The Life and Death of the R.M.S Titanic

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Tuesday, April 10, 1912. The new White Star giant was docked in Southampton, England at Pier 59. A new of industrialism had begun. The early 1900’s were known as the “Gilded Age.” New inventions were being released daily, people were much richer and happier. At about noon, the Titanic left from her berth. Minutes later, a near accident occurred. The giant propellers motion caused much turbulence. This was enough to snap the ropes of the 11,000 ton liner New York free from her berth. The New York was now coming straight for the Titanic. However, Captain E.J Smith’s master skills proved to be worthy and a near collision was avoided. That night, the Titanic stopped at Cherbourg, France to pick up such wealthy passengers as John Jacob Astor IV and Benjamin Guggenhein. The next day, the R.M.S Titanic made a final stop at Queenstown, Ireland to pick up third class passengers. This was her last view of land. The days prior to the iceberg collision were fairly smooth. In total, seven iceberg warnings came. The last one warned of a “black berg” only miles ahead of the Titanic. However this never made it to the captain. The most likely explanation is too much work was loaded on wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. On April 14, 1912, after a great dinner, passengers noticed a temperature drop. The Titanic was traveling at 23 knots. This was much too fast for icy waters such as the ones they were experiencing. At approximately 11:15 pm the captain retired for the night. He left the watch with First Officer William Murdoch. He told him to watch out for ice, but nothing serious. At 11:40 lookout Fredrick Fleet spotted an iceberg dead ahead. He rang the bell three times yelling “Ice berg, dead ahead!” Murdoch’s orders were “hard a starboard and full astern. This meant he was turning the ship to the left and reversing the engines. By reversing the engines, he
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