RMS Titanic - Construction
Source: ANATOMY OF THE TITANIC - Tom McCluskie
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RMS TITANIC SHIP OF LEGEND, ship of dreams...not really, the story of RMS Titanic had a very simple beginning. It began one evening in July 1907 in Downshire House, a large Victorian mansion situated in the heart of fashionable Belgrave Square. It was the London home of the Right Honourable, the Lord Pirrie who, accompanied by his wife was entertaining two friends for dinner that evening. Mr. and Mrs. J. Bruce Ismay. After enjoying a pleasant meal, the ladies retired to the drawing room while the two gentlemen relaxed in each other's company and indulged themselves with cigars, fine wines, and some pleasant after dinner conversation.
The main topic of their discussion soon turned to future developments in shipbuilding and naval architecture. This was not as suprising an after dinner topic as it would appear, when we consider who the two gentlemen conerned were: Ismay was chairman of the White Star Line, which formed a major part if the International Mercantile Marine, or the IMM Group as it was better known in shipping circles. Lord Pirrie was chairman of Harland & Wolff Ltd, at that time the largest shipbuilding company in Europe and probably the world. Together these two leviathans of the world of marine transport represented the leading edge of technology at the time and were a symbol if international commerce on the grandest scale.
The IMM Group was, in essence, an American conglomerate owned and financed by the famous banker and millionaire, J. Pierpoint Morgan. It had previously established considerable and diverse business interests in the ownership of several shipping companies of which the White Star Line formed the principal element. White Star epitomised the very finest in elegance and style of the Victorian era; its vessels were outfitted to the highest standard of craftsmanship using only the very best materials and equipment available.
The company had long before adopted a policy that it would not in what was regarded as the somewhat vulgar, and indeed pointless, exercise of competing in the never-ending race to achieve the fastest crossing of the Atlantic. The White Star Line's reputation would be built on the traditional values of luxury and service - an ocean voyage, after all, was to be savoured and enjoyed to the fullest extent; they would leave this obsessive pursuit of speed to others, among them the White Star Line's great rival the Cunard Line.
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During the course of their conversation, Ismay touched on this subject, remarking to Pirrie that he was more than a little concerned about the publicity Cunard was currently receiving. The plaudits were for crossing the Atlantic at speed and were caused by Cunard's introduction into service of their flagship Mauretania, which had captured the Blue Ribband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic in 1907. Incensed by what he regarded as indifference to his beloved White Star Line, Ismay determined that something had to be done to redress the balance and recapture the comany's leading position. Lord Pirrie tactfully reminded Ismay that this would not be quite so easily accomplished as White Star Line had never wished to enter the market for speed crossing of the Atlantic and had always acquisced in this respect to other shipping lines - in particular Cunard.
Ismay confirmed that he had no intention of changing White Star policy in this regard: indeed, it was his firm intention to ensure the name “White Star Line” would forever be synonymous with the upper end of the trans-Atlantic passenger market and be renowned for the excellence of its service provided in the most elegant and luxurious surroundings possible.
However, in capturing the Blue Ribband trophy for Great Britain the Mauretania had fired the imagination of the general public as never before and had brought a patriotic fervour where there had been little before. Indeed, the achievements of the Cunard Line had become a matter of national interest to the detriment of all other shipping lines.
Ismay had decided that this situation could not be allowed to continue unchecked, and he knew just what needed to be done. White Star Line would build the greatest vessel the world had ever seen. It would the the largest and most luxurious vessel ever built, and would incorporate the finest materials and craftsmanship in its construction.
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As the wine flowed and the conversation became more relaxed, the thoughts of the two men turned to formulating the conceptual design for such a magnificent vessel. However they quickly realised that to maintain a regular service two such vessels would be required, and in the heady atmosphere two ships rapidly became three. They were to be known as Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic - although the latter would, in fact, be built much later then her twin sisters and would actually be named Britannic.
To understand further the reasons behind these discussions, it is useful to consider the position of trans-Atlantic travel in the first decade of the 20th century. To begin with, the crossing of the Atlantic between Europe and the United States had grown in importance since the middle of the 19th century when the Great Irish Famine started a diaspora that would see half Ireland's population leave its homeland. The North American economy was growing and immigration, trade and social links between the Old World and the New World meant that trans-Atlantic travel was booming. The race was on to produce ever larger and faster liners than previously constructed, using the relatively new technology - for shipping - of steam engines pushing iron ships.
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Unfortunately this insatiable demand for larger ship designs was pushing the bounds of knowledge of naval architecture to the limit and sometimes beyond. As we know now, the final result of this technological pressure would be tragedy, but such thoughts were far from the minds of Ismay and Pirrie that evening or, indeed, of any shipbuilder.
