The Titanic

Early on the morning of 15th April 1912, the Titanic crashed into an iceberg on it's maiden voyage to America. 1, 503 people died but only 300 were found the next day.

The Titanic was supposedly an unsinkable ship. It was built in Cardiff and was designed by Thomas Andrews, who died when the ship sunk. When it set sail, the Titanic was the largest man- made moving object in the world and the largest passenger ship. The anchor was so heavy that it required twenty strong horses to pull it! It measured 269 metres but now the largest passenger ship his MS Allure of the Seas at 362. Because it was powered by coal, it burned nearly 600 tons of coal per day! And almost 100 tons of ash was dumped in the sea per day!

The Titanic was extremely luxurious! There was a grand staircase, decorated with oak paneling, paintings and little bronze cherubs, which went through seven decks. It is said that the designers were inspired by the expensive hotel- The Ritz- in London.  The ship also had a gym, a pool, kennels for the first class passengers' dogs (only two out of nine dogs were saved from the disaster) and a squash court!

The richest passenger was John Jacob Astor IV went down with the ship along with Benjamin Guggenheim, an American businessman, who apparently changed into his evening wear and was last seen on a deck chair smoking a cigar, claiming "We dressed up in are best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen!".  The youngest passenger was Millvina Dean who was two months old and survived the ship wreck. She died in 2009 aged 96 years old.

Fourteen years before the sinking, a US author- Morgan Robertson- wrote a story about a ocean liner named Titan, sinking after striking ice! All it took was thirty seconds from the sighting of the iceberg until the collision, after six warnings about ice! Having collided with the iceberg, over 1,500 passengers drowned. Now the Titanic disaster is still remembered and portrayed in major motion picture!