Stories about the fact that the Titanic did not sink. on the story about the mummy - I will dwell in more detail. Farewell, cinematic romantic "Titanic"

On the night of April 14, 1912, the largest and most luxurious liner in the history of mankind rushed to the shores at full speed. North America. Nothing foretold the death of the Titanic. On upper deck an orchestra played in an elegant restaurant. The richest and most successful people drinking champagne and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Nothing foretold trouble

A few minutes later, the sentinel spotted an iceberg. And a little later, the Titanic, the ship giant size, will collide with a drifting iceberg, and after a while it will all be over. This is how it starts great mystery big ship. The next day, the sinking of the Titanic will become legend, and its history will be the greatest mystery 20th century.

international sensation

Already in the morning of the next day, the office of the owner of the Titanic was stormed by dozens of newspaper reporters. They wanted to know the location of the sinking of the Titanic and demanded clarification. The relatives of the passengers on the ocean liner were outraged. A short telegram from Cape Reis reported: “At 23 o’clock local time, the most big ship The Titanic sent out a distress signal. The company's president, Laster Whites, reassured reporters: "The liner is unsinkable!" But the very next day, all the world's newspapers were full of sensational reports: “The safest in the world, the Titanic (ship) sank in the icy abyss of the Atlantic Ocean. On the fifth day of his tragic flight the liner claimed 1513 human lives.

Disaster investigation

The sinking of the Titanic shook both sides of the Atlantic. The question of why the Titanic ended up at the bottom is haunted to this day. From the very beginning, people wanted to know in detail what was the reason for the sinking of the Titanic. But the court's decision read: "The liner hit an iceberg and went to the bottom."

The Titanic (the dimensions of the ship, by the way, were very impressive) died from a banal collision with a floating block of ice. It seemed incredible.

Alleged versions of the tragic death

The point in the history of this catastrophe has not yet been set so far. Fresh versions of the death of the Titanic arise even today, a century later. There are several possible hypotheses. Each of them deserves close attention. The first version says that another sunken liner lies on the Atlantic bottom. It sounds like science fiction, but it is this version of the death of the Titanic that has real grounds.

Some researchers claim that the ocean floor lies not the sunken ship "Titanic" at all, but its twin, the liner "Olympic". The version seems fantastic, but it is not without evidence.

Great Britain ocean monster

On December 16, 1908, the firstborn was laid in Belfast - the Olympic steamer, later - the Titanic (the dimensions of the ship reached almost 270 meters in length) with a displacement of 66 thousand tons.

Until now, representatives of the shipyard consider it the most advanced project that has ever been implemented. The ship was as tall as an eleven-story building and spanned four small city blocks in length. Equipped with this ocean monster was two 4-cylinder steam engines and steam turbine.

Its power was 50,000 horsepower, to electrical network the liner was connected to 10,000 light bulbs, 153 electric motors, four elevators, each of which was designed for 12 people, there were a large number of phones. The ship was truly innovative for its time. Silent elevators, steam heating, a winter garden, several photo labs and even a hospital with an operating room.

Comfort and respectability

The interior decoration looked more like a fashionable palace than a ship. Passengers dined in a sumptuous Louis XVI-style restaurant and drank coffee on a sun-drenched veranda lined with climbing plants. Bridge parts were played in spacious halls, and elite cigars were smoked in soft smoking rooms.

The Titanic had a rich library, a gym and even a swimming pool. A business class ticket to the Titanic would cost $55,000 these days. The liner became the flagship of the White Star Line.

Pretty much the same in terms of comfort technical specifications the liner "Olympic" lost the championship without a fight. It was he who was supposed to become the star of transatlantic flights. But frequent accidents made him an outsider, and endless penalties, litigation and repair costs only added to the headaches for managers.

Unsolved version

The decision was obvious: to send instead of the battered "Olympic", which had no insurance policy, the new insured Titanic. The history of the ship "Olympic" was very unpresentable. However, just by changing the plates on the liners, similar as two drops of water, several problems could be solved at once. The main thing is the payment of insurance in the amount of one million pounds sterling, which could improve the financial affairs of the company.

Small accident, big money, it's done. People should not have suffered, because the liner is unsinkable. In the event of an accident, the ship will drift, and ships passing by along the busy ocean route will pick up all the passengers.

