"The Telegraph", UK
Each family has its own secrets, but usually they concern things that no one is interested in outside of it. However, this does not apply to Louise Patten - or rather Lady Patten, if you call the full title - the wife of the former Minister of Education in the Tory government, Lord John Patten (however, she has enough of her own achievements - she became the first woman, on the board of directors of the FTSE 100, and also writes popular financial thrillers).
In the 1960s, when Patten was still a teenager, her beloved grandmother revealed the family secret to her, warning her that her publicity could have two consequences. One of them would be terrible - the good name of Patten's grandfather Charles Lightoller (Charles Lightoller), awarded the Distinguished Servant's Cross in the First World War and again recognized as a hero in 1940 during the evacuation from Dunkirk, could be tarnished. However, the second would change history and overturn the official version of one of the most famous disasters - the death of the Titanic, which claimed the lives of 1517 people in April 1912.
The tension between these two consequences partly explains why Patten remained silent for 40 years and did not tell - she admits with a girlish laugh, glancing from under the luxurious black bangs - what she knew, even to her husband. What did he say when he found out about it? "I think it's something like, 'Oh my God.'" Now, however, Patten, 56, has finally decided to come clean with the rest of the world in her new novel Good as Gold.
It would seem that what new can be said about the catastrophe almost 100 years later? “My grandfather was second mate on the Titanic,” Patten explains. “When the ship hit the iceberg, he was in his cabin. Then he didn’t follow a direct order and refused to go down to the lifeboat, but in the end he accidentally escaped anyway.” .
Surprisingly, when the Titanic sank into the water, Lightoller jumped into the ocean and was pulled into the depths, but then the force of the underwater explosion pushed him to the surface. Then one of the boats picked him up.
The idea that after all the investigations, films, books and - finally - after descending to the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic, the key to the mystery of what happened on that fateful night is held by a seemingly unrelated respected business lady from London , looks extremely unusual. But why, I wonder, did Patten's grandfather, who appeared to be an extremely honest and brave man, lie and continue to lie all his life? “The fact is,” she replies, “that when the survivors were already picked up by another ship, Bruce Ismay convinced my grandfather that if he told the truth, White star line accused of negligence and will not pay her insurance. In fact, this meant that the company would go bankrupt and everyone would lose their jobs. In those days, people like my grandfather followed their code of honor. He lied so other people wouldn't lose their jobs."
But why didn't her grandmother speak up after Lightoller died in 1952? "She did not want this heroic figure to be seen as a liar. My mother, who was also privy to the secret, was unhappy that my grandmother told me everything. It hurt her even more. She literally worshiped her grandfather."
So what happened and remained a secret kept in the family circle, of which only Patten survived in the end. "I have an older sister, but she spent most of her time away from home at a boarding school. I was sick a lot as a teenager, and spent a lot more time at home with my grandmother."
But why reveal the secret now? "My mom and grandma are dead, but" she trails off, as if she's still not sure she did the right thing, "I still hear my mom say that grandpa should be remembered as a hero."
Most writers would have used this story a long time ago, though most likely not for a work of fiction, but for a documentary - perhaps a memoir. Why turn it into a novel? "Because I write thrillers," Patten replies firmly, making me wonder if she's an effective chairman of the board. I suddenly thought that I have my own family secret, also related to shipping."
Many people have heard, many have read, but many still do not know the real and bitter truth about the death of the world's largest passenger liner with the mighty name "Titanic". It belonged to the British company White Star Line. In just two years, shipbuilders managed to construct the impossible, and already on May 31, 1911, the Titanic was launched. His first cruise flight turned into a huge tragedy, the news of which swept over the course of two days around the world. What happened? How did the Titanic sink? How could the most unsinkable ship in the world be at a depth of 4 km? The owners of the company declared that God himself could not sink the Titanic. Maybe he got mad at people?
But let's move on to more real facts. So, on April 10, 1912, the greatest ship of all times and peoples, the Titanic, sailed from the port of Southampton, on board of which at that moment were the most famous people Great Britain. These were businessmen, actors and actresses, scientists and writers, etc. The Titanic set off on a 7-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to New York, stopping along the way at small ports to deliver and receive cargo, as well as disembark and disembark passengers. The fifth day of the exciting journey was fatal for all the passengers of the liner. Crossing the Atlantic, at about 3:00 am, the starboard side of the ship was cut by a small iceberg, which was not immediately noticed by the looking sailor. As many as five lower compartments were flooded in a matter of minutes.
After 2.5 hours, the Titanic disappeared into the depths of the sea. Of the 2,200 people, only 715 were able to escape. Almost 1,500 people tragically died. And now the most intriguing question arises, who is to blame for this tragedy? God? Shipbuilders? or not the professionalism of the captain of the ship? But nevertheless, after numerous investigations, objective and subjective reasons for the death of the Titanic were still collected, but we will talk about them a little later. To begin with, one should delve into these facts and analyze the broader reasons that influenced the outcome of events and the death of innocent people.
Responsible for the sinking of the Titanic
shipbuilders
Let's start, perhaps, with shipbuilders, namely with the ship's plating itself. In 1994, a study was carried out with a piece of the skin of the sunken Titanic. The results were very deplorable, because. the plating was so thin that even the smallest piece of ice floe could inflict enormous damage on it, and if we take into account the huge Iceberg, then the damage was still not very big, thanks to the actions of the captain of the ship. The impact caused by the iceberg was tragic because the ship's hull plating included phosphorus in its composition, which, at low temperatures, caused this plating to break. The inability of shipbuilders to create high-quality steel at that time, as well as ship designs, makes them also guilty of this tragedy. It was also known that the design of the Titanic included the use of necessary materials, but most of them were of poor quality, or even absent. This is proven by the fact that some people made a lot of money on this and shipbuilders may not be guilty of this.
radio operators
Now about no less important employees of the ship - radio operators. In 1912, radio communication on the high seas was new, and not every ship could establish it. The bottom line is that the radio operators, for some unknown reason, were not part of the ship's crew, but worked for the Marconi company, which was engaged in the transmission of paid messages in the form of Morse code. Currently, they can be compared with SMS messages on the phone.
