The Sinking of the Titanic

The Sinking of the Titanic

The sinking of the Titanic in 1914 became an international symbol to all. What that symbol is depends on each individual person that accesses the situation. Greed, chivalry, folly, bravery and progress are among the few symbols. Can someone who is over confident in the work they did with their own hands be cursed or were the crew members of the Titanic, weighing over forty-six tons, pure ignorant?

This nine-deck ship had all it needed to accommodate the three classes that paid good money to sail from Southampton Whales to New York. Many luxuries included tennis courts, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, Turkish and electric baths, a dark room for photographers, kennels for first class dogs, elevators (an innovation for the period), private enclosed promenades and nearly a dozen styles of staterooms (Charles Pellegrino). One unforgettable artifact about the Titanic rested on the first class level, the Grand Staircase.

The Titanic, which was 882 feet in length was strong enough to carry just over 2,220 passengers, forty tons of potatoes, over 6,000 pounds of butter, two tons of coffee, 20,000 bottles of beer and stout, 15,000 bottles of mineral water and hundreds of stacks of mail. The Titanic was legally commissioned to carry mail by the British Monarch and the United States (Microsoft Encarta). With all this excess weight aboard, thoughts of the "Unsinkable" ship going down never crossed anyone's minds.

Little to there knowledge it wasn't the weight of the ship they had to worry about. It was traveling across the Atlantic Ocean in the dark with many icebergs. The builders of the ship took extra precautions in securing the safety and welfare of its passengers. It exceeded the legal requirement for safety boats, which were sixteen. The Titanic, carrying twenty lifeboats, still didn't have enough for all 2,227 passengers.

Lack of sufficient lifeboats could not prevent other difficulties that took place on the ship. Two problems that happened was a smoldering fire broke out in one of the ships coal bunkers and the breakdown of the Titanic's wireless system (Discovery.com). Edward J. Smith was the captain of the Titanic. Some might question his ability to command a voyage after fining out how Smith disregarded many ice warnings.

On April 12,1914 just before 2 pm, the Captain and crew that helped control the ship, received three ice warnings. The Captain ignored them. At 5:03 pm the got another warning from ocean Liner America, it went unacknowledged.