’s!

Now you can grasp the people of importance on the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

Not only was Titanic a perfect vessel, but she also had a perfect crew. The Captain had more than 40 years experience at sea. From the Chief Officer down to the Sixth Officer, each had 10 years or more experience at sea.

Titanic was not built to sink; she was built as a dream, built to out stand the elements. Built to have a profitable career, not just make her first and only voyage.

100 years ago...

2007-11-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

The 100 year time line for the Titanic starts this year! Back in 1907 two men conceived, and brought into the world the Olympic class liners! I have never been quite able to pinpoint the exact time when Bruce Ismay, and James Pirrie, set discussing the new class of liners.
So the next five years for me anyway will be very reflective for me. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience.
I can guarantee that 100 years ago Ismay, and Pirrie were not expecting to be remembered 100 years later. 100 years ago the Titanic was just the figment of Ismay's imagination, but in five short years the Titanic was ready to take on her maiden voyage, and enter the hearts and minds of ship fanatics, and enter into the pages of the history books! 100 years ago they were not only preparing to build the world's largest ship, but they were accomplishing something that they did not expect to! They were conceiving of a idea that people would still talk about 100 years later!
The next five years will be thought provoking for all Titanic fans!!!

Gone for the weekend

2007-11-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

Just wanted everyone to know that I'll be gone for the weekend camping with my church. I'll try to post early next week!

Staying on top of it...

2007-11-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

This is going to be kind of an odd post for a blog thats dedicated to the Titanic, and other ships but right now I would like to talk about something else!

I just want to talk about getting or staying in shape. Hopefully I can encourage someone to start getting in shape, or keep someone motivated!
When I was ten years old through about 13 years, I was pretty pudgy. I don't even really know how it happened, one day I was a scrawny 10 year old, and then I was a pudgy 12 year old!
One night I was on the internet visiting the Army website, and was watching videos on Army boot camp, when all the sudden I felt an urge to get up and get motivated. I saw the Army required 2 miles in less than 15:00 minutes, 20 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, and other various exercises. That night I got so worked up, and excited about getting in shape that I set a goal to run 1 mile, and that night I got up and ran 1/2 a mile, and was breathing like a freight-train when I finished! Then I made a personal goal to be 'Army fit' I set a goal to do 20 push-ups, and 20 pull-ups, if anything in my mind I wanted to know, that I would be able to pass Army boot camp!
I started out with 5 push-ups, and thats all I could do, I think I did 2 pull-ups, and that was it! Every morning I was up at the crack of dawn to run, come home do all the push-ups I could do, crunches, pull-ups, and every other exercise that I could think of!
So the moral of this point is just get up and get motivated, I know its hard but it is really worth it later on! Set small goals, ones that you can achieve, just remember that your not in a race, take your time and do it right! If you never start, you'll never accomplish anything. And we all know that we feel a lot better when we're doing what we are suppose to!
I did kind of change the way I ate too! You hear all these commercials about losing weight in record time by blah blah blah blah, ok..... whatever!!! All I did was eat what I wanted just less of it, I even drank a moderate amount of soda! The point is don't starve yourself, and just eat fruit and vegetables, all of that has its place, but I would not advise of a diet consisting of solid fruit! { By the way fruit, and veggies are very helpful for a healthy body!}
I doubt there's very many of you who want to be Army fit, but would you like to walk 10 miles without be winded, or walk a flight of stairs without feeling like your legs are about to fall off? Whatever it is you want to do, set goal in that direction, and don't let up one bit! I'm more of a energetic person anyway, I'm just using my experience as a example!
Something else, if you have just started, and you cant even walk 2 miles, or do 10 push-ups, don't get depressed, or down in the dumps, just keep at it and everything will fall into place! Don't be worried about others laughing at you, or making fun at what you CAN'T do, just remember that people that really care will never make fun of you, or discourage you. Those who do probably feel guilt for not getting up and working out themselves!
When I turned 16 I could start using the the Freeport weight-room! Boy was I happy!!! I kept the running up till I was at 3 miles in 24:00 minutes, and running bleachers. Running bleachers really helps build endurance!
So for the past two years I have been working out faithfully at the weight-room. When I first started I again, set small goals. I started out small did nothing excessively, only what I was capable of!
Here's a small list of how I started out when I was 16!
95lbs Bench-press
20lbs Curling
10 Sit-ups
7 pull-ups
150lbs Leg-press
95lbs squat
65lbs Shoulder-press
40lbs Lap-press
25 Push-ups
50lbs Leg-curl
____________________________________________________________________

My progress in a little over a year!
205lbs Bench-press with a spotter.... max 225lbs
85lbs Curling
120 Sit-ups
30 Pull-ups
500lbs Leg-press
135lbs Shoulder-press
120lbs Lap-press
80 push-ups
150lbs Leg-curl

My point for that is you CAN reach your goals if you stick with it! Thats the most important thing.... STICK WITH IT!!!! Don't quit!
Another thing, anyone can do it whether you just want to lose weight, tone up, build up, lose up, suck up, or whatever, just stick with whatever you do!
Maybe there's someone reading who knows what they ought to be doing, now is the time to start, don't wait for the New Year, those kinds of things usually last for two months, now is the time!

The Titanic's center anchor

2007-10-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

The Titanic center anchor is on record for a little over 15 tons, to be exact 34,188lbs! Thats still impressive for even todays standards.

The Titanic's center anchor was manufactured by Noah Hingley & Sons of Netherton. The type of anchor seen here is still used today!
The center anchor weighed so much that they had to have a small crane to lift it over the side of the ship.
At the time the Titanic, and the Olympic were built the anchors on these ships were the biggest ones in the world.
You don't really think about it, but these anchors had to be under control the whole time, other wise they would turn into a 15 ton wrecking ball! The handling of anchors is actually a amazing procedure, and all the thinking that goes into this mass of steel. Because when you lift something that weighs 15 tons over the side of a ship, a lot of things have to be just right, as it is a risky situation to handle.
The center anchors berth!

On it's way to to Belfast!

'Coming into port!'

A fun little fact

2007-10-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

The force that the Titanic hit the iceberg on the night of April 14th, 1912, was equal to the broadside of a battleship!
Now that may seem outrages, but just think of 50,000+ tons of steel slamming into rock hard ice, going about 26mph!

I'll get there.....

2007-10-08T04:57:00.000-07:00

Just wanted everyone to know that I have not dropped off the face of the earth! We went to church every night last week and were fairly busy, and now were going to be gone three days at my Uncles house in Lexington, Texas. So it might be this weekend before I post again!!!

Human Error.... A Deadly Price

2007-09-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

That Sunday evening, April 14^th, was a glorious one, and for many, their last one. As the sun began to fade away over the horizon, it cast wondrous shades of light across the boundless ocean. But as night came on, so did the intense coldness, which forced many passengers off of the open decks, and back into the warmth of the Titanic.
Over the course of the evening the temperature dropped drastically to just a few degrees above freezing. Second Officer Lightoller, had the ship’s carpenter make sure the fresh water didn’t freeze.
Time ticked on to that deadly second when the Titanic would receive her death wound. The later it got, more and more passengers went to bed. Just a few scattered here and there stayed up playing different card games.
First Officer Murdoch came on watch at 11:00 p.m., and around that time the lookouts in the crow’s nest were relieved.
Captain Smith made a terrible mistake in doing this… the Titanic was in a known area of icebergs, she was sailing at night at 22 to 23 knots, it was the most critical part of the voyage, and the Captain was not at the wheel. A terrible mistake that would cost more than a thousand lives.

“No, not even God could sink this ship,” is what people thought of, when they thought of the Titanic.
Then you have everything that caused dates for the Titanic’s departure to be changed and moved around. Before the Titanic was fully ready to take on the endless seas, she had to donate her left propeller shaft to the Olympic, which caused dates too be pushed back. [The Olympic had experienced a collision at sea.] When the Titanic was leaving the Southampton Port, she almost had a collision with the New York liner, and by the time everything was cleared up, it pushed her time back by an hour. All of these things played into the iceberg and Titanic being at the same spot at the same time.
Something else that contributed to the Titanic disaster was that the Captain set the Titanic 10 miles south of the original sailing course to hopefully ‘avoid’ confrontation with the deadly ice. These things certainly happened: the Titanic was sailing through a known ice field at almost top speed at night; first Officer Murdoch was on the bridge instead of the Captain; there weren’t enough lifeboats for everyone on board; when the Titanic started to sink, the wireless operators weren’t able to get a hold of someone in the area; Officer Murdoch made a wrong decision on trying to avoid the iceberg; the iceberg opened up six watertight compartments instead of five; [just one less compartment and the Titanic would have been able to live through the disaster.]
There were many little things that fateful night that played a part in a much bigger circle as history played out. To say that God didn’t have a part in the whole ordeal is not likely.
I have been pondering why the Titanic was, and still remains the most famous ship disaster! The Titanic didn’t have a priceless treasure aboard her. She wasn’t the fastest ship out there; it also wasn’t a shipwreck that cost the most lives. I don’t think the reason she gets all the respect she does today was because she was the ‘grandest’ ship afloat. She was a grand ship but there had been many shipwrecks before her, and many to follow after her, but it seems that none can compare to the Titanic disaster.
What made the Titanic disaster what it is today? The bravery of the men? The Titanic was really a perfect shipwreck; it took long enough to sink so the historical facts can be kept clear. The Titanic was wonderfully engineered to last that long, with that kind of damage. When Thomas Andrews inspected the ship after the collision, he gave it only an hour to live and it lasted 2 ½ hours. How often does the biggest ship in the world undertake its maiden voyage and sink? Not often! I think the reason the Titanic is still thought of today is because in this day and age men can not think of staring death in the face and let women and children get off safely. Since we probably wouldn’t even think of letting that happen today, it is still a mystery that men long ago could. What if men would have had no refrain? Titanic and her history might not be a big deal today. It would only be an ocean liner that sank a long time ago. The same as any other! Just the concept of a ship sinking on her maiden voyage goes against nature. Why did most of the men stand back as they did? Why did they let women and children get off safely? Sometimes I even have a hard time imagining how they did.

My mistake!!!

2007-09-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

I had been giving my Dad a hard time about getting a couple of the answers wrong, before I posted the answers. Well when I did post the answers my Dad brought it to my attention that I was wrong!
On the first question I asked, how much coal did the Titanic use once at sea, well I should have clarified that as, how much did the Titanic use EACH day at sea!!!
So anybody else that got this wrong, I'll let you slide by on this one.
I just thought that any common person would understand what I was trying to get at.... I guess not though!!!

Answers to the quiz...

2007-09-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Here are the long awaited answers to the Titanic quiz...

1. How many tons of coal would the Titanic use once at sea?

a. 1,000 tons

b. 400 tons

c. 850 tons Once at sea the Titanic would consume the large amount of 850 tons of coal each day, at cruising speed! About 17-18 knots.

2. What was the White Star Line more concerned with?

a. luxury The White Star Line was defiantly more concerned with luxury, and elegance than speed, or maneuverability. The reason, the Cunard Line had already built ships with speed that staggered the world at the time for passenger ships. The Mauritania, and the Lusitania both Cunard liners, had even left some navy ships of the time eating their spray. The White Star Line did not want to compete with this.

b. speed

c. maneuverability

3. How many men lost their lives working on the Titanic, and Olympic?

a. 7

b. 17 Yes, unfortunately 17 men, and boys lost their lives in the construction of the Titanic, and Olympic, due to unsafe working conditions!

c. 12

4. What caused the newspapers to call the Titanic unsinkable?

a. simply her size

b. a new design of 16 watertight compartments with watertight doors that could be closed from the bridge or by automatic electric sensors This right here is what tipped the newspapers to calling her unsinkable!

c. her crew and captain

5. How many people turned out for the launching of the Titanic?

a. 25

b. 100,000 Ship launching was actually a big deal back in the early 1900's! People actually bought tickets to watch the biggest ship in the world {Titanic} be launched.

c. 53,056

Thanks for all who participated!!!

Quiz Time Again...

2007-09-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Well I figured it was about that time when I quiz everybody.
Just as a side note, it makes it a lot funner when everybody participates. So please don't feel awkward, give it your best shot.

1. How many tons of coal would the Titanic use once at sea?

a. 1,000 tons

b. 400 tons

c. 850 tons

2. What was the White Star Line more concerned with?

a. luxury

b. speed

c. maneuverability

3. How many men lost their lives working on the Titanic, and Olympic?

a. 7

b. 17

c. 12

4. What caused the newspapers to call the Titanic unsinkable?

a. simply her size

b. a new design of 16 watertight compartments with watertight doors that could be closed from the bridge or by automatic electric sensors

c. her crew and captain

5. How many people turned out for the launching of the Titanic?

a. 25

b. 100,000

c. 53,056

Have fun!!!

Compared to What?

2007-09-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Nothing Lasts Forever...

2007-08-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

J. Bruce Ismay

2007-08-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

John Bruce, Ismay has received a lot of criticism over the past decades. Why? Because he got into a lifeboat when there were still women and children aboard. But is there any just foundation for this serious criticism? We'll look at the two sides of the story, 1. reasons for staying aboard, 2. reasons for getting on a lifeboat! Now this will be rather hard for me, since I already have an opinion of Ismay, but I will try to not let that come through..... you decide for yourself what he should have done!

1. First we'll look at the reasons that J. B. Ismay should have stayed aboard the sinking Titanic!
After the Titanic collided with an iceberg at about 11:45, it did not take long for John E. Smith to figure out there was not enough places for all the men, women and children in the lifeboats. So he gave the well known order, "women and children first." Now, did the Captain mean that there was no men to be allowed in the lifeboats? NO! The lifeboats needed officers, and sailors to make sure they were operated safely, and correctly. It was the spirit of the order that counted, if you did not have a legitimate reason for getting in a lifeboat, you had no place in one. Some fantastic men of measure did get off in a lifeboat, such as Harold Bride the wireless operator, Lightoller the Titanic's Second Officer, Archibald Gracie, Jack Thayer, and the list could go on.
Whats noticeable about these men, is they did not receive the criticism that Bruce, Ismay did, why is that?
Did Ismay have a responsibility to stay with the Titanic till she sank beneath the waves, like the Captain did? Lets look at some things that took place years earlier..... When the Titanic was still on blueprints the planning of how many lifeboats the Titanic would carry came up. The Titanic's designer at the time Andrew, Carlyle was pushing for 48 lifeboats which would have been enough for everyone one on board in case of a disaster. But there was one man standing in his way, John B. Ismay! When the rubber met the road Ismay said no, for various reasons. But when you get to the night of April 14, 1912 its a different story. Because of his choice, it puts him under some obligation to stay aboard and take whatever comes.
Here's possibly another reason that he should have stayed aboard. J. B. Ismay owned the White Star Line, which means he owned the Titanic. If a person owns something that is used for the public, and if fails in some way, and death follows, or injury, it seems that whoever owns it should take whatever other had to take as well. He was responsible for the passengers as well!
I guess one more thing that should have binded him to the Titanic it time of trouble, is the fact that there were still women and children on board, and he owed them all the safety that was in his power as a man. By giving up a spot in a lifeboat, and doing the courteous thing, and not to mention the polite thing!

2. It wouldn't be fair to explain one side of the story, so we'll make an argument for the opposite side. In this kind of situation we have to be fair, because Ismay is no longer around to speak for himself!
J. B. Ismay claims that there were no women in sight, and there are witness to back up the fact. Since that being true why should he stay on a sinking ship and face certain death? And if there was no women sight was he really breaking a rule? I think that if your standing on the side of a sinking ship, and there's an empty spot on a lifeboat, there are no women and children about, would we have the fortitude to remain on the ship? There are a lot of questions that come into play here, and what it comes down to is, was he doing something really out of the ordinary?
Why should he stay on a sinking ship if he could get off, and go back to his family, we can't really say that he had motives of the baser sort. He was the managing director of the White Star Line, he had a lot of responsibly back on shore.
Was there really a need to end his short life, just to make a name for himself?
And after all, you can't blame the entire construction of the ship on him, Thomas, Andrews obviously didn't have a problem with 20 lifeboats!
Just because countless men stayed aboard, doesn't mean that Ismay did if a opportunity presented himself.
To call this man a coward just because he got off a sinking ship, doesn't seem right! What would you have done in his position?

Thomas Andrews

2007-08-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

"Mr. Andrews met his fate like a true hero, realizing the great danger, and gave up his life to save the women and children of the Titanic.
They will find it hard to replace him."
--Mary Sloan, Titanic Stewardess
letter to her sister, 27 April 1912

Thomas Andrews was just one of the many heroes that fateful night. But more than being a hero on the Titanic, he was considered a hero in his day for what he accomplished. He overcame some courage defying feats! When you hear the name of Thomas Andrews, you immediately think of the Titanic's designer! But there was more than that, he lived a life just like many others you hear about. But today we will go behind the life of the designer of the Titanic, Thomas Andrews!

Thomas Andrews Jr. was born on February 7th, 1873 in Belfast Ireland. He was born to Thomas Andrews, and Eliza, Pirrie which was their second child.
Thomas's mother was the sister to Lord William James Pirrie, the owner of the H&W shipbuilding company, James Pirrie had started out as an apprentice and worked all the way up to owner.
Thomas's elder brother continued in his Father's footsteps in politics, and became the Prime Minister of Northern, Ireland.
From a very early age Thomas had shown an interest in ships, and as a result went to Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and left there at age 16 to begin his apprentice at H&W.
On 24 June 1908, Thomas was married to Helen Reilly Barbour, daughter of John D. Barbour, a company director. The couple made their home at "Dunallon," Winslow Avenue in Belfast. It is known that he took her to view Titanic one night in 1910, shortly before their daughter Elizabeth was born, while the ship was still in its cradle and Halley's Comet was at its greatest brilliance.
Upon leaving school in 1889, at age sixteen, Andrews began work as a premium apprentice at Harland & Wolff Ltd. shipbuilders in Queen's Island, Belfast. The apprenticeship he served was designed for one intended to end up quite high in the company. He began with three months in the joiner's shop, followed by a month in the cabinetmaker's ship and two months actually working on the ships. His great talent for mechanical engineering and construction and his growing leadership abilities singled him out for a bright future, possibly as a senior manager.Andrews became a member of the Institution of Naval Architects in 1901. After working up through several departments, he became the firm's managing director and head of the draughting department.
Andrews seemed well-suited to his work. Shipbuilders were apparently a very exclusive bunch; their work was very hard, and it took a great deal to gain their respect. Andrews had earned it. During his apprenticeship he had shown that he could meet the physical demands of the work. He was by this time six feet tall and broad-shouldered. Once, when a red-hot rivet fell from an upper deck and barely missed his head, he kicked away and laughed. He was also developing a great reputation for integrity, according to Daniel Allen Butler, "were it not so well documented, would be hard to believe."

"One evening my husband and I were in the vicinity of Queen's Island, and noticing a long file of men going home from work, he turned to me and said, 'There go my pals, Helen.' I can never forget that tone in his voice as he said that, it was as though the men were as dear to him as his own brothers. Afterwards, on a similar occasion, I reminded him of the words, and he said, 'Yes, and they are real pals, too."

On one occasion Andrews had a chance to rescue one of his "pals." Anthony Frost, had climbed 80 feet of scaffolding during a gale in order to secure some loose boards. While up there, Archie became terrified and Andrews climbed the scaffolding himself to help bring him down before securing the boards himself. Archie was a member of the team of eight men from Harland & Wolff who accompanied Andrews on Titanic's maiden voyage, all of whom perished.

