Anatomy of the RMS Titanic Disaster
The Sinking of the Titanic. As the mortally wounded liner neared the last moments of her death-struggle, the inrush of water to her forward compartments depressed her bow, leaving her stern clear of the water. Our artist depicts her as she appeared to the horrified survivors in the lifeboats just before she took her final plunge. 1,635 persons went to their death with her (according to the official estimate of the white star management) or perished afterward from exposure and shock, 705 persons survived the disaster, according to the most trustworthy figures available as the “weekly” goes to press. Drawn from descriptions of eyewitnesses by l. A. Shafer. Harper's Weekly (27 April 1912) p. 34-35. GGA Image ID # 109dc2a899
Explore the events, ship, and personalities that made this particular disaster the most written about the marine disaster of all time. From being touted as "Unsinkable" to it chilling dive to the bottom five days into its maiden voyage. After reading these incredible and sometimes incredulous stories, one might wonder if this was a vortex of the Bermuda Triangle.
Loss of the White Star Liner "Titanic" - 1913
The Titanic struck a glancing blow against an under-water shelf of the iceberg, opening up five compartments. As it was, the water rose through openings in the decks and destroyed the reserve buoyancy.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, the lights of the Carpathia were seen and all the boats rowed in the direction of the approaching steamer. The Cunarder had made good time, though forced to alter its course several times on account of icebergs.
The vessel cost upward of $5,000,000, and her fittings and furnishings nearly $3,000,000 more. She was insured for $3,700,000, of which her owners carried $750,000. The freight carried on the trip was but 1,500 tons. The total money loss of the disaster was estimated at not less than $27,000,000.
Two thousand fathoms beneath the waves of that part of the Atlantic which spreads itself in a waste of wintry waters to the eastward of Cape Race lies the great White Star Liner Titanic, sent helplessly to her ocean grave by one of those grim, uncharted terrors of northern seas—a giant iceberg.