Based on the surviving records, the radio operators managed to transmit more than 250 radiotelegrams on April 14, and the signals that came from other ships that also sailed across the Atlantic were simply ignored by the radio operators, because. they needed to make money. According to the records of radio operators, which were not taken into account by them, it became known that the Titanic had been alerted of the danger with the exact coordinates since 20-00 on the evening of April 14. There were even messages for the captain personally, in which it was written about nearby icebergs, but the radio operators were too lazy to deliver this information to the captain, and continued to send paid messages. But the entire crew of the ship was instructed in advance about possible glaciers, because. route passed through them.
Iceberg
Video - Titanic. The mysteries of the death of the liner
As you can see, the Titanic still managed to sink, and not only for the above reasons, there are several more. Perhaps the most important of them is the lack of binoculars from the looking sailor, who was on the ship, but was locked in a safe, and the second mate had the key. It was David Blair, who was removed from the flight for unknown reasons. He simply forgot to give this key to his reliever, so the looking sailor could not see the danger. With binoculars, trouble could be foreseen for 6 km., And without binoculars, the sailor could notice just 400 meters away. It was calm and the night was moonless. Even weather that night they were against the ship, because the light of the moon in any case was able to reflect on the iceberg and give it away in advance.
It was also known that the iceberg was black, which means that it had turned upside down shortly before. It is possible that even under the moon the shine of the iceberg could not be noticeable, because. its white side was under water.
The fact that the first assistant did not notice the iceberg first is not clear. it is always more visible on the bridge than from the "eagle's nest" of a sailor.
About maneuver
It should be clarified that the captain of the ship was not on the bridge at the time of the crash, he was replaced by first assistant Murdoch. The results of the studies carried out indicate that the first officer gave the order "Left rudder" and immediately after that gave the order "Reverse". But the second command was carried out late and the reverse was made after a collision with an iceberg. It is believed that if Murdoch ordered, on the contrary, to increase speed, then the turn of the ship would not be smooth, but sharp. Perhaps the experience of the team failed in this situation as well. they did not participate in the testing of the ship after launching, and it is very difficult to create a maneuver of such a huge ship without preparation. Some believe that if the Titanic had not changed course, but had rammed an iceberg, it would have remained unscathed, because. the bow of the ship was protected and could only get a small dent at most.
Having considered the expanded picture of the circumstances of that night, we should return to the objective and subjective reasons for the sinking of the Titanic.
Subjective causes of the sinking of the Titanic
1. The rules of the British Merchant Shipping Code were outdated. They said that lifeboats were put on a ship depending on its tonnage, and not on the number of passengers. This means that there were not enough boats on the Titanic, so about 500 more people were not saved.
2. There is evidence that the helmsman, at the command "Take to the left", turned the steering wheel to the right.
3. The director of the company, J. Ismay, was sailing on board the ship, but he ordered the captain to sail on and not take any action so as not to incur losses. The captain followed his order, but water entered the compartments at a rate of 350 tons per minute.
4. To date, no one has survived after the crash. Those who escaped died a natural death. Last Passenger The Titanic died in 2009. It was the woman who was on Titanic 5 summer child. Only she knew the true truth of the death of the ship, which her relatives told her, but the secret died with her.
Objective reasons for the sinking of the Titanic
1. Due to the fact that the iceberg turned over, because he was melting at that time, he was not visible from the ship.
2. The speed of the ship was very high. As a result, the blow was the most powerful. The fault here is solely the captain of the ship.
3. Radio operators, busy sending paid messages, did not convey important information about the danger to the captain. Considering that they were not part of the team, this does not relieve them of responsibility.
4. Titanic steel at the time was not the best quality. The pressure on her low temperatures led her to brittleness and brittleness. There is no fault of the shipbuilders here, because. they performed work with the raw materials that were purchased by the management of the shipbuilding company.
5. All compartments of the ship were protected by iron doors, but the pressure of the water was so strong that they simply shattered into small pieces. Thus, compartment after compartment was filled with water.
6. The lookout did not have binoculars, which reduced the radius of his view from the "eagle's nest".
7. The ship did not have red flares, the launch of which meant a signal of danger. As a result of this, white rockets were launched, which did not matter to neighboring ships.
This article did not consider the ships that came to the aid of the Titanic on that fateful night, but it is worth noting the fact that the closest ship that was near the Titanic was a ship with poachers who hunted seals that night, but saw the launch white rockets, they thought that this was a signal that they needed to stop and the captain of this ship ordered his crew to sail as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. Perhaps, thanks to these poachers, if they had not sailed away, many more people would have been saved, but there was no radio communication on their ship.
Thus, having analyzed the most truthful facts about how the Titanic sank, one can only guess which reason is still the most truthful.
The sinking of the Titanic scientific facts video
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The Titanic is a British transatlantic steamship, the second Olympic-class liner. Built in Belfast at the shipyard "Harland and Wolf" from 1909 to 1912 by order of the shipping company "White Star Line".
At the time of commissioning, it was the largest ship in the world.
On the night of April 14-15, 1912, during the first flight, it crashed in the North Atlantic, colliding with an iceberg.
Vessel information
The Titanic was equipped with two four-cylinder steam engines and a steam turbine.
- All power point had a capacity of 55,000 liters. With.
- The ship could reach speeds of up to 23 knots (42 km/h).
- Its displacement, which exceeded the twin steamer Olympic by 243 tons, was 52,310 tons.
- The ship's hull was made of steel.
- The hold and lower decks were divided into 16 compartments by bulkheads with sealed doors.
- If the bottom was damaged, the double bottom prevented water from entering the compartments.
Shipbuilder magazine called the Titanic virtually unsinkable, a statement widely circulated in the press and among the public.
In accordance with outdated rules, the Titanic was equipped with 20 lifeboats, with a total capacity of 1178 people, which was only a third of the maximum load of the ship.
The cabins and public areas of the Titanic were divided into three classes.