It has been frequently pointed out that he knew every detail of his ship and none escaped him. During the last few days he had many meetings with owners, engineers, subcontractors, officials, he gave tours, and in between these events he found himself adjusting furnishings, electric fans, and no doubt answering constant questions. Andrews's work was not finished once he and the ship set out from Southampton. After the voyage began, he continued to help the crew adjust to the new ship. He carried a notebook with him and was constantly making notes for improvements. The pebble dashing on the promenade, for instance, was too dark and the stateroom hat racks had an excessive number of screws holding them in. Still, on 14 April, Andrews remarked to a friend that Titanic was "as nearly perfect as human brains can make her."

On the night of April 14th 1912, Thomas Andrews was a courageous man, running here and there, making sure that rooms were emptied out, assisting women into the lifeboats, and insisting that men put on their life-belts. He was last seen in a first class reception room, and there surly met his fate.
I'm sure that even more could be said about this great man, but that is the limit of my knowledge, of his life. There is more that I could talk about him in the process of designing the Titanic, but we'll save that for another day, I just thought it would be interesting to see his life, and who he really was!

Titanic's First Officer

2007-08-16T11:51:00.001-07:00

First Officer William Mcmaster Murdoch

{“Hard-a-starboard! Full speed astern…”}

Murdoch had a plain face, a ready smile, and boundless humor. He was a Scot from Dalbeattie, Galloway, the son of a seafaring family. He was a contentious officer, amply shown over the years. Yet, he was an excellent seaman, nearly faultless judgment and nerves of iron.
His residence in 1912 was Southampton, England.
He was 39 at the time of the disaster.
His salary per month was 17.00.00 [in English pounds.]

First officer William Mcmaster Murdoch did not survive the Titanic’s sinking.

Titanic Discovered

2007-08-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

On 1986, July 14^th, the Titanic was discovered! It was the first time the great ship had been seen for more than 70 years. A French and American research team joined up with Bob Ballard to search for and find the Titanic.
Once again, the ship caught the world’s attention. At the American inquires, not much could be reported because the ship was gone there was no hard fact evidence. But now that the ship was rediscovered, it raised new questions and gave new answers! For the first time, it was verified that the ship did break in two. Why did the steel plates snap apart? Why were they speeding through a known ice field? Why? Why? Why? As a result of finding the Titanic, many of these questions could be answered.
The Titanic broke in two because of the angle it was at and the pressure it put on the lower part of the ship! Also, in 1912, they were not concerned about the grade of steel used, and tests of the Titanic’s steel proved it was of a poor grade. If steel will bend and move to pressure it is of a higher grade, if under pressure poorly graded steel will snap, and will become brittle in cold water. This is also the reason the rivets popped out of their seams, the steel was pushed apart by great pressure, and not ripped apart like many think.
Why didn’t the watertight compartments work? Because they only went up to E deck, one more deck higher [to boat deck] and the ship would have been completely sealed off. A vital flaw in the design! It worked like this, if any four or five of her compartments were flooded, the weight of the water would not pull her down far enough to spill over into the next compartment. None could think of a wreck of such magnitude that more than five of her compartments would be punctured. But alas, six compartments were damaged the night of April 14^th. The weight of the water pulled the bow down into the ocean, thus having an ice-cube tray effect, it just spilled over into the next compartment and into the next until it sank. So, which means that they were not really watertight like the owners and builders said, there was a gap at the top of each bulkhead allowing water to spill over. That is not watertight.
They were speeding through a known ice field because J. Bruce Ismay want to surprise everyone and get to New York, a day early He wanted to beat the Olympic’s record crossing the Atlantic.
These are just a few of the things the world wanted to know.
Since 1986, many, dives have been made to the Titanic, gathering information, finding new things, and exploring the unknown parts of the ship.
James Cameron, the movie director of the film Titanic, has spent more time with the ship underwater than the passengers that sailed on her. One couple was even married over the stern of the Titanic! Anyone can go down to the wreck, for the small amount of $38,000.
One thing that will go down in the history of the Titanic is the abounding bravery of the men aboard the Titanic. They will be forever being remembered as men who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the women and children. Think about if the men had no restraint, there probably would have been no surviving women and definitely no surviving children. The Titanic would be a different story. They deserve more honors, and respect than they get.
What if a situation arose today, where it was women and children, or the men first?
Think about the Titanic’s band, they showed more bravery than some men show on the battlefield. Playing to the very last instead of trying to save themselves, their song must have drifted out on the waves into the ears of the few who got in a lifeboat. White Star Line charged the family members of the ship’s band for the loss of their uniforms!
What about John Bruce Ismay? That cowardly man was rejected by the world and died lonely and poor, his life was ruined when he stepped into the lifeboat. Was it really worth it?
What about the Californian? Sitting all night through the disaster? Her Captain was charged with failure to render aid to a ship in distress. As a result of his decisions, he lost his job and was looked at very poorly by the world. If he would have used common sense he could have saved almost everyone on board!!!
Many people took their lives. The lookout in the crow’s nest, Fredrick Fleet, who called the bridge and said those fateful words……… “iceberg dead ahead”, killed himself 5 years after the disaster, he, also was not able to live with himself. As we know, First Officer Murdoch took his life on the ship, he also could not live with the regret. Jack B. Thayer had haunting thoughts of the disaster till he was 52 and took his own life.
A lot is said about the bravery of the Captain and Officers, but little is said about the bravery of the men below decks. It was said that 17 engine men got down on their knees in the engine room and prayed until water surged up to their necks, then they stood up, clasped hands formed a circle and died there in the belly of the ship, staying at their posts till death took them in its cold embrace. Southampton alone lost 500 men on the Titanic, all stokers or trimmers, men who stayed at their posts and died just as gloriously as the brave men on the top of the ship.
Many movies have been made about the great ship Titanic. But none can ever compare to the real thing, or how people felt.
People have been down to the wreck numerous times to bring back artifacts, some say that should not be done. I am not against bringing up different items. Why let it all turn to rust? I’m not for trying to make a profit off of it. It should be strictly used for museum purposes. It should be used as a learning experience.
Some have talked and thought to bring the Titanic up out of the depths. That’s going too far! It’s impossible to “raise the Titanic.” When she sped down through the depths, she hit the bottom at a great speed; the bow sliced through the mud and is buried in 60 feet of mud. The stern plunged with huge air pockets inside, and when it hit the ocean floor the air burst through the steel and it crumpled and fell apart. So, in order to raise the Titanic’s bow, you would be trying to lift over 33,000 tons of rusted steel out of 60 feet of mud, and where the pressure per square inch is 6,000 pounds! And even if you were able to get a grip of it, it would probably crumple in its weakened state. The stern would be completely impossible to raise, all it is, is twisted and crumpled steel. It is a graveyard, many brave men were killed there and to go and cause that much disruption would be disregarding death, and for that reason alone we ought to have respect for it.
I have found an interesting point of view of the Titanic, what if the Titanic had never met disaster?
If the Titanic would-not-have sunk she would have arrived in New York, Tuesday, sometime before schedule, and it would have been a glorious arrival. She would have been a complete success! She would of served the White Star Line for many years. But later, she probably would have met the fate that her sister ships met. In World War1, the Britannic and the Olympic were turned into hospital ships. The Britannic met her fate by hitting a mine and sank in 45 minutes most of the soldiers were saved. Olympic served throughout the war and received many battle scars. After the war she was used again as a trans-Atlantic liner. In the early 1930s she was sold for scrap. Titanic would have probably have met a fate similar to this.
If the Titanic would have hit the iceberg head on, she would have survived, and been towed to Halifax for repairs. But sadly enough none of this happened! If just a few times, sense had been used, the Titanic disaster would have not happened.
Over the course of five years in the making all the planning, new slipways, work, fitting out, excitement, the largest most elegant ship sank in less than three hours! Many stories go along with the Titanic, some are sad some are stories of bravery and manhood, yet some are stories of cowards and treachery, and then there are stories of pride and arrogance.
Many things about the Titanic cannot be put on paper; it must be the legacy that the ship left. But many things can be learned from the disaster.
The story of the Titanic will go on forever.

____________________________________________________________________

The sinking of the Titanic has been a magnet to underwater ship-explorers. Even in 1912, after the Titanic sank, there was talk of trying to find her. They soon found out they really didn’t know where she was when she sank, nor how deep it was where she hit bottom.
But as the years went on, so did technology towards underwater exploration. Many different groups of people set out to find the great wreck, but all still came back empty-handed.
Not until July of 1985 did the American and French research team find the wreck. Once again the Titanic made world news, and once again she was in the spotlight. Now that the ship was found, it raised possibilities of going down in a small submarine that could withstand the deep-sea pressure. Exactly one year later, Bob Ballard and two other undersea explorers went, for the first time, down to the wreck. There was doubt in the minds of those going down to the wreck; they still didn’t know that the ship had broken in two. They didn’t know what to expect, what if all the rigging was intact, that would create a great hazard to maneuvering about the ship. Would the Titanic even be recognizable? Or would she be sitting perfect on the ocean floor? As Bob Ballard and the other researchers reached the ocean floor, they tried to locate the Titanic. The submersible they were using, the Alvin, sprang a leak in her batteries. Now they only had a couple of minutes on the ocean bed and they had not seen the Titanic. Peering through the small portholes of the Alvin, a massive wall of black steel loomed up right in front of them, that was the only glimpse of the ship they got that time. The leak in the batteries would become critical if they didn’t surface.
Since that July in 1986, numerous dives have been made to the Titanic. Several people have spent more time with the Titanic underwater, than the Captain spent with her on the seas.
One thing is certain; the Titanic is in a state of complete devastation. The ship broke in two in between the third and fourth funnels; and all of those funnels are gone. In one square mile there are boilers, teacups, beds, tables, engines, wine bottles, suitcases, chairs, and the list could go on.
The beauty of the ship is now gone, her once proud hull glimmering in the bright sunlight, now is encrusted in rusting steel. Where her four behemoth funnels stood are now just gaping holes on top of the ship. Her once proud stern, the beauty of the ship, where at the end of Titanic’s short life, men and women alike met their fate, now lays almost unrecognizable due too the impact that she suffered when she hit the ocean floor.
There she will sit until countless ages have taken their toll on her, and there is nothing left but
small piles of dust in the salty water.
Men will probably always go to her to seek just one more fact, something nobody else knows. Titanic may be sitting 2 ½ miles below the surface of the sea, but ask anyone what the most well known and famous shipwreck is, and they’ll tell you, it is the Titanic.
The Titanic will never be forgotten. She will always be alive in history.Even though the Titanic is one among the many sea wrecks that litter the ocean floor, she still, to this day captivates the minds of underwater explorers, historians, and people like me. What more can be said? Titanic is still truly a great ship.

Queen Of The Seas

2007-07-28T07:55:00.001-07:00

I posted this Poem right after I created my blog, but for some reason it comes to mind again! I wrote this poem for a small book I wrote on the Titanic called "The Titanic's Moral Implications" and it turned out better than I thought it would. I changed a whole lot from the first setting, but it is a whole lot better now.
Since I did write this poem, I would ask that if you want to use it, or even a small part of it that you would contact me through my e-mail, and get my permission! Thank you.

QUEEN OF THE SEAS

Her keel was laid down on March 31^st
At a shipyard in Belfast where tolls were the worst.
Through the months and through the years
Workers worked with sweat and tears.
And through the months and through the years,
She was constructed with pain and fears.
Once afloat just an empty shell,
Waiting for workers to make her run well!
The Titanic was a beautiful boat
Something that would cause fine men to gloat.
Sea trials she passed with no great concern;
Taking it with ease at every turn.
Built to tower over all,
She acquired fame, but it cost her a fall!
She was known as unsinkable
Queen of the Seas,
But that could not stop her from breaking up dreams.
She then departed to see land no more,
With the greatest luxuries man could afford.
Titanic was regarded as a dazzling sight,
But size and power couldn’t keep her from fright!
Once the passengers were mostly in bed,
Came the dreadful cry “iceberg dead ahead.”
They then didn’t know it
But soon found out,
She would not make it there was no doubt.
The pain was unbearable that fateful night,
For the Captain and crew their lips they did bite.
One minute she sailed
Next minute she stopped
Hit by an iceberg that wrenched her apart.
“Women and children” was the cry,
Get them away
With no delay.
The bravery of men
Abounded that night,
Standing aside that others might live,
Staring at death
Like brave men they did.
Oh grave where is thy victory?
Oh death where is thy sting!
As their loved ones departed
Too see them no more,
The only thing left, was a door.
The door of eternity open wide,
To receive these men as they died.
“Nearer My God To Thee” was heard that night,
Upon the waves of untold fright.
Titanic plunged with a moan,
She died with a great groan.
Behind her she left hundreds of souls
Where cold would soon take its toll.
Titanic was gone
As soon as she came.
She lost her glory,
But gained great fame.

James Daniel McEntire

Dream, Disaster, Legend

2007-07-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

When I think of the Titanic Disaster, I immediately think of all the lives that were lost in that horrific event. But let us take a brief look at all the time, money, and planning that was lost as a result to this disaster!
The Titanic became a dream in 1907! Until March 31st 1908, she remained a dream, a dream that Bruce Ismay fervently hoped would come true. Sometimes I try to get a grasp of what Ismay was thinking that whole year, as he waited for things to come together. I can only imagine the untold joy he had in his heart, seems how it's not every day that your shipping line gets to own the biggest, and most luxurious ship in the world. He must have even been more excited when his dream was being put on blueprints, and models, and everything else that goes into building a ship. A dream that was his own idea, was slowly becoming a reality.
Words fail me when I ponder all the time that went into the Titanic. Thousands upon thousands of hours went into this marvelous project. There was someone somewhere that drew the blueprints, probably more than one person, and they devoted all their time to the project. Giving specific adjustments to little things here and there, how many staterooms can we fit on E-deck, how can we get the most power with three engines, what can we do to make the passengers have the time of their life? Then consider the years that were spent making this dream come true. The men that worked on the ship every day, men who worked 12 hour shifts, millions of man hours went into this ship. When you really think about all the hours, and years of thinking, working, planning, directing, and managing and then about the fact that the Titanic only had four days of active service, four days, 92 hours to prove herself on the boundless ocean, and then to sink on her maiden voyage......... no wonder people's lives were ruined by the disaster.
Then think of all the millions of dollars that went into this ship! The actual ship cost 7.5 million dollars in 1912 standards. But there is more than that, at this point for H&W their employee rate was higher that ever, their was over 14,000 men hired when the Olympic class ships were constructed. That means one thing, 14,000 men were drawing a paycheck every week. Then all of the priceless things that were on board, just things that made Titanic the Titanic.
Then consider all of the planning that went into the Titanic. There were some engineers somewhere planning out where everything would go. How to position the boilers so you can get as many as you can in, how big should the propellers be for a ship this size? Special planning had to go into this ship because a ship had never been made like this one before. So how big of a rudder do we need to be able to have the most control over the ship? How many funnels, and how big do they need to be? How much horsepower will we need to bring it up to average cruising speed? How high do the bulkheads need to go? How many lifeboats should we have? That is just a small part of all the planning and designing that had to go into one ship!
This kind of puts things into perspective when you think about it. There was more than lives lost that night, the dreams, planning, time, and money was lost when the Titanic foundered the night of April 14-15th!

How we had fun out in the middle of nowhere...

2007-07-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well it all started two Monday's ago, when we packed up and decided to brave the wild of Texas. We left bright and early, on Monday morning at about 5:30am to be exact.
We stopped at about 9:00 for breakfast at McDonald's, and it was actually pretty good for breakfast. We got to pedernales state park at about 11:00, and spread everything out, and set up camp. We went on a small hike, and dad was nice enough to let us play in a small creek, with water you could see the bottom. I can't tell you how cold it was at first, but after a while it felt so good.
On Tuesday we took a short hike, and then went to get back in the water, which was so nice. Then we just hung around the camp site, and did a bunch of relaxing!
On Wednesday my whole family braved a 7.5 mile hike.... whewwwww, it was pretty rough I must admit. We did get to cross about 4 streams and cool our feet off, so that was nice. Up on the top of the hills the view is just out of this world, it was fantastic, and pictures just won't do it justice.
On Thursday my Uncle, and Aunt came to visit us which was real fun. They live about an hour away, and were able to spend pretty much the whole day with us. My Uncle is a Policeman in Bastrop county and he always has interesting stories to tell. My cousin Seth is also fun to be around, so it was a good day all in all!
On Friday we went to the famed Fredricksberg to do some heavy duty shopping. Well me and dad aren't real fond of shopping so we went to the Admiral Nimitz Museum. It was one of the best museums that I have ever been to. Then we went to the National Museum of the Pacific Theater in WWII. It was simply out of this world neat. I can't explain how cool it was, it has to be the best museum that I have ever been to. Then me and dad did a little shopping, we ate out and then came back to the campsite.
On Saturday we went to the Capital of Texas, it was my first time. We were with my three cousins, Seth Matt, and Rachel, which made the day all the more better. We enjoyed the Bob Bullock Museum, and the I-max on Texas, which made you even more proud to be a Texan. We also enjoyed the Texas experience theater, I only jumped real big once. I couldn't help it.
Sunday we had a terrible time trying to find a church, we finally did, but I'll leave it at that!
Early Monday morning, me and dad decided to take the 7.5 mile hike on our bikes. It's a level 2 bike trail, and there's only 3 levels, so you can get an idea of how tedious it was. But allow me to explain.... first it's either uppppphill, or downhill, on gravel, through mud, over streams, and through sludge. It was a real mans bike trail. I intended to make the whole thing without having to get off to walk my bike uphill any, and I almost did it. I'll explain the three spots I had to walk... the first place was really just impossible to RIDE up, there were two huge rocks that gave you about 7in to ride your bike through, so I had to pick my bike up over that, then there was one spot where your riding on a fairly even surface, and then there is stagnant water sitting and after that the trail almost goes straight up and I just could not peddle up it. Then there was one spot where a big rock was right in the middle of the path, and I would really like to see who could jump their bike up it, cause I sure couldn't! Then there was one more spot, your going uphill on pretty good size rocks, and it got just to slippery to cope with, so I had to give it up. There was one point when you were at the top of a hill, and you got to fly down, it was seriously so steep down that it kept looking like a drop off. So I'm probably going 35mph on a bike downhill on gravel only hitting my brakes when coming to a turn in the trail. I figured out real quick that you cant slam on the back brakes because you start fishtailing it, so you pump your back brakes, and that worked pretty good. I will admit that I almost lost it coming down hill, I don't know why but my front tire started doing its own thing and I about ate the gravel, boy did my heart jump to my throat!!! We talked to a park ranger later on, and he said that a lady was doing that trail on her bike about three years ago, she was coming down hill and lost control, flew off the trail, and impaled her self on a tree through the chest, and killed herself. After hearing that, we decided that was a trail that we are not doing again.
Tuesday we went to enchanted rock, which was just awesome. Me dad, Olivia, and Lydia made it all the way to the top which was a feat for even me. Once you got there the view was worth the difficult hike, it was simply stupendous. After that dad treated all of us to Dairy Queen for lunch, and that made it totally worth it.
On Wednesday me and Olivia decided to ride our bikes up to the headquarters of the park, it was about 2 miles there and back uphill most of the way there, and vise versa the other way. We went up there just to chat, and she got a signal on her cellphone, so we were text messaging our friends. Well we got ready to come down, now I kid you not it is seriously steep coming down for a long way, and I told Olivia that I was going to pass her up so I could really get going. Well I flew by her like she was sitting still on a curve, and headed down down down. Going down I saw a big truck and camper coming through the trees, and it went through my head that I hope they stay in their lane other wise I'm toast... burnt toast. I whizzed by them and let the momentum carry me up as far as it would on the other hill. I came to a stop, and waited for Olivia........ and waited....... I though that she was just being really heavy on the brakes, and how un-fun is that! I looked back through the trees and saw that the camper had stopped, and a indescribable feeling wrenched my stomach, then I saw a lady running up the hill I had just come down. I was like oh my word, something bad happened. I turned my bike around as fast as you can and took back off, as I came up I saw my sister laying on the ground with a man crouching over her, as I got closer I could see the full damage of the bike wreck. Her face was bleeding BAD!!! When I got there the man said "get up that hill to headquarters" I was already breathing like the bellows, but I took off anyway. I passed the lady who said there was no way she could make it up the hill, so I pressed on. I got into the headquarters and said, "my sister fell off her bike, she's hurt bad, get some help." On the way back I took the hill instead of the road, and got there pretty quick. The man was a firefighter and EMS, so he knew what he was doing, I just sit there and held her hand almost the whole time. Mom and dad got there pretty quick, and an ambulance was there in about 20 minutes, they cleaned her up and made sure she was ok. She didn't break anything, and it could have been a lot worse, and it was by God's grace that she fell off in front of an EMS. Her face is all ripped up, but she is now recovering fairly well.
Thursday me mom, dad, and Lydia went on a 4 mile hike. I didn't care for this one to much, and it looked like no one had walked it since the days of Daniel Boone! After that we came back and relaxed.
Friday it rained all day, and we stuck around the camper, and just took it plain ole easy.
Saturday we packed up in the rain, and got off about 8:30, and made it home at about 1:30, and got to unpack two weeks worth of stuff.... oh boy!!!
That's basically it really. Here's some pictures so you can have some mental images in your mind.

