SHIPWRECKS
TITANIC
| ACCIDENTS
INTERESTING FACT
In 1912, when the Titanic was supposed to depart on its maiden voyage, it was a headlines news for the world press of that time. The largest and the most luxurious ship ever built by men sailed from Southhampton (England) across the Atlantic Ocean towards New York (USA), where the public was impatiently waiting to see the masterpiece of the new shipbuilding. However, although it was proclaimed unsinkable by its constructors, Titanic never reached the USA coast. It ended up at the bottom of the icy Atlantic, and more than 1500 met their death!
4
CHARACTERISTICS
Titanic weighted 44000 tons and was propelled by two powerful steam engines, which consumed 748 tons of coal a day. It had the most up-to-date ship equipment, several banquet halls, a swimming pool, as well as a Turkish bath. It had 20 lifeboats, which could take 1,178 people, but on that fatal night that proved to be insufficient, because the ship carried more than 2000 people.
A MUSEUM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA The remains of the Titanic were discovered in 1985 and the location was declared an Open-air museum. If you are ready to pay 20,000 dollars, you can go to the bottom and see the wrack of the legendary Titanic.
The Fatal Iceberg The accident was preceded by several strange events. Although the sea that night was calm as glass and the sky cloudless, the Titanic received several warnings of icebergs, but for some reason the captain, Edward Smith, turned a deaf ear to the messages and issued a command to sail at full speed. When they noticed a large iceberg, it was too late to react. The ice tore the lower port side of the ship and the water started steadily entering the rooms of the Titanic. Several distress flares were fired, but people on ”California”, the ship closest to the Titanic, thought that it was a party with the fireworks. A little more than two hours later, the Titanic sank.
PANIC
It is generally believed that more peo ple would have been saved from the Ti tanic, but for the poor organization of the lifeboats and the widespread panic at key moments during the rescue. None of the lifeboats was filled to capacity.
CHRONOLOGY OF THE ACCIDENT 23.39 - an iceberg was spotted – the impacted happened only 37 seconds later. 00.45 - the first lifeboat was lowered. 02.20 - The Titanic went under. ¹
SOS is the common name of the international Morse code distress signal.
5
SHIPWRECKS
THE SS MORRO CASTLE The SS Morro Castle was an American passenger ship, built in 1930. For the first four years after it was built, the SS Morro Castle successfully transported rich passengers from New York to Cuba and was famous as the most luxurious ship of that time. For many of the passengers, the enormous amount of money invested in its construction was proof of its safety. However, the luxurious material built into the boat would later prove to be one of the main causes of the big accident which followed.
Did you know?
| ACCIDENTS
On September 8th 2009, 75 years after the accident, the first and only memorial for the victims of SS Morro Castle was organized in the United States.
6
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME The ship SS Morro Castle was named after the fortress standing at the entrance to the harbour of Havana, the capital of Cuba.
Bad Sign
In the evening hours of September 5th 1934, an event on the ship foretold the great accident that followed. Namely, the captain of the ship, Robert Willmott suddenly died of heart attack. Only a few hours later, near the New Jersey shore, a great fire broke out on the ship, killing 135, of 549 passengers the ship was transporting at the moment. The main culprit for the fire was the crew, but the material the ship was built of helped to speed up the spreading of the flames and after that the ship and many of the passengers were beyond help.
Death in the Water
THE BENEFITS OF THE ACCIDENT The Disaster on the SS Morro Castle had direct effect on later achievements in safety in shipbuilding: they stopped using flam mable materials and many fire systems were designed to prevent what happened to SS Morro Castle from ever happening again.
INTERESTING FACT
Because of the thick smoke which spread over the deck, many passengers tried to save themselves by jumping into the sea. However, huge waves that had formed swallowed many of those who managed to escape from the raging fire.
7
SHIPWRECKS
THE ROYAL PACIFIC In another marine accident which happened in August 1992, 30 people died, 70 were injured, while some of the bodies were never found. The passenger ship Royal Pacific was transporting 530 people. The weather conditions during the voyage were ideal, the sea was calm and there was nothing to indicate the coming disaster. At three in the morning most of the passengers were sound asleep. The Royal Pacific was steadily sailing the Malaysian straits and then, after a terrible blast tore the ocean quiet, in the next two hours the passangers who were stiring from sleep went through some chaotic moments.
| ACCIDENTS
The Original Purpose
8
Until 1985, Abel Tasman was an Australian ferry, designed for the transportation of 440 passengers, as well as 90 cars. After they bought it up, the new owners redesigned it into a modern cruiserยน and renamed it the Royal Pacific.
ยน Cruiser is a ship designed for the cruise and transport of passengers.
A Huge Cruiser Hidden in the Fog
The accident happened when a poorly lit fishing boat entered the path of the Royal Pacific, about 20 kilometers from the Malaysian harbour Port Dickson. Sounds incredible, but because of the poor visibility, the fishermen didn’t notice a huge cruiser approaching them. In the ensuing crash, both ships were badly damaged, and in the next two hours the Royal Pacific disappeared completely under the sea surface.
Culpability of the Crew
When the Royal Pacific started sinking, fearing for their lives, the crew was the first to start leaving the ship. If they hadn’t acted like cowards and left the passengers in the interior of the ship, who woke up in complete darkness, horrified and disoriented, there would certainly have been far fewer victims.
9