At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the British liner Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The huge ship, which was carrying 2,200 passengers and crew, had struck an iceberg two and a half hours earlier.
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On April 10, the RMS Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, left Southampton, England on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. the Titanic was designed by Irish builder William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and was considered the fastest ship in the world. It stretched 883 feet from stern to bow and its hull was divided into 16 compartments presumed to be watertight. Since four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. On leaving port, the ship approached a few feet from the steamboat new York but passed safely, eliciting a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the Titanicthe bridges. On her maiden voyage on the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.
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After stopping in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up a few last passengers, the huge ship set off at full speed for New York. However, just before midnight on April 14, the RMS Titanic failed to divert course from an iceberg and ruptured at least five of its hull compartments. These compartments filled with water and lowered the bow of the ship. Because the TitanicThe compartments were not capped at the top, water from the ruptured compartments filled each subsequent compartment, causing the bow and stern to sink to an almost vertical position above the water. Then the Titanic broke in two, and at approximately 2:20 a.m. on April 15, the stern and bow sank to the ocean floor.
Titanic: before and after
Due to a shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1,500 people descended on the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. . Most of the approximately 700 survivors were women and children. A number of notable American and British citizens died in the tragedy, including famous British journalist William Thomas Stead and heirs of fortune Straus, Astor and Guggenheim.
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One hour and 20 minutes later Titanic fell, the liner Cunard Carpathia arrival. The survivors of the lifeboats were brought on board and a handful more were pulled from the water. It was later discovered that the liner Leyland Californian was within 20 miles at the time of the accident, but had not heard the Titanicdistress signals because his radio operator was not on duty.
The announcement of the details of the tragedy sparked outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. In the aftermath of the disaster, the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was held in 1913. Rules were adopted requiring every ship to have a rescue space for every person on board and that rescue exercises are organized. An international ice patrol has been established to monitor icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes. It was also necessary for the ships to maintain a 24-hour radio watch.
On September 1, 1985, a joint American-French expedition located the wreckage of the Titanic lying on the ocean floor at a depth of about 13,000 feet. The ship was explored by both manned and unmanned submersibles, which shed new light on the details of its sinking.
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