Voices from the Titanic (3 page)

A great many brains and hands have been concerned in the construction of the
Titanic
and her sister ship, but, as is well known, the master mind of the whole achievement has been Lord Pirrie, who designed the vessels and has personally taken the responsibility of their construction from keel to truck, also their arrangements, decorations and equipment. It is not often given to a man, even at the zenith of his career, to achieve so notable a triumph as is represented by the completion of the trials of the
Olympic
and the launch of the
Titanic
on the same day, which moreover, by a happy coincidence is the birthday of both Lord and Lady Pirrie. Their many friends, and all interested in the new vessels, will regard this and the beautiful weather under which the events have taken place as a fortuitous combination of circumstances of the most auspicious character.

Thousands upon thousands of people assembled at all parts of the docks near to or opposite Messrs Harland & Wolff to enjoy the sight, but perhaps no finer view was secured than that in the vicinity of the Spencer Basin, which is situated on the County Antrim side of the river. Access to the basin was gained from Corporation Street right down past the timber piles, and from ten o'clock on till near noon, the roadway was thronged with men and women, boys and girls, from all classes of Belfast folk. The weather was brilliantly fine, and the gay colours of the ladies' dresses lent an animated brightness to a scene which on other days of the year is composed of dull piles of wood and stacks of coal, and with everything gay to the eye, and with the expectation of seeing the
Olympic
's sister ship take her plunge, everyone was in the best spirits. Down at the basin every possible point of vantage was taken up, the timber piles and coal stacks were utilized as grand stands for the time being, and lorries drawn up alongside the front of the river were also greatly utilized, the carters doing a rich day's work by charging twopence per head for standing room.

(
Ulster Echo
, 31 May 1911)

It took exactly sixty-two seconds for a launching weight of no less than 25,000 tons, travelling at a speed of twelve knots, to slip down the ways into deep water. And the amazing thing about it all was its seeming simplicity. As a nation we do great things quietly; and some of our overseas visitors who saw the
Titanic
enter with such quiet dignity the brown waters of the Lagan on Wednesday last must have thought for a moment that the launch of a 45,000-ton liner was quite an everyday incident in this famous Ulster shipyard. Indeed, it is not, of course, but Belfast is quickly educating us all to the idea that the only insurmountable limit to size in ships is the depth of the sea!

With the experience of the
Olympic
behind them the townsfolk of the Ulster capital took the launch of the
Titanic
almost as a matter of routine. Certainly there was no thought of failure or even hitch, and while there was a most pardonable display of local pride in this latest vessel sent forth from the Queen's Island yard, there was not, perhaps, the same element of novelty about the doings of the day, and the crowds that witnessed the launch were, I think, smaller than when the
Olympic
was waterborne on Oct. 20 last. Even so they were vast and enthusiastic, and the minute of launching thrilled them as before. The day was one of summer sunshine, and the scene was bright with dainty frocks, and with hats which in size paid a delicate compliment to the huge vessel herself.

It was in keeping with the traditions of the yard that there should be as little ceremony about the launch as possible. This rule appeared even to restrain the display of bunting visible within the shipyard itself. Save for the British ensign, the Stars and Stripes, and flags signalling ‘Good Luck!' which waved in a line from the landward edge of the gantries under which the vessel lay, there was an entire absence of decorative colour. The enormous proportions of the liner, it is true, did not suffer thereby, while the business character of what was being done gained immeasurably. Everything was carried out strictly to a well-defined programme, for everything was in order for the critical moment. There was no appearance of rush or anxiety, because the thing to be done was too great for any eleventh-hour hurry. Exactly an hour and a half before the vessel moved the clang of hammers under her indicated to the leisurely assembling people that the vessel's minutes on earth were numbered. That reads like an obituary notice; but in truth it is rather an intimation of birth. For every shore that was knocked away the bonds that bound this Titan to earth were being released; only the hydraulic triggers held her in place, and on these the pressure was rapidly increasing.

Meanwhile the stands erected for the convenience of the spectators within the yard were being gradually filled, and there successively appeared within the closely guarded foreground round the ship men of note in the shipping and shipbuilding world. The Right Hon. Lord Pirrie had been in the yard all the morning superintending the final arrangements for the launch of a vessel which owes her design and construction largely to his genius. A few minutes before noon (Irish time) he received the distinguished White Star party in the offices of the yard, and punctually at noon the owners' representatives took their places on the stand reserved for them by the side of the vessel and immediately in front of the mechanism that released her. In addition to Lord and Lady Pirrie and the directors and officials of the shipyard, prominent among these were Mr J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line; Mr J. Pierpont Morgan and Mr E. C. Grenfell (his partner); Mr Harold
A. Sanderson, general manager of the White Star Line; Mr Henry Concannon, assistant manager; Mr P. E. Curry, Southampton manager; Mr E. W. Bond, assistant Southampton manager; Mr R. J. A. Shelley, Liverpool; Mr M. H. Workman, London; Mr Charles F. Torrey, managing director of the Atlantic Transport Line; Mr John Lee, Mr Charles Payne, directors of Messrs Harland & Wolff; Mr J. W. Kempster, director; Mr R. Crighton, director; Mr Wm. Bailey, secretary; and Mr Saxon J. Payne, assistant secretary.