First class passengers were offered a swimming pool, a squash court, an A la carte restaurant, two cafes, and a gym. All classes had dining and smoking lounges, open and closed promenades. The most luxurious and refined were the interiors of the first class, made in various artistic styles using expensive materials such as mahogany, gilding, stained glass, silk and others. Cabins and salons of the third class were designed as simply as possible: steel walls were painted in White color or sheathed with wooden panels.
1 On April 0, 1912, the Titanic left Southampton on her first and only voyage. Having made stops in French Cherbourg and Irish Queenstown, the ship entered the Atlantic Ocean with 1,317 passengers and 908 crew members on board. Captain Edward Smith commanded the ship. On April 14, the Titanic radio station received seven ice warnings, but the liner continued to move almost at top speed. To avoid meeting with floating ice, the captain ordered to go a little south of the usual route.
- At 23:39 on April 14, the lookout reported to the captain's bridge about the iceberg directly ahead. Less than a minute later there was a collision. Having received several holes, the ship began to sink. First of all, women and children were put on the boats.
- At 2:20 am on April 15, the Titanic sank, breaking in two, killing 1,496 people. 712 survivors were picked up by the steamer "Carpathia".
The wreckage of the Titanic rests at a depth of 3750 m. They were first discovered by the expedition of Robert Ballard in 1985. Subsequent expeditions recovered thousands of artifacts from the bottom. The bow and stern parts have sunk deep into the bottom silt and are in a deplorable state; it is not possible to bring them to the surface intact.
The wreck of the Titanic
The disaster claimed the lives of, according to various sources, from 1495 to 1635 people. Until December 20, 1987, when the Philippine ferry Dona Paz crashed, killing more than 4,000 people, the sinking of the Titanic remained the largest in terms of number those who died in the disaster at sea in peacetime. Informally, it is the most famous disaster XX century.
Alternative versions of the death of the ship
And now - alternative versions, each of which has its adherents in the world club of mystery lovers.
Fire
A fire in the coal compartment that arose even before sailing and provoked an explosion first, and then a collision with an iceberg. The owners of the ship knew about the fire and tried to hide it from the passengers. This version was put forward by the British journalist Shenan Moloney, writes The Independent. Moloney has been investigating the causes of the sinking of the Titanic for over 30 years.
In particular, he studied photographs taken before the ship left the shipyard in Belfast. The journalist saw black marks along the right side of the ship's hull - just where the iceberg had pierced it. Subsequently, experts confirmed that the traces were probably caused by the fire that had started in the fuel storage. “We looked at exactly where the iceberg got stuck, and it seems that this part of the hull was very vulnerable in this place, and this happened even before it left the shipyard in Belfast,” says Moloney. A team of 12 tried to put out the flames, but they were too big to quickly bring under control. It could reach temperatures up to 1000 degrees Celsius, which made the Titanic's hull very vulnerable in this place. And when he hit the ice, experts say, he immediately broke. The publication also added that the management of the liner forbade passengers to talk about the fire. “This is a perfect match of unusual factors: fire, ice and malpractice. No one has investigated these marks before. It completely changes history,” says Moloney.
Conspiracy
Conspiracy theory: this is not the Titanic at all! This version was put forward by Robin Gardiner and Dan Van Der Watt, experts in the study of the reasons for the death of the ship, published in the book “The Titanic Mystery”. According to this theory, the wreck is not the Titanic at all, but its twin brother, the Olympic. These boats were virtually indistinguishable from each other. On September 20, 1911, the Olympic collided with the British Navy cruiser Hawke, resulting in severe damage to both ships. The owners of Olimpik suffered heavy losses, since the damage that was inflicted on Olimpik was not enough to cover the insurance payment.
The theory is based on the assumption of a possible fraud in order to obtain insurance payments by the owners of the Titanic. According to this version, the owners of the Titanic intended to send the Olympic to the area of possible ice formation and at the same time convinced the captain not to slow down so that the ship would be seriously damaged when it collided with an ice block. This version was initially supported by the fact that from the bottom Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic lies, enough has been lifted a large number of objects, but nothing was found that would carry the name "Titanic". This theory was refuted after parts were raised to the surface, on which the Titanic's tail (building) number was stamped - 401. The Olympic had a tail number of 400. In addition, the Titanic's minted tail number was discovered and on the propeller of a sunken ship. And even despite this, the conspiracy theory still has a number of followers.
German attack
1912 The First World War is two years away, and the prospect of an armed conflict between Germany and Great Britain is becoming more and more likely. Germany is the owner of several dozen submarines, which during the war will unleash a ruthless hunt for enemy ships trying to cross the ocean. For example, the reason for America's entry into the war will be that the U-20 submarine will sink the Lusitania in 1915 - the twin of the same Mauritania that set the speed record and won the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic - remember?
Based on these facts, in the mid-nineties, some Western publications offered their own version of the death of the Titanic: a torpedo attack by a German submarine that secretly accompanied the liner. The purpose of the attack was to discredit the British fleet, famous for its power throughout the world. In accordance with this theory, the Titanic either did not collide with the iceberg at all, or received very minor damage in the collision and would have remained afloat if the Germans had not finished off the ship with a torpedo.
What speaks in favor of this version? Honestly, nothing.
There was a collision with an iceberg - this is beyond doubt. The deck of the ship was even covered with snow and ice chips. Cheerful passengers started playing football with ice cubes - that the ship is doomed, it will become clear later. The collision itself was surprisingly quiet - almost none of the passengers felt it. A torpedo, you see, could hardly have exploded completely silently (especially since some claim that the submarine fired as many as six torpedoes at the ship!).
Supporters of the theory of the German attack claim, however, that people in the boats heard a terrible roar just before the Titanic sank - well, that was two and a half hours later, when only the stern lifted up into the sky remained above the water and the death of the ship did not raise any doubts. It is unlikely that the Germans would have fired a torpedo at an almost sunken ship, would they? And the roar that the survivors heard was due to the fact that the stern of the Titanic rose almost vertically and huge steam boilers fell from their places. Also, do not forget that at about the same minutes, the Titanic broke in half - the keel could not withstand the weight of the rising stern (although they only find out about this after finding the liner at the bottom: the break occurred below the water level), and this is also unlikely to have happened silently . And why would the Germans suddenly begin to sink a passenger liner two years before the start of the war? This seems, to put it mildly, doubtful. And to put it bluntly, it's absurd.