Me and my cousin Seth

Kimberly was sad she couldn't buy the flip-flop journal

My cousins and us in the experience theater

Climbing Enchanted Rock

Olivia after her spill

See ya' next time.

I'm Back

2007-07-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

We just got back from camping for two weeks, in west Texas. I don't have time to talk right now, I'm still trying to unpack.
I'm really looking at a busy week, such as getting a new job, starting driving school, and mow mow mow!!!
Just wanted ya'll to know that I am still alive!!! Post more about the trip later....

Titanic vs other BIG Ships....

2007-07-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Back in the early nineteen hundreds the Titanic was the pinnacle of a modern age, nothing could compare to her size, luxury, grandness, and elegance. The Titanic left everything behind in the dust. She dwarfed every other ship in the docks, shipyard, and the whole ocean! But I have often wondered how would the Titanic compare to a modern ocean liner, and maybe even a aircraft carrier!? With the results that I have come up with I'm not really surprised with the outcome. The next few ship's that I'm about to compare to the Titanic, make it look like a tugboat!

Titanic vs. Queen Mary

Overall Length

Queen Mary: 1,019.5 ft. (310.74 m.)
Titanic: 882.9

Gross Tonnage

Queen Mary: 81,237 gross tons
Titanic: 46,329 gross tons

Transatlantic Crossings

Queen Mary: 1,001
Titanic: 0 - Ship sank on Maiden Voyage

Constructed by

Queen Mary: John Brown & Co., LTD., Clydebank, Scotland
Titanic: Harland & Wolff, LTD., Belfast, Ireland

Commissioned by

Queen Mary: Cunard Steamship Co., LTD.
Titanic: White Star Line

Keel Laid

Queen Mary: December 1, 1930
Titanic: March 31, 1909

Date Launched

Queen Mary: September 26, 1934
Titanic: May 31, 1911

Maiden Voyage

Queen Mary: May 27, 1936
Titanic: April 10, 1912

Portholes

Queen Mary: Over 2,000
Titanic: 2,000

Rivets

Queen Mary: Over 10 million
Titanic: 3 million

Hull Plates

Queen Mary: 8 ft. (2.44 m.) to 30 ft. (9.14m.) in length; up to 1.25 in. (3.2 cm.) thick
Titanic: 1 in. thick

Moulded Breadth

Queen Mary: 118 ft. (35.97 m.)
Titanic: 92.6

Keel to Smokestack

Queen Mary: 181 ft. (55.17 m.)
Titanic: 175 ft.

Number of Decks

Queen Mary: 12
Titanic: 8

Passenger Capacity

Queen Mary: 1,957
Titanic: 2,440

Officers and Crew

Queen Mary: 1,174
Titanic: 860

Horsepower

Queen Mary: 160,000
Titanic: 46,000

Cruising Speed

Queen Mary: 28.5 knots
Titanic: 21 knots

Rudder

Queen Mary: 140 tons
Titanic: 101 1/4 tons

Whistles

Queen Mary: 3 - Steam type. Two on forward funnel, one on middle funnel. Each over 6 ft,. long, weighing 2,205 LB.
Titanic: 3 sets consisting of 3 bell domes grouped together with a suitable branch plate. One set was fitted on each of the three foremost funnels and were electrically operated.

Lifeboat Capacity

Queen Mary: 145 persons
Titanic: 60

Smokestacks

Queen Mary: 3 - Elliptical in shape; 36 ft. fore and aft, 23.3 ft. wide
Titanic: 4 - Three were functional and the fourth was a dummy to create the illusion of a more powerful ship.

Boilers

Queen Mary: 27
Titanic: 29

All of the above was from the following website.... http://www.queenmary.com/index.php?page=titanicvsqm

Class type:	Nuclear powered supercarrier
Displacement:	102,000 tons
Length:	317 m
Beam:	40.8 m
Draught:	11.9 m
Propulsion and power:	Nuclear propulsion 260,000 shp
Speed:	30+ knots
Complement:	3,200 ships company 2,500 air wing

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia
Power Plant: Two A4W reactors, four shafts
Length: 333 m (1092 ft) overall
Flight Deck Width: 76.8 - 78.4 m (252 - 257 ft 5in)
Beam: 41 m (134 ft)
Displacement: 98,235 - 104,112 tons full load
Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h)
Cost: about US$4.5 billion each
Average Annual Operating Cost: US$160 million
Service Life: 50+ years
Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 — Air Wing: 2,480

The above is from the following website.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz_class

That is one big ship, but it even gets worse.......

Knock Nevis has a deadweight of 564,763 tonnes and a summer displacement of 647,955 t when laden with nearly 650,000 m³ (4.1 million barrels) of petroleum. She has a draft of 24.6 m (81 feet) when fully loaded, which makes it impossible for her to navigate even the English Channel, let alone man-made canals at Suez and Panama.

The above is from the following website.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis

So what it comes down to, in today's standards, the Titanic is actually pretty small!!!

Titanic's sister ship Britannic

2007-07-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

What of the other sister ship to the Titanic? Britannic was the last out of the three ships to be constructed. After the Titanic disaster in 1912, the Britannic was considered to be even more 'unsinkable' than the Titanic, and was even more luxurious! She carried 48 lifeboats, she had a double side and bottom which was constructed out of steel. Her watertight bulkheads extended all the way up to boat-deck.
She was launched on the 26th of February, 1914. These are the following statistics of the Britannic... gross tonnage 48,158, 882 ft, and 9 in, 94 ft wide, 34 ft of ship was under water. 4 funnels, 2 masts, 3 engines, 3 propellers.
The Britannic was going to serve in route between Southampton, and New York. At the break of WW1 she never saw commercial use. The British Navy paid for the use of commercial ships, but did not compensate for the loss of them. The maiden voyage began on December 23d, 1915, as a hospital ship.
After disastrous results from the Gallipoli campaign, the military needed hospital ships, and the Britannic was called for! She was painted white with red crosses and had a green strip running across about midway. She was placed under command of Captain Charles A. Bartlett!
She successfully completed five missions between the Mediterranean and the United Kingdom carrying the sick and wounded. She began her sixth voyage on the 12th of November 1916, and reached the first leg of her mission, she stopped to take on coal and water, as normal.
At 8:12, on Tuesday November 21st 1916, a terrible explosion shook the ship from bow to stern. In the dining room the reaction was the same, doctors and nurses rushed to their posts. The captain was on the bridge at the time of impact, and the first reports of news were very disturbing! The explosion had taken place on the starboard side of the ship, and damaged two holds, and the force of the explosion damaged a watertight bulkhead. This meant that the two first watertight compartments were filling rapidly with water! Boiler room six had been severely damaged, as water poured in at an uncontrollable rate.
Captain Bartlett ordered the watertight doors shut, and sent out a distress signal, and ordered the crew to ready the lifeboats. For some unknown reason several of the watertight doors did not shut, and as a result the Britannic was brought to her maximum flooding level. She could stay afloat at this rate if she remained motionless. But there was one bad mistake that sealed the fate of the Britannic, in the lower areas of the ship the nurses had opened the portholes to vent the ship, as the Britannic began to settle in the water the water poured into the open portholes, thus filling the Britannic's seventh watertight compartment. Her fate as well as the Titanic was sealed, nothing could be done.
On the bridge the Captain was trying to save his ship, the Britannic was sinking fast, too fast! In just ten minutes the Britannic had developed a bad list to starboard. To his right the Captain could see the shores of Kea, three miles away. He was going to make a last effort to beach the ship, but this would not be an easy task, because of the bad list to starboard, and to make things worse the 100 ton rudder was not responding, somewhere the steering gear had broken. But giving more power to the left propeller would serve the purpose. Britannic slowly started to turn right, she was sinking!!!
At the same time sailors were standing next to the lifeboats waiting for orders, not knowing what to do since the Captain was trying to beach the Britannic. Stewards came up from below decks running to the lifeboats in panic, the officer by the boat kept his nerve, and refused them to get in, but then changed his mind thinking that he did not want them around when the evacuation began! This officer in particular was not aware of any orders not to lower the lifeboats, but when he saw that the engines were running he order the lifeboats to stop six feet above the water until further orders, stopping six feet above the water was not received very well by the occupants of the lifeboat, as they began to curse the officer.
Assistant Commander Harry W. Dyke was organizing two lifeboats to be launched to rescue men that had already jumped into the water. The two lifeboats that were hanging six feet above the water were dropped into the water and hit violently. They were launched without the permission of the officer who had declined earlier. Then something happened that was not expected, and could not be helped. The two lifeboats were headed straight to the giant propellers that were now well out of the water, as the lifeboats reached them they were instantly ripped apart along with the people in them. When news of the massacre reached the bridge, the Captain ordered the engines stopped. There was no need of killing everybody that got into a lifeboat. The propellers stopped just as a third lifeboat came upon them!
With that Captain Bartlett gave the order to put the boats away, and abandon ship!
At 09:00 Bartlett sounded one last blast on the whistle and then just walked into the water, which had already reached the bridge. He swam to a collapsible boat and began to co-ordinate the rescue operations. The whistle blow was the final signal for the ship's engineers {commanded by Cheif Engineer Robert Fleming} who, like their heroic colleagues on the Titanic, had remained at their posts until the last possible moment. They escaped via the staircase into funnel #4 which ventilated the engine room.
The Britannic rolled over onto her starboard side and the funnels began collapsing. Violet Jessop saw the last seconds: "She dipped her head a little, then a little lower and still lower. All the deck machinery fell into the sea like a child's toys. Then she took a fearful plunge, her stern rearing hundreds of feet into the air until with a final roar, she disappeared into the depths, the noise of her going resounding though the water with undreamt-of violence...". It was 09:07, only fifty five minutes after the explosion. The Britannic then became a time capsule on the bottom of the Aegean. She is the largest liner at he bottom of the ocean! There we have the whole story of the Olympic class of liners. Two of them led short and sad lives, and the other was sold for scrap. What was to become the last word in luxury never served as a commercial liner, the other sank on its maiden voyage, and the other led a hard life. It was a doomed idea!

The Fine Art Of Building Models

2007-06-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

I promise that this will be the last time for a while that I shall talk about ship models! But I hope you all find this interesting.
This is what we will do, I'll take each model that I have built and tell you the pointers, and tips that I have learned along the way.

1. Titanic, given to me by a man in our church. Level-5

I'm not for sure what to tell you about this model, since this was the first one. But I'll tell you what not to do!

1. do not try to paint the parts off the runners, and then glue them on when the paint is still wet, it is a gooey mess.

2. when your painting parts, try to think with common sense of what it will look like when its done. and don't paint half the deck.

3. do not work on a crowded desk, or table in poor lighting, and bad ventilation!

4. when attaching the rigging do not wrap it around the mast to stay, it looks so unreal.

5. only do small bits at a time, never work for over 2 hours straight.

Hopefully you have already learned something!!!

2. Bismark, I bought myself. Level-4

The only thing that I regret is that I hardly painted anything. The reason is because all the parts came in a plastic gray, and I thought oh cool I don't have to paint any of this. I mean its a war ship, it should be gray! Well come to find out it looks terribly tacky.
Lesson learned, paint everything in sight.

3. U-Boat, I bought myself. Level-3

When you paint the entire hull with a brush, it turns out all blotchy. There's not a lot to say about this one because it is so small, and not all that detailed.
Lesson learned, next time use spray paint on large areas.

4. Tripiz, Received for Christmas. Level-4

One thing that I really learned from this one is, ease up on the glue, a small amount goes a long way. Give more attention to small details, such as anti-aircraft guns.

5. Shnellboat, Received for Christmas. Level-5

This one I'm actually pretty pleased, the only thing that I don't like is there is no camouflage design. The glue amount is way to much too.

6. USS Arizona, I bought myself. Level-5

This is really one of the first ones that I feel happy with. The paint job is really out of this world, the glue is not oozing over the sides, and the rigging is almost perfect.

7. Ju-52, Received for Christmas. Level-5

This is the first model that I used model putty on, and It's apparent to me that I need some practice in this area. I am not pleased with the small details of this model, there's things to me that don't look realistic. But oh well, I'm still a beginner!

So as you can see I have learned the small things along the way that make models look more and more realistic. So every time that I build one, I remember my old mistakes, and think of new tricks.
I know this blog is not real popular, but I hope someone found it interesting, or helpful.

Junker Ju-52

2007-06-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

This may be an odd post for a blog dedicated to the Titanic, but I told everyone from the get-go that I was interested in ship, planes and really anything that has to do with models!
The first model I ever did was...... can you guess?????? The Titanic, imagine that. I did this model about three years ago. It took a whole month, and I worked on it solid. The only problem was, it was the first model I had ever done, and thats what it looks like. It turned out ok for never doing one in my whole life...... Models are split up in 5 different categories, 1 being the least hardest, and by the time you get to five we are talking really hard. Wouldn't you know the Titanic is a level 5, which means that everything has to be painted, glued, and there's over 200 pieces most of which are no bigger than a nickel.
After I did the Titanic I became addicted to building models, there's just something about it that I love. It's a challenge and you have something to show for it. Since the Titanic I have done six other models.
Here's my story for this one...

I got this model for Christmas, and I'm so busy that it took a while to put it together. I would say that it took me 25 hours altogether.

The camouflage pattern on top was really not that hard, and for me it's the first of its kind. I'll explain, one thing that I learned, was paint the parts while still on the runners {the frame} so all the parts that would construct the top of the plane I spray painted a olive drab, let that dry then tried various patterns with a hobby sponge until I was happy with it. So the top is an olive drab, with flat black pattern. The bottom was painted sky blue, with a fabric gray design. These patterns for obvious reasons, if there is a plane above the bomber it will see the dark green, and black, and will blend into the landscape, same with the bottom, forces on the ground, or fighters flying low would look up and see cloudy sky covers, and mistake it for a cloud or something.

To me this was a spooky picture. It's as if you were a German pilot about to carry out a night raid, and the plane is sitting on the runway ready to go.

This plane was used as a Bomber in the early years of the war, but was converted into a transport plane later on. You have to wonder how many men were killed in these planes! This German bomber now lost to time and space once served a purpose, {not a wholesome one} but planes like this were the planes that changed the world, these weapons of war thrust the world into devastation. Maybe this plane flying over was the last thing someone heard in their London home.

The Morning Of April 15th

2007-06-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

Please forgive my lack of blogging! Hopefully now I can get back on track.

