RMS Titanic
Welcome to Titanic And Co. The Titanic section of the site examines her construction, layout, opulent furnishings, passenger experiences and the central personalities are introduced. Important aspects of her maiden voyage are revisited; the first ice warnings, lookouts, striking the iceberg, sinking, partial lifeboat evacuation and the lessons learned from the Inquiries held in Britain and America.

For many decades the Titanic disaster has lived in our hearts since she sank with just under 1500 lives in April 1912.

Over 100 years later, historians, writers and even film makers are still fascinated with the “unsinkable” liner. The late Millvina Dean (one of the Titanic survivors) predicted that the “Titanic story will never die.” She was right. Memories were awoken when Dr Robert Ballard discovered the wreck in 1985.

Famous Sea Disasters
The loss of the Lusitania, which shocked the world, is examined and the Inquiry which followed. Other Cunarders such as Aquitania and Mauretania are featured and then more modern liners: Queen Mary (1936), Queen Elizabeth (1940), and Queen Elizabeth 2 or QE2 (1969).

Other famous disasters at sea are reviewed: the sinking of the Empress of Ireland (1906), due to a collision in May 1914 which led to an official inquiry, the fire on the Normandie (1932) which caused the ship to turn over in its dock in February 1942 and the sinking of the Andrea Doria (1951) in July 1956. The SS Great Britain (1843) is also examined.

The Great Liners

RMS Titanic

RMS Titanic

Titanic was declared to be "unsinkable". At 11.40 pm on 14 April 1912, during her maiden voyage, she struck an iceberg and sank a couple of hours later. Over 1500 people died. Many questions were raised regarding the safety of passengers and about the ships which were being built at the time. Following the findings at the Inquiries certain legislation was changed.

RMS Olympic

RMS Olympic

Olympic was Titanic's older sister. She was nicknamed "The Old Reliable" and served as a passenger liner for 24 years before being dismantled in 1935. Parts of her First Class Lounge have been reassembled in the Olympic Suite in the White Swan Hotel at Alnwick, Northumberland.

HMHS Britannic

HMHS Britannic

The youngest of the "Titanic class" served as a hospital ship (HMHS) for most of her career. On Tuesday 21 November 1916, Britannic hit a mine and sank in just 55 minutes. Miraculously, only 30 officers and crew died. The site of the wreck was discovered by Jacques Cousteau in 1975 and since then has been explored by Dr Robert Ballard.


RMS Lusitania

RMS Lusitania

The sinking of the Lusitania on 7 May 1915 caused great controvesy. A German U-Boat torpedoed the ship and caused two great explosions which sank her. The British government accused the Germans of attacking an unarmed vessel and the Germans argued that the ship was a naval vessel carrying munitions and ammunition and was therefore a viable target. 1,198 people lost their lives. The wreck site was explored by Dr Robert Ballard in 1993.

RMS Mauretania

RMS Mauretania

Sister ship to the Lusitania, Mauretania was known as "The Grand Old Lady of the Atlantic". She was well known for her speed and held the Blue Riband for most of her career. During the First World War she became a hospital and troop ship and served under the British Admiralty. She retired in 1934 and was broken up a year later.

RMS Aquitania

RMS Aquitania

She was designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. She was the youngest sister to the Lusitania and launched on 21 April 1913. Not long after her maiden voyage to New York, the First World War broke out and she became an auxillary cruiser and then transformed into a troop ship. She also served in the Second World War as a hospital ship. Her career spanned over 36 years until she was broken up in 1950.


RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary

Designed and build by the Cunard-White Star line, Queen Mary was launched on 26 September 1934. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936. During her career she predominantly served the atlantic crossing between Southampton and New York. For several years she competed with the SS Normandie for the Blue Riband and they took turns at the accolade. During the Second World War ahe was fitted out as a troop ship and made many successful voyages sometimes carrying over 15,000 troops. She retired from service in 1967 and is now a floating hotel at long Beach, California.

RMS Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Elizabeth

She was launched on 27 September 1938 with the purpose of being the largest passenger liner ever built. However, her intial service was as a troop ship. Her first crossing as a cruise liner took place on 16 October 1946. Transatlantic crossings declined by the late 1960s and Queen Elizabeth was retired along with the Queen Mary. After several buyers (including Long Beach) she was purchased with the intention of her becoming a floating university. In 1972 a fire broke out during her refurbishment and after taking on too much water capsized in Hong Kong harbour.

QE2

SS Queen Elizabeth II

The QE2 was built by John Brown & Co. Shipyard on the Cylde, Scotland for the Cunard Line in 1965. She was launched on 20 September 1967 and sailed on her maiden voyage to New York on 2 May 1969. During her 40 year career she sailed around the world as a cruise liner. The Queen Mary 2 became Cunard's flagship in 2004 and the QE2 retired in Novemember 2008. She was purchased by an investment firm in Dubai and restored to be opened to the public in 2018.


SS Normandie

SS Normandie

The SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). She was the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat. She was launched on 29 October 1932 and began her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York on 29 May 1935. During the Second World War she was to become a troop ship and renamed USS Lafayette. During her conversion in New York harbour to be a troop ship, a fire broke out on 9 Februaruy 1942. After taking on too much water from the fire hoses, She keeled over and was to badly damaged to be repaired. She was sold for scrap in 1946.

SS Andrea Doria

SS Andrea Doria

She was launched on 16 June 1951 and owned by the Italian Line. On 25 July 1956 she collided with the Stockholm, a vessel lowned by the Swedish American Line. The bow of the Stockholm pentrated the side of the Andrea Doria which caused her to list severely to starboard rendering half of her lifeboats inoperable. The ship remained afloat for 11 hours during which time most of the passengers had been rescued by other ships who came to the rescue. 46 people died during the disaster. Many lawsuits follwed to detrmine fault but the claims were settled by the ship owners before the cases were heard by the Courts.

RMS Empress of Ireland

SS Empress of Ireland

The Empress of Ireland and her sister ship, the Empress of Britain, were built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan, Scotland. She was launched on 27 January 1906 and completed her maiden voyage six months later. On 29 May 1914, she collided with a Norwegian collier called the SS Storstad and sank. She carried 1,477 passengers and crew. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 1,012 people. The ship sank in 15 minutes partially due to the watertight doors being left open, open portholes and longitudinal bulkheads allowing cross flooding.


SS Great Britain

SS Great Britain

She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York City. Her maiden voyage took 14 days. In 1846 she ran aground in Dundrum Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland and was sold and repaired. For most of her career she carried immigrants to Australia. She was damaged beyond economical repair in a fire in 1886 and was used as a coal bunker until she was scuttled in 1937. In 1970 a restoration project began to return the ship to Bristol and restore her to her former glory.

HMHS Rohilla

HMHS Rohilla

The Rohilla was ordered by the British India Steam Navigation Company and built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast in 1906. During the First World War she was converted into a hospital ship. On 30 October 1914, on her way to Dunkerque to pick up wounded soldiers, the Rohilla was caught in a violent storm off the coast of Whitby, England and ran aground. Despite the treacherous weather conditions, a three day rescue attempt began. Lifeboats from the north of Englang sailed to their rescue. 146 people were saved from the 229 on board.


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