Curse
Mystical version: the curse of the pharaohs. It is known for certain that one of the historians, Lord Canterville, transported on the Titanic in a wooden box a perfectly preserved Egyptian mummy of a priestess - soothsayer. Since the mummy had a rather high historical and cultural value, it was not placed in the hold, but placed directly next to the captain's bridge. The essence of the theory is that the mummy influenced the mind of Captain Smith, who, despite numerous warnings about ice in the area where the Titanic sailed, did not slow down and thereby doomed the ship to certain death. In favor of this version they say famous cases mysterious death people who disturbed the peace of ancient burials, especially mummified Egyptian rulers. Moreover, the deaths were associated precisely with a clouding of the mind, as a result of which people committed inappropriate actions, there were often cases of suicide. Pharaohs had a hand in the sinking of the Titanic?
Steering error
One of the latest versions of the death of the Titanic deserves special attention. It appeared after the novel by the granddaughter of the second mate of the captain of the Titanic, Ch. Lightoller, Lady Patten, “Worth its weight in gold”, was published. According to the version put forward by Patten in his book, the ship had enough time to dodge the obstacle, but the helmsman, Robert Hitchens, panicked and turned the helm in the wrong direction.
A catastrophic error caused the iceberg to inflict fatal damage on the ship. The truth about what really happened on that fateful night was kept secret in the family of Lightoller, the oldest surviving officer of the Titanic and the only survivor who knew exactly what caused the sinking of the ship. Lightoller withheld this information for fear that the White Star Line, which owned the ship, would go bankrupt and his colleagues would lose their jobs. The only person to whom Lightoller told the truth was his wife Sylvia, who passed on her husband's words to her granddaughter. In addition, according to Patten, such a large and reliable liner as the Titanic sank so quickly because, after a collision with an ice block, it was not immediately stopped, and the rate of water entering the holds increased hundreds of times. The liner was not immediately stopped because the manager of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, persuaded the captain to continue sailing. He feared that the incident could cause considerable material damage to the company he leads.
Chasing the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic
There were and still are many supporters of this theory, especially among writers, since it appeared precisely in writers' circles. “ blue ribbon Atlantic” is a prestigious shipping award given to ocean liners for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic.
At the time of the Titanic, this prize was given to the Mauretania ship of the Cunard company, which, by the way, was the founder of this award, as well as the main competitor of the White Star Line. In defense of this theory, the opinion is put forward that the president of the company that owned the Titanic, Ismay, urged the captain of the Titanic, Smith, to arrive in New York a day ahead of schedule and receive an honorary prize. This allegedly explains the high speed of the vessel in dangerous area Atlantic. But this theory can easily be refuted, because the Titanic simply physically could not reach the speed of 26 knots at which the Mauritania of the Cunard company set a record, which, by the way, lasted more than 10 years after the disaster in the Atlantic.
But how was it really?
Regrettably, but, studying the history of the most famous maritime disaster, we have to admit that the Titanic owes its death long chain fatal accidents. If at least one link of the sinister chain had been destroyed, the tragedy could have been avoided.
Perhaps the first link was the successful start of the journey - yes, yes, that's right. On the morning of April 10, during the departure of the Titanic from the quay wall of Southampton port, the superliner passed too close to the American ship New York, and a phenomenon known in navigation as the suction of ships arose: the New York began to be attracted to the moving nearby "Titanic". However, thanks to the skill of Captain Edward Smith, a collision was avoided.
Ironically, if an accident had happened, it would have saved one and a half thousand lives: if the Titanic had lingered in the port, the ill-fated encounter with the iceberg would not have happened.
This time. It should also be mentioned that the radio operators who received the message from the Mesaba ship about the ice fields of icebergs did not pass it on to Edward Smith: the telegram was not marked with a special prefix “personally to the captain”, and was lost in a pile of papers. This is two.
However, this message was not the only one, and the captain knew about the ice danger. Why didn't he slow down the ship? Chasing the Blue Ribbon is, of course, a matter of honor (and, more importantly, of big business), but why did he risk the lives of passengers? Not that much of a risk, really. At that time the captains ocean liners often passed dangerous ice districts without slowing down: it was like crossing the road at a red light: sort of, and you can’t do that, but it always works out. Almost always.
To the credit of Captain Smith, it must be said that he remained true to maritime traditions and remained on the dying ship to the very end.
But why was the bulk of the iceberg not seen? Here everything turned out one to one: a moonless, dark night, windless weather. If there were at least small waves on the water surface, the lookouts could see white lambs at the foot of the iceberg. Calm and moonless night are two more links in the fatal chain.
As it turned out later, the chain was continued by the fact that the iceberg, shortly before the collision with the Titanic, turned its underwater dark part upside down, saturated with water, due to which it was practically invisible from a distance at night (an ordinary, white iceberg would be distinguishable for a mile ). The sentinel saw him only 450 meters away, and there was almost no time for maneuver. Perhaps the iceberg would have been seen earlier, but another link in the fatal chain played a role here - there were no binoculars in the "crow's nest". The box where they were stored turned out to be locked, and the second assistant to the captain, taken from the ship just before departure, hastily took the key to it with him.
After the lookout nevertheless saw the danger and reported the iceberg to the captain's bridge, a little more than half a minute remained before the collision. The officer of the watch, Murdoch, who was on watch, gave the helmsman the order to turn left, at the same time transmitting the command "full astern" to the engine room. Thus, he made a gross mistake by adding another link in the chain that led the liner to death: even if the Titanic had crashed into the iceberg head-on, the tragedy would have been less. The bow of the ship would have been crushed, part of the crew and those passengers whose cabins were located in front would have died. But only two watertight compartments would be flooded. With such damage, the liner would have remained afloat and could wait for the help of other ships.
