The Titanic
© Encyclopædia Britannica
The Titanic was the largest and most luxurious
ship of her time, designed to be the fastest way
to cross the Atlantic to America.
The Titanic's gigantic
propellers.
Harland and Wolff's
Belfast shipyard,
May 1911
Courtesy Smithsonian Institute
Look at:
http://www.britannica.com/titanic/art-165558
for an interactive tour of Titanic.
Click on different parts of the ship for some
photographs and information.
Eileen and Neal McNamee were excited to
travel on her maiden voyage, even if they were
only Third-class passengers.
She was said to be the safest ship afloat
The iceberg tears into the
Titanic.
N Atlantic Iceberg 1912.Was this the one Titanic hit?
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARMS_Tita
nic_distress_signal_simulated_as_morse_code.wav
This is how the hull split open.
We have an eye-witness account
Of the sinking.
Elizabeth Shutes was a governess,
travelling with a rich family
in a First Class cabin.
Read what she had to say:
‘Suddenly a queer quivering ran under me…
Startled by the strangeness of the
shivering motion, I sprang to the floor.
With too perfect a trust in the mighty vessel
I again lay down.
Someone knocked at my door, and the voice of
a friend said:
“Come quickly to my cabin,
an iceberg has just passed our window,
I know we have just struck one”’.
No laughing throng, but on either side (of the
staircase) stand quietly, bravely, the stewards,
all equipped with the white, ghostly life-preservers
….
We passed on… the awful goodbyes.
The quiet look of hope in the brave men’s eyes
as the wives were put into the lifeboats.
We left from the sun deck, seventy five feet above
the water.’
‘Our lifeboat, with thirty six in it, began lowering to
the sea. This was done amid the greatest confusion.
As only one side of the ropes worked, the lifeboat at
one time was in such a position that it seemed we
must capsize in mid-air.
At last the ropes worked together, and we drew nearer
the black, oily water.
And so we put off
– a tiny boat on a
great sea –
and rowed away
from what had
been a safe
home for five
days.’
Robert G. Lloyd, Marine Artist, England
‘The first wish on the part of all was to stay near the
Titanic. We all felt so much safer near the ship.
Surely such a vessel could not sink…
But surely the outline of that great, good ship was
growing less, the bow of the boat was getting black.
Light after light was disappearing.’
Robert G. Lloyd, Marine Artist, England
Titanic survivors in a collapsible lifeboat
‘The stars slowly disappeared, and in their place came the
faint pink glow of another day.
Then I heard, 'A light, a ship.' I could not, would not, look while
there was a bit of doubt, but kept my eyes away….
Then I looked and saw a ship. A ship bright with lights;
strong and steady she waited,
and we were to be saved.’
Two lifeboats approach the Carpathia
April 15th 1912
Survivors on board the Carpathia
Eileen and Neal were not so lucky.
They did not survive.
Have another look at the plan of the ship
http://www.britannica.com/titanic/art-165558
Plot a route from the third-class cabins to the
lifeboats.
Do the same for the First-class cabins.
Which is easiest?
What happened to Neal and Eileen?
Neal’s body was never found. Like many brave
men he would have helped women and children
into the boats and stayed
on board the sinking liner.
Eileen’s body was recovered
by the ship the MacKay Bennett .
She was buried at sea.
Burial at Sea
The vivid description of what it was like to be on-board the
Titanic and see her sink comes from an eye-witness.
Evidence
like this
is called
Oral History
Why did the mighty ship sink?
Was Captain Smith going too fast?
Had the shipbuilders done a bad job?
Was Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the
White Star line, trying to beat the
speed record to cross the Atlantic?
Look at ://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/blame.htm
For more ideas
Look at some pictures of the objects and records
from the Titanic.
http://titanic.gov.ns. ca/artifacts-records.asp
Choose one object and think of 10 questions you
would like to ask about it…
(Have a look at the
next slide first to
give you some ideas)
Here’s an example:
Copyright © Nova Scotia Museum
Who did this shoe belong to?
How old were they?
Boy or girl?
What else might they be
wearing?
Do you like the style?
Do you think it was an
expensive shoe ?
What is it made of?
How did it do up?
How did it go missing?
Was it made by hand?
Search the list of
3rd class passengers
to find Neal and
Eileen McNamee.
What can you find out
about them?
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-third-class-passengers/
There’s a lot of
evidence about
the sinking of the
Titanic that you can
explore on-line.
http://www.webtitanic.net/menu.html
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/worksheets/titanic
.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/titanic
http://historyonthenet.com/Titanic/titanicmain.htm