TITANIC

Bientôt un siècle que ce somptueux bateau à coulé et il fait toujours rêver. Cette semaine dans "La Soir Magazine" une maquette en carton du TITANIC. Ce soir dans Thalassa un reportage sur le TITANIC et mercredi sortie dans les salles de TITANIC en 3D

Un très beau livre sur le TITANIC

On a raconté malheureusement beaucoup de conneries sur le Titanic, comme par exemple que le Commandant Smith voulait battre le record de vitesse du Mauretania, alors que la vitesse des "O" vessels (Olympic/Titanic/Britannic) était inférieure de 3 noeuds à celle du couple Lusitania/Mauretania, etc...

un excellent site américain, où on aborde en long et en large, et d'une manière intelligente, le Titanic et ses deux sister-ships, surtout au niveau des articles techniques:
http://titanic-model.com/

Dimanche à 20.50 sur la RTBF Documentaire; Titanic, la véritable histoire

Voici quelques articles sur le Titanic pris dans un encart de Ciné Télé Revue.

Une émision sur RTL TVI à 19 h 45 Un siècle d'enquêtes

Pour les passionnés du Titanic, bientôt un événement important :

construction du TITANIC



35 photos of the construction of the Titanic that you don’t often see
Engineered to be the largest and most luxurious steamship in the world, the Titanic was truly a marvel of modern engineering. The largest luxury cruise vessel of its time, the ship was designed to be the biggest and highest quality ship available; had everything from an indoor pool, to a diner, to three different classes for passengers. One of the most magnificent vessels to ever sail the Atlantic ocean, an example of craftsmanship, technology and majesty. The Titanic had two sisters named the Olympic and the Britannic (originally called the Gigantic), all of which were designed to be the largest and most luxurious vessels in the world.



The Titanic was designed using the latest in technology and with a vision of grandiose things in store for it. The idea of a luxury liner was first conceived in 1907, but the plans were introduced in 1909 and using the latest technology, the Harland Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland created what they thought to be an unsinkable vessel.

“Not even God himself could sink this ship.” White Star Employee.

Workmen preparing new slipways for building Olympic and Titanic.


Titanic gantry.


Hull of the Olympic in the foreground and the keel of the Titanic in the background.


Under construction.

Titanic and Olympic under construction, 1910.


A rare view of Titanic’s internal construction, 1910.


Erecting the giant Arrol Gantry over the slipways for Olympic and Titanic.



Construction of RMS Titanic, funded by the American J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co., began on 31 March 1909.
The Titanic construction was the work of Lord William Pirrie (director of Harland Wolf and White Star), naval architect Thomas Andrews (Harland Wolf construction manager), and Alexander Carlisle, the shipyard’s chief draughtsman and general manager. Designed to be the world’s largest passenger steamship upon its completion, the Titanic was nearly 883 feet long and 104 feet high. Accommodations for first class passengers included palatial state rooms, some with their own promenades, along with a grand staircase, library, smoking room, squash court, sumptuous restaurants and other amenities. Second and Third Class accommodations, while far less posh, were still considered better than their counterparts on other ships.

Of Harland & Wolff’s 15,000 workers, around 3,000 labored on the Titanic. Records show injuries to nearly 250 workers, with two workers dying in construction accidents in the shipyard and six more dying on board ship during building and fitting. Given the lax worker protection standards at the time, this was actually a good safety record.


Olympic and Titanic’s empty hulls have been under construction beneath the gantry for 2 years.


Preparations are almost complete for the launch of Titanic on 31 May 1911.

Titanic in the Great Gantry under construction at Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast.


Hydraulic rams for launching, 1911.


One of Titanic’s Steam Engines, Harland & Wolff’s Engine Works, Belfast, May 1911.


24 Double Storey Scotch Class Boilers.


Side view of both of Titanic’s reciprocating steam engines in Harland & Wolff’s Engine Works, May 1911.

The primary design concept meant to make the Titanic unsinkable was a series of sixteen compartments separated by watertight bulkheads in the lower portion of the ship. Rather than, force passengers to use stairs to move between compartments, the ship’s designers included doors between them. In case of emergency, those doors could be closed with the flip of a switch, sealing the compartments off from one another and theoretically keeping water confined to the breached compartments. Even if, two middle or four front compartments were breached, the theory ran, the ship would stay afloat. Unfortunately, the iceberg that sank the Titanic breached five compartments.

It took two years to complete the actual construction of the Titanic, during which time workers placed 2,000 steel plates to form the hull, held together with more than three million rivets. Many riveters reported developing hearing problems later in life as a result of the noise the accompanied this task. Meanwhile, British forging company N. Hingley & Sons cast Titanic’s side and center anchors. The center anchor, over 18 feet long and weighing over 15 tons, was the largest hand-forged anchor ever made at the time. Most links in the anchor chains N. Hingley & Sons forged were 33 inches long though the largest links were a full three feet in length. In all, the Titanic received nearly 1,200 feet of chain for its anchors.



Crankshafts from the Britannic, same as those used on the Titanic.


Titanic’s Turbine Rotor.


Turbine casing used on the Britannic, same as that used on the Titanic.


