This is the first of a two part article about the Titanic disaster. This month, the box-office smash Titanic is aired on NBC. The movie won numerous  awards and grossed a lot of money. The actual event has mesmerized people from all over the world since it happened in 1912.  There have been countless books written, at least three movies and countless stories from survivors or survivors relatives .  Myth, superstition and lore arose almost immediately after the disaster and have become mingled with fact over the years.  The movie smeared fact and fiction further. It takes a combined effort from science and history to separate fact from fiction.

     Most everyone knows at least some  things about Titanic. The most common are : She was the largest ocean liner of her time, believed to be unsinkable. While sailing at full speed from England to New York on her maiden voyage, Titanic struck an iceberg. There were too few life boats and many people drowned.  Unfortunately after the 1997 movie, many folks also believe that there really was a Jack Dawson, a Rose and a Blue Heart necklace. They also believe that 1st officer Murdoch was both a coward and a murderer.

      It was no myth that Titanic was the largest liner of her time, but neither her owners nor her builders referred to her as unsinkable. The Shipbuilder, a well respected nautical magazine, had described Titanic's series of watertight compartments and wrote that this rendered the ship "practically unsinkable." The term caught on, and the press exaggerated it to unsinkable.

      The 16 watertight compartments were indeed the latest in safety. The bulkhead doors could be closed with a switch from the bridge, manually or automatically by use of a float. Titanic was so designed that she could float with any two of her compartments flooded. At that time, her owners could not imagine any disaster worse than a collision at the junction of two compartments.

      Another commonly held myth was that Titanic was steaming for a record crossing. There was a prize, called the Blue Riband which was flown by whichever ship held the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing.  Cunard's Mauritania had captured the prize and was expected to hold it. Mauritania's service speed was 25 knots, that of Titanic, 21 knots. Instead of trying to compete with Cunard's speed, White Star Line opted to proved excellent service and the most luxurious furnishings.

      Indeed it would have been poor practice to push a ship to prolonged top speed on its first voyage. That would have been hard on new engines not broken in. During her brief sea trials, she had reached a speed of 23 knots for a short distance, but there is no evidence to believe she ever reached or exceeded that speed once she left Southampton.

      Was Titanic made of low grade steel, and was it responsible for her sinking? These rumors have sprouted up here and there over the years but there is no substance to them. Once the wreck was found, a sample of the hull was brought up and tested. Scientists found a high level of sulfur in the steel, but that was not untypical of the steel from that era. In fact, there is every reason to believe that Titanic was constructed of the very best steel. A counter theory to the "brittle steel" idea is that if Titanic's steel had been of such poor grade, she would have literally crumbled on impact with the ocean floor. Rather, Titanic's bow plowed into a small rise on the ocean floor, burying her hull almost up to the anchors. The hull is remarkably intact.

Titanic's builders, Harland and Wolff  of Belfast, Ireland, had the reputation for being the best ship builders of  the time. Add that to the fact that they built ships for the White Star Line (Titanic's owners) on a  cost plus basis, and their order book were very full, and there is just no reason to justify skimping on parts. Incidentally, Harland and Wolff are still around today, and they consider Titanic to have been the jewel of their ships, and it is true that no ship has ever matched her grandeur.

 Next week we will return to Titanic to dissect more myths and facts about the greatest of all ocean liners and the worst of sea disasters.

The beautiful painting at the top of the page is by Stuart Williamson, a master marine painter. Please visit Stuart's website and check out his paintings of Titanic, Empress of Ireland, and other ocean liners. Prints are available.