Strange passenger behavior

The main real evidence of this unprecedented scam is the refusal of 55 first-class passengers to travel. Among those who remained on the shore were:

John Morgan, owner of the liner.
Henry Frick, steel magnate and partner.
Robert Breccon, US Ambassador to France.
The famous rich man George Vanderbilt.

The mystery of the sinking of the Titanic has indirect confirmation of the version of the insurance scam, namely strange behavior Captain Edward Smith, who, by the way, was the captain of the Olympic during its first voyages.

The last captain

Edward Smith was considered one of the best commanders of his time. Working for the White Star Line, he received about 1,200 pounds a year. Other captains did not earn even half of this money. However, Smith's career was far from rosy. Many times the ships that he managed got into all sorts of accidents, ran aground or burned.

It was Edward Smith who commanded the Olympic in 1911, when an uninsured ocean liner several times got into serious accidents. But Smith managed not only to escape punishment, but even to get promoted.

He became the captain of the Titanic. Could the company's management, knowing about the captain's previous mistakes, assign him to the Titanic, and even just one flight? Could she use compromising evidence on the captain, so that in case of disobedience with a scandal, she could fire the person who brought the company huge losses?

Perhaps the captain chose between a shameful write-off on the shore just before retirement and participation in a scam invented by his superiors. It was last flight for Edward Smith.

What was the first mate thinking?

Another inexplicable mystery of the death of the Titanic is the strange behavior of William Murdoch, the first mate. Murdoch was on duty the night of the accident. When he received a message about an impending iceberg, he gave the order to direct the ship to the left and reverse, which is strictly prohibited.

Is it possible that the first mate made a mistake and this is the reason for the death of the Titanic? But Murdoch has already encountered similar situation and he always did the right thing, directing the ship with his bow to an obstacle. In all sailing textbooks, this maneuver is described as the only correct one in this situation.

On that last voyage for the Titanic, the chief mate acted differently. As a result, the main blow fell not on the bow, where the ship has the strongest place, but on its side. Almost a hundred meters of the starboard side opened like a tin can.

The Titanic, whose death story is described in less than ten seconds, was practically dead. That is how long it took to pass the death sentence on the largest and most beautiful ship in the world. Why did Murdoch make a fatal mistake? If we assume that he, too, was in collusion, then the answer to the death of the Titanic is by itself.

What were the owners of the liner hiding?

Today, it is impossible to prove the version of the insurance scam, the White Star Line company was closed, the Olympic ship was scrapped, and all the documentation was destroyed. But even if we assume that the death of the Titanic was not rigged, it certainly was not without human error.

Mystery box key

Many years have passed since the sinking of the Titanic. The history of the ship, however, was continued in 1997, when a key was sold at a London auction for one hundred thousand pounds. He opened only one box on the Titanic, but it was this key that was not on board that fateful night. A chain of strange circumstances, a series of fatal coincidences and simply human negligence accompanied the superliner from the very beginning to the end of its first and last flight.

Well, the item sold for fabulous money at the London auction was the usual key to an ordinary box. It contained the only equipment with which it was possible to recognize the danger threatening the ship - binoculars.

Forgetful XO

The thing is that locators appeared only in the 30s of the last century. And at that time, its functions were performed by the human eye. From the very high point on the ship, the sailor constantly looked forward along the course of the ship. The liner weighing 66 thousand tons, moving at a speed of 45 km / h, has very low controllability, and the sooner the lookout notices the danger, the more chances avoid it. Ordinary binoculars were the only help.

Starpom Blair, for unknown reasons, was removed from the ship at the last moment. Frustrated, he simply forgot to give the shifter the key to the box where the binoculars were kept.

Encounter with an unusual iceberg

Forward looking had to rely only on their own vigilance. They noticed the iceberg too late, when it was almost impossible to change the situation. In addition, this iceberg was different from the others, it was black.

During the drift, a huge block of ice melted and turned over. An iceberg that has absorbed tons of water has turned dark. It was incredibly difficult to spot him. If that fatal iceberg for the Titanic had been white, perhaps the sentinels would have seen it much earlier. Especially if they had binoculars.

"Titanic": the story of death, the beginning of events

But the strangest thing is that the command of the ship could have learned about the possibility of a collision with an iceberg much earlier than the forward lookers reported it.