At 2:31, on Monday morning, as the result of the disaster, there were over 1,500 people in near to freezing water, (some dead, some alive) the rest were in the few lifeboats.
Most of the lifeboats were well away when the Titanic sank.
There was the problem of wanting to go back and pick up those struggling and perishing in the water. But there was a fear of doing so, because if they went back to where hundreds of people were in the water, there was a great chance of being swamped or capsized.
The people in the water did not have a chance, most of them did not drown, they died of hypothermia. Hypothermia is a medical condition in which the victim's core body temperature has dropped to significantly below normal and normal metabolism begins to be impaired. This begins to occur when the core temperature drops below 35 degrees Celcius(95 degrees Farenheit). If body temperature falls below 32 °C (90 °F), the condition can become critical and eventually fatal. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia!!!
A few people were pulled from the water, and saved.
It was a long night for those in the lifeboats, the weather was bitterly cold, and the survivors were not prepared for it. [It was a bit below freezing!] Many died from exposure.
The Carpathia was making full steam, by the captain’s orders, heat, hot water, and anything else that took steam, was given to the boilers to power the engines.
Captain Rostern was not one to panic, when he heard the distress call he turned his ship completely around. He also had things organized for the ones that got off the Titanic safely, ordering gangway doors to be opened, have its lifeboats ready if need be, he had saloons and lounges turned into hospitals and living quarters, he had food and drink ready for those that needed it, and had the whole crew be ready to give the survivors service, or anything that they would need.
The ship did have to slow down from 17 knots to a bit less when she entered the ice field, and sharp lookouts were kept for anything living. When Rostern got to the spot where Titanic gave her last distress call [latitude 41.46 N. and longitude 50.14 W.] there was nothing there but wreckage, the time was 4:00 a.m.. The captain ordered that rockets should begin firing to let lifeboats know that help was finally there. The first lifeboat was picked up at 4:30 am, and the last was picked up at 9:00 am, second officer Lightoller was the last to leave the lifeboats.
For those too young to climb up rope ladders, or too old, they had cargo nets swung out over the side of the ship to put the passengers in.
The Carpathia stayed in the area to look for any survivors still in the water, also the Californian came into the area just hearing of the Titanic’s disaster, and asked if they could be of any help. Captain Rostern said, “no, every thing that was humanly possible was done,” not knowing that the Californian set 10 miles through the night ignoring the Titanic’s distress rockets.
When the survivors reached the decks of the Carpathia, they were terror-stricken, and grief-ridden. Many women would not even talk.
People on the Carpathia were moved to tears watching the survivors come on board. As some of the lifeboats came up to the ship they were only half filled, one only had 12 people in it when it had the capacity to sit 42. Titanic’s passengers were in a dreadful state, some were dressed in their nightclothes, and others in their evening clothes, and still others were in raincoats.
After this, the Carpathia made sure there were no more survivors before leaving the area. Survivors were trying to find family members among the throng. They were treated with the utmost respect from the crew, and the Carpathia’s passengers. They were fed right away and taken care of properly.
The women were stunned beyond belief, and only tears could comfort them, for they watched their husbands and sons die. Two Titanic survivors died on the way back to New York, aboard the Carpathia, from exposure in the lifeboats.
Out of the 2,340 people on the Titanic, only 705 survived, 1,635 people lost their lives.
The first thing that Mr. Ismay required when he put his foot on deck, was food. He dashed into the dining room crashed down into a chair and said “hurry, for God’s sake, get me something to eat; I’m starved. I don’t care what it costs, or what it is; bring it to me.” The man that was partly responsible for the disaster was concerned about his own needs and wants, and not on the needs of the other Titanic passengers.
People in New York found out about the disaster that day, and it hit them like a thunderbolt, but facts were unclear and there were accounts that said the Titanic was damaged but being towed to Halifax. Still others said that every one on board survived. Some radical reports of the Titanic were that it had not even hit an iceberg. All of these of course were from different newspapers in New York, and Europe. New York City was touched to the heart when they found out the real truth. Hotels and city buildings were turned into temporary accommodations for the Titanic’s survivors who had nowhere to go. The streets were filled with onlookers and policemen were trying to keep order.
At St. Vincent’s Hospital, 120 beds were made ready for those who may need it. There was also Red Cross relief for all who needed it.
The Carpathia would not be there till midnight. There were well over 200 people on the docks; it was a grief crazed-crowd that had assembled earlier in the day.
Laborers rubbed shoulders with millionaires.
Rich people that had relatives on the Carpathia had Taxicabs waiting close to the docks. Miss. Hays had a whole special train waiting for her, and Miss. Widener also had a whole train waiting for her.
A limousine was waiting for Mrs. Astor to take her to her home on Fifth Ave.
There were also 35 ambulances waiting to take survivors who needed medical attention to every Hospital in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx; which were represented at the docks.
Also, the Pennsylvania Railroad had nine cars that would take the Titanic survivors anywhere they wanted to go, at no charge.
Waiting for the Carpathia was an intense and painful experience to the ones who had loved ones upon the Titanic.
The sea was rough and choppy with a lively wind blowing from the east. There was also a light fog that limited their visibility to only a few hundred yards, but lifted later in the evening.
Then looming out on the dark sea was the Carpathia, drawing closer with her pitiful cargo.
“Liner ahead” cried the lookout! It must be the Carpathia! At first it was just a speck, but as it drew closer the black hull and one funnel made it certain, it was the Carpathia with its sad burden, the Titanic’s survivors. It sent waves of excitement through the packed crowed. More than 10,000 people eventually turned out for the sad homecoming.
A sad moment passed as the ship carrying the Titanic’s survivors rested to a stop at the place where the Titanic would have come to a stop after her maiden voyage.
Women wept silently, a sight not seen at the arrival of a ship coming into port.
There was no response from the ship as she came to a stop. As the Titanic’s passengers were released from the ship they sought for relatives and loved ones.
Titanic had ruined so many lives, first class passengers coming back from Europe, for different reasons, and now many wives were left widowed. Second class passengers coming back
from Europe maybe from visiting extended family, or other various reasons, but never the less women came back with out husbands, and children came back with out fathers. What about third class? People coming over to start a new life, that would be very hard without the man, how were they to survive now? Just because they were in America does not mean that it was the end of the story. Oh no! People’s lives were changed for the worse, people had to live with the fact that their husbands and sons were dead. Not only did it affect the passengers, but it affected the whole world, how could this happen to the unsinkable??? [This was the first event that ever made world news!!!] This was different than other shipwrecks, because this did not have to happen. This tragedy could have been avoided by a few simple different decisions. People wanted answers. So the American government held inquires, which were very tedious, and mind numbing. The British Government also held their inquires about the Titanic.
Never in history was there a disaster happen that could even equal to the Titanic. Men finally learned the lesson that God and His creation could over come anything that man could build. From then on, all ships were required to have enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and they were required to have non-stop radioactivity, and many other simple things that could have avoided the Titanic’s disaster. So as a result of the greatest ship sinking, it made sea-lanes much safer, and gave all classes confidence that they had a sure spot in a lifeboat.

TAGGED

2007-06-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

How it works:
01. grab the book closest to you
02. open it to page 161
03. find the fifth full sentence
04. post the text of the sentence to your blog
05.don't search around for the coolest book you have, use the one that
is really next to you.

"Cromwell said to his soldiers just before a great battle:"

Hmmm,,,,,

TITLE: Springs In The Valley
Author: Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

You would think that I could have picked up a more interesting book!!!

Titanic's Sister Ship 'Olympic'

2007-06-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well we all know the fate of the Titanic, but what became of her sister ships, the Olympic, and Britannic?
We often zone out the Titanic like she was the only glorious ship of the day, but she had two rival sisters. The Titanic was out of a class of liners called the Olympic class, there were three ships in this class. So we'll go down the line in the order that they were built, the purpose that they served, and the fate that they suffered.

1. Though the Titanic and Olympic were built close to the same time, the Olympic was started a few months earlier.
Her keel was laid down December 1907, in shipyard No. 400. Her gross tonnage was 45,342 tons of riveted steel. She was driven by three propellers, and could make 21 knots. H&W built this ship, and she was launched October 20, 1910. She could carry 735 in first class, 674 in second, and 1,026 in third class.
She was the first of the three to cross the Atlantic Ocean, she made the first four trips uneventful, but alas on the fifth crossing she was rammed by the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke. The Olympic stayed afloat and no one was injured, and it seemed to prove the fact that these new class of ships were unsinkable. It took workers two weeks to just patch her so she could return to Belfast to have repairs done, and after that it took six weeks to get her on the seas again.
In February of 1912 she had to return to H&W for repairs, after dropping a propeller blade!
Disasters have a way of getting men's attention to make them see the errors of previous ways. Thus was the case with the Titanic, after the disaster the Olympic again returned to the place of her berth to be 'updated.' The most notable thing was, she had more lifeboats added, as was the law now, but she also had her bulkheads extend all the way up to boat-deck, and she was given another layer of steel all the way around.
World War 1 broke out and the Olympic sailed on as normal, but as the war progressed less and less passengers began crossing the Atlantic fearing that the Olympic would be easy game. But on her return journey she ran across a British Battleship mortally wounded after hitting a mine, the Olympic took off all the crew and attempted to tow the warship into safe waters, but the magazine of the Battleship exploded, and she went to her watery grave.
After this transaction she was intended to be laid up until the war ended, but the Government required her services, as a fast troop transport. She was stripped of all her luxurious fittings, and had the famous 'dazzle paint' job.
She could carry up to 7,000 troops at one time.
The Olympic served proudly through the whole war, rescuing ships crews in distress, and she topped it all by being the attacker, instead of being on the run. During her 22nd troop carrying run the crew spotted a German submarine, the Captain ordered the ship to be turned around in order to ram the submarine, by the time the German crew knew what was happening it was to late, the Olympic tore a whole through the hull of the sub, some of the crew were rescued by a destroyer that was at hand.
The hard earned nick-name "old reliable" was soon put in place by the Captain, crew, and all who sailed on her.
In 1918 she again returned to Belfast too be fitted out to carry passengers again. she was converted to run on oil instead of coal, and this meant that she would need 300 less crew, she would be more efficient this way too. After 2.5 million to the White Star Line she returned to passenger traffic, and was loved, admired, and adored by all.
By 1933 sea travel diminished tremendously, due to several different reasons. The White Star Line, and the Cunard merged together in the early 1930's and began to sell off some of their ships, the Olympic's future seemed doubtful, after all she was 25 years old at this time.
By 1935 her time was up. They tried to sell her, but nobody wanted her, so she was stripped of her fittings, and superstructure, and the rest was sold for scrap.
I guess that's what happens to everything sooner or later, it is just kind of sad to me. She was built at the height of shipping engineering, she was a loved ship by everyone, she served well, and worked hard, and then was sold for scrap! She was built first out of the class, and survived the longest out of the Olympic class. There is just something eerie about that picture above to me.
Since we all know what happened to the Titanic, I'll be posting something on the sister ship Britannic. She as well had an interesting, and short life.

Second Officer, Charles Herbert Lightoller

2007-05-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

{"What I remember about that night, what I will remember as long as I live, is the people crying out to each other as the stern began to plunge down. I heard people crying, 'I love you.'"}

Lightoller was very much the image of a steamship officer. Tall, sun bronzed and handsome, with a deep, pleasant speaking voice. He was a good officer and an outstanding seaman.
His monthly salary was 14.00.00 [in English pounds.]
At the time of the disaster he was 38.
His berth place was Chorley, Lancashire England.
His residence in 1912 was Southampton, England.
He began his career in 1900 with the White Star Line working with a man called E.J. Smith whom he liked and admired very much.
He was born in March 30^th, 1874. His mother died only one month after he was born. Within one year one of his sisters died, and his father cared him for. The strain must have been too much on him, so one day he just upped and left for the sea.
“It is difficult to convey any idea of the size of ship like Titanic, when you could actually walk miles along decks and passages, covering different ground all the time. I was thoroughly familiar with pretty well every type of ship afloat, from a battleship to a barge, “but it took me 14 days before I could with any confidence find my way from one end of the ship to another by the shortest route.”
When he left his wife and home in Southampton, he told her “don’t you bother, the sea isn’t wet enough to drown me.” Second officer Charles Herbert Lightoller did survive the Titanic’s sinking.

I feel another quiz coming on!!!

Titanic's Funnels, or Smokestacks

2007-05-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Now you may say, hmm... what is there to say about the Titanic's funnels? Well there is a little bit to say.......
The first time the Titanic's funnels became an issue was when Bruce Ismay was inspecting a model of the ship, before he signed the contract to have them built. He asked again how many engines the Titanic would have, thinking that maybe he hadn't heard right, three was the reply. Then why four funnels, he inquired? The reply was plain and straight to the point, the Mauritania, and Lusitania, both have four funnels, we didn't think that you would want your ship to have less. Besides it will make the ship look more powerful. With third class passengers of the time, they thought that the more funnels the ship had the faster it would go, and a ship this big would look out of place with only three funnels.
The Titanic's funnels were constructed away from the site and then transported to the fitting out wharf for installation.
They weighed 60 tons apiece and they were big enough to drive two locomotives through at the same time.

I think that the Titanic's funnels really made the Titanic stand out among other ships. It gave the ship a majestic look, as it was truly Queen of the seas.

Once they were fitted out, they were cabled down to the decks by guy wires. The fourth funnel was just a dummy and was used to vent the engine room and kitchen galleys. They were painted bronze at the bottom and a black buff at the top, typical of the White Star Line.
The funnels only had a few days to glory in the bright sunlight. I have looked for the fate of them, but I have not really come up with anything. They are somewhere...... perhaps rust eaten, and almost gone now, but they were once the crowning glory of what has be come the most famous shipwreck of all time.

Titanic's Construction

2007-05-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

This is a long post, so grab a cup coffee, a donut, and a big fuzzy blanket and cuddle down!
You better make that two donuts...

In 1907, a limousine pulled up in front of a mansion. A man of medium height, with a dark mustache steps out of the car. He walked quickly up the stone path, and up the steps too the entrance. As he enters, the butler quickly removes his long overcoat, and top hat. This man’s name is John Bruce Ismay; he is the president of the White Star Line.

John Pilkington, and Henry Threlfall Wilson formed the White Star Line in 1845. All of the White Star Line’s business was conducted in Liverpool, England. This Shipping Line was started mainly to be involved in the Australian gold rush. The White Star Line Shipping Company used charted sailing ships from the time the company came into existence. Not until 1863 did the White Star Line acquire a steamer. After the fall of the Australian gold rush, the White Star Line concentrated on the shipping route between Liverpool and New York. In 1867, they invested heavily in new steamers, and at that time the Royal Bank of Liverpool failed. This disaster left the company bankrupt, with the outstanding debt of $527,000.00, and no way to pay it back. Thomas Ismay was the president of the White Star Line at this time [Bruce Ismay’s father] and came into contact with men by the name of Gustavus C. Schaube, and Gustav Wolff. If Thomas Ismay would agree to have Gustav Wolff [Harland & Wolff ship-builders] build his ships, Wolff’s uncle Schaube, would finance the ship-line. Thomas agreed, and a new partnership was formed between the White Star Line shipping company, and the Harland & Wolff, ship-builders. The agreement was this, H&W would build ships at cost, plus a fixed percentage, and they would not build ships for White Star Line’s rivals. So, on July 30^th, 1869 the first orders were arranged with H&W. It was to be a new class of liners, the oceanic class. There would be four ships in this class, the Oceanic, Atlantic, Baltic, and Republic, and by 1871 the shipping company was on route again between New York and Liverpool.
Through the next years, the White Star Line would abound in profits. The shipping company also acquired new ships such as the Germanic, Teutonic, Majestic, Celtic, Cedric, Baltic, and Adriatic, all of these built in between 1875 and 1907. The Teutonic won the Blue Ribbon for being the fastest ship on the seas at the time.
In 1902 the International Mercantile Marine [IMM] took over many ship-lines, and Bruce Ismay wanted no part of it. But! He could not compete with it, so he joined it. So, by 1903 the White Star Line was part of a large American conglomerate, owned and directed by John Pierpont Morgan.
As John Bruce Ismay entered Lord Pierre’s home, he had something on his mind, something very serious. After formal greetings were made all around, Ismay was shown into the dining room. Ismay and Pierre had a long friendship, not just as partners in the struggle to be the best shipping-line and ship-builders, it was deeper than that, they had a true friendship that went beyond the expectations of the shipping world. After the elaborate dinner and dessert, they set around a small table discussing many different things that had been going on. It was then, when they were sitting there smoking cigars and drinking hot tea, that one of the most important discussions of the age took place. Sooner or later shipping came up; there was a major problem.
The Cunard Line, the rival shipping company had built two ships like the world had never seen. Not in size, or luxury, or beauty like the others, but in speed. These new liners, the Lusitania, and Mauritania, had set new speed records, they were faster than any other cruise ship in the world at the time. Pierre and Ismay were not concerned about speed, but these new ships were cutting into their profits. The White Star Line didn’t have a ship to challenge these new queens. Ismay begin to sketch something on a piece of paper, things were running through Ismay’s mind, a new ship! That’s what we need to compete with the Cunard Liners! It would have to be a ship of grand scale, something like the world had never seen, something that would put the Cunard shipping line back in their seats. Something that would overcome the elements, something that would attract the paying eye, something….something…… We will build a ship that has more luxuries than any other ship, we will build a ship that is indestructible, and we will build a ship like the world has ever seen. That was definitely the answer! A new class of ships! But what will this cost people, it was simple, the same fixed rate. Which was cost +10%, something everybody could afford, from first class, to third class. This would not be unusual for the White Star Line. They had been more concerned with luxury more than speed for the last several years. On the other hand the Cunard Line was definitely more concerned with speed. Ismay didn’t want to compete with the speed of these new ships, he would lose. This was a battle that neither party could afford to lose.As the evening drew on, Ismay took his leave. Back at his house, he must have been more excited than words could tell, it wasn’t every day you get to build and own the biggest ship in the world!

As days grew into weeks, blue prints and plans were being made on a major scale. Finally, the H&W designers brought a small model of the new class of ships for Ismay to inspect. Ismay did not show his emotions as he viewed the ship with satisfaction. The head designer at H&W must have been shaking slightly as the president of the White Star Line inspected the design of the ship. Finally as Ismay stood up from crouching over the model, he said, “I think it’s fabulous!” The ship designer let out a sigh of relief.
This class of liners would need to have names that would fit them properly. Until this moment they were known as ships 400, 401 and 402. The first to be named, was Olympic, after the Greeks. Such a name sounded fitting for such a ship! What would they call ship 401, the second in the group of three? What about the mighty Titans, rivals of the Olympians in the early days, surely this ship must be named TITANIC! Ship 402 would have a simple name, but fitting never the less, Gigantic. On July 31, 1908, the order was put in at H&W for the new class of ships, R.M.S Olympic, and Titanic. Gigantic was ordered after Titanic and Olympic’s launch. As John Bruce Ismay signed the contract with Harland & Wolff, these ships would be built no matter what happened. When Ismay put his pen to the contract, he had untold joy in his heart, finally these new ships were becoming a reality. For over a year he had dreamed of this moment.

When the orders arrived at H & W, the Belfast work force gasped! Never in the history of shipbuilding had there been a ship of such proportions, never before had man built a ship like the Titanic. Until now, the Cunard liners Lusitanian and Mauritania had been the largest ships in the world. The men of H & W were invited to build not only one, but three ships much bigger than the Cunard liners. These new ships would be 90 feet longer, 4 feet wider, and 15,000 tons heavier. The Titanic would be a massive ship, nothing like the world had ever seen, she would be 883 feet and 9 inches long, and 92 feet wide. This leviathan would displace 60,000 tons; the empty hull alone would weigh 26,000 tons.

