Cherbourg

In 1907, the White Star Line inaugurated Southampton as its primary port for transatlantic steamers arriving in and departing from England. This placed the French port of Cherbourg about 80 nautical miles away, or about 5 hours at the speed ships traveled in 1907. Cherbourg did not have the full facilities to accommodate the large steamers in her docks, …

Read more

Discovery Of R.M.S. Carpathia

A U.S. expedition confirmed Friday it had located the wreck of RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued 705 survivors from the Titanic and that was later torpedoed by a German U boat. American author Clive Cussler and founder of the National Underwater & Marine Agency said the wreck that was found last spring was confirmed as thec Carpathia last …

Read more

Titanic’s Lifeboats

Titanic carried a total of 20 lifeboats, but Alexander Carlisle, one of the managing directors at Harland and Wolff, had suggested using a new type of larger davit, which could handle more boats, giving Titanic the potential of carrying 48 lifeboats, providing more than enough seats for everybody on board. But in a rare cost-cutting exercise, the White Star Line decided that only …

Read more

Titanic Conspiracy Theory

It would seem that you can´t have a good story without a conspiracy theory raising its ugly head these days, and the story of the Titanic is no exception. Robin Gardiner, a plasterer from Oxford, England, has written a book, ´Titanic – The Ship That Never Sank´, in which he goes to great lengths to persuade the …

Read more

Southampton and Titanic

The White Star Line had been using the port of Southampton, on the south coast of England, as a major, and mainly transatlantic, port since 1907. However, the existing dock areas would not be large enough to accommodate the new Olympic-classliners, so a new, and much larger dock covering 16 acres and dredged to almost forty feet was …

Read more