Star Line Shipping Company based on liverpool UK was a major shipping company at the times of 1900 till 1920s with fleet of 29 steamers and tenders. During 1st decade of 1900s it passed a stiff competition of rival companies named Cunard who had launched Lusitania and Mauritania which were considered the fastest ships at that time and German lines which had Hamburg America and Norddent scherlloyd. At that time owners of star line company decided to get new ships but after a great thinking they opted for luxury and class rather than speed. So they ordered a ship building company Harland & Wolff of Belfast to build 3 Olympic class ocean liner ships.
RMS Titanic was 2nd of 3 ships ordered by White Star Line Company with other two were RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic. RMS Titanic was completed on 2nd April 1912 and started its maiden voyage on 10th April 1912.
British Passenger Liner RMS Titanic started its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City on 10th of April 1912. It was the largest ship on water at the time of its maiden voyage with total passengers of 2224. With on board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high class restaurants, opulent cabins and powerful wireless telegraph this ship was simply a picture of grandeur and awesomeness. It was built to provide luxury and comfort to cater the wealthiest passengers which had come from all over Country to enjoy the ride. Ironically it had pretty advanced security and safety mechanisms with water tight compartments, remotely activated water tight doors but lacked in lifeboats to accommodate all of those aboard. There was enough life boats to carry one third of passengers which is around 1178 of total 2224.
After leaving Southampton on 10th April 1912, Titanic stopped at Cherbourg in France and Cobh in Ireland and then finally set sail for NewYork City. On 14th April 1912, four days in water and 375 miles south of new found-land,she hit an ice burg at 11:40pm, glancing collision caused Titanic’s hull plates to buckle inwards in many areas on her starboard side and opened 5 of 16 watertight compartments to sea. In next two and half hour ship gradually filled with water and sank. Over 90 percent of men in 2nd class were left onboard due to women and children 1st protocol followed by Officers. Around 2:20am titanic broke up and sank bow 1st with almost over 1000 passengers aboard. Passengers who jumped in water died due to hypothermia in freezing cold ocean. 710 survivors were rescued from boats by RMS Carpathia few hours later.
Disaster was greeted with world wide shock. Soon after that International Convention for Safety of life at Sea ( SOLAS ) ws established in 1914 to avoid such heart breaking incidence.
After remaining hidden from the eyes of the world for 73 years it was rediscovered in 1985 on seabed at the depth of 12415 feet. Thousands of artifacts have beed recovered and put on display at various museums around world.
1997 hollywood movie named Titanic featuring Leonardo de caprio and Kate Winslet has converted the tragic incident into a sweet,sad and lovely story which touched our hearts. Now 100 years after her 1st voyage Titanic has finally become an archaeological site and she was preserved so that future generations can also know about the sad and twisting tale of love and grandeur.
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