When Titanic set sail from Southampton on the southern coast of England on 10 April 1912 bound for New York, she was said to be “practically unsinkable” and proof of the great technological advances of the Edwardian Age in Britain. She was the largest moving object ever built by man and along with her sister ship Olympic was the pride of the The White Star Line. She caught the imagination of the public on both sides of the Atlantic and the start of her maiden voyage was a cause for jubilation and great pride. This turned to tragedy in only five days, as the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, resulting in the deaths of 1502 people. The "unsinkable" ship was entirely sinkable and this was proved with appalling loss of life.
The building of the Titanic
In 1907 Cunard, the great rival of the White Star Line launched its new giant liners, The RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania, setting new records in speed and size as well as new standards in luxury and taste. White Star realised that it had to enter the new age of ocean liners with its own headline grabbing ships which would be bigger and better than Cunard’s. In 1907 discussions between J. Bruce Ismay, the Managing Director of White Star and Lord William Pirrie of Harland & Wolff, the shipbuilders from Belfast in Northern Ireland, produced plans for three new enormous ships, to be known as the Olympic Class Liners. The ships would be named Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic and would be the largest ever man-made moving objects.
Harland and Wolff was contracted to build the new ships as it had a long standing relationship with White Star. In charge of the design and development was Thomas Andrews, the nephew of Lord Pirrie. Andrews would later die on the maiden voyage, refusing to leave the First Class Dining Room in despair as the ship sank. On 31 March 1909 the work began in Belfast on Titanic with the laying of the ships keel. Work on Olympic had started three months earlier. The progress and construction of these White Star ships was very fast, with over 15,000 men working at the shipyard on the liners. By 31 May 1911 Titanic’s completed hull was launched into the River Lagen in Belfast, watched by a large crowd.
There was still much to do, such as the additions of the four funnels, further construction and the complete fitting out of the ship. The interiors of Titanic were spared no expense with decorations and materials of the highest quality used to create previously unknown luxury for the wealthy First Class passengers. In all this expense little thought was given to life boats and provision was made only for 1178 people, despite the fact that the liner when full to capacity could carry 3300 people. This was in accordance with Board of Trade rules of the time but would have grave consequences and would lead to a dramatic change in regulations for all vessels after the sinking.
On 2 April 1912 Titanic completed her sea trials in the Irish Sea and was quickly passed as seaworthy by the Board of Trade. She was a Liverpool registered ship, but never entered the port. She then set sail for Southampton where she was docked in Berth 44.