Story of the Titanic (DK History)

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Even before the survivors arrived in New York, investigations were being planned to discover what had happened, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. Inquiries were held in both the United States and the United Kingdom, the former more robustly critical of traditions and practices, and scathing of the failures involved, and the latter broadly more technical and expert-orientated. [206]

Titanic had around 885 crew members on board for her maiden voyage. [106] Like other vessels of her time, she did not have a permanent crew, and the vast majority of crew members were casual workers who only came aboard the ship a few hours before she sailed from Southampton. [107] The process of signing up recruits had begun on 23 March and some had been sent to Belfast, where they served as a skeleton crew during Titanic 's sea trials and passage to England at the start of April. [108] It took many hours for accurate accounts to become widely available, and even then people had trouble accepting that this paragon of modern technology could sink on her maiden voyage, taking more than 1,500 souls with her.Gill, Anton (2010). Titanic: the real story of the construction of the world's most famous ship. Channel 4 Books. ISBN 978-1-905026-71-5. My 12 year old self would have enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed it as a 59 year old bloke. A great coffee table book. It’s as big and impressive as the subject matter.

Verhoeven, John D. (2007). Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist. Materials Park, OH: ASM International. ISBN 978-0-87170-858-8. Brewster, Hugh; Coulter, Laurie (1998). 882½ Amazing Answers to your Questions about the Titanic. Madison Press Book. ISBN 978-0-590-18730-5. The sinking was caused due to rapid flooding of five holds of the ships due to damage sustained on collision with the iceberg. The wealthiest passenger was John Jacob Astor IV, heir to the Astor family fortune, who had made waves a year earlier by marrying 18-year-old Madeleine Talmadge Force, a young woman 29 years his junior, shortly after divorcing his first wife. Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way". BBC News. 19 June 2023 . Retrieved 19 June 2023.The US Senate's inquiry into the disaster was initiated on 19 April, a day after Carpathia arrived in New York. [207] The chairman, Senator William Alden Smith, wanted to gather accounts from passengers and crew while the events were still fresh in their minds. Smith also needed to subpoena all surviving British passengers and crew while they were still on American soil, which prevented them from returning to the UK before the American inquiry was completed on 25 May. [208] The British press condemned Smith as an opportunist, insensitively forcing an inquiry as a means of gaining political prestige and seizing "his moment to stand on the world stage". Smith, however, already had a reputation as a campaigner for safety on US railroads, and wanted to investigate any possible malpractices by railroad tycoon J. P. Morgan, Titanic 's ultimate owner. [209]

From the archive: The Titanic is sunk, with great loss of life". The Guardian. 16 April 1912 . Retrieved 13 October 2023. Neither inquiry's findings listed negligence by IMM or the White Star Line as a factor. The American inquiry concluded that since those involved had followed standard practice, the disaster was an act of God. [215] The British inquiry concluded that Smith had followed long-standing practice that had not previously been shown to be unsafe, [216] noting that British ships alone had carried 3.5million passengers over the previous decade with the loss of just 10 lives, [217] and concluded that Smith had done "only that which other skilled men would have done in the same position". Lord Mersey did, however, find fault with the "extremely high speed (twenty-two knots) which was maintained" following numerous ice warnings, [218] noting that "what was a mistake in the case of the Titanic would without doubt be negligence in any similar case in the future". [216]The same year that Cunard unveiled its two magnificent liners, J. Bruce Ismay, chief executive of White Star, discussed the construction of three large ships with William J. Pirrie, chairman of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff. Part of a new “Olympic” class of liners, each ship would measure 882 feet in length and 92.5 feet at their broadest point, making them the largest of their time. This same overconfidence explains the electrifying impact Titanic’s sinking had on the public when she was lost. There was widespread disbelief that the ship could not possibly have sunk, and, due to the era’s slow and unreliable means of communication, misinformation abounded. Newspapers initially reported that the ship had collided with an iceberg but remained afloat and was being towed to port with everyone on board. Titanic—Passenger and Crew statistics". Historyonthenet.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012 . Retrieved 8 April 2012. The first film about the disaster, Saved from the Titanic, was released only 29 days after the ship sank and had an actual survivor as its star—the silent film actress Dorothy Gibson. This film is considered lost. [293] The British film A Night to Remember (1958) is still widely regarded as the most historically accurate movie portrayal of the sinking. [294] The most financially successful by far has been James Cameron's Titanic (1997), which became the highest-grossing film in history up to that time, [295] as well as the winner of 11 Oscars at the 70th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Cameron. [296] As a result, even if the lifeboats were loaded to full capacity during an emergency evacuation, there were available seats for only one-third of those on board. While unthinkably inadequate by today’s standards, Titanic’s supply of lifeboats actually exceeded the British Board of Trade’s requirements. Passengers on the Titanic

Birth of Titanic Belfast". nitb. Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018 . Retrieved 3 February 2018. Eveleth, Rose (31 March 2014). "The Definitive Guide to the Dogs on the Titanic". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021 . Retrieved 17 October 2018. A trip down Canada's Iceberg Alley – EarthSky.org". earthsky.org. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018 . Retrieved 9 February 2017.

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Titanic | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". Unesco.org. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013 . Retrieved 2 October 2013.