Radio operators, the voice and hearing of the Titanic, repeatedly received reports of ice floes drifting in the area. An hour before the lookout spotted the iceberg, the radio operator on the steamship California warned of the potential danger. But on the Titanic, the connection was rudely cut off.

Even earlier, a few hours before the collision, Captain Edward Smith personally read three telegrams warning of ice floes. But they were all ignored.

Officer Murdoch could interrupt the chain of human miscalculations by giving the fatal order: “Full back! Left hand drive." In the event of a head-on collision of the Titanic with an iceberg, there would be much more time for the evacuation of passengers. Perhaps the ship could keep afloat.

human negligence

Further errors followed one after another. The evacuation order was issued only 45 minutes after the collision. Passengers were asked to put on life belts and gather on the upper deck near the boats. And then it suddenly turned out that there were only twenty boats on the Titanic, which could accommodate no more than 1300 people, 48 lifebuoys and cork vests for each passenger and crew members.

However, the vests were useless for northern regions Atlantic. The person who got into cold water died of hypothermia in half an hour.

Prophetic predictions of a science fiction writer

Immediately after the disaster, the whole world was shocked by an incredible coincidence. The date of the sinking of the Titanic is April 15, 1912. And fourteen years before the tragedy, an unknown London journalist Morgan Robertson finished his new novel. The science fiction writer spoke of the journey and death of a huge transatlantic liner"Titan": "On a cold April night at full speed, the ship ran into an iceberg and sank." Moreover, the science fiction writer accurately indicated the place of the sinking of the Titanic.

The novel turned out to be prophetic, and the science fiction writer was dubbed Nostradamus of the 20th century. Indeed, there were many coincidences in the book: the displacement of the ship, its maximum speed, and even the number of propellers and lifeboats.

Moreover, a few years later, the writer published his new novel, in which he predicted a war in the United States and Japan.

Another coincidence: a copy of the book about the ship "Titan" was on the ship with one fireman. The sailor read it in the first days of the voyage, and the plot impressed him so much that he simply ran away in one of the ports. And this was not the only crew member who escaped from the Titanic.

It remains a mystery whether everyone who escaped had read the book before, or whether they had better reasons.

Eyewitness accounts of the tragedy

Immediately after the sinking of the Titanic, special commissions were set up in England and the United States to investigate its causes. The surviving passengers talked about the loud bang that they heard after the collision with the iceberg. It was like an explosion. According to one version, a fire raged in the coal bunker of the liner.

Some researchers believe that it started even before the Titanic left the port, others are sure that the fire broke out during the voyage.

A bit of history

Britain was being transformed by the technological revolution. Starting from the 30s of the 19th century, steam-powered merchant ships began to cross the Atlantic. The technology proved promising, and the admiralty of the kingdom concluded that steam would render the sailing fleet obsolete.

When reports appeared in London that in France, which also entered the struggle for maritime dominance, the steam engine was already being tested, the British had no choice but to accept the challenge. At first, large paddle wheels were used, which were installed on opposite sides of the sides.

For the first time, a replacement for the paddle wheel appeared about ten years later, in the 40s of the 19th century. Shipbuilders came to the conclusion that the propeller is much more efficient than the wheel. Only after its invention and placement under the bottom of the ship did steam traction become a decisive advantage.

But in most cases it remained experimental developments, sometimes the innovation was used on warships. Steam engines became widespread only in the 20th century, and coal was the only fuel for a long time. In the future, the transition from coal to fuel oil will be a step to the next level of development.

But in the days of the Olympic-class superliners, ships powered by internal combustion engines were as rare as the steam engine of the first half of the 19th century. Be that as it may, the fire on board should not have affected the life of the ship and its passengers. There could not be any emergencies on the liner, this is the Titanic.

Further developments

Captain Smith ordered to localize the bunker in which the fire was raging. Due to the lack of oxygen, the fire should have died out, the problem would have resolved itself. A fire on board is a good enough reason to drive the liner to the nearest port with all your might. But when the Titanic hit the iceberg, it ripped open the skin of the ship, and oxygen got into the bunker. There was a powerful explosion.

Many years later, after an underwater study of the remains of the ship, this version had additional arguments. A huge fault passes exactly where the coal compartments were.