And if Murdoch, turning the ship to the left, ordered to increase, and not decrease the speed, the collision might not have happened at all. However, frankly speaking, the order to change the speed is unlikely to play a significant role here: in thirty seconds it was hardly possible to execute it in the engine room.
So the collision happened. The iceberg damaged the ship's fragile hull along the six starboard compartments.
Looking ahead, let's say that only seven hundred and four managed to escape: the next link in the chain of failures was that some sailors took the captain's order to put women and children into the boats too literally, and did not let men go there, even if there were empty seats. However, at first no one was particularly eager to get into the boats. The passengers did not understand what was the matter, and did not want to leave the huge, comfortably lit, such a reliable liner and it was not clear why they should go down in a small unstable boat down to ice water. However, pretty soon, anyone could notice that the deck was tilting forward more and more, and panic began.
But why was there such a monstrous discrepancy in the places on the lifeboats? The owners of the Titanic, praising the merits of the new ship, stated that they even overfulfilled the instructions of the code: instead of the required 962 rescue places, there were 1178 on the ship. Unfortunately, they did not attach any importance to the discrepancy between this number and the number of passengers on board.
It is especially bitter that not far from the sinking Titanic, another passenger steamer, the Californian, stood, waiting out the danger of ice. A few hours ago, he notified neighboring ships that he was locked in ice and forced to stop so as not to accidentally run into an ice block. The radio operator from the Titanic, who was almost stunned by the Morse code from the Californian (the ships were very close, and the signal of one was too loud in the headphones of the other), impolitely interrupted the warning: “Go to hell, you are preventing me from working!”. What was the radio operator of the Titanic so busy with?
The fact is that in those years, radio communication on a ship was more of a luxury than an urgent need, and this miracle of technology aroused great interest among the wealthy public. From the very beginning of the voyage, radio operators were literally inundated with messages of a private nature - and no one saw anything reprehensible in the fact that Titanic radio operators paid such attention to wealthy passengers who wished to send a telegram to the ground directly from the ship. And at that moment, when colleagues from other courts reported about floating ice, the radio operator was transmitting another message to the continent. Radio communication was more like an expensive toy than a serious tool: the ships of that time did not even have a round-the-clock watch at the radio station.
More than 100 years have passed since the terrible disaster of one of the largest liners of its time. But until now, the world does not know all the secrets that the huge, and seemingly indestructible Titanic hides. How the ship sank, the material will tell.
Giants fight
The 20th century was the century of technological progress. Skyscrapers, cars, movies - everything developed at an uncanny pace. The process also affected the ships.
In the market in the early 1900s, there was a lot of competition for customers between the two large companies. Cunard Line and White Star Line, two hostile transatlantic carriers, have been competing for the right to be the leader in their field for several years in a row. opened up interesting opportunities for companies, so over the years their ships became larger, faster and more magnificent.
Why and how the Titanic sank is still a mystery. There are many versions. The most daring of them is a scam. It was held by the aforementioned Star Line company.
But he opened the world of amazing liners "Cunard Line". By their order, two extraordinary steamships "Mauritania" and "Lusitania" were built. The audience was amazed by their grandeur. The length is about 240 m, the width is 25 m, the height from the waterline to the boat deck is 18 m. (But after a few years, the dimensions of the Titanic surpassed these parameters). Two twin giants were launched in 1906 and 1907. They won first places in prestigious competitions and beat all speed records.
For the competitors of "Kunard Line" it became a matter of honor to give a worthy answer.
The fate of the troika
The White Star Line was founded in 1845. During the years of the gold rush, she made money by flying from Britain to Australia. Throughout the years, the company competed with Cunard Line. Therefore, after the Lusitania and Mauritania were launched, the Star Line engineers were tasked with creating fantastic designs that would surpass the offspring of competitors. The final decision was made in 1909. This is how the idea of three ships of the Olympic class was born. The order was carried out by Harland and Wolfe.
This maritime organization was famous throughout the world for the quality of its ships, comfort and luxury. Speed was not a priority. Several times "Star Line" proved not by word but by deed that it cares about customers. So, in 1909, when two liners collided, their ship stood on the water for another two days, which proved its quality. However, the trio of “Olympic” misfortune befell. repeatedly got into accidents. So, in 1911, it collided with the Hawk cruiser, from which it received a 14-meter hole and went for repairs. Misfortune befell the Titanic. He found himself at the bottom of the ocean in 1912. "Britanic" found the First World War, where he played the role of a hospital, and in 1916 he was blown up by a German mine.
Miracle of the Seas
Now we can safely say that great ambitions were the reason why the Titanic crashed.
The construction of the second of three Olympic-class vessels was not without casualties. 1500 people worked on the project. The conditions were not easy. There was little concern for safety. Due to the fact that they had to work at a height, many builders broke down. About 250 people were seriously injured. The wounds of eight men were incompatible with life.
The dimensions of the Titanic were astounding. Its length was 269 m, width 28 m, height 18 m. It could reach speeds of up to 23 knots.
On the day the liner was launched, 10,000 spectators, including VIP guests and the press, gathered on the embankment to see an unusually large ship,
The date of the first flight was previously announced. The voyage was scheduled for March 20, 1912. But due to the collision of the first ship in September 1911 with the Hawk cruiser, some of the workers were transferred to the Olympic. The flight was automatically rescheduled for April 10. It is from this date that the fateful story of the Titanic begins.
fatal ticket
Its height was equal to an eleven-story building, and its length was four blocks of the city. Telephones, elevators, its own electrical grid, a garden, a hospital, shops - all this was placed on the ship. Luxurious halls, exquisite restaurants, a library, a swimming pool and a gym - everything was available to high society, first class passengers. Other clients lived more modestly. The most expensive tickets cost, in today's exchange rate, more than $50,000. Economical option from
The history of the Titanic is the history of different layers of the then society. Expensive cabins were occupied by successful, famous personalities. Tickets for the second class were bought by engineers, journalists, representatives of the clergy. The cheapest decks were for expats.
