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from
Historical Disasters
From Dream to Disaster
by Gabriel Weltstein
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On a calm, starry night in 1912, the largest ship that had ever been built struck an iceberg. In less than three hours, the ship plunged to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The first voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic had ended, and more than 1,500 people lost their lives.
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When the Titanic began the voyage from England to New York, many people on board believed the massive ship was unsinkable. Passengers thought they were sailing on the safest ship afloat, a masterpiece of technology.
Strong and sleek, the Titanic was constructed of forty-six thousand tons of steel. It had a hull with a double bottom, unlike most ships. For extra safety, the hull was divided into sixteen watertight compartments, which were separated by locked doors. Water could flood four of the compartments, and the ship would still float. The ship’s designers thought the worst collision would only damage two compartments.
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The Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912. Four days later, the ship’s radio operators received seven warnings from other ships about icebergs in the area. The Titanic had no procedure for relaying messages from the radio operators to the captain. The warning messages were received by several different radio operators. Not all of the messages reached Captain Smith. The night of April 14, the Titanic steamed ahead almost at full speed.
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Late that evening, the Titanic arrived in the radio range of Canada. For the first time, passengers could send messages to their families in the United States. The last, most important iceberg warning came at 10:55 P.M., but the radio operator was busy sending passengers’ personal messages. He never reported the iceberg warning to the captain.
Lookouts were posted in the crow’s-nest high above the ship. Usually they had binoculars, but that night they did not. They strained their eyes searching the cold, moonless dark. The sea was calm and silent. In a rougher sea they might have spotted waves splashing against the enormous, white iceberg and called out a warning in time.
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