For the first time, the version of the fire appeared on the pages of American newspapers even before the surviving passengers and crew members of the Titanic were taken to New York. Not having factual material, and using only rumors, newspapermen composed the most incredible stories about tragedy.

In any case, when the stokers were interrogated, they denied the fact of a fire, although it would seem that after the disaster they had nothing to hide. On the other hand, according to some accounts, Captain Smith went down to the boiler room and ordered everyone to be silent about the burning coal.

What really happened to giant liner we don't know yet. The Titanic, whose sinking story has become the subject of documentaries and feature films, will always be of interest to future generations.

New version of the death of the liner

The nature of the Titanic's fault not only fuels the version of the fire in the hold, but also allows some researchers to make an unexpected assumption.

The liner sank another ship. At the beginning of the 20th century, a new secret weapon was tested in the seas. Perhaps the Titanic was hit by a torpedo.

The version seems unusual, but the facts of the break and torn edges that could result from a torpedo attack make it serious. If the Titanic was torpedoed after all, one can only hope that someday researchers will get to that part of the ship, the study of which will help shed light on this version.

The date of the sinking of the Titanic is April 15, 1912. On this day, but different years the following disasters have occurred:

1989 - stampede at the English stadium "Hillsborough".
2000 - a plane crash in the Philippines, 129 people became victims.
2002 - a plane crash in Korea that claimed 129 lives.

What tragic events will life bring us next time?

You have already read and heard about the Titanic many times. The history of the creation and crash of the liner is overgrown with rumors and myths. For more than 100 years, the British steamship has been haunting the minds of people trying to find the answer - why did the Titanic sink?

The history of the legendary liner is interesting for three reasons:

it was the largest ship for 1912;
the number of victims turned the catastrophe into a global failure;
finally, James Cameron, with his film, singled out the history of the liner from general list maritime disasters and there were quite a few of them.

We will tell you everything about the Titanic, as it was in reality. About how long the Titanic is in meters, how much the Titanic sank, and who was really behind the massive disaster.

Where did the Titanic sail from and to?

We know from Cameron's film that the liner was bound for New York. The American developing city was to become final stop. But far from everyone knows for sure where the Titanic sailed from, considering that London was the starting point. The capital of Great Britain was not in the ranks of seaports, and therefore the steamer could not leave from there.

The fateful flight began from Southampton, a major English port, from where transatlantic flights ran. The path of the Titanic on the map clearly shows the movement. Southampton is both a port and a city located in the southern part of England (Hampshire).

See how the route of the Titanic ran on the map:

Dimensions of the Titanic in meters

To understand more about the Titanic, the causes of the disaster must be disclosed, starting with the dimensions of the ship.

How many meters is the Titanic in length and in other dimensions:

exact length - 299.1 m;

width - 28.19 m;

height from the keel - 53.3 m.

There is also such a question - how many decks did the Titanic have? Only 8. Boats were located on the top, therefore the upper deck was called the boat deck. The rest were distributed according to the letter designation.

A - deck I class. Its peculiarity is limited in size - it did not lie down the entire length of the vessel;

B - anchors were located in the front of the deck and its dimensions were also shorter - by 37 meters of deck C;

C - deck with a galley, a mess for the crew and a promenade for class III.

D - walking area;

E - cabins I, II classes;

F - cabins II and III classes;

G - deck with boiler rooms in the middle.

Finally, how much does the Titanic weigh? The displacement of the largest ship of the early 20th century is 52,310 tons.

Titanic: the story of the crash

What year did the Titanic sink? The famous disaster occurred on the night of April 14, 1912. It was the fifth day of the trip. Chronicles indicate that at 23:40 the liner survived a collision with an iceberg and after 2 hours 40 minutes (2:20 a.m.) it went under water.

Things from the Titanic: photo

Further investigations showed that the crew received 7 weather warnings, but this did not prevent the ship from reducing its speed limit. The iceberg was sighted directly ahead of us too late to take precautions. As a result - holes in the starboard side. Ice damaged 90 m of hull and 5 bow compartments. This was enough to sink the liner.

Tickets for the new liner were more expensive than for other ships. If a person was used to traveling in first class, then on the Titanic he would have to transfer to second class.

Edward Smith, the captain of the ship, began the evacuation after midnight: a distress signal was sent, the attention of other ships was attracted by flares, lifeboats went to the water. But the rescue was slow and uncoordinated - there was an empty place in the boats while the Titanic was sinking, the water temperature did not rise above two degrees below zero, and the first steamer arrived in time only half an hour after the disaster.

