History Of The RMS Titanic

The RMS Titanic sunk more than 100 years ago. It was 102 years to be exact. Even after all of this time, we still want to know more. We want to know why it happened or was there any way to avoid the sad ending and many more questions surrounding the RMS Titanic. However, we know one thing for sure: the sinking of the RMS Titanic was the biggest and most tragic event of the 20th century.

In April of 1908, the construction of the RMS Titanic was announced. Building the ship did not start until March 31, 1909, after her older sister, the Olympic ,underwent construction on November 16, 1908. These two ships were basically the same except for one thing: the Titanic was 1,000 tons bigger. Approximately 15,000 workers were hired to build the ocean liner. It cost $7.5 million to build (Hopkinson, Deborah). Seven months after the Olympic was first launched, the Titanic followed on May 31, 1911. More than 100,000 spectators came to watch the event. Construction finally ended on April 2, 1912, eight days before the maiden voyage was to begin.

The maiden voyage began on April 10, 1912. The ocean liner was called the “unsinkable” ship. The trip was to start in Southampton, England and finish in New York. There isn’t an exact number of total passengers, but according to some sources 2,453 passengers walked on board, for what they thought was going to be one of the best experiences of their lives. A different source states that there were only 2,200 passengers. In both, however, it does state that there were 885 crew members as well. During the five days before the sinking, guests enjoyed socializing, eating gourmet meals, working out at the gymnasium, swimming in the pool, or simply hanging out in their rooms. The first class staterooms cons...

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...ather). There are no more living survivors of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The last living survivor was Millvina Dean, who was put in a lifeboat when she was only nine months old. Dean passed away in 2009 after becoming sick with pneumonia, at the age of 97.

I find the story of the RMS Titanic very intriguing. Most everybody knows when it happened or how it happened, but very few people get to know the stories of the people that were passengers on the ill-fated ship. I was very lucky with the resources that I got, because most of them had quotes from the survivors. When reading the quotes, I got chills. I could picture myself in that freezing water or seeing my best friend or brother for the last time. The sinking of the RMS Titanic was a very sad ending of what was supposed to be a fairy-tale, and we can only hope that nothing like this happens ever again.