From the top of the funnels to the keel would be 175 feet tall, 35 feet of that would be under the water line. Also the Titanic was taller above the water than most urban buildings of the time.
Titanic altogether had four funnels-which were constructed at another site from H & W, and then transported to the H & W for placement on the ship, they weighed 60 tons apiece and were big enough to drive two locomotives through at the same time. The fourth one was a dummy added mainly to vent the engine rooms and the galleys, but it also made the ship look more powerful, third class passengers especially thought the more funnels the ship had the faster it would go.
When finally built, the Titanic would be the biggest man made object ever moved until the 1920’s!
Titanic would have three massive propellers, two three bladed ones that were 23 feet and 6 inches tall, and a smaller four bladed propeller that would be 16 feet and 6 inches tall.
The Titanic had 24 double-ended boilers and 5 single ended boilers that would be placed in 6 boiler rooms, the double-ended boilers would be 20 feet long and 15 feet and 6 inches high, the single ended boilers were 11 feet long and 9 inches. Altogether she would have 159 furnaces. Once on the sea, she would use 850 tons of coal each day.
She had two reciprocating, four cylinder, triple expansion, direct acting inverted engines: creating 30,000 horse power, the left over steam would go to a third engine, a low pressure Parsons turbine: creating 16,000 horse power, this engine could not be put into reverse. Added all together would generate 46,000 hp. This would not make a fast ship, but the White Star Line was concerned with elegance and luxury, more than speed. These engines would drive the ship through the water at more than 23 knots at top speed, which is not too bad considering that the ship weighed 60,000 tons.
The Titanic had a rudder that weighed 100 tons, and the Titanic’s center anchor weighed 15 tons and was as tall as a house. Each chain link was as tall as a man and weighed 100 pounds.
Before construction could begin on these new ships, H & W had to update their piers, gantry’s, and slipways.
The Titanic and Olympic were built side by side although Olympic was started a few months before Titanic.
The keel was laid down on March 31, 1909. During construction timber props were used to hold her up.
14,000 men worked on Titanic, being the highest employ rate H & W had ever had. If you happened to be late to work once the shipyard gates were closed, there was no way to get in, you just lost a whole day’s pay.
Over the course of the construction, 17 men lost their lives due to the unsafe working conditions. One of the losses was a 15-year-old boy.
In order to lower the massive engines in place, H & W had to order special floating cranes from Germany that could lift 200 tons to set the engines and boilers down into the ship. This cost $30,000 to the H & W Company. The engines set on their own weight just like the boilers and the huge funnels. The funnels had cables running down to the deck to help hold them in place in case of rough seas.
The Titanic was also supposed to be the symbol of modern technology, not in just the size of the ship but in safety too. To live up to the high standards she had a double bottom, a double hull of 1 inch steel plates that were 3 feet wide and 16 feet long, each piece weighed 3 tons, 3,000,000 rivets were used to hold the ship together, and a new design of 16 watertight compartments with watertight doors that could be closed from the bridge or by automatic electric sensors. This is when the newspapers started to call her unsinkable, a term that quickly flourished in the minds of the designer and J. Bruce Ismay. Soon the world started saying…. “This ship is unsinkable” and the term “no, not even God could sink this ship” came about. That is what this ship would be known for, Sadly, as everyone would come to find out, there was a terrible flaw; these watertight bulkheads only went up to E deck. The ship could only float if any four or five of her compartments filled with water. But none could think of a disaster that would cause more than four of her compartments to fill up, but which means that this ship was not unsinkable if there was the possibility of that danger.
A man by the name of Andrew Carlyle had been chief designer of the Titanic until the issue of how many lifeboats were necessary came up. The British Board Of Regulations was out of date. It stated that a ship of 10,000 tons must have at least 16 lifeboats, but these new ships were five times that big and Carlyle new it. The Titanic was designed to carry 3500 passengers and crew, fully loaded. Which means these new ships would need 64 lifeboats to cover every one board. Carlyle argued these points with Lord Pirrie, and J. B. Ismay. “ These new ships must carry enough lifeboats for every one on board.” Said Carlyle, then Pirrie stated, “The Titanic is its own lifeboat” ‘and having 64 lifeboats festooning the deck of the ship would scare people away”. He argued that this ship was made with the latest advances in safety technology and most of all “you designed her.” Carlyle was getting flustered with Pirrie and said, “don’t you see anything that is designed by man is liable to destruction.” Then Pirrie clearly told him that these ships would meet the requirements of the BBOR, only having 16 lifeboats, and four collapsibles. Then Andrew Carlyle, after being in the family business his whole life, walked out for good. He was not going to design a ship that would not have enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew.
After he left, H & W needed a new chief designer, so they called on Thomas Andrews, [he had actually helped design the Titanic with Carlyle] to pick up were Andrew Carlyle left off. They chose Andrews to keep this operation in the family business. [Andrews was Pirrie’s nephew!!!]
With the main structure of the ship completed, launching of the Titanic was set for May 31^st, 1911. For the occasion 100,000 people turned out. There was no christening of the Titanic, White Star Line and H & W did not take part of that tradition. So, at 12:13 the hydraulic triggers were pulled and the largest man made object moved for the first time, slid down the slipway on 22 tons of tallow and fat, and other types of grease, and of course her own weight. The Titanic reached a speed of 12 knots and was brought to a halt by anchor chains and cable drag chains. The whole process took 62 seconds. As one worker put it after watching the ordeal, “they just builds’em and shoves’em in.”
The Titanic was towed to the H & W fitting out wharf, from installing passenger accommodations, to engineering equipment, and just mainly making her seaworthy.
Carpenters, carpet layers, steamfitters, metalworkers, and electricians [just to name a few of the trades used] all had a chance to show their handy work.
Specifications to the Titanic were going to be based upon those of the Olympic. There would be some changes made, and as a result, the Titanic would be a thousand tons heavier than the Olympic, and even more luxurious. One of these changes would be to close the 1^st class promenade deck in by glass. Passengers had complained about being splashed with spray from the sea. This change made a notable difference between the two ships.In the next months to follow, the empty hull of the Titanic would be formed into the most elegant, and luxurious ship the world had ever seen sailing the sea.

Sea Trials

2007-05-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

The Titanic’s sea-trials were to commence on April 1^st, 1912 at 10:00 am, but strong winds delayed it until the next day. The ship’s officers had spent a few days in Belfast making sure that everything was going to be ready for the sea-trials.

A coal strike had taken place a few months earlier, which means there was a shortage of coal. So in order for the Titanic to undertake her maiden voyage, the White Star Line had coal brought from other ships and canceled their routes. They moved passengers from those steamers to the Titanic at no extra cost.
The Titanic used a vast amount of coal every day, 850 tons to be exact.
So on April 2^nd the Titanic’s sea-trails began, for the first time at Captain’s orders, the Titanic was put at full speed, and for the first time the ship’s system came to life and started to pound. The crew was eager to see what the Titanic was capable of. First she was to drift to a stop, then at 20 knots, the order for full speed astern was requested, it took her 850 yards to come to a complete stop. After that, various maneuvers were conducted to see and test what she was capable of. At top speed she reached 24.5 knots, more than her planned 21 knots. At full speed she made a circle in 3,850 feet diameter. The Titanic’s sea-trials lasted only 6 hours, same as the Olympics, and passed with flying colors. So with the official papers signed, stating that she met the requirements for the British Board Of Regulations, “making her good for one year” it allowed her to carry passengers, and to take on the endless sea.
So with sea trials quickly over, the Titanic sailed at midnight to Southampton where her maiden voyage would begin 8 days later.
The Titanic doesn’t just represent the skills and labor of men, but their hopes and dreams.
So now, the greatest ocean liner the world had ever seen, with the best crew and officers the world practically had to offer, would depart Southampton bound for New York, but would never make it. In just a matter of days the most famous shipwreck of all time was about to take place. Sometimes I wonder if Sea Trials were as strict as they should have been, considering how big these new class of ships were.

Answers To The Titanic Quiz

2007-04-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well here are the answers to the quiz...

1. How far was the Baltic, from the disaster area on the night of April 14???
a. 75 miles
b. 200 miles
c 125 miles
This was just one of the ships in the North Atlantic on the night of April 14, 1912!!! Sadly she was to far away to help in any way.

2. How many electric cranes did the Titanic have???
a. 6
b. 10
c. 4
Oops, I did a boo-boo... Their were actually 8... so I cant hold anybody to that one, sorry it's bound to happen sooner or later. Their were 8!!!

3. To what deck did the watertight compartments extend to???
a. boat-deck
b. F-deck
c. E-deck
A terrible flaw in the watertight design, that cost over 1500 people their lives! If they would have only gone up a couple more decks, the disaster probably would not have happened.

4. How many crew were in the engine department???
a. 45
b. 325
c. 159
This would include the stokers, engineers, firemen, and anybody that had to do with engines!

5. On what date were the Titanic, and her sister ships ordered at H&W???
a. September 17, 1908
b. January 12, 1906
c. July 31, 1908
The contract was signed by J B. Ismay, and once the contract was signed the ships would have to be built. There was no turning back, after this point! This contract was signed on July 31, 1908!

Titanic quiz...

2007-04-24T12:35:00.002-07:00

This one will be a bit more tricky, so really put your thinking caps on!!! I encourage you to look it up if you don't know it. Just don't guess all of them, that would defeat the purpose.

1. How far was the Baltic, from the disaster area on the night of April 14???
a. 75 miles
b. 200 miles
c 125 miles
2. How many electric cranes did the Titanic have???
a. 6
b. 10
c. 4
3. To what deck did the watertight compartments extend to???
a. boat-deck
b. F-deck
c. E-deck
4. How many crew were in the engine department???
a. 45
b. 325
c. 159
5. On what date were the Titanic, and her sister ships ordered at H&W???
a. September 17, 1908
b. January 12, 1906
c. July 31, 1908

Have fun!!!

April 14, 1912 Sunday night.... part 2

2007-04-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

....Once the passengers were mostly in bed,

Came the dreadful cry “iceberg dead ahead.”

They then didn’t know it

But soon found out,

She would not make it there was no doubt.

The pain was unbearable that fateful night,

For the Captain and crew their lips they did bite.

One minute she sailed

Next minute she stopped

Hit by an iceberg that wrenched her apart.....

Captain Smith no doubt was stricken in heart, as he called all of the officers to the bridge to let them in on the situation. He and Andrews knew that there were not enough lifeboats for all of the passengers on board.
He shared the disastrous news with the officers, and gave them the following orders; first officer Murdoch, and third officer Pittman were ordered to use their men to rouse the passengers, and get them on the boat deck with their lifebelts on. Second officer Lightoller was to use the seaman to uncover, and get the lifeboats ready to launch. The fifth and sixth officers were to stay on the bridge, and fourth officer Boxhall was to work out their position.
At 12:10am Monday morning the Titanic position was given to the wireless operators, 41*46* N, 50*14* W. At 12:15am the first CQD distress call was sent out.
As passengers were being roused in the early hours of the 15th, most of them were not happy campers, what was this? Here these passengers had booked on an 'unsinkable' ship, and now they are being woke up, under the pretence that the Captain is being fussy, and correct, making them dawn their lifebelts, dress warmly, and go up to the boat deck, where the weather was now freezing. Put yourself in their spot, you're sound asleep, and then a steward appears at your door and tells you that you have to be prepared to abandon ship! This would have been a very hard task to accomplish, and reasonably so. They are on a "unsinkable" ship!!! Part of the reason for their stubbornness is, the passengers did not know the real state of the ship, and thought the Captain, and officers were just being picky and cautious about things.
The crew in the bottom of the ship were told to stay at their posts, and keep fire in the boilers, to power the generaters, to give power to the wireless, and keep the ship brightly lit. These men are not really talked about, when honors are being passed out, but think about it, these men were in the lowest part of the ship, not the place you want to be when a ship is sinking, these men knew that they did not have a chance. If they would not have stayed at their posts, the Titanic would have blacked out, the wireless radio would have had no power, and nobody would know what even happened to the 'Queen of the seas.' Truly these men were brave! Then think of the wireless operators, here they are swamped with private 'stuff' and now their stopped in the middle of the Atlantic, with damage to the ship. What if they had to turn around and had to return to Belfast, to repair damage. If that happened they would not get a moments rest.
Third class passengers were told to stay below decks, until further notice! First and second class were slowly meandering their way to boat deck, and to first class lounges, and smoking rooms.
Captain John Edward Smith could not put off the inevitable any longer, he ordered women and children into the lifeboats. At this time there is no panic, passengers are not even concerned at this point about the safety of the ship. Women did not really care to leave the brightly lit decks of the Titanic, to enter a small swaying lifeboat, and second of all their husbands could not come along. At first it was hard to convince women to leave the Titanic, but after a while a few here and there were starting to get in.
Officers were becoming aware of the fact that the Titanic would really sink. At 12:45am they fired off the first distress rocket.
The Titanic was beginning to list to starboard, and water was rushing into the forward compartments.
Right now things are calm and peaceful, men step back and light cigars and start smoking calmly, and talking quietly. Also as time went on, more and more passengers were getting into the lifeboats, maybe they were realizing that something was wrong. This is one of the times I just have to ponder the things that were going on, what were the passengers really thinking? How did they fill? Everybody in this age was concrete in the fact that the Titanic, and her sister ships were unsinkable, but I have to wonder if some unknown feeling were beginning to chip away at that firm belief.
There was one mistake that stands out of them all in my mind, one lifeboat was capable of holding 70 to 74 people, but many were sent out half filled or less than half, one was sent out with 12 passengers, when it was capable of holding 70!

If all of the lifeboats would have been filled to their full capacity 500 more souls could have been saved.

The Titanic could see a ship in the distance, but she was not responding to the distress calls, so Smith thought that rockets would make them aware of the peril that they were facing. That ship was the Californian, and the officers on deck did see the rockets and reported to the sleeping Captain of what they saw, they were wondering why a big ship like that would fire rockets. The Captain said they were probably company rockets, and to enter it into the log, none thought to wake the sleeping wireless operator. So, the Californian set through the whole night 10 miles away and watch the sinking Titanic fire rockets.

Back in the Titanic's wireless room the operators could not find anybody closes enough to help, they were able to contact ships 75 to 200 miles away but that would be no help. Bride suggested to Phillips in a joking tone, "you might send SOS it could be the last chance you have to send it." It was the first time that SOS was internationally used!

Down it third class it was utter pandemonium, the crew received orders that only women and children were allowed up top, but a lot of them didn't understand what they were trying to tell them, and they did not want to be separated from their husbands. It was complete chaos!
There were many calm men that fateful night, but the coolest men on board were Captain Smith, and Major Archibald Butts, the military aid to president Taft. There was a time when three third class men came charging up to get into a lifeboat, yelling screaming, and fighting when officers told them to step back or they would be shot, Butts covered them with a 38 revolver. First class passenger Mrs. Henry B Harris said "the world should raise in praise of Major Butt. That man's conduct will remain in my memory forever. The American Army is honored by him." There was no fear in his manner, even though the circumstances called for it. There was one time when a dozen of women became hysterical all at once, Major Butts stepped over to them and said, "really, you must not act like that." His calm assurance helped many that fateful night. A man saw a boat being lowered and ran to jump in it, but Butts shot him in the arm, caught him in the back of the neck, and jerked him back like a pillow, and cracked his head against a rail, and said, "sorry, but women and children will be attended to first, or I'll break every bone in your body." Many people were heard that night to say, "thank God for Major Butt." Again he saw a man trying to get in to a lifeboat, but he caught him and said, "keep your head and be a man." He helped so many people that night with such a strong firmness and sincerity, he was an example to every man on board that fateful night. His last known words are thought to be when he was helping a women into a lifeboat, preforming small courtesies, and smiling as if death were far away, instead of just a few moments from it. After lowering the lady into the lifeboat, he said, "good-by miss Young, good luck to you, and don't forget to remember me to the folks back home." He stepped back and waved his hand!

Arms and ammunition were being passed out among the officers, Smith knew it was a matter of time before some men tried and made for the lifeboats, but they were going to enforce the rule, "women and children first." On the port side of the ship second officer Lightoller was filling lifeboats, and it was becoming increasingly harder to keep men from going to the boats, but Lightoller was upholding the rule 'women and children first' strictly. On the starboard side it was Murdoch filling lifeboats, he was not as concerned as Lightoller about women and children only, if there were no ladies about he would allow men to get in.

“Women and children” was the cry,

Get them away

With no delay.

The bravery of men

Abounded that night,

Standing aside that others might live,

Staring at death

Like brave men they did.

Oh grave where is thy victory?

Oh death where is thy sting!

As their loved ones departed

Too see them no more,

The only thing left, was a door.

The door of eternity open wide,

To receive these men as they died.

“Nearer My God To Thee” was heard that night,

Upon the waves of untold fright.

Some men however were panic stricken, and six men sreaming in terror dashed for the lifeboats, and six shots sounded out in quick sussesion, and six men were stopped in their tracks, this helped discouraged violations of the rule "Women and children first." But on the whole most of the men were the brave type, telling their wives that they would meet them on another ship, knowing good and well that would not be the case.

Back in the wireless room the operators had found a ship close enough to help, the Carpathia! She was 48 miles away, and was coming at full speed and would be there in four hours, the Titanic only had one hour to live.

There are many differant versions of how Captain Smith met his death, I'll tell you the one I believe; first of all he had to be in utter dispair, on his last voyage having a perfect record at sea, his ship was sinking, over 2,000 passengers that should be in bed right now, are now on the verge of death, you know that, that morning they were not expecting to die. Was it Smith's fault? NO! It was not his fault, but he was responsible, you can't blame the accident on him, he wasn't on the bridge at the time of impact, but as Captain he was responsible! He was last seen heading to the bridge, the place he made his life out of, the place he had commanded for forty years, the bridge. I speculate that he stood at the ship's wheel as the cold waters of the icy Atlantic, swirled around his feet then up to his chest, and finally to his nostrils, and there he died, at the ship's wheel!

After all the lifeboats on the starboard side had been lowered, first officer Murdoch took the revolver out of his pocket and said "try and save yourself, good-by and good luck." With that he shot himself through the head and ended his life!

Up to this time there had been no real panic, but now it was sure that the Titanic would sink. Stokers came up from below, their posts now submergerd and they beat all down in their path, for they had iron bar.
The ship now is at a steep slant!
Sences of the sinking vessal become more tragic, as passengers faced the certain fear of death. Many women rejected the lifeboats to stay and die with the men that they truly loved.

As the bow slipped beneath the waves, and water crept up around the bridge, and started to surround the first funnel. The first funnel {smokstack} weighing in at sixty tons of steel could no longer take the slanted strain, the cables holding her whipped back into the water like angry hornets, and no doubt killing those in its path. Then the massive funnel fell over and killed those in the water around her!

Back in the wireless room, news came that the Carpathia was making full steam, and was racing to the sence at full blast. Jack Phillips must have wondered where the fool was that blasted into his ears a while back about some ice-warning, the power was strong, he must be in the vicinity. Now he probably wished he would not have been so rude!
Not long after that the power left the ship's wireless room, but Phillips was still tapping away, even though it did no good.

Benjamin Guggenheim also showed great courage in the face of death, he, being one of the richest men in the world, faced death like a man. When someone asked him if he would try to save himself he said, “I think there is grave doubt that the men will get off safely. I am willing to remain and play the man’s game, if there are enough boats for more than the woman and children. I won’t die here like a beast. I’ll meet my end as a man.’ He paused for a moment than continued, ‘tell my wife, Johnson, if it should happen that my secretary and I both go down and you are saved, tell her I played the game out straight and to the end. No woman shall be left aboard this ship because Ben Guggenheim was a coward. ‘Tell her my last thoughts will be of her and our girls, but that my duty now is to these unfortunate woman and children on this ship. Tell her I will meet whatever fate is in store for me, knowing she will approve of what I do.” He was last seen talking to Major Butts and Colonel Astor.

Thomas Andrew the designer of the Titanic, the first to know that she would not make it, was last seen in the first class reception room, he had a wife and three children.
There is an unknown man that gave the men on board a bad name, instead of staying with the men and letting women and children get into the boats, he went back to his cabin and put on woman’s dress, woman’s shoes, a woman’s hat, and a woman’s veil, went and walked back through the heroic men standing their waiting to meet their death, and got on a boat and saved himself, not a more cowardly thing could have been done.
Among the cowardly few men who got onto lifeboats, none other but John Bruce Ismay the president of the White Star Line stepped into a lifeboat. He, above all other men should have stayed on board, since it was he who argued with Carlyle about the issue of lifeboats, and said the Titanic is unsinkable, it’s its own lifeboat, and made the decision that there would not be enough lifeboats for every one. He should have been the last man to be put safely in a lifeboat. But he was scared of death and could not stay on the Titanic’s sloping deck. He died years later almost bankrupt.

As the ship began to settle to the starboard side at nearly a 45-degree angle, more and more people began to jump. It must have been a hard thing for the ladies who set in the lifeboats and watched their husbands smiling calmly at them, awaiting their death.

Among the heroes, the Titanic’s band was one of them, Wallace Hartley being the bandleader. As the ship neared the end the band started playing the beloved hymn “Nearer My God To Thee”. Some say they played this until the water was about their knees, but that would have been nearly impossible, because of the angle of the ship. But I believe that they played until they could no longer keep balance. Many times when you think of the Titanic sinking you think of Nearer My God To Thee, but don’t give honor to the men who played it to the very end. This song would also cause men to reflect on the fact that the end was very near. The band’s heroic deed went down in the history of the Titanic.

Passengers in the lifeboats could hear the sinking ship now, as she began to aquire a very steep angle, everything inside the ship began crashing over, plates, tables, beds, tea cups, luggage, machinery, and sounds of terror, etc...

