A Tragedy Unfolded

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A Tragedy Unfolded On a dark, but star struck, frigid April night in 1912, the North Atlantic became a part in history like no other. Today, she sits 2.4 miles under the ocean, once adored and applauded for her prestigious amenities and sophisticated elegance, The RMS Titanic lays shattered and scattered on the ocean floor. We read about her in articles and see documentaries on television, the luxurious cruise liner that will forever be known as the “unsinkable ship”, tells a story of her own even more than 100 years after her foundering. Throughout the decades we have learned more and more of what happened that fateful night. What happened in the early hours of April 15th, 1912 in the middle of the Atlantic that would have caused this unsinkable ship to perish and captivate our minds forever? Many factors come into play as the story unfolds, but perhaps we need to go back further to the beginning of her creation. In fact, the ship herself may have been doomed from the beginning before she ever left port. Multiple series of unfortunate events will lead this beautiful state of the art craft to her demise. The building of her watertight compartments, the disregard to iceberg warnings and the lack of sufficient lifeboats would all play a part in the tragic night. The Titanic was the second of three large ships in the ‘Olympic Class’ from the White Star Line company. The rival company, Cunard, had produced and launched two ships in 1907 that took the title of the most prestigious ships ever made, holding record of the fastest transatlantic crossing known at that time. This prompted chief executive, Bruce Ismay of White Star Line to propose the construction of three ships to out beat their competitor. These ships would be the grande... ... middle of paper ... ...a certain height? What happened to all the iceberg warnings and why were they not addressed? Had the Titanic been carrying enough lifeboats to occupy all onboard, would everyone have been saved that frightful night? On May 31, 2009 the last remaining survivor, Millvina Dean passed away. “And with that, all who sailed on the Titanic were gone.” (Titanic: The Tragedy, 2012). References Titanic. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/titanic Titanic: The Tragedy that Shook the World. (2012). New York, NY: Life Books. Titanic’s 100th Anniversary: 6 Survivor Stories. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/blog/titanics-100th-anniversary-6-survivor-stories-20799733 The Titanic: Lost & Found. (1985). Retrieved from http://www.archive.org/stream/oceanusv2804wood#page/10/mode Explore Titanic. (2011). Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.

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