Design and History

In 1897, the Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse entered service on the North Atlantic run. Compared with other German liners of the era, this ship was different. In fact, compared with all liners crossing the Atlantic on regular passages, this ship was different. She was built by a German yard, she was the largest ship in the world, and she soon proved herself to be the fastest, and she was the first four-funnelled liner.

The North Atlantic trade had been dominated by Britain. Cunard had two record breakers, Lucania and Campania, in service, so the new German-built wonder-liner came as a shock to the British and, for the fastest transatlantic passenger ship voyage, she won the prestigious Blue Riband on her fourth trip. This was the first time that the distinction went to a German ship.

In the ten years starting in 1897, Norddeutscher Lloyd built four four-funnelled liners and Hamburg Amerika Linie built one – Deutschland, which in 1900 took the Blue Riband from Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.

However, these high-speed liners all had two fundamental flaws: they were expensive to run and they vibrated badly, particularly towards the stern, where it was most uncomfortable for passengers. Nevertheless, these German successes were a blow to the British.

The second blow to British shipping came when the prestigious Oceanic Steam Navigation Co Ltd, better known as White Star Line, was sold to the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMMC), or in other words John Pierpont Morgan, the American financier and banker. Even though White Star Line ships continued to sail under the British flag, were manned by British crews and the headquarters remained in England, the White Star Line was owned in the United States.

The British needed to respond. In 1907, Cunard commissioned Lusitania and Mauretania. These too would both win the Blue Riband, and Mauretania would remain the fastest ship on the North Atlantic until 1929, when the Blue Riband was recaptured, again, by Germany.

DESIGN BACKGROUND

On a summer evening in 1907, J Bruce Ismay, chairman of White Star Line, and Lord Pirrie, chairman of Harland & Wolff, the Belfast shipbuilders, met at Pirrie's home at Belgrave Square in London. The topic of the conversation was no doubt the developments in the transatlantic business. The idea of two giant liners, with possibly a third to follow and destined to win back passenger trade for White Star, was born over after-dinner drinks and cigars. These two giant liners would be named Olympic and Titanic. No attempt would be made to surpass the new Cunarders and the German record breakers in speed. Speed was not of the essence. These two new ships would be outstanding in size, luxury, comfort and safety with features such as electric lifts, an indoor swimming pool and a gymnasium. The lesser speed would lead to less vibration and so, in turn, improve passenger comfort. The gross tonnage of each liner was to be 45,000, which was considerably larger than the new Cunarders. A third ship, Gigantic, would follow.

They were to be powered by a combination of two four-cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating engines for the wing propellers and a Parsons low-pressure turbine for the centre propeller. This combination had been tried and tested on White Star's Laurentic and it proved to be very economical. The machinery was to be fired by twenty-four double-ended boilers with six furnaces each and five single-ended boilers with three furnaces each. Titanic's reciprocating engines, the largest ever built, extended over four decks and two watertight compartments.

Despite the disaster on 14 April 1912, Titanic was possibly the safest ship of her time. Her hull was divided into sixteen watertight compartments and had a double bottom. By the 'flick of a switch' the captain could close the watertight doors and make the vessel 'practically unsinkable'. She could stay afloat with her first three watertight compartments opened to the sea. Indeed, Titanic would have remained afloat if she had hit the iceberg head on, but nobody foresaw a glancing blow that would open six watertight compartments to fatally wound the ship and cause her to founder.

Nor was it ever intended to leave the third class passengers to their fate. The idea behind so few lifeboats was that there would always be a ship nearby to assist should something happen. The idea was to row out the first class passengers first, row back to collect the second class and then the third. This philosophy was supported by the experience gained during the loss of the White Star's Republic, which sank in 1909 after a collision in heavy fog. Republic's wireless operator sent out the first CQD in history and several ships came to Republic's assistance. The few casualties were a direct result of the collision. Nearly everyone on board was saved.

On 28 July 1908, a delegation of the most important people in British shipping arrived at Harland & Wolff's shipyard at Queen's Island, Belfast. Harland & Wolff had prepared concept plans and a small half-model of the giant new ships. With Morgan's financial muscle in the background, the costs of these ships would clearly be covered. Three days later, on 31 July, the contract letter was signed for the two liners – the builder's yard numbers 400 (Olympic) and 401 (Titanic). Olympic's keel was laid on 16 December 1908, followed by Titanic's just over three months later on 31 March 1909. This time span was necessary to take some of the logistical pressure off the workshops during the construction of these huge ships.

In the unpredictable weather of spring 1909, the cellular double bottom of Titanic expanded from each side of the keel. During the summer months the workers began to raise the frames. Titanic's hull was fully framed by April 1910 and work on the hull plating began. The shell plates were generally about 30 ft long and up to 6 ft high. The largest plates each weighed 4.5 tons. Mild steel was used for construction throughout.

Above the bridge deck, the upper hull was built of lighter scantlings and was of lesser structural significance. Two expansion joints were included into these decks to permit the hull to move and flex freely when the ship was under way in heavy seas.

The shell plates were kept together by steel rivets that could easily fit into the palm of a man's hand, and which were pushed through holes in overlapping shell plates. The end of the rivet shaft that extended beyond the overlapping plates was hydraulically compressed into a snap (rounded) head in a split second. This action fired the rivet redhot and as it cooled it shrank and thereby pulled the overlapping shell plates tight. Three million rivets were needed to build each hull. By October 1910, the shell plating was complete.

Olympic was launched on 20 October 1910 and she was moored at the deepwater wharf where fitting out began. Her hull settled deeper into the water as the boilers were installed, funnels and masts were erected and the...