Then it happened. The Titanic was in her death throws, she started to make her last plunge, as water started to creep up the deck even faster, people began to jump and clamber for the stern area. The Titanic was almost standing upright in the water when between the third and fourth funnels the biggest ship in the world broke apart. She could no longer take the heavy strain, and then the lights flicked and went out for good. Imagine the fear in the passengers not all the way up to the stern of the ship yet, and to feel the deck begin to break, and the wood planks pop apart below their feet then to fall to your death inside the broken ship. The bow plunged to the bottom of the ocean 2 ½ miles below. The stern area came crashing down into the water; it created a small tidal wave, and no doubt killing people that would have been in her way. People clung to the stern as well as they could, knowing the end was finally here. As the stern sank lower and lower, the water crept closer and closer. Then she plunged and sank. The R.M.S Titanic was last seen at 2:30, on April 15^th 1912. The world’s greatest liner was gone, everything was gone.

It was the end of an era!

...Titanic plunged with a moan,

She died with a great groan.

Behind her she left hundreds of souls

Where cold would soon take its toll.

Titanic was gone

As soon as she came.

She lost her glory,

But gained great fame.

James Daniel McEntire

April 14, 1912 Sunday night... Part 1

2007-04-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is one of the subjects that I love talking about the most, and yet when the occasion arises I feel inadequate to do so.
When I start explaining what happened that fateful night, I have a hard time expressing my self, and putting what I think and feel into words. So please bear with me!
This will be the post on things that took place this night 95 years ago, there is so much that I'm afraid that I can only hit the basic story line...
As the Titanic sped on through a known ice field at 22 1/2 knots, about 28 miles an hour, she had but a few more hours to retain the title 'Queen of the seas'! The big golden sun began to set in the west, casting wondrous shades of light and depth to the glorious evening. I don't think that any words can describe the last few hours of precious sunlight that the Titanic's passenger, and the ship itself had to revel in. Slowly but surely a huge orange mass of light and energy sank lower and lower into the west, and was gone forever for some. For the others the next time they would see it, they would be on the decks of another ship!
As it got later the temperature dropped drastically almost to freezing, and this forced many out of the open decks and back into the warmth and radiance of the Titanic.
Passengers are now enjoying their "last meal on the Titanic." They slowly started to retire one by one. Just a few scattered here and there, maybe playing card games, talking, or braving the cold decks.
Titanic's death clock began ticking toward that deadly moment when she would meet her fate. Captain Smith had taken precautionary measures by taking the ship 10 miles south of its original course. The Captain knew they were in the midst of ice but chose not to slow down. Why? John Bruce Ismay was pushing the Captain very hard to arrive in New York early and surprise everyone, and by the way it would be the perfect ending to his perfect career. This was Captain John Edwards Smith's last voyage, and Ismay wanted him to end it in style. Out of everything that I know, I don't believe that the Captain was for trying to make a record time, but oh well, he'd crossed the Atlantic and probably knew it better than anyone, what would it hurt? So at Ismay's request they were rushing headlong into danger. Another problem, some how the binoculars had been left in Southampton. Then the weather; it was calm, still, flat, no wind, and star lit. Now that sounds like a picture perfect evening, and it is, but not for spotting icebergs. here's why; if the water is smooth, and flat, it won't produce 'breakers' around the edges of the iceberg, and believe it or not the brighter it is at night the harder it is to see icebergs, and especially 'blue bergs.' Sailors would say later that they had not seen a night like this in 40 years.
At 11:00pm First officer Murdoch came on the bridge, and began his watch. This in itself was a terrible mistake, this was the most critical part of the voyage and the Captain was not at the wheel. They were in a known ice field, they were making 22 knots, and it was at night, and the Captain entrusted the care of the ship to the first officer.
Stewards start cleaning up, and getting ready for the next day, bakers finish up their days work, the Captain himself has retired, along with other officers, passengers turn to their bed as a symbol of security and comfort, not knowing that they will be rudely awakened... all is quiet.
It's now 11:45pm, the dreadful moment that we wish we could stop, but can't. Up in the crow's nest one of the lookouts, Fredrick Fleet, is chilled to the bone at the sight of a iceberg coming on quick, he forgets how cold he is and can't believe his eyes,,, an ICEBERG!!! Something that no sailor wants to see. He quickly regains his senses and rings the brass bell three times, picks up the phone, sixth officer Moody picks up the phone on the bridge and asks what he saw, the reply stops the blood in his veins his voice rings out loud and clear, "Iceberg dead ahead, sir," we all know what happens, but take this as it comes, as he hears the chilling words he must wonder momentarily how far off, and how big? With a quick 'thank you' he hangs up and reports to Murdoch, he dashes to the Starboard wing and peers with all his might and then he sees it as well. He rushes back into the bridge and quickly shouts the order "hard 'a starboard' the ship's wheel is flung over hard, and Murdoch runs back onto the wing, they don't seem to be turning, what's the matter, he flings himself back into the bridge and orders "full speed astern both" the worst thing he could have done. In doing this he would make the ship turn much more slowly, and he probably knew this, but panic set in and he did what sounded right, and I'll explain why. first of all the propellers are situated just beneath the rudder, now with the propellers spinning in one direction they push the flow of water around the rudder, if you reverse the direction of the propellers, it pulls water away from the rudder which means the flow of water stopped around the rudder, so in effect putting the wheel or rudder hard over didn't do a thing with the engines running at full speed in reverse. He is standing on the starboard wing watching in untold terror as the pinnacle of the age, biggest ship in the world, the hopes and dreams of hundreds, headed toward something six times her size. Did Murdoch have a lump in his throat? Or perhaps a tightened jaw? Or maybe he almost passed out on the account of not breathing? Who knows but him, but I'm sure he was rooted too the spot in fear. Then it happened the height of mastered engineering received its death wound. The iceberg tore a 300 foot gash on the starboard side of the Titanic, it was done. Titanic's fate was sealed. The Captain was awakened immediately and was on the bridge, some passengers were awakened by a peculiar scraping sound, one passenger reported that it felt like the ship had gone over a thousand marbles. Down below decks water started pouring in at a breath catching pace, it took the stokers by surprise and made them scatter for safety.
Once the Captain was on the bridge, he asked for Thomas Andrews to come up. Once he arrived he told him what had happened, and asked for a detailed inspection. He was gone for a short while and then asked to see the Captain in his private quarters, the news was devastating, how could this happen to the unsinkable, and to Captain Smith after 40 years at sea he had never been shipwrecked in his life, why now? Andrews explained with great detail why she would sink. The iceberg had pierced 5 of her watertight compartments, these watertight bulkheads only went to E deck, the Titanic was not designed to have more than 4 filled. If more than 4 were the weight of the water would bring her down by the head, and then water would spill into the next and so on till she sank. Andrews speculated that she had an hour to live.

So sorry but I'm wiped out, I have set at this computer all day, my wrists hurt, my eyes hurt, and I'm terribly tired, and we have church tomorrow! I'll do part two the first chance I get next week. Please forgive me!!!

April 14, 1912 Ice-warnings...

2007-04-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Why weren't the Officers, and the Captain aware of ice-warnings in the North Atlantic? Well the fact of the matter is they were aware, very aware!
I'll make it to where you can choose for yourself, I'll put the all of the ice-warnings that the Titanic received on the 14th of April.

1. At 9:00am the Titanic received an ice-warning from the Caronia, the message was delivered to the bridge at Captain's request, for other officers to take note.
'Captain, Titanic west bound report bergs, growlers and Field ice in 42*N, from 49* to 51*W, compliments, Barr'

2. At 1:42pm the Titanic received an ice-warning from the Baltic, the message was delivered to Captain Smith, and he talked about it with Ismay. Ismay then put the ice-warning in his pocket and later showed it to other passengers, then the Captain asked for the return of the warning, and he posted it in the chart room at 7:15!
'Greek steamer Athenia reports passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice today in latitude 41*51* N, longitude 49*52* W wish you and Titanic all success. Commander'

3. At 1:45pm the Titanic received an ice-warning from the Amerika, this was really a private message over heard by the wireless operators, and never made its way to the bridge.
'Amerika passed two large icebergs in 41*27* N, 50*8* W on April 14.'

4. At 7:30pm the Titanic received an ice-warning from the Californian, this message was also over heard by the wireless operators and was delivered personally to the bridge by one of the wireless operators Harold Bride. Captain Smith was not made aware of this ice-warning, he was dining in the La Carte resturant with the Wideners.
'To Captain, Antillian latitude 42*3* N, longitude 49*9* W, three large bergs five miles to the southward of us. Regards Lord'

5. At 9:40pm the Titanic received an ice-warning from the Mesaba, this message never reached the bridge. Harold was taking a much needed rest, and Phillips was too busy sending commercial traffic to Cape Race.
'From Mesaba to Titanic. In latitude 42* N, to 41*25* W, to longitude 52*30* W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear.'

6. Around 11:00pm the Titanic received an ice-warning again from the Californian, this liner was only 10 miles away from the Titanic. As Phillips was busily sending private messages the Californian was going to tell Titanic that she was stopped for the night because of field ice, but when he started transmitting he was so close that it burst into the already stressed ears of Jack Phillips, He did not wait for the warning to come through before he replied angrily "shut up, shut up, I am busy I am working Cape Race." The Californian operator felt rejected and shut down his radio and went to bed.

So, I leave you to judge for yourself!
But I'll give you my opinion. I really don't think that these were regarded as they should have been. But I have to remember that I know the end of the story, and the wireless operators, officers, and Captain didn't. How were they to know that these ice-warnings were critical to the situation. Part of the reason that they were not taken note of like they should have been, is because the radio broke down that morning, and the operators were under stress, tired, and probably a bit cranky.
The Titanic was warned six times about danger to come!!!

April 14, 1912 Sunday afternoon...

2007-04-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

For 1635 passengers, half of their last day was over. Titanic's short life was about to end, and she would become a legend. From 'Queen of the seas' to passenger's worse nightmare.

"......Sea trials she passed with no great concern;

Taking it with ease at every turn.

Built to tower over all,

She acquired fame, but it cost her a fall!

She was known as unsinkable

Queen of the Seas,

But that could not stop her from breaking up dreams.

She then departed to see land no more,

With the greatest luxuries man could afford.

Titanic was regarded as a dazzling sight,

But size and power couldn’t keep her from fright......."

It's hard to really know what all went on in the dwindling hours of the late morning and afternoon. I guess that I have always surmised that passengers enjoyed fabulous meals, and service. You have to really put it into perspective, these were real down to life people, with lives! Many third class passengers were coming to America for a new life, you have to wonder what kind of anticipation filled their hearts right now, how will we adjust to a new culture, will we fit in well, will I acquire a steady job, will I be able to provide for my family? I can only imagine what was running through the minds of most third class passengers.
Then you have second class passengers, better off financially but I'm sure things still ran through their minds. These second class passengers were coming back from Europe, maybe from visiting family, sight seeing, just normal people trying to make a decent living.
Then you have first class passengers, prominent leaders in the world of art, wealth, political offices, writers, presidents of different railway companies, bankers, and merchants! When you think about it, it's a distinguished group of people for a distinguished ship.
Playing cards in the first class smoking rooms, maybe there were people playing squash on F deck. But all in all passengers were probably soaking up the fresh clean air on boat deck, or perhaps relaxing to the Titanic's band playing ragtime, or classical music, or maybe rich first class passengers indulging in the authentic Parisian Cafe with real French waiters.
But then I also think of the crew and officers, there was always an officer on the bridge, a man standing there tirelessly keeping the ship on track, or what about the stokers, firemen, engineers, and all of the other sweaty crewmen, men that the passengers never saw, but it was they who kept the ship running. Then you have the stewards, making sure that all of the passengers never needed anything, keeping things clean and tidy.
When I step back and look at the whole catastrophe it's really sad to think of all the work that went into her, all of the money, and all of the lives just to be wasted. Just think about being able to look over the bow of that great ocean liner and see the endless blue ocean stretching out before your eyes, and to know that your apart of it. It would have been a very enjoyable experience.

The Morning of April 14, 1912

2007-04-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

On the Sunday morning of April 14, 1912 the dawn broke crisp and clear, the rising sun sparkling off the tips of water making it shine like diamonds. Not a more beautiful morning on the North Atlantic, and for 1635 souls it would be the last sunrise the would ever see. But how could they know, they were on a so-called 'unsinkable'.
Four days earlier 2340 passengers had embarked on the Titanic at Southampton, Cherbourg, and Queenstown. How could you not be excited to travel on the largest liner in the world on her maiden voyage, it was a once in a lifetime thing. Most of all the Titanic! What saddens me is the fact that all of these people, rich or poor, were not prepared or expecting what would happen four days later. 1635 passengers were headed unknowingly to an untimely death, and 705 passenger were going to endure hardships, pains, and miseries, to say the least.
But now it is the 14 of April and the passengers have been enjoying themselves immensely, depending on what luxuries their classes afforded them, relaxing in the sun, or perhaps trying out a mechanical horse in the ship's gym, or maybe enjoying a Turkish bath, or possibly enjoying a heated swimming pool. Whatever they did it was to indulge themselves and to have the time of the their life. Colonel Archibald Gracie said "I enjoyed myself as if I were in a summer palace on the seashore, surrounded by every comfort."
There was a Church of England service that was presided over by Captain Smith in first class, and Father Thomas Byles conducted a Catholic mass in the second class lounge, and then one for third class passengers.
That same morning the wireless operators were swamped with private messages, they were trying their best to keep up, but it was a hard fight, the previous evening the wireless radio broke down and they didn't get it fixed till about 5:00am that Sunday morning, and were trying feverishly to get all the telegrams sent out in a timely fashion. I'll talk about it later more, but this would cause a terrible mistake.
The Titanic was making excellent speed; such as on Sunday her engines were making 75 revolutions a minute and covering 549 miles in one day. That Sunday morning the Captain ordered two more boilers to be fired up, she was cruising along at the break-neck pace of 22 knots, and on Monday they were going to fire the remaining boilers, and try to achieve 24 knots. Proverbs 27:1 says, "Boast not thy self of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
I'll end this post with what first class passengers had to eat!

{cooks} Consomme Fermier Cockie Leekie

Fillets of Brill
Egg A L'Argenteuil
Chicken A La Maryland
Corned Beef, Vegetables, Dumplings

From The Grill
Grilled Mutton Chops
Mashed, Fried & Baked Jacket Potatoes

Custard Pudding
Apple Meringue Pastry

Buffet

Salmon Mayonnaise Potted Shrimp
Norwegian Anchovies Soused Herrings
Plain & Smoked Sardines
Roast Beef
Round Of Spiced Beef
Veal & Ham Pie
Virginia & Cumberland Ham
Bologna Sausage Brawn
Galantine Of Chicken
Corned Ox Tongue
Lettuce Beetroot Tomatoes

Cheese
Cheshire, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Edam
Cammebert, Roquefort, St. Ivel,
Cheddar

Iced Draught Munich Larger Beer 3d & 6d Tankard

I seriously don't think that you could start a morning better off then this.

How I Became Interested...

2007-04-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the way this post came out.

I was born December 28, 1989. I can’t really tell you when I first became interested in the Titanic. I believe at an early age, my Mother brought home a book from the library. The title was: EXPLORING THE TITANIC, by Robert D. Ballard. I don’t know why, but I have always had an interest in ships. As I begin to read this book and view the graphic pictures, I realized at an early age that this was no ordinary shipwreck from then on, I just became more, interested in this great disaster.

Since that time I have enjoyed close to 60 different books on this shipwreck, not counting facts found on the Internet! Now I say that to say this, you can ask anyone in my family and I’m not much of a reader. So now maybe now you have an idea of how big of a Titanic fan I am.

The Titanic is not the only thing in history that I’m interested in. Next in line would come history of World War II, then the Civil War, then Texas history.

A man in our church bought a model of the Titanic, but then decided he didn’t want to build it after all. After he found out I was interested in the Titanic, he gave it to me… when I brought it home and said I was going to attempt to build this model, my family laughed at me. [I’m not really a patient person.] This was a level five model, the hardest level you can buy, museum quality. I kind of lost hope of even attempting it after the scorn I had brought on my self. But one afternoon I got bored and started messing around with it. It took a month to build, but I finally finished it!!! I was immensely proud of it, and so was my family. If this man in our church would have given me any other model in the world, I could of cared less, and put it to the side. I also wanted to see if I had it in me to build a model, and not just a model to me, the TITANIC. Since then I have built the German battleship Bismarck, the German battleship Tripiz, a German U-Boat, a German schnell-boat, and last but not least, the American battleship USS Arizona. I'm in the process of building a world war two German Bomber, and don't ask why I mainly do German models, that's just how it is. I plan on doing more; it’s just a costly hobby.

My Dad is a big history fan and has always encouraged my continuing endeavor to learn about the Titanic. My mother does not know it, but she knows as much about the Titanic as I do. She’s the type of person you can tell everything too, so as I learned something interesting I always knew Mom would be interested. The rest of my family really never cared too much about the Titanic. I guess with every subject comes a joke, but I despise jokes about the Titanic, I have read too much of human misery, and death to think it’s funny!!!

On my thirteenth birthday, my parents took me to the Huston Museum of Natural Science; a Titanic Exhibition was visiting there. They had a gift shop at the end of a tour, and there I found a board game, the point of the game was to get in a lifeboat as fast as you could. After a few times of playing it, I became disheartened by it. The whole concept was wrong, that fateful night there were no men trying to get to a lifeboat as fast as they could, and years later it just did not seem right to play it out. I was looking for a Titanic Quiz-game, something that would challenge your brain, and where you could actually learn something, but oh well.

Just as a last warning tomorrow is the Titanic's 95th anniversary, so I will be posting all through out the day, hopefully 3-4 posts, and let all y'all know what happened the day of April 14, 1912!!!

"Millionaire's Special"

2007-04-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

This is one of the Titanic's nicknames that she acquired in her short life. But what made her the "last word in luxury," "Millionaires special," "floating palace," etc...? I will list some things below that made her truly Titanic... This is part of a chapter out of a book that I wrote!

"Specifications to the Titanic were going to be based upon those of the Olympic. There would be some changes made, and as a result, the Titanic would be a thousand tons heavier than the Olympic, and even more luxurious. One of these changes would be to close the 1^st class promenade deck in with glass. Passengers had complained about being splashed with spray from the sea. This change made a notable difference between the two ships. In the next months to follow, the empty hull of the Titanic would be formed into the most elegant, and luxurious ship the world had ever seen sailing the sea.
Titanic boasted of the first ship to have a heated swimming pool!
Also it boasted of a fully equipped gym with rowing machines, stationary bicycle, and a mechanical horse for first class passengers!
Titanic also had a squash court on F deck for first class passengers!
Titanic had it’s own band and five grand pianos!
State of the art infirmary room with a fully equipped operating room with two physicians!
A fully equipped darkroom for amateur’s to try their skills!
Titanic had a 50-phone switchboard complete with operator, Titanic ended up having over 200 miles of wiring in side her and 10,000 light bulbs!
She had four generators that produced 400 volts!
A Marconi wireless room for passengers to send and receive messages!
She had three elevators altogether. Two for her first class passengers, and one for second-class passengers.
She also boasted of a Turkish bath for first class passengers.
The Titanic had two suites with a 50-foot private promenade, enclosed!
Also a Veranda Café with real palm trees, and an authentic Parisian Café with French waiters, Titanic was the first to have restaurants!
There were two barbershops for all classes!
Smoking rooms for first and second-class for men!
Reading and writing rooms for first and second ladies!
First & second-class libraries!
First class dining saloon with the capacity to sit 554 passengers!
Electric lights and heat in every stateroom!
Titanic also boasted indoor toiletry!
It was said that the Titanic had a miniature golf course, and her own herd of dairy cows to provide fresh milk for the passengers. But those were just rumors.
For a first class suite in today’s money would be $69,000 for a one-way ticket. For a first class berth in today’s money would be $2,400. A second-class ticket would cost $960 and for a third class ticket it would cost $640!
One of the main attractions of the ship was the grand staircase covered with a beautiful glass dome, it was lighted so it looked like it was day even if it was night, and the staircase was of the most elegant woodcarvings, with the steps trimmed in gold! This would be where wealthy first class passengers would make their appearance in the evening, walking down the 'grand staircase' into the reception room."