Landing began at 9:30 am on 10 April in London. After several scheduled stops, the liner headed for New York. A total of 2,208 people boarded.
tragic meeting
Immediately after entering the ocean, the team realized that there were no binoculars on the ship. The key to the box they were kept in was missing. The ship followed the safest route. It was chosen according to the season. In the spring, the water was full of icebergs, but theoretically they could not seriously damage the liner. Nevertheless, the captain gave the order to drive the Titanic at full speed. How the ship sank, which, according to the owners, could not be sunk, was later told by passengers who were lucky enough to survive.
The first days of sailing were quiet. But already on April 14, radio operators received repeated warnings about icebergs, which were largely ignored. In addition, the temperature dropped significantly at night. As you know, the team did without binoculars, and such a grandiose ship was not equipped with searchlights. Therefore, the lookout noticed the iceberg only 650 meters away. The man signaled to the bridge, where First Officer Murdoch gave the order: "Turn left" and "Reverse." This was followed by the command: "To the right." But the clumsy ship was slow to maneuver. The board collided with an iceberg. That is why the Titanic crashed.
Distress signal not heard
The collision happened at 23:40, when people were almost all asleep. On the upper deck, the impact was invisible. But the bottom was pretty shocked. Ice perforated 5 sections, they instantly began to fill with water. In general, the length of the hole was 90 meters. The designer said that with such damage, the ship would last a little more than an hour. The crew was preparing for an emergency evacuation. The radio operators broadcast an SOS signal.
The captain gave the order to put women and children in the boats. The team itself also wanted to survive, so strong sailors took oars in their hands. The wealthy passengers of the Titanic were the first to escape. But there wasn't enough room for everyone.
From the very beginning, the liner was not sufficiently equipped with everything necessary. A maximum of 1,100 people could be saved. In the first minutes it was completely imperceptible that the ship began to sink, so the relaxed passengers did not understand what was happening and reluctantly climbed into the half-empty boats.
The last moments of the miracle ship
When the nose of the liner tilted heavily, mass panic increased among the passengers.
The third class was left closed in its unit. Riots began, and people in horror tried to escape, as best they could. The guards tried to restore order and frightened the crowd with pistol shots.
At that time, the steamship Californian was passing nearby, but she did not receive a signal for help from a neighboring vessel. Their radio operator overslept messages. How the Titanic sank, and with what speed it went to the bottom, only Carpathia knew, which headed towards them.
Despite the distress signals given, independent attempts to escape did not stop. Pumps pumped out water, there was still electricity. At 2:15 the pipe fell. Then the light went out. Experts believe that the liner was torn in half, because the bow took on water and sank. The stern first rose up, and then, under the pressure of its own weight, the ship broke.
Cold in the abyss
The nose sank quickly. Feed in a few minutes also went under water. But at the same time, its lining, body, furniture floated up. At 2:20 a.m., the great ship Titanic was completely submerged. How the ship sank, dozens of feature films and documentaries are shown today.
Some passengers tried hard to survive. Dozens jumped off in vests into the black abyss. But the ocean was merciless to man. Almost everyone froze to death. After some time, two boats returned, but only a few survived at the scene. An hour later, the Carpathia arrived and picked up those who remained.
The captain went down with the ship. 712 people were saved from all those who bought a ticket for the Titanic. Those who died in 1496 were mostly representatives of the third class, people who, on this journey, wanted to touch something unrealizable and desirable.
Scam of the century
Two vessels of the Olympic class were built according to the same project. After the first ship set sail, all its shortcomings came out. So, the management decided to add some details to the Titanic. They reduced the place for walking, completed the cabins. A café has been added to the restaurant. To protect passengers from bad weather, the deck was closed. As a result, an external difference appeared, although earlier it could not be distinguished from the Olympic liner.
The version that the Titanic was under water was not accidental, was published by Robin Rardiner, an expert in shipping matters. According to his theory, the older and battered Olympic was sent to sail.
Ship change
The first liner was launched without insurance. Having survived several accidents, he became an unpleasant burden for the company. Permanent repairs required enormous funds. After the damage inflicted on him by the cruiser, the ship was again sent on vacation. Then it was decided to replace the old ship with a new one, which was insured and very similar to the Titanic. How the liner sank is known, but few people know that after the tragedy, the White Star Line company received round compensation.
It wasn't hard to create a disaster. Both ships were in the same place. The Olympic received a cosmetic overhaul, rebuilt the deck and stuck a new name. The hole was patched with cheap steel, which weakens in icy water.
Confirmation of the theory
An important proof of the veracity of the version is indisputable facts. For example, the fact that the world's magnates and successful, rich people abruptly and for no reason abandoned the long-awaited trip the day before. Among them was the owner of the company, John Pierpont Morgan. A total of 55 first class customers canceled their tickets. Also, all expensive paintings, jewelry, gold reserves and treasures were removed from the liner. The idea arises that the privileged passengers of the Titanic knew some secret.
Interestingly, Smith, who still sailed on the Olympic, was appointed captain. He repeatedly noted that this was his last flight in his life. Those around him took the words literally, as the sailor was about to retire. Researchers believe that this was a punishment to the commander for past mistakes on the previous ship.
Many questions also arise because of the first assistant to the captain, William Murdoch, who ordered to turn to the left and turn on the reverse gear. The correct solution in such a situation would be to go straight and wrinkle your nose. In this case, the Titanic would not have ended up at the bottom.
mummy's curse
For years, stories have circulated that untold treasures were left on board. Among them is the mummy of the seer of Pharaoh Amenhotep. Even 3000 years ago, a woman predicted that her body would fall under water and this would happen under the screams of innocent dead people. But skeptics do not consider the prophecy to be true, although they do not exclude the possibility that the secrets of the Titanic have not yet been discovered.
There is also such a version: the catastrophe was planned to suspend the technical But this theory is even less plausible than the myth of the mummy.
The ruins lie at a depth of 3750 meters. Dozens of grandiose dives were carried out to the liner. James Cameron, the film director of the famous film, has repeatedly been in the research group.
A century has passed, and the secrets of the Titanic are still of interest and excite humanity.