Titanic: how many people died and survived

How many people survived on the Titanic? No one will say the exact data, as they could not say this on the fateful night. The list of Titanic passengers initially changed in practice, but not on paper: some canceled the trip at the time of departure and were not crossed out, others traveled anonymously under assumed names, and others were listed as dead on the Titanic several times.

Photos of the sinking of the Titanic

It is only approximately possible to say how many people drowned on the Titanic - about 1500 (minimum 1490 - maximum 1635). Among them was Edward Smith with some assistants, 8 musicians from the famous orchestra, large investors and businessmen.

Classiness was felt even after death - the bodies of the dead from the first class were embalmed and placed in coffins, the second and third classes were given bags and boxes. When the embalming agents ran out, the bodies of unknown third-class passengers were simply thrown into the water (according to the rules, unembalmed corpses could not be brought to the port).

The bodies were found within a radius of 80 km from the crash site, and due to the current of the Gulf Stream, many were dispersed even further.

Photo dead people

Initially, it was known how many passengers were on the Titanic, although not completely:

crew of 900 people;

195 first class;

255 second class;

493 people of the third class.

Some passengers left at intermediate ports, some called. It is believed that the liner went to the fatal route with a staff of 1317 people, of which 124 are children.

Titanic: scuttling depth - 3750 m

The English steamer could accommodate 2,566 people, of which 1,034 seats were for first-class passengers. The half-load of the liner is due to the fact that transatlantic flights were not popular in April. At that time, a coal strike broke out, this disrupted coal supplies, schedules and changes in plans.

The question of how many people escaped from the Titanic was difficult to answer, because rescue operations passed since different courts, and the slow connection did not provide fast data delivery.

After the crash, only 2/3 of the delivered bodies were identified. Some were buried locally, the rest were sent home. In the disaster area, bodies in white vests were found for a long time. From 1500 dead people found only 333 bodies.

How deep is the Titanic

When answering the question about the depth at which the Titanic sank, one must remember about the pieces carried by the currents (by the way, they learned about this only in the 80s, before that it was believed that the liner sank to the bottom entirely). The wreckage of the liner on the night of the crash went at a depth of 3750 m. The bow was thrown 600 m from the stern.

The place where the Titanic sank, on the map:

In which ocean did the Titanic sink? - in the Atlantic.

Titanic lifted from the bottom of the ocean

They wanted to raise the ship from the moment of the crash. Initiative plans were put forward by relatives of the dead from the first class. But 1912 did not yet know the necessary technologies. The war, lack of knowledge and funds delayed the search for the sunken ship for a hundred years. Since 1985, 17 expeditions have been carried out, during which 5,000 items and large plating have been raised to the surface, but the ship itself has remained at the bottom of the ocean.

What does the Titanic look like now?

In the time since the crash, the ship has been covered marine life. Rust, painstaking work of invertebrates and natural decomposition processes have changed the structures beyond recognition. By this time, the bodies had already completely decomposed, and by the 22nd century, only anchors and boilers would remain from the Titanic - the most massive metal structures.

Even now the interiors of the decks have been destroyed, the cabins and halls have collapsed.

Titanic, Britannic and Olympic

All three ships were manufactured by the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding company. Before the Titanic, the Olympic saw the world. It is easy to see a fatal predisposition in the fate of the three ships. The first liner was wrecked as a result of a collision with a cruiser. Not such a large-scale disaster, but still an impressive failure.

Then the story of the Titanic, which received a wide response in the world, and, finally, the Gigantic. They tried to make this ship especially durable, given the mistakes of previous liners. He was even launched into the water, but the First World War disrupted the plans. The giant became a hospital ship called the Britannic.

He then just managed to carry out 5 quiet flights, and on the sixth there was a disaster. Having been blown up by a German mine, the Britannic rapidly sank. The mistakes of the past and the preparedness of the captain made it possible to save maximum amount people - 1036 out of 1066.

Is it possible to talk about evil fate, remembering the Titanic? The history of the creation and crash of the liner were studied in detail, the facts were revealed, even through time. And yet the truth is only now being revealed. The reason the Titanic is attracting attention is to hide its true motive - to create a currency system and destroy opponents.