Now all of this may seem standard or even out of date, but remember this is 1912 and this was as good as it got. Some of the things mentioned here is what separated the Titanic and her sister ships from other liners. So if you ever wondered why the Titanic was boasted like it was, this is why. As you can see this is the kind of ship that would attract more rich and wealthy people, but was affordable for third class passengers.
Hope this was helpful!!!

Titanic in Hollywood

2007-04-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

What is to be said about the movie "Titanic"? I have done much reading on the "Titanic" movie, and have come to know the director and actors fairly well. I also know quite a bit about why James Cameron wanted to make a movie about the "Titanic". I have read quite a bit about the special effects, stunt doubles, the 'Titanic' James Cameron constructed, the point of the story, etc...

Now you're probably wondering if I have ever watched the movie to know all this? The answer NO! Why not? Well the first reason is, it's rated pg-13 for disaster related peril and violence, nudity, sensuality and brief language. That right there is a pretty good reason not to watch it. The movie is basically a love story, and the Titanic is the background. I'm not going into detail about the theme of the movie, but trust me it's nothing a Christan should watch.
The only reason I'm interested in the movie is because of how James Cameron practically 'rebuilt' the Titanic. From me he gets a five star rating for that, but it seems that Hollywood can't leave it at that. They have to turn every movie that comes down the pike into a love story, it's really a bummer they have to do that. Otherwise it would have been a good movie.
Someone once said about the movie that "it's as close as your going to get to walking the real decks of the Titanic".
For me the movie helps put real life images into my head, and helps me get an idea of what she really looked like. I'm going to post pictures of James Cameron's "Titanic"!!!

The 'Titanic' that Cameron built was actually 10% smaller than the real thing, if he would have made it built to scale it would not have fit in the tank! But you can get an idea of how big she really was.

___________________________________________________________________

The 'Titanic' has made billions of dollars worldwide. It has won more Oscars, than any other movie, and tied for 11 academy awards with other movies, such as 'Ben Hur'.
The thing is, its just a movie, and you can learn more reading a book then you ever could watching a movie. I hate it when I ask someone if they have an interest in the Titanic, and they say "oh yah I have seen the movie", no you don't like the Titanic you like the movie. I don't tell them that but I should.
Seems how the 'Titanic' made such a hit 10 years ago, I thought I might as well share my thoughts on the matter.
It would take a really long time to go into detail about how the movie was made, and its really not important, so I won't. I have always found it interesting how people make movies and if your interested further there's a multitude of information on the internet about how they made it.

Coming up...

2007-03-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Living A Dream

2007-03-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Finally! The Titanic was ready for her maiden voyage. Wednesday, April 10^th 1912, was a very exciting day for John 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!
As people who serve the Lord, our dream should be to serve him in all our ways. It’s fine to have goals, but we can’t let dreams get in the way of serving God. Pr 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
It was fine for Ismay to have a sense of accomplishment, but not to have pride in his heart. Did he not have a haughty spirit? He let, and should I say condoned the fact that the newspapers called the Titanic “unsinkable”, and it was he that promoted the term “no, not even God could sink this ship.” Even we must remember in our lives that when we are boasting and having the time of our lives, that destruction and a painful fall will follow. Did not Ismay’s pride bring him low? Did it not ruin him? If he would have honored God and given him the credit that was due Him, I think this tragedy may not have happened. If, when in life we have a chance to live one of our dreams, we must remember that without God at our side, our dream could easily turn into a catastrophe. One problem is 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…
Pr 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

Titanic's Chief Officer

2007-03-19T12:56:00.001-07:00

Chief Officer Henry Tingle Wilde

{“I still don’t like this ship… it has a queer feeling about it.”}
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!!!

Heavy Duty Power

2007-03-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

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!

Rats

2007-03-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

I just spent an hour working on a post, on the Titanic's engines... and I lost it!!! So I'm pretty burnt out right now. I'll have to do it again later.

Third class

2007-02-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

Altogether there were 706 third class passengers from the following: Ireland, Finnish, Swedish, Belgians. There were 462 men, 165 women, and 79 children, only 75 out of 462 men survived, only 76 out of 165 women survived, and only 27 out of 79 children lived.
Third class on the Titanic was absolutely stupendous compared to the times. On the Titanic, third class accommodations were like that of second class of any other liner or shipping company. Though the White Star Line focused a lot on first class wealth, they did not do away with third class. The White Star Line knew that third class passengers were coming to America to start a new life and that they were moving all of their belongings across the Atlantic for a fresh start.
Third class berths were fairly luxurious in their own way, they provided electric lighting, heat, and wash basins. In fact the accommodations in third class were far better than the life they had left from where the came from. There was only one bathtub for all of the men in third class, but this was not stinginess on the White Star Line part, the poor at that time thought that taking frequent baths would give you lung disease. The same for all of the women and children.

-Breakfast-

Quaker Oats and Milk
Smoked Herrings
Beefsteak and Onions
Jacket Patatoes
Fresh Bread and Butter
Marmelade, Swedish Bread
Tea, Coffee

-Lunch-

Brawn
Cheese and Pickles
Fresh Bread and Butter
Rhubarb Jam
Currant Buns
Tea

-Dinner-

Rice Soup
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Boiled Patatoes
Cabin Biscuits, Fresh Bread
Peaches and Rice

Dinner: - Every Day - Cabin Biscuits and
Cheese, Gruel and Coffee.
Fresh Fish served as a Substitute for
Salt Fish as opportunity offers.
Kosher Meat supplied and cooked for
Jewish Passengers as desired.

They didn't eat too badly, either!!!
___________________________________________________________________

This is a picture of a third class dining room, it don't look that bad to me, but compared to the first class dining room, there's a huge difference. But as you can see, third class passengers didn't have it that bad off really, and they were treated really well from the White Star Line.
___________________________________________________________________

This is a third class berth, the only thing that I see that I don't like is how cramped it seems to be, but you just have to remember the places these people were coming from. The
accommodations are not really that bad at all. All of the third class berths had springs in the mattresses and feather pillows.

___________________________________________________________________

This is just a third class common area.

Here is a third class sitting room and smoking room all combined. As you can see, it is brightly lit and is furnished fairly nice.

___________________________________________________________________

On the night of April 14, 1912, and the morning of the 15th the Titanic's third class passenger did not fare very well. They were kept below decks, and told that they would be let up soon, and that there wasn't that big of a problem. But here and there, a few third class passenger escaped to the boat deck. By the time that the crew let all of them up, all of the lifeboats had gone and there was nothing for hundreds of passengers. There was a 1 out of 10% chance of a male third class passenger getting on a lifeboat, and a 9 out of 10% chance of a female first class passenger getting on a lifeboat. Most of these poor passengers were left to fend for themselves, and await their fate.
Titanic's third class passengers had it pretty good till the ship started to sink, and then they were treated like animals. But these were real people who led real lives, just because they didn't have the money to travel in first class doesn't mean that at least the women and children didn't have the right any more than the first class passengers did to a lifeboat. In my eyes, third class women passengers that lost husbands lost even more than the first class women passengers did, think about it; a third class women passenger arriving in a foreign land with really no way to make money without a man, and they usually had families, what became of them? Now first class passenger women that lost their husbands did not have the financial problems that third class passenger would have most likely had, and second of all, they were probably home.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that they weren't treated right, and could have been treated a lot better. Third class women and children deserved a spot in a lifeboat just as much as a first class lady, or child.

Answers to quiz #2

2007-02-22T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well I must say that I appreciate everyone partaking in the second quiz. I really think it helps people remember all kinds of things about the Titanic... so now, the long awaited answers.

1. When was the Titanic's keel laid down?

a. March 22, 1910
b. March 15, 1908
c. March 31, 1909

For those of you who got the letter C. you got it right. The Titanic's keel was laid down March 31, 1909. The keel of a ship is really just the spine of the ship and is the first part to be worked on.

2. How many rivets did the Titanic have to hold her together?

a. 3,000,000
b. 1,500,000
c. 1,750,000

Now you might say 'wow that's a lot of rivets', and yes it is. If you picked the letter A. you got it right. These iron rivets were what held the ship together, not that they did that good of a job though. The rivets alone weighed in at several tons.

3. What was Chief Officer's Henry Tingle Wilde comment on the Titanic?

a. "This is the most capable ship that I have ever sailed on."
b. "I still don't like this ship... it has a queer feeling about it."
c. "I'm proud to be the Chief Officer on Titanic's maiden voyage."

He did not survive the disaster! Just one of those things about the Titanic that makes it what it is. Why would he say that about an "unsinkable" ship? Sadly he was right.

4. What was the name of the ship the Titanic almost collided with as she left the Southampton port?

a. Samson
b. Mauritania
c. New York

C. is the right letter to this question! when the Titanic was leaving the Southampton port she swept by the New York liner moored up to her posts, but as the Titanic went by the massive amount of suction snapped the cables that were supposed to hold the sitting liner back. So as the liner began drifting closer, the Captain of the Titanic E J. Smith ordered all-astern, hoping to push the smaller liner back, and as you can see from this photograph she cleared her with just feet to spare. It almost ended her maiden voyage, which wouldn't have been a bad thing.

5. Why didn't all the ice-warnings get to the deck of the bridge?

a. The wireless operators didn't think it was that big of a deal.
b. The wireless radio broke down, and they were swamped with other messages.
c. They never really saw them.

What a terrible thing, they were more concerned with private messages than warnings. That Saturday, the wireless radio broke down and they were up to all hours of the night that evening fixing it, and when that was going on, they were in the process of getting swamped with other private messages. I believe they saw the ice-warnings but thought that sending and receiving private 'stuff' was more important. Jack Phillips the man to the right did not survive the disaster.

I really hope all of y'all enjoy my quizzes, and hope that you keep taking them, please don't get discouraged because you missed some!
If you have any questions about any of this please feel free to ask!!!

Quiz #2

2007-02-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

Well it seems that somebody wishes that I construct another quiz on the Titanic..... so, here we go...

1. When was the Titanic's keel laid down?

a. March 22, 1910
b. March 15, 1908
c. March 31, 1909

2. How many rivets did the Titanic have to hold her together?

a. 3,000,000
b. 1,500,000
c. 1,750,000

3. What was Chief Officer's Henry Tingle Wilde comment on the Titanic?

a. "This is the most capable ship that I have ever sailed on."
b. "I still don't like this ship... it has a queer feeling about it."
c. "I'm proud to be the Chief Officer on Titanic's maiden voyage."

4. What was the name of the ship the Titanic almost collided with as she left the Southampton port?

a. Samson
b. Mauritania
c. New York

5. Why didn't all the ice-warnings get to the deck of the bridge?

a. The wireless operators didn't think it was that big of a deal.
b. The wireless radio broke down, and they were swamped with other messages.
c. They never really saw them.

Hope y'all enjoy!!!

Book review

2007-02-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

I received a book on my birthday about the Titanic, the title is "The Complete Titanic" {From the ship's earliest blueprints to the epic film.} Written by Stephen J. Spignesi!
The inside cover...
"no book about the Titanic had ever assembled so much fascinating information about the ship, the people that surrounded it, its wreck, and the aftermath."
Back of the book...
Did you know...?* In response to an early ice warning message from the Californian, a Titanic wireless operator replied, "shut up, shut up, I am busy."
*First class passengers could partake of herring, haddock, smoked salmon, grilled mutton, lamb chops, and sirloin steak``` for breakfast.
* There were 36 ships in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank and only one, the Carpathia, came to her assistance.
*On April 15, 1912, the New York Evening Sun ran on its front page the headline "All Saved From Titanic After Collision."
*An 1898 novella seems to have predicted the Titanic disaster.
*James Cameron's $200 million blockbuster epic Titanic contains 40 "bloopers," including one in which Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack refers to a man made lake in Wisconsin that was not dug until two years after the ship sank.
*Titanic's enormous cargo included such varied items as anchovies, auto parts, surgical instruments, and tennis balls.
And this is just a few of the things that this book talks about. It is "the most comprehensive compilation of Titanic information to date."
It gives a very detailed view of the Titanic's construction, from the length of the engine room, to the particulars of the boilers. How many cylinders were in each engine, to who and when the boilers were made. It even gives detailed particulars of the gross tonnage of different parts of the ship, from the poop deck to the bridge space, the whole ship registered 46,328 tons of constructed steel.
Just in an overall view, we're talking everything from the Englehardt equipment, space available for passengers on different boat decks, all of the inspections, and countless others.
This is all I will post for now, don't want to bore anybody, but this book puts things in an interesting way to read and understand more about the Titanic. So this time I posted about the book's view on the construction, so the next time it will be on the next chunk!!!

Display at our Library

2007-02-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

Come see it!

Display time

2007-02-13T05:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, that was probably one of the most nasty weekends that I have ever had. I don't know what category this falls under but it's probably one of the worst. I threw-up, had a pretty high fever, one of the WORST sore-throats I have ever had, stopped up and runny-nose, headache, weak, and drowsy, how's that to top off your weekend, fri-mon. But I am starting to feel a bit better, though I'm not going into work till Wednesday.

Thursday after I got off work, I went with my sister to work at the library. They had called me that day and said they would like me to set up the stuff I have on the Titanic for a display. I was overjoyed at the fact that someone wanted my Titanic stuff to be on display for all of Freeport. I set up my Titanic model, different books, nick-knacks, documentaries, and some videos. The library said that it would probably stay up for a couple of months, so that's pretty neat.
I just finished a great book on the Titanic that I got for my birthday, "The Complete Titanic" {From the ship's earliest blueprints to the epic film} by Stephen J. Spignesi, but I'll have to share more of that the next time. But just so y'all know it's probably one of the best books I have ever read on the subject.

Titanic quiz answers!!!

2007-02-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

I really appreciate so many people partaking in the quiz. So, now the long awaited answers to the Titanic quiz....................

1. Where was the Titanic constructed?
a. Southampton, England
b. Belfast, Ireland
c. Cherbourg, France

Anybody who pick the letter B. got it right. The Titanic was constructed in Belfast, Ireland! Actually in 1912, the largest shipbuilders in the world at the time, { Harland & Wolff } were located in Belfast, Ireland.

2. Who was the chief designer of the Titanic?
a. Thomas Andrews
b. Andrew Carlyle
c. Bruce Ismay

If you picked the letter A. you got it right. Actually Andrew Carlyle was the first chief designer of the Titanic. He designed the outer shell for the ship, but when planning of how many lifeboats came up, there was a problem. He thought that the Titanic should have enough for everyone on board. Sadly the chairman of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay and Lord Perrie didn't think the Titanic needed that many lifeboats. Carlyle, Ismay and Perrie argued over how many lifeboats the Titanic should have. The British Board of Trade told Ismay that the Titanic did not need 48 lifeboats, and that the Titanic met the requirements for safety laws at the time. After forty years of designing ships for the H&W shipping company, Carlyle walked away from the family business over the struggle of lifeboats. He said he would not design a ship that did not have enough lifeboats for everyone on board!
So, H&W called on Lord Perrie's nephew to pick up where Carlyle left off. In real terms Thomas Andrews designed the Titanic as we know it. Carlyle really just did part of the blueprints. Thomas Andrews died the night of April, 14 1912, he was last seen in first class. Andrews designed a great ship, but not a safe one!

3. How many grand pianos did the Titanic boast of?
a. 1
b. 7
c. 5

The letter C. is the answer to the third question. The Titanic had five grand pianos that were probably scattered through first, and second class.

4. For a first class suite on Titanic, how much would it be in today's money?
a. $35,000
b. $10,000
c. $69,000

If you picked the letter C. again, you got it right. All I can say is wow, that is a ton of money for a four day trip. There were only three suites that cost that much, Bruce Ismay occupied one, the Astor's occupied the second, and I believe the third was unoccupied. You would not believe the luxuries these suites afforded though, a private 50 foot promenade deck, sitting room, personal stewards, and lavish interiors to name the least!!! But that's still an outrageous amount of money.

5. How many potatoes did the Titanic have in her kitchens?
a. 40 tons
b. 20 tons
c. 17 tons

The letter A. would bring you in home safe for this one. This is pretty amazing too, 40 tons is a lot of anything, not to mention potatoes. The Titanic carried more potatoes than any other item of food. I guess you go through potatoes pretty quickly when cooking for over 2,000 people for four days.

Again my many thanks for your participation in this quiz. From what I saw you all fared fairly well seeins' how a lot of you just guessed. You didn't do that bad! Hopefully this will be a good way to learn more about that marvelous ship!

Quiz Time

2007-02-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

Thought I might see how much everybody knows about the Titanic!!!

1. Where was the Titanic constructed?
a. Southampton, England
b. Belfast, Ireland
c. Cherbourg, France

2. Who was the chief designer of the Titanic?
a. Thomas Andrews
b. Andrew Carlyle
c. Bruce Ismay

3. How many grand pianos did the Titanic boast of?
a. 1
b. 7
c. 5

4. For a first class suite on Titanic, how much would it be in today's money?
a. $35,000
b. $10,000
c. $69,000

5. How many potatoes did the Titanic have in her kitchens?
a. 40 tons
b. 20 tons
c. 17 tons

Just place your answers in a comment, and in a day or two, I'll post the answers!
If you guys breeze through these, I'll have to make it a bit more difficult.

What I do!!!

