SWiSH [construct.swi]

The ship weighed 46,328 Gross Registered tonnes.
Each tunnel was big enough to fit 2 trains in.
There were 10 decks on the ship.
In comparison to other manmade objects it was the height equivalent of an 11 story building.

Length:	882.5 feet
Width:	92.5 feet
Total height :	104 feet
Tonnage:	46,328
Decks:	10
Boilers:	29
Furnaces:	159
Propellers:	3
Watertight compartments:	16
Max Speed:	24-25 knots
Passengers & crew aboard:	2,228
Lifeboats:	20 (1,176 places)

The Titanic was a major step forward in the field of transport, science and in overall technology. At this time major advances were taking place in technology and Titanic was just one of them. For example a year after the Titanic sank Henry Fords first car the Model T was manufactured. So the Titanic was part of a major technological boom at the start of 20th century.

White Star was the company that owned the Titanic. The company changed from being involved with the Australian goldfields to luxury shipping when Thomas Ismay bought it in 1867. The first ships built by Harland and Wolff for White Star was in 1869. In 1908 White Star decided to build massive ocean liners to compete with those of the Cunard Liner’s ships. The ships had to be bigger, faster and overall better. The Titanic the biggest of the ships was to be built by Harland and Wolff under the supervision of Lord Piffie and his nephew Thomas Andrews.

A contract for the building of 3 major ships The Olympic, The Titanic and a sister ship Britannic. The final cost of the Titanic will be Ł1,500,000 ($7,500,000). Also new docks are to be built on either side of the Atlantic. Harland and Wolff had also to build new stronger slips.

Titanic’s Hull is successfully launched. At the time she was the largest manmade moveable object. Twenty-two tones of soap, tallow and train oil are used to grease up the slipway to protect the freshly painted hull. In July of that year the first projected date for her maiden voyage is March 20, 1912. But later that year the date was changed to April 10, 1912.

20 lifeboats are installed onto the ship. The first designer suggested more lifeboats but an outdated British board of Trade regulations stated that the Titanic 20 lifeboats actually exceeded the amount needed by 10%. During March her lifeboats are tested and her outfitting is finished.

The all important day, a running test is conducted. The test was running the boat out into the Irish Sea for about 40 miles. She ran at a speed of 18 knots and the tests passed board trade standards. At 8:00pm she leaves for Southampton.

She arrives in Southampton and the ship is prepared for her maiden voyage. On the 6th of April her crew board and prepare to leave on the 10th of April after that the Titanic will see her land of birth Ireland for the last time.

Since the Titanic sank people investigating the ship have come up with some unusual findings. Some of these stories are pretty far-fetched... but we'll let you make up your own mind. Here are a few of the most popular myths that have been associated with the ship.

The Titanic was never christened. The christening of a ship is when it is blessed and a bottle of champagne is smashed on its hull. It is known that White Star Liners and Harland & Wolffe never christened their ships.

The christening of a ship is a ritual that goes back to the early days of shipping. It was a sacrifice to the gods to ensure a safe journey. At that time it was taken seriously but by the Titanic's time it was just good luck. Some people believed that it was ignoring this naval custom that was the cause of Titanic's end.

In 1889, 14 years before Titanic's maiden voyage, the book "Futility" was written by an English author Morgan Robertson. It was a fictional book, which told the story of a boat called the "Titan".

The Titan was the biggest ship in the world and the story is about her maiden voyage across the Atlantic in the month of April. The ship, which was going too fast, collided with an iceberg and sank killing most of the people on it.

This is very strange, as all the details about "The Titan" were nearly the same as those about "The Titanic".... her weight and length, too few lifeboats, the number of compartments. Also the reason she collided with the iceberg in the book was because the crew were too confident of the ship and went faster than they should. Another similarity was the fact that there were not enough lifeboats on the ship. The author was illustrating mankind's growing lack of respect for the forces of nature and the danger of technology.

This is a very unusual myth. The myth goes that an unidentified American bought a Mummy's case from the British museum. He has it shipped home onboard the Titanic. The case has painted on the front of it's former occupant. It is said to have looked very real and in pain. The case was supposedly stored on the bridge of the ship near the Captains quarters. Due to the evil influence of the mummy the Titanic hits the iceberg and sinks. It is said that it is smuggled off the ship and causes another two ships to sink. The reasons that this might not have happened is that the British Museum never sells any artefacts to private buyers and no historical accounts show a mummy onboard.

The ship is supposed to have the numbers 3909 04 somewhere on it's hull and in plain view. The numbers if written with the top of the 4 open and held in front of a mirror spell "No Pope".

This would have been a very bad omen for the ship, added to the fact that it was never christened. This is hard to prove, as there is no photographic evidence of the numbers being on the ship. The ship was built in a mainly Catholic area of Belfast but Protestant workers could have put it there. This again is not proven. It is worth remembering also that 17 of Harland & Wolff's workers died in accidents while building Titanic. There may have been a lot of bitterness over this.