On a quiet April night in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the largest maritime disaster of the 20th century occurred. Having collided with an iceberg, "Titanic" - the largest and "unsinkable" ocean liner at that time, went to the bottom of the ocean. The story of its crash is surrounded by a variety of versions and speculations. In this article we will consider both the official and other, the most incredible versions of the sinking of the Titanic.
Brief information about the "Titanic"
The Titanic is a British cruise ship. It was built in 1912 in the Irish city of Belfast at the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line steamship company. The first time the liner was launched on May 31, 1911. At that time, the Titanic was considered the largest ship in the world.
The steamer impressed with its huge size and perfect structure. The height of the vessel from the keel to the end of the pipes was 53 meters. The liner was about 270 meters long, 28.2 meters wide, and its displacement was 52,310 tons. The Titanic had engines with a capacity of about 55,000 horsepower and could sail at a speed of 25 knots (42 km / h). The ship's hull was made of steel. In the event of damage to its bottom, the double bottom prevented the flow of water into the compartments.
The cabins and premises of the ship were divided into three classes. First class passengers could use the services of a swimming pool, two cafes, a restaurant, a squash court, and a gym. All three classes had dining and smoking rooms, indoor and outdoor spaces for walking. First-class cabins and saloons were striking in their luxury and wealth. They were decorated in different styles using expensive materials (expensive wood, silk, crystal, gilding, stained glass). The interiors of the third class were very simple: white steel walls, paneled with wood.
The price of the Titanic was also very impressive, it took $ 7.5 million to create it. When converted to the current dollar exchange rate, this is about $ 200 million.
Crash version # 1. Official
On April 10, 1912, the Titanic embarks on her maiden and final voyage from Southampton to New York. On the way, he makes two stops: in the city of Surbourg (France), then in Queenstown (New Zealand). After picking up the missing passengers and mail, on the morning of April 11, with 1317 passengers and 908 crew members on board, the ship leaves for the Atlantic Ocean. The steamer was commanded by the experienced Captain Edward Smith. On April 14, the Titanic radio station received seven warnings of ice floes ahead. But despite the danger, the Titanic continued to sail forward at the maximum speed. The only thing that the captain ordered was to head a little south of the laid route.
At 23:39 of the same day, the captain's bridge was informed that the iceberg was directly on the course. About one minute later, the Titanic collided with an ice block. The vessel received serious damage along the entire starboard side and began to sink. On the night of April 14-15, at 2:20 am, the Titanic sank, breaking into two parts. In this case, 1496 people were killed, 712 people were rescued, they were picked up on board the ship "Karpatia".
Crash version # 2. Insurance gamble
Not everyone knows that the Titanic was the second ship owned by the White Star Line. The first ship was the Olympic. The ships differed only in length. The Titanic was indeed the world's largest liner, although it was only eight centimeters longer than the Olympic. It was almost impossible to distinguish them without seeing the name. The Olympic was a year older than the Titanic and had already crossed the Atlantic 12 times, but its fate was also unfortunate.
Since 1911, Captain Edward Smith, already familiar to us, commanded the ship. During its first outing to sea, the Olympic collided with the British armored liner Hawk. The trial ruled that Olympic was to blame for the collision. Legal expenses and ship repairs cost White Star Line a lump sum. The captain of Olimpik was acquitted, as the pilot was at the helm. Then "Olympic" more than once got into accidents, bringing big losses to the company, because the ship was not insured. To get out of financial difficulties, the White Star Line company decides on a grandiose scam - to quickly repair the old Olympic, passing it off as a new Titanic. Moreover, it was not difficult at all. It was only necessary to change the places of the plates with the names of the twin ships and some interior items with monograms on which the names of the steamers were listed. Then "Olympic" under the guise of an advertised, new, prestigious (and, of course, insured) "Titanic" pompously set off on the first cruise, where it gets into a minor accident, colliding with an iceberg. Of course, they were not going to sink the Titanic, but, thanks to this accident, the White Star Line company expected to receive a huge sum insured.
This version was refuted only after 73 years. In September 1985, Robert Ballard, an American professor of oceanology, was the first to discover the wreckage of the deceased Titanic. Members of his expedition repeatedly dived to the sunken ship. During the next descent to the bottom of the ocean, they found and photographed a propeller with the serial number "Titanic" - 401 (the number "Olympic" was 400). All who believe in this version claim that some of the parts of the Titanic were used in the repair of the Olympic, therefore, the serial number stamped on these parts cannot be an absolute confirmation that the Titanic lies at the bottom of the ocean.
Crash version # 3. Chasing the blue ribbon of the Atlantic
At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a lot of competition between shipping companies. One of the captains of the English shipping company "Cunard Line" came up with a prize for the ships that hold the record for speed. The ship that sailed across the Atlantic the fastest was awarded the prestigious Atlantic Blue Ribbon award. This prize was worth fighting for. A blue ribbon was hung on the mast of the winning ship, and the whole team received a good monetary reward. A ship with such a "tape", according to statistics, had four times more passengers than other ships. In addition, the British government announced that if the liner's speed is 24 knots, then its companies will be paid annually subsidies of 150 thousand pounds sterling for the entire life of the ship.
White Star Line decides to defeat the competition by building the largest, most comfortable and fastest liner. It becomes "Titanic". After all, the money from the government and the tickets sold could have recouped the unprofitable Olympic. It is this fact that explains Captain Smith's behavior. In pursuit of the Blue Ribbon, he drove the Titanic at full speed, despite the danger of a collision with an iceberg.
Crash version # 4. Fire and explosion
A fire on a ship is one of the most serious dangers to sailing. But in those days, spontaneous combustion of coal in a ship's bunker was a fairly common situation. This version was confirmed in one of the first dives to the wreckage of the Titanic. The proponents of this hypothesis believe that the entire hold caught fire from the fire, and then the steam boilers exploded, as a result of which the ship sank. And the collision of a ship with an iceberg was just a fatal accident.
The researchers were very surprised when they found not a whole ship at the bottom of the ocean, but a ship broken into three parts. Experts believe that the fracture of the ship occurred during flooding from the pressure of air or from the displacement and explosion of steam mechanisms weighing more than one ton. It is possible that after hitting the bottom, the Titanic's hull broke and a crack appeared. Metallurgical experts believe that the impact of fire on the ship's hull could weaken the metal, reducing its strength. Therefore, the iceberg so easily ripped open the side skin of the liner. A version was also put forward that the metal at that time could not withstand too low temperatures and became brittle. But the theory that the ice block hit exactly where the metal was weakened is not supported by the facts.
The wreckage of the "Titanic", which took with it to the bottom one and a half thousand human lives, lie at a depth of four kilometers in the Atlantic Ocean. Even after so many years, the sinking of the Titanic is still surrounded by secrets and mysteries. Whether it was an evil fate or a tragic accident, ice or fire, this disaster still excites the minds of researchers and ordinary people.