2007-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

If ya'll ever wondered what I do all day at the Burrito Factory, I'll fill you in.
I get there in between 9:50 & 9:55 in the morning. First thing I do is take off the lid to the Pepsi dispenser, then I put about 4 buckets of ice in it to fill it up for the day. Then I run a sanitizer, and wait for all of the sanitizing tabs to disappear, then get a rag and wipe off all the tables [16] and an metal pole that we have for the entrance. Then I wipe off all the counters, and a shelf where we have our Pepsi dispenser, lids, straws, napkins, salt pepper, lemon juice, and the tea maker. Then I make sure all of the above is fully stocked for the day, and everything we need behind the counter/cups, to-go-boxes, bowls, red baskets, and little cups for salsa, and queso.
Then, I may or may not help cooking the rest of the beef and chicken that's on the grill, [my boss has that going when I get there.] Then I'll cut the beef and chicken. And by this time it's time to open, so I go pull back the curtains, and roll up the blinders, unlock the door, and turn around the open/closed sign.
By then, there's usually quite a few dishes, so I get started as soon as I can on that. And I might spend up to 45 minutes up to my elbows in nasty, gross dish-water... uuukkkk Then my boss and I wait for the big lunch rush, which isn't very much, but a good rush will keep us hopping. A good rush is 30 to 40 rings, a bad day is anything below 30, and a awesome day is anything above 45 rings. So depending on the day, it might fly by, or dddrrrraaaagggg,,,,,,,,,,, by.
Before I go home I sweep the whole restaurant, and mop the back, [the kitchen, and the food line.] Then I put the rice away, clean the bathrooms [that gets done every day!!!] And I do any dishes that we gotten dirty through the day... "all the dishes had better be done before I go home." And then finally, I put my time down for the whole day, and that's that.
That's generally how my day goes.
It does vary if the truck comes in. It changes the whole day, or if we have a big to-go-order, that really changes the whole day, too!!!
I've been working there for about five months now, and I started out at 5.15, and within two months I got three raises, to the grand total of 5.50 per hour. Oooohhh whooopheee!!! My boss's name is Michelle Kent, and her husband's name is Richard Kent, they're probably the best people you could work for. They like me so much that Richard said that the only thing I could do to be fired was steal,,,,, that shouldn't be to hard to avoid. Richard said that Michelle would let me get away with murder, I hope he was only joking!!!
Richard is a really fun guy to be around, and he's also very easy going, if you ask him anything he'll give you a mile long answer. He's a smart man, and he runs his own computer business.
If you want to know more about the restaurant, go to the link I have for it.
If any of you ever come down this way feel free to stop by and get the best burritos in town!!!
[ I personally recommend the Three Amigos, the Broken Burrito, or the Texas'foldem!!!]

My most recent post

2007-01-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

Note! A post from January 23, is out of order, it is below the post I did "should we, or should we not."

Should we, or should we not?

2007-01-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

In my opinion the Titanic sank for a reason.

As Bob Ballard and the other researchers reached the ocean floor, they tried to locate the Titanic. The submersible they were using, the Alvin, sprang a leak in her batteries. Now they only had a couple of minutes on the ocean bed and they had not seen the Titanic. Peering through the small portholes of the Alvin, a massive wall of black steel loomed up right in front of them, that was the only glimpse of the ship they got that time. The leak in the batteries would become critical if they didn’t surface.

Since that July in 1986, numerous dives have been made to the Titanic. Several people have spent more time with the Titanic underwater, than the Captain spent with her on the seas.
One thing is certain; the Titanic is in a state of complete devastation. The ship broke in two in between the third and fourth funnels; and all of those funnels are gone. In one square mile there are boilers, teacups, beds, tables, engines, wine bottles, suitcases, chairs, and the list could go on
The beauty of the ship is now gone, her once proud hull glimmering in the bright sunlight, now is encrusted in rusting steel. Where her four behemoth funnels stood are now just gaping holes on top of the ship. Her once proud stern, the beauty of the ship, where at the end of Titanic’s short life, men and women alike met their fate, now lays almost unrecognizable due too the impact that she suffered when she hit the ocean floor.
There she will sit until countless ages have taken their toll on her, and there is nothing left but small piles of dust in the salty water.
Men will probably always go to her to seek just one more fact, something nobody else knows. Titanic may be sitting 2 ½ miles below the surface of the sea, but ask anyone what the most well known and famous shipwreck is, and they’ll tell you, it is the Titanic.
The Titanic will never be forgotten. She will always be alive in history.

Even though the Titanic is one among the many sea wrecks that litter the ocean floor, she still, to this day captivates the minds of underwater explorers, historians, and people like me. What more can be said? Titanic is still truly a great ship.

Some have talked and thought to bring the Titanic up out of the depths. That’s going too far! It’s impossible to “raise the Titanic.” When she sped down through the depths, she hit the bottom at a great speed; the bow sliced through the mud and is buried in 60 feet of mud. The stern plunged with huge air pockets inside, and when it hit the ocean floor the air burst through the steel and it crumpled and fell apart. So, in order to raise the Titanic’s bow, you would be trying to lift over 33,000 tons of rusted steel out of 60 feet of mud, and where the pressure per square inch is 6,000 pounds! And even if you were able to get a grip of it, it would probably crumple in its weakened state. The stern would be completely impossible to raise, all it is, is twisted and crumpled steel. It is a graveyard, many brave men were killed there and to go and cause that much disruption would be disregarding death, and for that reason alone we ought to have respect for it.

Titanic sinking, from the veiw of a lifeboat
Some of the final moments
Titanic firing off distress rockets
When you think about the night of April 14, 1912, and everything that took place, I just don't see how it could be right to go and raise the mighty Titanic!!!
But, all of this is my opinion.

'Nearer My God To Thee'

2007-01-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

The Titanic's band played a major role on the night of April 14, 1912, & the morning of the 15th.

All of these brave men met their fate in the chilling waters of the Atlantic Ocean, none survived. Shortly after impact, the band was asked to play ragtimes, waltzes, and other various tunes. The Captain hoped that the calm music would help quell any panic passengers might be feeling.
In almost every book that I have read, the Titanic's band comes in somewhere, their bravery and fortitude that fateful night was astounding. Everyone regards them as brave men willing to lay down their life for women and children, and they were calm about it. Many a man found comfort in the different tunes that they played that night.
Wallace H. Hartley once stated that if he should ever die at sea, the last song he would play would be 'Nearer My God To Thee'. There are some suggestions of what the band really played last. Some think it was the ragtime, 'Autumn,' or 'Nearer My God To Thee'. It's really something that everyone has to decide for themselves, out of all my knowledge, I would strongly think that the bandmaster led the band in the old hymn 'Nearer My God To Thee'. And there's more proof leading in the direction that this was the last song they played.
I cannot comprehend that kind of bravery, standing and playing till you could no longer keep balance because of the angle of the ship, and doing all of this for other passengers. A lot is thought of the rich men in first class, but not enough attention or honor is given to the Titanic's band. They should take first prize in bravery and self sacrifice.
Would not the beloved hymn cause the remaining passengers on deck to ponder where they were going to spend eternity, just the very name 'Nearer My God To Thee' causes you to think.
After the disaster, the White Star line charged the widows and the fatherless for the band uniforms that were lost!!!
The band leader had over 40,000 people attend his funeral.

Fred Clarke of Liverpool
P.C. Taylor of Clapham
G. Krins of Brixton
Wallace H. Hartley of Dewsbury (Bandmaster)
Theodore Brailey of Notting Hill
Jock Hume of Dumfries
J.W. Woodward of Headington, Oxon

All died the night of April 14, 1912, leaving behind children, and widows.
May they never be forgotten!!!

Titanic's moral purpose

2007-01-20T16:18:00.000-08:00

Why did the Titanic make an instant hit?
What made her a national icon? How could she not? She was the biggest ship ever constructed, by far passing any other ship in size, luxury, and elegance. Think about it, the reason Titanic made a perfect hit was because this ship by-passed other ships in so many areas, with the exception of speed. Until 1912, none ever thought of a ship of such magnitude. Let's put it into today’s perspective, if a ship were built that was larger than anything that we could imagine, and by-passed every other ship in every area, she would probably make world news. Today we have ships that would make the Titanic look like a toy boat. But! In 1912, she was as big as they came. Through my knowledge, and my lifetime, I can’t think of a ship that over-awed the world. That’s why the Titanic made an instant hit, because the world had never seen anything like her, and never has since then.

How could she not make a national icon? Her fame went along with her country, the United Kingdom. This was something that Great Britain could be proud about. If America built a ship today that was as equally stupendous as the Titanic, would we not be proud of it? This was a sign of technological advancement for her country, and her people. It was an age where everything was getting bigger and better. An age when the automobile was making its first scene on the world page, an age when flying started its page in history. It was an age when, for the most part the world was at peace; none of the major World Wars had been fought yet. The Titanic was just as example of that age.

You could probably guess her main purpose; she was built to carry passengers between two great countries. She was built and designed to hold people in the utmost elegance, luxury, and comfort. Fully booked, she would be able to hold well over 3,000 passengers and crew.

Now lets talk about some of the better-known people on the Titanic and try to put it in today’s view. Imagine if all of the people I’m about to bring to your attention would happen to board the same ship.
Compare Colonel John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest man in the world, to Bill Gates! Compare Molly Brown, to Martha Stewart! Major Archibald Butt, military aid to the president, to president aid Peter Pace! Compare, Charles M. Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railway, to Cecil Groves, the president of Southwestern Airlines! Compare, W. T. Stead, a famous author, to Ethan Hawke, a famous author! Compare Francis D. Millet, one of the best-known American artist, to Diego Velasquez, he too is a famous artist! Compare Isidor Straus, owner of the Macy’s Department store, to Ken Hicks, the owner of JC Penny’s!
Now you can grasp the people of importance on the Titanic’s maiden voyage.
Not only was Titanic a perfect vessel, but she also had a perfect crew. The Captain had more than 40 years experience at sea. From the Chief Officer down to the Sixth Officer, each had 10 years or more experience at sea.Titanic was not built to sink; she was built as a dream, built to out stand the elements. Built to have a profitable career, not just make her first and only voyage.

This is a chapter from a book I wrote called, Titanic's Moral Implications!"

"Unsinkable Titanic"

2007-01-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

What made the Titanic 'unsinkable'? Or better yet, what made the papers, magazines, and builders leave the impression that she was 'unsinkable'? The Titanic was only a ship, an ocean liner designed to transport passengers from one great continent to another.

What of Titanic's lifeboats? Every ship that was registered, was required to carry enough lifeboats for how big the ship was.
The Titanic carried the total of 20 lifeboats, she had the capability to carry 48. Alexander Carlisle the first head designer at H&W, suggested that the Titanic should be fitted out with 48 lifeboats, more than enough for every one on board. But the final decision went to the chairman of the White Star Line. He stated that he did not want 48 lifeboats 'festooning' the deck of the Titanic, it would "scare people away." Carlisle was curious to know how lifeboats, life saving devices could scare people away. Sadly it was not his decision.
With only 20 lifeboats she could only accommodate 52% of the passengers she was designed too carry. The British Board Of Trade stated that a vessel of over 10,000 tons must carry 16 lifeboats, with the capacity of 5,500 cubic feet, plus enough life-rafts and floats for 75% of the lifeboats. These regulations were completely out of date! The Titanic was over 46,000 tons, but the White Star Line was not breaking any rules by only having 20 lifeboats, instead of 48.
With the lifeboats the Titanic had, she could seat 1,178 passengers. Titanic could accommodate 3,200 passengers and crew fully loaded, on her maiden voyage she carried 2,229 passengers and crew.
Out of the 16 lifeboats, each one could seat 65 people, out of the 4 collapsible, one could seat 47 people.

These are lifeboats from the Titanic after the disaster in New York. No one really knows what became of them.

The Titanic was one of the first ships to have a new design of watertight compartments. The idea was, that if a ship has separate so called 'watertight compartments,' a ship could withstand critical damage. If a ship was in some sort of wreck, or collision, having separate compartments would stop the flow of water from making its way through the whole ship. With the flick of a switch from the bridge, all of the Titanic's watertight doors could be shut at the same time.
The Titanic had 16 watertight compartments, and it was said that she could still float if 3 or 4, of her compartments were completely flooded.
She was also designed with a double bottom!

This is a well known picture of one of the Titanic's watertight doors.

This is one of the 16 watertight bulkheads!

The Shipbuilder's magazine stated that the Titanic was 'unsinkable', just as the Irish news broad casted! Thomas Andrews, the chief designer said that she was "practically unsinkable."
A White Star Line public brochure stated that they were designed to be 'unsinkable'.
On June 1, 1911 the Belfast Morning news described the watertight system and said she was 'practically unsinkable.'
People believed it too...
Passenger Margaret Devaney said "I took passage on the Titanic for I thought it would be a safe steamship and I had heard it could not sink."
Passenger, Thomson Beattie, wrote home "We are changing ships and coming home in a new unsinkable boat."
Man put to much confidence in what man had to offer.

When a Titanic deck hand was asked if the Titanic was unsinkable, his reply was "not even God could sink this ship."
It's a proven fact, no ship is 'unsinkable.'

Capt. John E. Smith

2007-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Captain: John Edward Smith

{“I cannot imagine any condition which would cause this ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that”!!!}

Solidly built, slightly above medium height, he was handsome in a patriarchal sort of way. His neatly trimmed white beard and barrel like chest, coupled with his clear eyes, gave him somewhat of a stern countenance, an impression immediately dispelled by his gentle speaking voice, and urban manners. Passengers and crew alike respectfully and affectionately knew him as E.J. He was a natural leader, radiating a reassuring combination of authority, confidence, and good humor.

He earned about $100,000 a year!

His residence in 1912 was Southampton, England!

He was born in Hanley, Stoke, England!

Age at the time of the disaster, 62!

As he spoke to the press, "When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experiences in nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. Of course, there have been winter gales, and storms and fog and the like, but in all my experience I have never been in any accident of any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea - a brig, the crew of which were taken off in a small boat in charge of my third officer. I never saw a wreck and have never been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort. You see, I am not very good material for a story."

There was one mishap when he was the captain of the Olympic on her fifth voyage, sailing down the Solent River at the normal speed of 18 knots. She turned to round Bramble Bank and slowed to 11 knots and took the commander of the 7000-ton cruiser HMS Hawke by surprise, who was unable to avoid collision. The Hawke got too close to the Olympics stern area, and the suction from the Olympic pulled the lighter ship towards her, which ended up in a collision. After the two ships collided, the bow of the Hawke was buried deep in the Olympic stern area.

"The Olympic is unsinkable, and Titanic will be the same when she is put in commission." He continued, "either of these two vessels could be cut in halves and each half would remain afloat almost indefinitely. The non-sinkable vessel has been reached in these two wonderful craft." "I venture to add," concluded the Captain, "that even the engines and boilers of these vessels were to fall through their bottoms, the vessels would remain afloat."

White Star Line had over the years built up a clientele of passengers that would not dream of crossing the Atlantic with out E.J. Smith as their captain. He was the epitome of an old seadog, he may have had the look of a fearsome man, but to the contrary he was very soft spoken. He was gentle and a natural leader, which passengers and crew put their trust and confidence in. He had a quite voice and a ready smile. He was very popular with officers and men alike, the crew knew him to be a good kind-hearted man. They looked upon him as a sort of father.

On Wednesday, April 10^th, Sailing Day, shortly before 7:00.am, Captain Smith, left his home at Woodhead, a red-bricked, twin-gabled home on Winn Road in Southampton. Smith was wearing a bowler hat and a long overcoat. The local newspaper boy Albert "Ben" remembers him coming out and saying to him, "'Alright son, I'll take my paper.'" The boy gave the departing captain his paper. Smith turned around to wave good-bye to his wife Eleanor and twelve-year old daughter, Helen, who stood in the doorway, not knowing that they would never see him again. He then entered his waiting taxi. His ride from Westwood Park took him through the center of Southampton and down the hill to the docks. Little did he know he was going to be the captain of what has become the most famous shipwreck of all time!

Captain John Edward Smith did not survive the Titanic’s sinking.

Queen Of The Seas

2007-01-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

In all my years I have never seen a poem on the Titanic. Not in books, or the Internet, so I thought I would try my hand at writing poetry.
This poem is at the end of a book I wrote called, "Titanic's Moral Implications." This is the first poem I have ever written.
It took two months of going over and over it to perfect it.
Hope y'all enjoy...

QUEEN OF THE SEAS

Her keel was laid down on March 31^st

At a shipyard in Belfast where tolls were the worst.

Through the months and through the years

Workers worked with sweat and tears.

And through the months and through the years,

She was constructed with pain and fears.

Once afloat just an empty shell,

Waiting for workers to make her run well!

The Titanic was a beautiful boat

Something that would cause fine men to gloat.

Sea trials she passed with no great concern;

Taking it with ease at every turn.

Built to tower over all,

She acquired fame, but it cost her a fall!

She was known as unsinkable

Queen of the Seas,

But that could not stop her from breaking up dreams.

She then departed to see land no more,

With the greatest luxuries man could afford.

Titanic was regarded as a dazzling sight,

But size and power couldn’t keep her from fright!

Once the passengers were mostly in bed,

Came the dreadful cry “iceberg dead ahead.”

They then didn’t know it

But soon found out,

She would not make it there was no doubt.

The pain was unbearable that fateful night,

For the Captain and crew their lips they did bite.

One minute she sailed

Next minute she stopped

Hit by an iceberg that wrenched her apart.

“Women and children” was the cry,

Get them away

With no delay.

The bravery of men

Abounded that night,

Standing aside that others might live,

Staring at death

Like brave men they did.

Oh grave where is thy victory?

Oh death where is thy sting!

As their loved ones departed

Too see them no more,

The only thing left, was a door.

The door of eternity open wide,

To receive these men as they died.

“Nearer My God To Thee” was heard that night,

Upon the waves of untold fright.

Titanic plunged with a moan,

She died with a great groan.

Behind her she left hundreds of souls

Where cold would soon take its toll.

Titanic was gone

As soon as she came.

She lost her glory,

But gained great fame.

James Daniel McEntire

Please do not copy, or use this material in any other way, without the author's permission!!!

Propellers

2007-01-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

This time I'm going to explain a bit about the Titanic's massive propellers!!!
The top three pictures you see are what the propellers look like today. They haven't changed much from the day when they were constructed, bronze does not rust like steel.

___________________________________________________________________

Steam ships have propellers to drive them through the icy, choppy, or calm seas.
The Titanic had three huge propellers, two three bladed ones, measuring 23ft & 6in, weighing in at 38 tons of solid bronze metal. The center propeller was slightly smaller than her two sisters, the middle one came in at 16ft, & 6in, also weighing in at 17 tons of solid bronze metal.
Each of these propellers were driven by a separate engine, the two side propellers had a reciprocating, four cylinder, triple expansion, direct acting, inverted engines, creating 30,000 hp.
The center propeller was driven by a completely separate engine. The leftover steam from the reciprocating engines went to a third, low pressure, Parsons turbine engine, creating 16,000 hp.

Just by looking here we see the immense proportions Titanic's propellers were given.

If you notice, the men in these pictures seem over-awed at the size of these massive propellers. They completely dwarf the men that built them.

As I will explain at a later time, these propellers would play a major role the night of April 14, 1912...
I did some research, and come to find out, the propellers on the Titanic are bigger than the propellers on the biggest cruise ship to this day.
You really never see the propellers on big ships like this when they are in service, but without them, you're not going anywhere. They play a vital role in the ship getting from point A. to point B.
The propellers on a ship are like the wheels and tires on a car!!!

Well that's all for now, but that's just the "tip of the iceberg" as they say.

Finally here!!!

2007-01-11T19:01:00.000-08:00

Well Howdy!!!

If you want to know about the Titanic, and other ships you have come to the right place. The Titanic will be the main theme at this blog, I will try not to bore anyone, so I will post here and there about what's going on.
Fairly often I'll post about something I've learned about the Titanic, may it be dimensions, facts, crew, passengers, and anything I can think of. Also if anyone has any questions about the Titanic please feel FREE to ask... if I don't know the answer, I will try and find out.
I know most of you probably aren't too thrilled about ship models, but I will share tips I have learned in building them, and a brief history of each model I build and have built.

Well that's all for now, but I'll be back for sure, and very quickly...

Test

2007-01-11T18:41:00.001-08:00

Testing... testing... 1, 2, 3. :)