The history of the legendary liner is interesting for three reasons:

Departure day

it was the largest ship for 1912;
the number of victims turned the catastrophe into a global failure;
finally, James Cameron, with his film, singled out the history of the liner from the general list of maritime disasters, as well.

We will tell you everything about the Titanic, as it was in reality. About how long the Titanic is in meters, how much the Titanic sank, and who was really behind the massive disaster.

Where did the Titanic sail from and to?

We know from Cameron's film that the liner was bound for New York. The American up-and-coming city was to be the final stop. But far from everyone knows for sure where the Titanic sailed from, considering that London was the starting point. The capital of Great Britain was not in the ranks of seaports, and therefore the steamer could not leave from there.

See how the route of the Titanic ran on the map:

Dimensions of the Titanic in meters

To understand more about the Titanic, the causes of the disaster must be disclosed, starting with the dimensions of the ship.

How many meters is the Titanic in length and in other dimensions:

exact length - 299.1 m;
width - 28.19 m;
height from the keel - 53.3 m.

A - deck I class. Its peculiarity is limited in size - it did not lie down the entire length of the vessel;
B - anchors were located in the front of the deck and its dimensions were also shorter - by 37 meters of deck C;
C - deck with a galley, a mess for the crew and a promenade for class III.
D - walking area;
E - cabins I, II classes;
F - cabins II and III classes;
G - deck with boiler rooms in the middle.

Finally, how much does the Titanic weigh? The displacement of the largest ship of the early 20th century is 52,310 tons.

Titanic: the story of the crash

Tickets for the new liner were more expensive than for other ships. If a person was used to traveling in first class, then on the Titanic he would have to transfer to second class.

Edward Smith, the captain of the ship, began the evacuation after midnight: a distress call was sent, the attention of other ships was attracted by flares, lifeboats went to the water. But the rescue was slow and uncoordinated - there was an empty place in the boats while the Titanic was sinking, the water temperature did not rise above two degrees below zero, and the first steamer arrived in time only half an hour after the disaster.

Titanic: how many people died and survived

The bodies were found within a radius of 80 km from the crash site, and due to the current of the Gulf Stream, many were dispersed even further.

Photos of dead people

Initially, it was known how many passengers were on the Titanic, although not completely:

crew of 900 people;
195 first class;
255 second class;
493 people of the third class.

Some passengers left at intermediate ports, some called. It is believed that the liner went to the fatal route with a staff of 1317 people, of which 124 are children.

Titanic: scuttling depth - 3750 m

The question of how many people escaped the Titanic was difficult to answer, because the rescue operations took place from different ships, and the slow connection did not provide fast data.

How deep is the Titanic

The place where the Titanic sank, on the map:

In which ocean did the Titanic sink? - in the Atlantic.

Titanic lifted from the bottom of the ocean

Titanic underwater. Photo

What does the Titanic look like now?

In the time since the crash, the ship has become covered in marine life. Rust, painstaking work of invertebrates and natural decomposition processes have changed the structures beyond recognition. By this time, the bodies had already completely decomposed, and by the 22nd century, only anchors and boilers would remain from the Titanic - the most massive metal structures.

Photo of the sunken Titanic

Even now the interiors of the decks have been destroyed, the cabins and halls have collapsed.

Titanic, Britannic and Olympic

Titanic: photo underwater now

Comparison of the Titanic with modern liners: photo

100 years ago, on the night of April 15, 1912, after a collision with an iceberg in the waters Atlantic Ocean The Titanic sank with over 2,200 people on board.

"Titanic" (Titanic) - the largest passenger ship of the early XX century, the second of three twin steamers produced by the British company "White Star Line" ( white star line).

The length of the Titanic was 260 meters, width - 28 meters, displacement - 52 thousand tons, height from the waterline to the boat deck - 19 meters, distance from the keel to the top of the pipe - 55 meters, top speed - 23 knots. Journalists compared it in length with three city blocks, and in height with an 11-story building.

The Titanic had eight steel decks located one above the other at a distance of 2.5-3.2 meters. To ensure safety, the ship had a double bottom, and its hull was separated by 16 watertight compartments. Watertight bulkheads rose from the second bottom to the deck. The chief designer of the ship, Thomas Andrews, stated that even if four of the 16 compartments were filled with water, the liner would be able to continue its journey.