The Titanic is the largest and most luxurious liner of its time. He was not embarrassed to be called unsinkable, and he really seemed like that. She set out on her maiden voyage at noon on the tenth of April from the English port of Southampton. The final destination was to be the American city of New York. But the Titanic, as you know, did not reach the shores of the United States ...
Collision of the Titanic with an iceberg
On April 14, 1912, the liner at full steam (at a speed of 22.5 knots, it was almost the maximum speed) was rushing across the North Atlantic. Nothing foreshadowed the tragedy, there was complete calm. An orchestra was playing on the upper deck in a restaurant with a beautiful interior. Rich people from the first class drank champagne, walked under open sky and enjoy the wonderful weather.
Late in the evening of April 14, at 23:39, two lookouts (as the sailors who observe the situation from a comfortable position during the voyage are officially called) noticed an iceberg right on the course and reported this by telephone to the bridge. Officer William Murdoch immediately commanded "Left rudder." Thus he tried to prevent a collision.
But the multi-ton ship could not turn instantly, although in this case every second was worth its weight in gold - a block of ice was getting closer. And only after about half a minute the nose of the Titanic began to tilt to the left. Ultimately, the visible part of the iceberg "missed" the ship without hitting the starboard side.
The Titanic managed to turn two points, which was enough to prevent a head-on collision, but the liner still could not completely get away from the ice block - it ran into its hidden part, which was under water. This contact lasted approximately nine seconds. As a result, six holes were formed - all of them were below the waterline.
Contrary to popular misconception, the iceberg did not "cut" the bottom of the liner. Everything was a little different: from the strong pressure, the rivets on the skin burst, the steel sheets arched and gaps appeared between them. Through them, water began to penetrate into the compartments. And the penetration rate, of course, was huge - more than seven tons per second.
The iceberg bent the ship's hull, resulting in a leak
Further chronology of the tragedy
Most of the passengers on the upper deck did not feel any threat at first. The stewards, who served appetizers in the restaurant, noted only a slight clinking of spoons and forks on the tables. Some of the passengers felt a slight jolt and rattle, which ended quickly. Some people thought that the propeller blade just fell off the ship.
On the lower decks, the first consequences were more tangible: the local passengers heard an unpleasant rattle and rumble.
Exactly at midnight, Thomas Andrews, the man who designed the Titanic, came to the bridge. He had to assess the nature and severity of the resulting damage. After reporting on the incident and inspecting the ship, Andrews told everyone in the audience that the Titanic would definitely sink.
Soon the ship began to list noticeably. The 62-year-old captain of the ship, Edward Smith, gave the order to prepare the boats and start calling passengers for evacuation.
And the radio operators, in turn, were ordered to send SOS signals to all nearby ships. They did this for the next two hours, and only a few minutes before the complete sinking, Smith freed the telegraphers from work.
Distress signals were received by several ships, but almost all of them were too far from the Titanic. At 00:25 a message about the tragedy on the Titanic was received by the Carpathia ship. It was located at a distance of 93 kilometers from the crash site. Immediately, the captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, sent his ship to the area. The Carpathia, hurrying to help people, managed to reach a record speed of 17.5 knots that night - for this, all electrical appliances and heating were turned off on the ship.
There was another ship that was even closer to the Titanic than the Carpathia - only 10 nautical miles (this is equal to 18.5 kilometers). Theoretically, he could help. We are talking about the ship "Californian". The Californian was surrounded by ice, and therefore its captain decided to stop the ship - it was planned to start moving again only the next morning.
At 11:30 p.m., Titanic radio operator Phillips and Californian radio operator Evans were talking to each other. Moreover, Phillips at the very end of this dialogue rather rudely asked Evans not to clog the air, since at that moment he was transmitting a signal to Cape Race (this is a cape on the island of Newfoundland). After that, Evans simply turned off the power in the radio room and went to sleep. And 10 minutes later, the Titanic collided with an iceberg. Some time later, the Titanic sent the first distress call, but the Californian could no longer receive it.
On top of that, there were no red emergency flares on the Titanic. Confidence in the unsinkability of the ship was so high that no one bothered to take the red rockets with them. Then it was decided to fire volleys with ordinary whites. The calculation was that the crew of a nearby ship would guess that the Titanic was in trouble. The Californian officers did see white rockets, but they thought it was just some kind of fireworks. A fantastic series of misunderstandings!
At half past one in the night, passengers began to be seated in boats. It immediately became clear that there were not enough places for everyone. In total, there were twenty boats on board and their total capacity was 1178 people.
By order of Captain Smith, his assistant Charles Lightoller, who supervised the evacuation process on the port side of the liner, only children and women were taken into the boats. Men, according to the captain, were obliged to be on the ship to the last. But William Murdoch, another assistant to Smith, who led the evacuation on the starboard side, gave places in the boats and men when there were no women and children in the line of those gathered.
At about 02:15, the nose of the liner suddenly dropped down and the rest of the ship moved forward. A large cold wave swept across the decks, many people were simply blown overboard.
Around 02:20, the Titanic completely disappeared under ocean water. The liner was so huge that it took 160 minutes to sink.
After the stern was completely submerged, hundreds of people swam to the surface. They swam in icy water among all sorts of things from the ship: wooden beams, pieces of furniture, doors, etc. Many tried to use all this as a watercraft.
The temperature of the ocean water that night was −2°C ( sea water does not freeze at this temperature due to the concentration of salt in it). A person here died from severe hypothermia on average within half an hour. And many of those moving away from the sunken ship on boats heard the heartbreaking cries of those who did not have enough space in the boats ...
At about 04:00, the Carpathia appeared in the area of the sinking Titanic. This ship took 712 people on board, after which it headed for New York. Among the rescued, 394 people are women and children, 129 people are men, and another 189 people are members of the ship's crew.
The number of those killed in this shipwreck was, according to various sources, from 1400 to 1517 people (it is difficult to give an exact figure, because there were many free riders on the Titanic). Thus, 60% of passengers from first class cabins managed to escape, 44% from second class cabins, 25% from those who bought third class tickets.
