The Route of the Titanic, April 1912

The White Star Line commissioned three very large Olympic class ocean liners in 1907 to be built by Harland and Wolff of Belfast, Ireland. Of the three ships, Olympic, Titanic and Britannic the Titanic was the second ship of the class, ordered in 1908 and completed on 2 April 1912. At 52,310 tons displacement she was the largest ship in the world, designed to carry 2,453 passengers: 833 first class, 614 second and 1,004 third, together with 874 crew. The ship left Southampton on her maiden voyage on the 10 April with 920 passengers, and called at Cherbourg, where a further 274 passengers were taken aboard, while 90 disembarked. Titanic then steamed on to the next scheduled port of call, arriving in Queenstown (Cork) harbour at 11.30am Thursday 11 April, where another 123 passengers boarded and seven left the ship. The Titanic departed the port at 1.30pm and began her Atlantic crossing, planning to arrive in New York on the morning of 17 April. The first three days of the voyage passed without incident, although she received warnings from passing ships that drift ice had been seen in the area of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the Titanic adjusted her course, taking a more southerly route. At 23.40 on 14 April the ship’s lookouts spotted an iceberg in the direct path of the ship. The ship immediate began avoiding action, one minute later the Titanic struck the iceberg a glancing blow on her starboard side by the bow causing extensive damage below the waterline. Five of the ships 16 watertight compartments were breached and orders were given to prepare the lifeboats. The Titanic was designed to carry a total of 48 lifeboats, but only carried 20 on her maiden voyage. Poor preparation and training resulted in chaotic loading of the boats, with only 60 percent of their capacity utilized. Of the 2,224 people on board (including 885 crew), just 710 survived.