1867
The White Star Line was not making any money
until, Thomas Henry Ismay and Sir Edward Harland bought the company.
1902
White Star Lines was taken over by International
Mercantile Marine Company, created by J. Pierpoint Morgan. The purchase
price is $10,000,000. J. Bruce Ismay goes on to eventually become the managing
director of White Star.
1907
J. Bruce Ismay and Lord James Pirrie, a partner
of Harland and Wolff, plan to build the Olympic, the Titanic, and
the Britannic.
1908-1909
The Titanic and the Olympic are built at the
Harland and Wolff shipyard, in Ireland.
1910
October 20:
The Olympic is launched.
1911
May 31:
The hull of the Titanic is successfully
launched, but many months of fitting continue.
June:
The
Olympic leaves on her maiden voyage.
September
:
The
Olympic, outbound from Southampton, has a major collision with H.M.S Hawke,
a British Royal Navy cruiser. Repairs made back at Harland and Wolff delay
the fitting out of the Titanic one month.
1912
January:
Sixteen wooden lifeboats, along
with four collapsible canvas, sided boats are fitted on board the Titanic.
March 31:
The outfitting of the Titanic is
complete.
April 10 Wednesday- sailing day.
9:30 to 11:30 am:
Passengers arrived Southampton
and board ship.
Noon:
The Titanic cast off and begins
her maiden voyage. She has a near miss with the steamer New York caused
by the Titanic's enormous displacement.
6:30 pm
The Titanic rides anchor in Cherbourg,
France.
8:10
The Titanic leaves for Queenstown,
Ireland.
April 11: Thursday:
1:30 pm
Anchored off of Roche's point ,Queenstown,
Ireland. Francis Browne, a Jesuit seminarian, disembarks and takes the
last known photograph of the Titanic for the next 73 years. The Titanic
leaves Queenstown for New York.
April 12 and 13: Friday and Saturday
The Titanic sails through calm,
clear weather.
April 14: Sundays
Seven ice warnings are received
during the day. Reports came in from the Carolina, Baltic, America, Californian
and Mesaba.
10:50pm:
The Californian send a wireless
message directly to the Titanic telling them that they were stopped and
surrounded by ice.
11:39 pm
The lookouts, Ferdrick Fleet and
Reginald Lee see an iceberg dead ahead. First officer William Murdoch orders
the engines reversed and the wheel hard to starboard. The Titanic slowly
turns to port but is to late. The iceberg strikes the Titanic on the starboard
side of her bow. Murdoch activates the ship's watertight doors.
11:50pm:
Captain Smith asked designer Thomas
Andrews and the ship's carpenter to conduct a visual inspection of the
damage. Water poured in and risen 14 feet in the front part of the ship.
April 15: Monday
12:00am:
Captain Smith was told that the
ship can only stay afloat for a couple of hours. He ordered radio operators
Harold Bride and Jack Phillips to send " CQD", the distress call.
12:05 am
Orders are to uncover the lifeboats
and to get the passengers and crew ready on deck. But there is only enough
room in the lifeboats for about half of the estimated 2,228 people on board.
12:25 am
The order is given to start loading
the lifeboats with women and children first. The Carpethia, southeast of
the Titanic by about 58 miles, picks up the distress call and immediately
heads, full speed, to the rescue.
12:45 am:
The first of the lifeboats is safety
lowered away. It can carry 65 people but pulls away from the Titanic carrying
only 28! The first distress rocket is fired. Eight rockets will be fired
throughout the night.
1:15am
Water begins to reach the Titanic's
name on the bow. The tilt of the deck grows increasingly steeper.
1:40am:
Most of the forward lifeboats have
been lowered. Passengers now move toward the stern of the ship.
2:05am:
The last lifeboat leaves. There
are now over 1,500 people left sinking ship. The tilt of the Titanic's
decks grows steeper by the minute.
2:17am:
The last radio call for help is
sent out . Captain Smith tells his crew " It's every man for himself!"
The Titanic's bow plunges under. Many passengers jump over board. The forward
funnel collapses, crushing a number of people.
2:18am:
Items in the ship are heard crashing
through walls and falling toward the sinking bow. The ship's light blinked
once and then went out. Several survivors see the ship break in two. The
bow section sinks.
2:20am:
The Titanic's broken off stern
section settles back into the water, becoming level for a few moments.
Slowly it fills with water and again it tilts its end high into the air,
before sinking into the sea. Those struggling in the icy water slowly freeze
to death.
3:30am:
The rescue ship, Carpathia's rockets
are sighted by the survivors in the lifeboats.
4:10am:
The first lifeboat is picked up
by Carpathia.
8:50am:
The Carpathia leaves the area bound
for New York, carrying 705 survivors.
April 18:
9:00 pm:
The Carpathia reaches New York.
April 19 to may 25:
An inquiry into the Titanic disaster
is conducted by the United States Senate.
April 22 to May 15 :
Several ships are sent to the disaster
site to search for bodies. A total of 328 bodies were found floating around
the area.
May 2 to July 3:
The British Inquiry is conducted.
Summ