In this remarkable photograph, taken in May 1911, shipyard men are fitting Titanic’s starboard tail shaft.


Titanic’s propellers and rudder.

Shipbuilders gather underneath one of the Titanic’s propellers, 1912.


The Titanic, lying at the dock at Belfast.




The ship was equipped with two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engines and one low-pressure Parsons turbine, which powered three propellers.



A gantry is a crane system that maneuvers over the top of a ship in the dockyard carrying materials and workers to the heights and depths of building ships. The Titanic’s 220-foot Gantries were custom built to meet the needs of such a monstrous vessel and can be seen here. To power the largest movable structure ever made would require an enormous power source and in the early 1900’s that source was coal powered steam. There were twenty-four double ended Scotch class boilers and a further five single-ended boilers which were housed in six boiler rooms. The double ended boilers measured 20 feet long, with a diameter of 15 feet 9 inches and contained six coal burning furnaces. The single ended boilers were 11 feet 9 inches long with the same diameter.

With all boilers firing the Titanic produced around 46,000 horsepower. Thomas Andrew’s original design of the Titanic was so efficient that it was originally conceived with only three funnels to service the massive boilers some 150 feet below. White Star thought it a necessity a ship of such grandeur must possess four funnels. As a result, only three of the funnels were functional and the fourth was purely aesthetic. The Funnels were constructed off site and attached after the Titanic had left Dry-dock. The Titanic was equipped with a steam powered triple screw propulsion system to ensure it moved across the ocean at a respectable pace of approximately 22 knots but the blades were deliberately pitched at such an angle that the ship would not vibrate, discomfort or distract the passengers from the more elegant points of Titanic’s voyage on board when enjoying the smoking and dining rooms.The Hull would measure 882.9 ft in length and 92 feet in width and require at least 59 feet of water to float unobstructed.

Construction of the Titanic took the work of about 3000 laborers and nearly 3 million rivets.

The total cost of Titanic construction amounted to $7.5 million.



Titanic construction, 1911.


Construction of the Titanic. Transporting funnel.


Titanic had three functional funnels. The fourth was purely aesthetic to make the ship look more imposing.

Fitting-out, 1911–12.


Titanic, side view.


Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912.


The launch.

Once construction was complete, on May 31, 1911, twenty-five stories high, weighing 46,000 tons, and the largest moving object ever built at the time, the Titanic was ready to sail. During that year, workers installed the Titanic’s engines and funnels and completed its remarkable interior. By April 2, 1912, the ship was set to begin its sea trials.


Titanic fitting-out at the deepwater wharf early in 1912.

By late January 1912 the date of Titanic’s maiden voyage had been officially announced as 10 April 1912.


The Olympic and the Titanic.


Olympic (left) being maneuvered into dry dock in Belfast for repairs on the morning of March 2, 1912, after throwing a propeller blade. Titanic (right) is moored at the fitting-out wharf. Olympic would sail for Southampton on the 7th, concluding the last time the two ships would be photographed together.


Titanic leaving Belfast for her sea trials on 2 April 1912.

Titanic in Color: Mesmerizing Colorized Photos of The Ship of Dreams

To this day, people find the unfortunate tale of RMS Titanic, fascinating, sad and mesmerizing. One of those people is Thomas Schmid, an artist who decided to show his fascination for the doomed liner by giving it a new, colorful perspective.
Titanic in Color is a new project ( still in progress), that allow us to see the monochromatic photos of the luxurious liner in vivid colors.








The idea is to show the Titanic in color, outside and inside. The colors are carefully chosen according the builders materials and paint instructions. This project is still – work in progress – !

Beside the colorization and some dust or scratch removal the original black & white photographs are left untouched. We have not added anything like clouds or other items to make the photo look more dramatic or spectacular. writes Shcmid on his website.

“My interest about the Titanic began in my early childhood. I believe I build the first 3D model of Titanic at the age of 6 out of Lego bricks.  Ever since I was fascinated of the ship and her tragedy. Approaching the 100th commemoration of her sinking requests about color footage came in. Of course there was none! But thanks to the computer we could help out. ”

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City, US. The sinking resulted in the loss of more than 1,500 passengers and crew, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The RMS Titanic, the largest ship afloat at the time it entered service, was the second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, and was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast with Thomas Andrews as her naval architect. Andrews was among those lost in the sinking. On her maiden voyage, she carried 2,224 passengers and crew.


The disaster was greeted with worldwide shock and outrage at the huge loss of life and the regulatory and operational failures that had led to it. Public inquiries in Britain and the United States led to major improvements in maritime safety. One of their most important legacies was the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), which still governs maritime safety today. Additionally, several new wireless regulations were passed around the world in an effort to learn from the many missteps in wireless communications—which could have saved many more passengers.



The wreck of Titanic remains on the seabed, split in two and gradually disintegrating at a depth of 12,415 feet (3,784 m). Since her discovery in 1985, thousands of artefacts have been recovered and put on display at museums around the world.Titanic has become one of the most famous ships in history, her memory kept alive by numerous books, folk songs, films, exhibits, and memorials.