Titanic

Learn all about the tremedous ship, the Titanic, from the size and construction, to the sinking, then to what happened after. Also learn about why so many people died.
 * The Titanic**

The Titanic was a White Star ocean liner, built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and took over 3,000 people to build. She was 882.9 feet long, 92 feet wide and weighed over 46,328 tons. The Titanic was the largest passenger ship of her time and was believed to be "unsinkable". It was luxurious, including a swimming pool, a gymnasium and even large storage areas to store vehicles. There were cafes and libraries, each room was decorated with elaborate furniture, and the food was amazing, for those in first class. 2,227 people boarded the Titanic; little did they know less than half of them would be returning (“Sinking of the Titanic”). On April 14, 1912 the Titanic hit an iceberg, destroying the double bottom of the ship, and producing a gaping hole in the starboard side of the Titanic. The iceberg was not seen by the lookout men until up close because the water melts the iceberg underneath, then the berg flips revealing very dark ice, almost black. This is known as blue ice (Merideth). When the lookouts informed the captain that the ship was approaching an iceberg, the captain ordered the engines to be stopped, and then reversed. Just reversing the engines would have take much less time, but would have completely destroyed the engines. If the captain would have ordered them to be reversed immediately the ship might have missed the iceberg, avoiding hundreds of deaths (Merideth). Out of the 2,227 passengers, only 705 survived (“Sinking of the Titanic”). A lot of people died mainly because of the shortage of life boats. There was only enough for half of the passengers. Many life boats were only half full, and some even drifted off to sea, empty. Many passengers felt the bump of the iceberg, but ignored it. They resumed to their activities and most likely died (Meridith). After the ship sank, hundreds of people splashed around in the water, waiting for lifeboats to come and save them. But the boats never came because people were afraid that if they went over to the people in the water they would go crazy, fighting over boats, and tipping them (“Sinking of the Titanic”).
 * What was the Titanic?**
 * What happened to the Titanic?**
 * Why did so many people die?**



The Titanic was made into a movie in 1997, directed by James Cameron. The film won a total of 11 Oscars. The film starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio and became the highest grossing film of all time, making $1.8 billion worldwide. For the movie, 12 deep sea dives were made to the actual grave of the Titanic. The shooting tank (used for the sinking scenes) was the largest one in the world (“Titanic”). The movie was about a woman named Rose who boards the ship with her fiancé, Caledon, who she really doesn’t love. Jack Dawson wins two tickets for the Titanic, and when he is on the ship he sees Rose. They secretly fall in love. These star-crossed lovers try to survive the sinking of the Titanic together, but unfortunately, Jack dies (Meridith).
 * Was the Titanic made into a movie?**

**Works Cited**


 * Author Unknown “Titanic.” Titanic Universe. 31 January 2012. Web. [|http://www.titanicuniverse.com]


 * Merideth, Lee, W. 1912 Facts About the Titanic. Sunnyvale, California: Rocklin Press, 1999.


 * “Sinking of the Titanic” When Technology Fails. Ed. Neil Schlager. Gale Research, 2008. Web. Gale Power Search. 26 Jan. 2012.

Learn about the famous Titanic, from the confident construction to the horrific sinking.