88
SVN Solovelanet Global
On top, a picture of Titanic's bow obtained
by film director James Cameron with sonar
scans. Here above, the three huge propel-
lers of the ship. Below, the ship underway
Traffic between the old and the new continent is incre-
asing constantly and multitudes of rural workers,
tired of their destitute conditions, are abandoning the
countryside in Europe to seek their fortunes in America.
The United Kingdom is still the head of a large Empire
and the most prominent nation, the place where all
great innovations are created or arrive.
During this period, Joseph Bruce Ismay was the
head of the British shipping company White Star
Line. Obsessed withwith the success of the rival
Cunard Line, owner of the ocean liner Carpathia, in
1909, Ismay ordered the Irish shipyard Harland and
Wolff to build three ocean liners: the Olympic, the
Gigantic and the Titanic.
He wanted them long, large, and luxurious and so
they were. On April 10th, 1912, Ismay stepped aboard
the Titanic for its maiden voyage, from Southampton
to New York. Along with Ismay there were another
1323 passengers and 889 crew members, a total of
2,223 people.
For the departure from Southampton, thousands
of people crowded on the docks. People cheered,
threw confetti and a military band played. Everyone
wanted to watch the Titanic set sail.
During the first four days of the voyage, first class
life on board actually lived up to the White Star's
description of what it was going to be. Everything
is about luxury. There are shows, restaurants with
chefs ready to cook day and night for VIP guests,
smoking and whiskey lounges, a library, and an
orchestra performing every night.
Then things began to turn. In the morning of April
14th, four days into the journey, the wireless opera
-
tor received an iceberg warning message from RMS
Baltic.
