Tag: Titanic

The Sinking of SS Andrea Doria

25th July 1956

On this day, the luxury transatlantic Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria was struck in thick fog by the Swedish passenger liner Stockholm as she approached the coast of Nantucket in the USA. Struck on her starboard side, the top-heavy Andrea Doria immediately started to list severely and take on water, which left half of her lifeboats unusable. Fortunately, the calm, appropriate behaviour of the crew, together with improvements in communications, and the rapid response of other ships, averted a disaster similar in scale to that of Titanic in 1912. While 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued, 46 people on the ship died as a direct consequence of the collision. The evacuated luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. The accident remains the worst maritime disaster to occur in United States waters since the capsizing of the Eastland in Chicago in 1915.

looking back

The Fateful Maiden Voyage of RMS Titanic

10th April 1912

On this day, the British ocean liner RMS Titanic, set out from Southampton to New York on her maiden and fateful voyage. Built in Belfast for the White Star Line, Titanic was the largest ship on the ocean with first-class accommodation that was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury. It included a gymnasium, swimming pool, smoking rooms, fine restaurants and cafes, a Victorian-style Turkish bath, and hundreds of opulent cabins. On board were some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants seeking a new life in the United States and Canada. At about 2 o’clock in the morning on 14th April, the Titanic struck an iceberg and the steel plates of the hull buckled and separated, allowing water to rush in. In less than three hours, the Titanic had sunk and about 1,500 lives had been lost.

looking back