Characteristics of the Titanic
When commissioned, the Titanic was 269 meters long and about 30 meters wide. The height of the liner was also impressive: from the waterline to the uppermost boat deck, it was 18.5 meters here (and if you count from the keel to the top of the first tube , it would have turned out to be 53 meters in general). The draft of this liner was 10.5 meters, and the displacement was 52,310 tons.
"Titanic" in 1912 in the port of Belfast (this is where it was built)
The liner was driven by several four-cylinder steam engines and a steam turbine. At the same time, steam for them, as well as for all kinds of auxiliary mechanisms, was produced in 29 boilers. It is worth noting specifically that none of the ship's thirty mechanics survived. They remained in the engine room and supported the operation of the steam units to the last.
The role of movers on the Titanic was performed by three propellers. The diameter of the central screw was 5.2 meters, it had four blades. The screws located along the edges had a larger diameter - 7.2 meters, but they had three blades. Propellers with three blades could make up to 80 revolutions per minute, and the central one - up to 180 revolutions per minute.
Above the upper deck, there were also four pipes, each 19 meters high. The Titanic had a double bottom and had sixteen airtight compartments. They were separated by watertight bulkheads. According to calculations, the ship would have remained afloat even if any two compartments or four consecutive compartments at the bow or stern were flooded. But on the night of the tragedy, the iceberg damaged five compartments - one more than allowed.
Composition of the crew and passengers
It is known that in the tragic voyage in the ship's crew there were many people who did not undergo special training: stewards, stokers, stitchers (the so-called people whose task was to bring coal to the fireboxes and throw ash overboard), coca. There were very few qualified sailors - only 39 sailors and seven officers, assistants to the captain. Moreover, some of the sailors did not even have time to get to know the Titanic's device well, as they were accepted into the service just a few days before sailing.
It is worth talking a little about the passengers. The passenger composition was extremely diverse - from mendicant emigrants from Sweden, Italy, Ireland, sailing for a better life v New World, to hereditary millionaires such as John Jacob Astor IV and Benjamin Guggenheim (both dead).
Benjamin Guggenheim put on his best tailcoat and began to drink whiskey in the hall - this is how he spent the last hours of his life
In accordance with the cost of the purchased ticket, there was a division into three classes. For those who swam in first class, a swimming pool, a gym for physical education, a bathhouse, a squash court, an electric bath (a kind of "ancestor" of a solarium) and a special section for pets were provided. There was also a restaurant, elegant dining rooms, and smoking rooms.
By the way, the service in the third class was also decent, better than some others transatlantic steamships that time. The cabins were bright and comfortable, they were not cold and clean enough. The dining room served not too refined, but quite acceptable dishes, there were special decks for walking.
The premises and spaces of the ship were strictly divided according to classes. And passengers, say, third class were forbidden to be on the deck of the first class.
Titanic in books and films
The terrible events that happened on the Titanic in April 1912 served as the basis for many literary works, paintings, songs and films.
The first book about the Titanic was written, paradoxically, long before it sank. The little-known American writer Morgan Robertson published the story "Futility, or the Death of the Titan" back in 1898. It described the seemingly unsinkable ship "Titan", which crashed on an April night, colliding with an iceberg. There were not enough boats on the Titan, and so many of the passengers died.
The story did not sell well at first, but after the 1912 incident, interest in the book increased sharply - there were quite a few coincidences between the events described in the story and the real wreck of the Titanic. And key specifications fictional "Titan" were similar to the characteristics of the real "Titanic" - a truly amazing fact!
Morgan Robertson and his story, where the death of the Titanic was predicted to some extent
And the first feature film about the tragedy was released in May of the same 1912 - it was called "The Escaped from the Titanic". It was 10 minutes long, silent and black and white. The main role here was played by Dorothy Gibson, an actress who herself found herself on the Titanic that ill-fated night and found her salvation in boat number seven.
In 1953, director Jean Negulesco turned to the theme of the tragic journey of the Titanic. According to the plot, a husband, wife and their two children sort things out on the Titanic. And everything seems to be getting better, but then the liner stumbles upon an iceberg and begins to go to the bottom. The family has to endure separation, the wife and daughter sail away on the boat, the son and father remain on the sinking ship. The film, by the way, received one "Oscar" in the same 1953.
But the most famous film about the sinking of the liner is James Cameron's Titanic, which appeared in theaters (and then on DVD) in 1997. He won as many as eleven Oscars and for a long time was considered the highest grossing film in general in history.
Authoritative experts on the sinking of the Titanic (for example, historian Don Lynch and marine painter Ken Marshall) took part in preparing the script and creating the scenery for Cameron's film. Collaboration with respected experts made it possible to accurately convey some episodes of the crash. Cameron's Titanic new wave interest in the history of the liner. In particular, after the release of the film, the demand for books and exhibitions related to this topic increased.
Discovery of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic
The legendary ship lay at the bottom for 73 years before it was discovered. More specifically, it was found in 1985 by a group of divers led by oceanographer Robert Ballard. As a result, it turned out that under the enormous pressure of the water, the Titanic (the depth here was about 4000 meters) fell apart into three parts. The wreckage of the liner was scattered over an area with a radius of 1.6 kilometers. Ballard and his associates first of all found the bow of the vessel, which, apparently, due to its large mass, had sunk heavily into the ground. Food was found 800 meters away. Nearby were seen and the remains of the middle part.
Between the large elements of the liner at the bottom, one could also see small items testifying to that era: a set of copper cutlery, unopened wine bottles, coffee cups, door handles, candelabra and ceramic baby dolls...
Later, several expeditions to the remains of the Titanic were conducted by RMS Titanic, which legally had the rights to fragments of the liner and other related artifacts. During these expeditions, more than 6,000 items were raised from the bottom. They were subsequently valued at $110 million. These items were exhibited in thematic expositions or sold at auctions.
But why wasn't the Titanic fully lifted up? Alas, this is not possible. Experts have established that any attempt to raise the hull of the liner will lead to its destruction, and therefore it will most likely remain at the bottom forever.
Documentary "Titanic": the death of a dream"
