April 10, 1912

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Martin Antonenko

A Fixture
Joined
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8,994
The First Journey...


On Wednesday, April 10, 1912 shortly after 12noon, the largest ship of the world, brandnew liner RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton’s White Star Dock on her maiden voyage to New York...:

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Her commander is Captain Edward J. Smith, RD, RNR, who had arrived early that morning in preparation for the Board of Trade muster at 8am. As Commodore or Senior Captain of White Star he often commanded the newest vessel in the company, and was the highest paid ship’s captain in the world in 1912.

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As the longest-serving captain of the "White Star Line", "Commodore" Smith has the privilege of being able to operate the newest ship of the shipping company - previously he was in command of its somewhat smaller sister ship "Olympic"...:

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A decision born out of tradition, but obviously wrong, because Smith had acquired almost all of his seamanship on sailing ships and smaller steamers - and already showed on the "Olympic" that he was overwhelmed with the management of such huge ships!

Under his command, the "Olympic" collided with the British cruiser HMS "Hawke" on September 20, 1911, and both ships were badly damaged!

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Smith had completely misjudged the pull of the giant ship he was leading, which was the cause of the collision ...:

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He had let the "Olympic" pass by far too high and far too close to the warship, HMS "Hawke", actually on a safe parallel course to the "Olympic", had been sucked in by the liner despite hard oar maneuvers and had rammed it!

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"Titanic’s" Passenger Certificate certified the vessel to carry a maximum of 3,547 persons - 905 First Class Passengers, 564 Second Class and 1,134 Third Class, with 944 Officers and Crew. Passengers boarded the ship from around 9.30am until 11.30am, and as she left Southampton, Titanic had an estimated 1,846 people on-board.

Well, when the "Titanic" sails, Smith promptly repeats the mistake that led to the collision with the warship:

He lets the liner run out at too great a speed and too close to the other ships on the quay.

As the liner deprated, the huge amount of water she displaced almost caused a collision with SS New York...

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... who broke free of her moorings and swung towards Titanic.

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The quick actions of a nearby tug who pulled her out of the way saved the day and allowed the liner’s maiden journey to continue with just a small delay...:

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While Titanic was making her way from Southampton to Cherbourg, the two specially built for them tender ships SS Nomadic and SS Traffic ("Titanic" and "Olympic" were too large lo get in the harbour!) were already at the harbour, ready to ferry passengers out to the luxury liner. Nomadic transported 1st and 2nd Class passengers with Traffic ferrying the 3rd Class...:

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Having suffered the delay, travellers and luggage were onboard SS Nomadic by 5pm but there had still been no sighting of Titanic. After a few minutes the order was given to cast off and the tender ships headed out on the half hour journey through the choppy seas to the outer harbour. It was another hour before Titanic’s funnels were seen, with the liner finally arriving at Cherbourg around 6.35pm.


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A gangway was erected between Nomadic’s flying bridge deck and Titanic’s E Deck to allow passengers to transfer, with fifteen 1st Class and nine 2nd Class passengers disembarking after making the cross channel passage. In difficult conditions, where one woman fell and twisted her ankle, several men held down the swaying gangway for the 142 First Class, 30 Second Class and 102 Third Class passengers to come aboard.

Only 21 of those who embarked at Cherbourg were French, with the rest from America, England, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Syria and Uruguay. However luxury French products, such as champagne, wine and cheeses were also transferred to Titanic at the port – specifically 75,000 pounds of meat, 15,000 bottles of beer, 10,000 bottles of wine and 12,000 bottles of mineral water!

At 8.10pm Titanic finally departed for Queenstown, Ireland (today: Cobh), with SS Nomadic’s crew shouting farewells, “Goodbye, see you in fifteen days!”

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Captain Smith was born in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. There was a statue of him commissioned and was due to be erected in his home town, but due to the Titanic disaster, the council refused to have it installed, so it now rests in Lichfield, some 35 miles from his birthplace. There is also a small brewery based in Burslem, Stoke on Trent, called Titanic Ales and their product range are all named after things related to the disaster. It also owns several public houses in the area, one of which is called The White Star...(y)
 

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Hi Msrtin

Very interesting , despite being such a senior position Capt Smith hardly had good experience and hidtory with larger ships ...sounds a bit like jobs for the boys !

Good addition from Stevecas well

Cheers

Nap
 
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