Titanic history biography projects

The Building of the RMS Titanic

The Titanic was the product of intense competition among rival shipping lines in the first half of the 20th century. In particular, the White Star Line found itself in a battle for steamship primacy with Cunard, a venerable British firm with two standout ships that ranked among the most sophisticated and luxurious of their time.

Cunard’s Mauretania began service in and quickly set a speed record for the fastest average speed during a transatlantic crossing ( knots or mph), a title that it held for 22 years.

Cunard’s other masterpiece, Lusitania, launched the same year and was lauded for its spectacular interiors. Lusitania met its tragic end on May 7, , when a torpedo fired by a German U-boat sunk the ship, killing nearly 1, of the 1, people on board and precipitating the United States’ entry into World War I.

The same year that Cunard unveiled its two magnificent liners, J. Bruce Ismay, chief executive of White Star, discussed the construction of three large ships with William J. Pirrie, chairman of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff. Part of a new “Olympic” class of liners, each ship would measure feet in length and feet at their broadest point, making them the largest of their time.

In March , work began in the massive Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, on the second of these three ocean liners, Titanic, and continued nonstop for two years.

On May 31, , Titanic’s immense hull–the largest movable manmade object in the world at the time–made its way down the slipways and into the River Lagan in Belfast. More than , people attended the launching, which took just over a minute and went off without a hitch.

The hull was immediately towed to a mammoth fitting-out dock where thousands of workers would

The Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic was designed to be one of the greatest achievements of an era of prosperity, confidence, and propriety known as the Gilded Age. The transatlantic steamship business was intensely competitive as advances were made in ship design, size and speed. White Star Line, one of the industry leaders, focused on size and elegance rather than just speed. In , White Star Line's managing director J. Bruce Ismay and Lord James Pirrie, chairman of White Star Line’s shipbuilder, Harland & Wolff, conceived of three magnificent steamships that would set a new standard for comfort, elegance, and safety. The first two were to be named Olympic and Titanic, the latter name chosen by Ismay to convey a sense of overwhelming size and strength. The third would be Britannic.

Building the Titanic

It took a year to design the first two ships. Construction of Olympic started in December , followed by Titanic in March The Belfast shipyards of Harland & Wolff had to be redesigned to accommodate the immense projects, while White Star's pier in New York City had to be lengthened to enable the ships to dock. During the two years it took to complete Titanic's hull, publicity about the ship's magnificence made Titanic a legend before its first cruise. The "launch" of the completed steel hull on May 31, was heavily publicized.

The ship was then "fitted out," which involved construction of the ship's many facilities and systems, its elaborate woodwork, and elegant decor. As the date of Titanic’s maiden voyage approached, the completed Olympic suffered a collision and required extensive repairs, increasing the workload at Harland & Wolff, which was struggling to complete Titanic on schedule. Titanic's maiden voyage was delayed from March 20 to April 10

About the ship

The Titanic was a massive ship— feet long, 92 feet wide, and displacing (or weighing) 52, long tons (a long ton is pounds). It was feet

British passenger liner that sank in

This article is about the passenger liner. For the film by James Cameron, see Titanic ( film). For other uses, see Titanic (disambiguation).

RMS Titanic was a British ocean liner that tragically sank in the early hours of 15 April as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. It w

Titanic – the iconic vessel that came to a very tragic end. But how much do you know about this world-famous ship? It’s time to find out in our twenty top Titanic facts!

Titanic facts

1) Titanic was built by a company called White Star Line. She was completed and ready for the ocean on 31 March , after three years in construction in Belfast, Ireland.

2) And she was no ordinary ship, Titanic was the most impressive and luxurious ship of her time! She was the biggest, too, measuring 28 metres wide, 53 metres tall and metres long — that’s about the length of three football fields!

3) On 10 April , Titanic set out on her maiden voyage (first big journey), taking people from Southampton, England, to New York, USA. On route, she called by Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland to pick up more passengers. 

DID YOU KNOW? 

Boats are traditionally referred to as ‘she’. Historians think this may be the result of links in our language to Ancient English. Or perhaps it dates back to the idea of goddesses protecting ships on dangerous journeys!

4) Titanic’s full title was RMS Titanic. Any idea what RMS means? It stands for ‘Royal Mail Steamer’. As well as passengers, the ship carried nearly 3, sacks of letters, packages and documents.

5) There were over 2, people on board Titanic, of which were crew members. The passengers included holiday makers, business men and people hoping to start a new life in America.

6) Life on board Titanic depended on who you were and how much money you had…

First class: the wealthiest people travelled in first class, located at the top of the ship, and boy did they travel in style! They slept in private, spacious suites and enjoyed delicious food in an elaborate dining room. They had access to lots of facilities, like cafes, a swimming pool, squash courts, barbe