Just before midnight on the 14th. April 1912, the allegedly unsinkable Titanic, the then biggest passenger ship afloat, struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden excursion to N. America. Inside hours it sank to the base of the Atlantic with the sad loss of just about 1500 lives. Having been built in Belfast, N. Ireland by the Harland and Wolff shipyard and constructed with 16 watertight compartments, it was judged that even though a number of these compartments were ruptured, the ship would still stay out of the water. This proved not to be the situation and when the large iceberg had ripped open 5 of these compartments, the Titanic started to sink.
The rich and renowned had paid massive sums of cash for the privilege of sailing on that maiden excursion; the Titanic epitomized the absolute best in shipmaking and was opulent in its magnificent decor and furniture. It's a floating palace and had been built to service that important and moneymaking trans-Atlantic route. It was built when ocean liners were still the best and most splendid way of travel. Totally laden the ship weighed 66,000 tons; was 269 metres long and 28 metres wide at its widest point.
Having set sail from Cobh in the south of Eire, the huge ship began to carve its way across the Atlantic. Among its many celebrated passengers were the American millionaires Benjamin Guggenheim, Isodor Straus and John Astor. Disaster wasn't even in the minds of those on board, so great was their confidence in this leading edge ship. They wined and dined and liked the luxurious luxury and prided themselves in being first to be privileged to sail on this exciting ship.
Little do they realise that the journey would never be finished and just before midnight on the 14th. April, the ship collided with a big iceberg and a long gash was made in the hull of the Titanic. There was panic and pandemonium on board as the passengers jostled for places on the life rafts but sadly there were only 1200 spaces available for the 2200 passengers and crew members. A nearby ship, the Californian, could have saved lots more but the radio officer of this ship was asleep and didn't receive the emergency call sent from the stricken Titanic.
In September 1985 the wreck of the Titanic was finally discovered and explored. It was found lying in 2 pieces on the sea floor. That sad night has been recalled often since and the story will be told as regularly in times to come. The name Titanic is associated with one of the worst maritime catastrophes ever to happen.
Visit Eikon Bible Art for additional information and products. See our highly prized David and Goliath story too.