R.M.S. Titanic was doomed from the start.
Don’t think so? See if these facts change your mind.
(Not all pertain to this, but are just as interesting.)

  1. After the collision, most passengers were not aware the boat was going to sink.
  2. “Titanic” received six ice warnings the day of the collision and ignored every one. One warning was sent shortly before the crash by a ship that was only a few kilometers from Titanic that could have made the rescue. When they sent Titanic the ice warning, the messengers on Titanic were very rude, and so they ended up closing down their communicative equipment, not receiving the distress signal.
  3. Titanic never held a lifeboat drill.
  4. Titanic had a lifeboat space 1/3 her passenger capacity, but was still above the law required.
  5. The lookouts had no binoculars.
  6. Titanic’s maneuverability had never been tested at full speed (which was what the ship was going when it crashed).
  7. Many of the lifeboats were launched half full.
  8. There was more ice in the north Atlantic in the spring of 1912 than any time in the previous fifty years.
  9. Titanic had a near collision as she left dock in Southampton.
  10. Titanic’s passenger list included some of the wealthiest people in the world.
  11. The ship builders knew that Titanic was not “unsinkable.”
  12. Standard practice for sailing through ice was full speed ahead.
  13. They knew they were taking a risk.
  14. Transatlantic steamship travel was a ruthlessly competitive business in 1912.
  15. The band played light, cheerful music as the ship sank.
  16. Titanic had never been christened.
  17. Titanic was the first ship in history to use SOS as its distress call.

Facts found at the official site.

Much thanks to April for providing the background pic.
Want to use it on your page? E-mail April and ask her.
Also, check out her page, The Heart of the Ocean.


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Visiters since March 13, 1998

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