predictions & icebergs

April 14 ,1912- morning


As the peaceful Titanic sailed the cold waters of the North Atlantic, only a few signs could possibly show that this could ever be the day that would determine the great ship's fate. One of those few signs was that many ice warnings had been transmitted throughout the voyage. The only thing is - how many of those ice warnings were actually recieved by Captain Smith?

The first warning of the day was recieved at 9:00 from the ship Caronia saying they had passed icebergs, growlers and field ice. ( A growler is a dark slab of ice either from an iceberg our a big pack of ice.) The second telegram of the day was recieved at 11:40 from the dutch ship Noordam  saying "much ice" in the same general area as were the Caronia had seen some.

The second of those few signs was that in some cases - even before the voyage - people claimed they had premonitions of a great disaster at sea such as the one that awaited the Titanic. In 1898 a man named Morgan Robertson wrote a book called Futility or the wreck of the Titan. The book talks of a ship trying to cross the Atlantic, then hitting an iceberg and sinking, killing almost all of the passengers. A young Scottish girl who lay dying had a vision of a liner sinking in the Atlantic ocean. She saw many people dying in the water. This vision happened hours before the Titanic sank.

These are just some examples of the many predictions and coincidences that led to the irony and sadness of the unsinkable ship sinking on it's maiden voyage. When looking back on the Titanic, for me, one of the saddest parts is realizing all the things they could have done to stop even some of the many deaths. Now remeber - always check the number of lifeboats before you sail your ship!

Traveling in Luxury

April 11,1912

Once the Titanic had left Queenstown (Cobh) Ireland, all 2224 passengers were aboard. All that was left was its last planned stop: New York City. Though truly the titanic had one stop before that that would prevent it from ever reaching New York, or any other place in the earth.

For first class passengers the Titanic's voyage would be quite enjoyable. There was a gymnasium in which you could ride a mechanical camel and a rowing machine and many other things. There was also a swiming pool as well as turkish baths. The Titanic was one of the first ships to have a salt water swiming pool on board. There were three smoking rooms for men only as well as a Parisan cafe and a reading and writing room that mostly women used.There were 5 children in first class.

Though they could not use all the luxuries of first class, second class could have a very enjoyable yoyage as well. They could read books from the second class library or play cards. There was also chess and dominoes. They could also go for walks. (Going for walks on the available decks was of course available in all classes.) There were 22 children in second class.

The third class passengers didn't have many activities to enjoy but they could make their own fun. There were 2 rooms available for their use: the smoke room and the general room. Though they could play cards and of course smoke in the smoke room. Some passengers brought their own instruments and played them in the general room. There were 72 third class children.

Though there were only about 99 children on the Titanic you can just see how much bigger the families were in third class. One family (the Sage family) had 9 children, whereas the families in other classes would have one or two children.

First class passengers would dine either in one of the Titanic's restaurants or in the grand dining saloon. Each class had its own place to eat. In third class, the dining saloon could only hold about 400 people, which was defenitly not enough for the Titanic's large amount of third class pasengers. They were each given a ticket that said what round they would be eating in. If you missed your round you would go hungry.

In its own day, the Titanic was simply a large cruiseship. But now the Titanic represents something more that an 882 foot long ship at the bottom of the North Atlantic ocean- looking back on the Titanic you can see the seperation between the classes. Back then the third class of people didn't matter. The story of the Titanic can teach people to treat others with less wealth as equals in our world.

the path to doom

April 10, 1912

After the incident with the New York was over, the Titanic could carry on with it's secheduled trip; stopping at Cherboug, France and Queenstown (now called Cobh) Ireland. From there it was to carry on into the icy waters of the North Atlantic to New York City, it's final destination. But not one of the 2224 passengers could tell the Titanic would be stopped forever down to the bottom of the sea.

The Titanic's first stop was Cherboug.  It arrived there an hour late because of its incident with the New York. 142 first class passengers, 30 second class passengers, and 102 third class passengers boarded at Cherboug.

Many of the Titanic's most rich and famous passengers boarded in France, including 47 year-old John Jacob Astor and his newely wedded wife Madeline, who was only 18. They were traveling to New York returning from their exctended honeymoon in Egypt and Paris. Madeline was pregnant and wanted her baby born in the United States. Also, Margaret Brown (later to be known as the unsinkable Molly Brown) and Benjamin Guggenheim who was on the ship with a lady named Madame Aubart. She was not his wife.

Not many people disembarked from the great ship. 15 first class passengers and 9 second class passengers and a canary who belonged to Mr. Meanwell.

The port in Cherboug was not a big enough port to hold the Titanic, so the tugboats the Traffic and Nomadic carried passengers on board. Many people to be documented in history boarded the titanic in Cherboug. In fact every last soul on the Titanic was to be a part of history, whether unknown or known to all the voices of the world. The Titanic truly did change the world.


April 11,1912

After traveling the seas for a night, the Titanic would arrive in Queenstown at 11:30 a.m. 113 third class passengers and 7 second class passengers as well as luggage and sacks of mail were carried out to theTitanic in the tugboats America and Ireland.

The Titanic left Queenstown at 1:40 p.m . Now the Titanic was headed straight in the direction of the icy waters that led to New York city. There in it's path lay the iceberg that marked the titanic's doom.