In 1907 the rivalry was not just a matter between competing companies, but had become international - particularly between Great Britain and Germany, both of which wanted one of their vessels to assume the mantle of being the “best”. In specific terms, the Blue Ribband became a talisman, conferring on the holder the honour of being not just the fastest, but also the most prestigious vessel.
Much of this rivalry emanated from Anglo-German relations - someting that would explode into world war in 1914. The competition between the two most powerful maritime powers in Europe led to a rapid increase in liner building in British and German shipyards over the period. While this was good news for the shipyards, it placed a heavt financial burden on the shipping companies who had to pay for the vessels. Some method had to be found to alleviate the emormous financial drain on the shipowners' resources, in particular those of the Cunard Line, which was the vanguard of the battle.
Under legislation in force at the time, it wass illegal to offer direct financial assistance in the funding of merchant vessel construction, and therefore a method had to be found to circumvent the law. The solution, like all good ideas, was remarkably simple and involved the possibility that merchant vessels would be commandeered by the Royal Navy in time of war. The British Government introduced a scheme to provide shipowners with a cost subsidy - to a maximum of 50 percent of the vessel construction. To qualifiy for this subsidy, the shipowner was required to construct the new vessel to Admiralty standard, in that it would be suitable for conversion to the armed merchant service in time of war. In reality this requirement consisted in the main of a greater than normal thickness of upper deck plating to accommodate the mounting of a naval gun, and additional watertight compartments throughout the hull.
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The greatest beneficiery of these subsidies was, of course, Cunard Line, which was locked in a fierce battle for Atlantic supremacy with the German national shipping company Hamburg-Amerika. Cunard immediately instituted a rapid expansion programme for its fleet of vessels, the orders going mainly to the John Brown and Swan Hunter shipyards. White Star, as part of the IMM Group, was in essence an American company and not engaged in this competition. It preferred to sit on the sidelines and let the two opponents battle things out between them.
As we have established, White Star was not actively pursuing the Blue Ribband. From the outest the IMM Group had decided to expand its business interests in merchant shipping and wanted to diversify its involvement as much as possible. The intention was to purchase a number of smaller shipping companies which would be suitable for futher investment and development, and - more importantly - provide the necessary vehicles to consolidate these diverse activities. One such smaller concern was the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, a small and under-funded shipping company verging on the brink of financial collapse. Bruce Ismay, with approval and financial support from J. Pierpoint Morgan, purchased the shares of the ailing company and immediately set about the restructuring process. The purchase of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company provided the IMM Group with the means to consolidate three shipping lines - White Star, Red Star and Leyland Lines - under a single operating structure. In purchasing the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company the IMM Group had, at a stroke, achieved its corporate objective: it now had control of three associated yet diverse shipping lines and it immediately set about creating a niche and identity for each. White Star was selected to be the standard bearer for the group and would accordingly focus its corporate attentions on the luxury end of the passenger market.
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The restructuring of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company meant that cash became immediately available to finance the building of three “Olympic” class vessels. Bruce Ismay, keen to recapture as quickly as possible for White Star the prestigious luxury segment of the trans-Atlantic passenger trade, and underwritten by J. Pierpoint Morgan's vast wealth, had in effect almost unlimited funds at his disposal to acquire suitable vessels to accomplish this objective - perhaps the only restriction imposed on him was the instruction by J. Pierpoint Morgan to “get me the finest vessels afloat.”
As Ismay and Pirrie retired to the smoking room in Downshire House to discuss further the concept of the “Olympic” class vessels and to draw up a rough design specification, Ismay found himself in excellent spirits. Her he was in the hoome of his friend Lord Pirrie, chairman of the greatest shipbuilders in the world, who very obviously shared his enthusiasm fot there new vessels. He felt secure in his conviction that White Star, under his stewardship, would continue to prosper and expand. The construction of these magnificent new vessels would demonstrate to the world man's total control over his environment, what could possibly go wrong?
The principal considerations for the vessels were to be safety, comfort and luxury, together with a reasonably fast speed. From the original notes taken by Pirrie at the meeting, the original speciciation called for the vessels to have three funnels and four masts; however, this plan was soon changed to one of four funnels and two masts. The change of specification was designed to foster an image of grace and power: in the public perception at the time, the number of funnels equated directly to the degree of magnificence of the vessel. The most powerful vessels then in service had four funnels, and so it was decided that the “Olympic” class must follow this trend. The result was a graceful and balanced profile, but in order to achieve this, the fourth aftmost funnel was a dummy, there purely for cosmetic purposes.
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Immediately upon Pirrie's return to Belfast he called together his usual design team - himself, Thomas Andrews, who was managing director of the design department, and Pirrie's nephew, Edward Wilding, who was Andrews' deputy and responsible for design calculations. The last member of the team was Alexander M. Carlisle the shipyard managing director.