The interiors of the cabins on decks B and C were made in 11 styles. Third class passengers on decks E and F were separated from first and second class by gates located in different parts of the ship.

Prior to the release of the Titanic on its first and last voyage, it was emphasized that 10 millionaires would be on board the ship on the first voyage, and gold and jewelry worth hundreds of millions of dollars would be in its safes. American industrialist, heir to mining magnate Benjamin Guggenheim, millionaire with a young wife, assistant to US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, Major Archibald Willingham Butt, US Congressman Isidore Strauss, actress Dorothy Gibson, wealthy social activist Margaret Brown, British fashion designer Lucy Christiane Duff Gordon and many other famous and wealthy people of that time.

On April 10, 1912, at noon, the Titanic set off on its only journey from Southampton (UK) to New York (USA) with stops in Cherbourg (France) and Queenstown (Ireland).

During the four days of the journey the weather was clear and the sea calm.

On April 14, 1912, on the fifth day of the journey, several ships sent messages about icebergs in the area of the ship's route. Most the day the radio was broken, and many messages were not noticed by radio operators, and the captain did not pay due attention to others.

By evening, the temperature began to drop, reaching by 22:00 zero mark Celsius.

At 23:00, a message was received from the Californian about the presence of ice, but the radio operator of the Titanic cut off the radio traffic before the Californian had time to report the coordinates of the area: the telegraph operator was busy sending personal messages to passengers.

At 23:39, two lookouts noticed an iceberg in front of the liner and reported this by telephone to the bridge. The most senior of the officers, William Murdoch, gave the command to the helmsman: "Left rudder."

At 23:40 "Titanic" in the underwater part of the ship. Of the 16 watertight compartments of the ship, six were cut through.

At 00:00 on April 15, the designer of the Titanic, Thomas Andrews, was called to the captain's bridge in order to assess the severity of the damage. After reporting on the incident and inspecting the ship, Andrews informed everyone present that the liner would inevitably sink.

The ship began to feel a roll on the bow. Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats to be uncovered and the crew and passengers called for evacuation.

By order of the captain, the radio operators began to send out distress signals, which they transmitted for two hours, until the captain released the telegraph operators from duty a few minutes before the sinking of the ship.

Distress signals, but they were too far from the Titanic.

At 00:25, the coordinates of the Titanic were taken by the ship Carpathia, which was 58 nautical miles from the wreck, which was 93 kilometers. ordered to immediately go to the disaster site of the Titanic. Rushing to the rescue, the ship was able to reach record speed at 17.5 knots - at the maximum possible speed for a vessel of 14 knots. To do this, Rostron ordered to turn off all appliances that consume electricity and heating.

At 01:30, the operator of the Titanic telegraphed: "We are in small boats." By order of Captain Smith, his assistant, Charles Lightoller, who led the rescue of people on the port side of the liner, put only women and children into the boats. The men, according to the captain, were to remain on deck until all the women had boarded the boats. First mate William Murdoch on the starboard side to the men, if there were no women and children in the line of passengers gathering on deck.

Around 02:15, the Titanic's bow dropped sharply, the ship moved forward significantly, and a huge wave swept across the decks, which washed many passengers overboard.

Around 02:20, the Titanic sank.

Around 04:00 am, about three and a half hours after receiving the distress signal, the Carpathia arrived at the wreck of the Titanic. The ship took on board 712 passengers and crew members of the Titanic, after which it arrived safely in New York. Among those rescued were 189 crew members, 129 male passengers and 394 women and children.

The death toll, according to various sources, ranged from 1400 to 1517 people. According to official figures, after the disaster, 60% of passengers are in first class cabins, 44% in second class cabins, and 25% in third class.

The last surviving passenger of the Titanic, who traveled on board the liner at the age of nine weeks, died on May 31, 2009 at the age of 97. The ashes of the woman were scattered over the sea from the pier in the port of Southampton, from where the Titanic set off on its last voyage in 1912.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

More than 100 years have passed since the terrible catastrophe of one of the largest liners of his 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 became the century technical 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 all over 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" caught 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. luxury halls, gourmet restaurants, library, swimming pool and gym - everything was available high society, first class passengers. Other clients lived more modestly. 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 old ship new, 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, Edward John 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 people who died. 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.