On a final tour of inspection Lord Pirrie left his guests to visit the platforms at the vessel's bows. A few minutes after noon a red flag was run up at the stern as a signal of preparation. Five minutes later two detonators warning the men to stand clear broke upon the hushed crowd to tell them all was ready and the mighty
Titanic
was straining to be set free. At 12.12 the firing of another rocket was followed immediately by Lord Pirrie giving the signal. For a second or two nothing happened. Then without fuss, without hesitancy, with much dignity and with an old-fashioned curtsy as her bows finally left the ways, the
Titanic
was waterborne. The supports that remained fell gently over like a pack of cards, and so smoothly and so sweetly did she take the water that there was practically no backwash. Her launching weight of 25,000 tons was slightly less than that of the
Olympic
.

How easily to the eye of the onlooker was this huge mass of ineffective power brought to! She was motionless apparently in less than her own length from the water edge of the slipway, though it must in reality have been more. Powerful forces were at work, restraining her from going one foot beyond the limits assigned. I understand that Messrs. Bullivant & Co., Ltd., the well-known steel wire rope makers, were responsible for the manufacture of the ropes used in the launch. Six check ropes and two drag ropes were used, each of these being eight inches in circumference and having a guaranteed breaking strain of over 200 tons. In the case of both the
Olympic
and
Titanic
wire ropes for mooring purposes were adopted, and these were supplied by the same firm. These hawsers are of 9½-inch circumference, and were guaranteed, together with thimbles and splices, to withstand a breaking strain
of 280 tons. Fussy but vigorous little tugs helped, too; and the well-known Mersey tugs
Herculaneum, Hornby
, and
Alexandra
were soon engaged in hauling the liner to the new fitting-out wharf below the Alexandra Graving Dock, while a score of small row boats were rescuing floating tallow from the water.

And through it all while the crowds cheered themselves hoarse, and while most of the spectators were homeward moving, Mr Pierpont Morgan sat in the owners' stand and smoked a contemplative cigar (brand unknown). Lord Pirrie beamed on all (and there were many) who congratulated him on the splendid success of the launch. These twentieth-century magicians deal not with spell and incantation, yet the magic of their work has surely no equal! than the
Titanic
, Lord and Lady Pirrie, both of whose birthdays, singularly enough, fell on Wednesday, could have had no better present to give to the world of intercourse, whereby seas are made narrower and hand may grasp hand round the wide world. Happy, indeed, were these coincidences, and they may be held to augur well for the future career of No. 401.

(
The Shipping World
, 7 June 1911)

The quarterly publication,
The Shipbuilder
, produced a special issue in the summer of 1911 to describe in detail the sumptuous accommodation provided for first-class passengers by the two new White Star Liners,
Olympic
and
Titanic
.

Comparing the
Titanic
to its sister ship, the article went on:

The state rooms in each of the three classes are distinguished by being exceptionally large and lofty, while the furnishings are probably without parallel on any vessel afloat. Everything has been done to ensure the comfort of the passenger, and he is given a degree of privacy hitherto almost unknown on board ship. Down to the least detail his wishes have been consulted. The wash-stand accessories are many; his wardrobe convenient to all his immediate needs; his couch the best he could possibly wish for. The popular Marshall ‘Vi-Spring' mattresses (formerly known as ‘Hare Spring') manufactured by the Marshall Sanitary Mattress Co. Ltd, London, are used very extensively on this ship, as they will be used on her sister ship, the
Titanic
; and in many other respects these state rooms will appeal to all sorts and conditions of voyagers. The second-class and third-class are furnished in a style that represents, without exaggeration, what was thought sufficient for the first-class only a few short years ago; and if there is one thing more than another that should induce second and third-class travellers to patronize this great liner, it is the fact that they share in all the advantages of an absolutely steady, practically unsinkable ship with those who can afford the highest-priced
suite of rooms that the
Olympic
can boast. This is a consideration of the first importance to all who are in the least afraid of the sea.