The four began to develop and refine Ismay's and Pirrie's initial concepts of the “Olympic” class of vessels into a realistic and workable design, Ismay insisted that he was kept fully involved in this initial stage of design development and accordingly played a major role in the final project specification. Once the basic requirements for the vessel were agreed, the design team could proceed with the complex and difficult task of producing the final hull specification and outline design drawings. The hull specifications and outline drawings are of vital importance to the various drawing offices that would produce the thousands of detail drawings necessary for hull construction.
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It is interesting to note that Harland & Wolff had a long-established association with White Star Line. This was primarily as a result of Lord Pirrie's personal relationship with Ismay and latterly J. Pierpoint Morgan. Pirrie had joined Harland & Wolff in 1862, becoming a partner in 1874, and eventually rising to chairman in 1896. White Star Line had built all its vessels exclusively with Harland & Wolff in this period and it was generally accepted that Pirrie's close personal relationship with Ismay was the decisive factor in this. On top of this, Lord Pirrie, on behalf of Harland & Wolff, also maintained a financial interest in the IMM Group, which was ultimately to become the owner of White Star.
This close inter-personal and business relationship ensured that any prospective shipbuilding business throughout the group was, in effect, kept in-house by virtue of the various share dealings within this close association. These share dealings were not in any way illegal or improper, but their existance meant that no other shipyard was afforded the opportunity to compete against Harland & Wolff for IMM Group business.
In reality this meant that Harland & Wolff was in the fortuitous position of obtaining all orders for White Star or other IMM Group vessels on a cost-plus basis. This arrangement meant that, however high the cost of the vessel rose because of changes to the specification or increases in material costs, Harland & Wolff would be guaranteed a profit on the contract. The usual profit margin in these contracts was 5 percent over the actual vessel cost, which would be paid in share stock in the contracting company.
Unusually in the case of Olympic and Titanic, a fixed price contract of £3 million for the pair was agreed at the time of signing. This agreement did not, however, prevent Harland & Wolff from submitting a large account for “extras to contract” to White Star upon completion of the vessels.
As a footnote to the Titanic story, it is widely known that, when the loss of Titanic became public, Ismay found himself shunned by his friends and society in general, because of his actions on the night of the disaster. To a great extent Ismay was the architect of his own downfall as, immediately upon being rescued by the Carpathia, Ismay requested a private cabin, studiously avoiding all contact with the other survivors. His actions were probably a reaction to the shock of the previous night's events, but when taken together with his abandonment of Titanic his actions were interpreted as those of a coward.
Ismay, however, was not the only major figure in the Titanic disaster to suffer because of the tragedy. What is little known that J. Pierpoint Morgan, who was the actual owner of Titanic, received the news with great shock. He was so devastated by the tragic news he became a recluse and to all intents and purposes withdrew from public life.
THE BUILDING OF the RMS TITANIC marked the construction of the largest man-made moveable object in the world at that time. The vessel's staggering dimension's and the technological advances in marine engineering it represented, made possible unprecedented developments in ocean transportation. The Titanic was not only much larger than any other vessel ever previously constructed, it also embodied in thr exquisite detail of its internal fittings a micorcosm of Victorian age of elegance and grace.
The general size of the vessel was impressive: it had an overall length of 882ft 9in, which equated to a length between perpendiculars of 850ft. This allowed an extreme breadth at the midship point of 92ft 6in on a gross tonnage of 45,000 tons. The total height of the vessel from the base of the keel to the top of the navigating bridge deck was 104ft. In her normal condition, Titanic operated on a design load draught of 34ft 6in, which equated to a displacement in general terms of about 66,000 tons.
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| Port profile of Titanic at the outfitting quay, with heavy lifting crane in the background. |
The power to drive Titanic across the oceans was provided by a combination of tried and trusted engineering, and what was - for 1912 - new technology. The main motive power was provided by two steam reciprocating engines producing 30,000hp in total. Secondary to this main engine arrangement was a shaft turbine engine of 16,000hp. The decision by White Star to include a turbine was largely influenced by the favourable experiences in their use reported by other shipping lines. Harland & Wolff was also anxious to gain experience in turbine propulsion, something that had particularly interested Thomas Andrews, the managing director of the design department. Unlike today, when this method of propulsion is commonplace, steam turbine technology was very much in its infancy in 1912. By today's standards this turbine was of basic design, capable of ahead-only propulsion, powered by waste steam from the two main reciprocating engines.
The shell for Titanic was attached to the internal framing in strips known as strakes along the length of the vessel. Each lin of plating, or strake, would be laid together in a system of overlaps or "joggles", with each strake having and "in" or "out" joggle. These overlaps were necessary to provide enough material to rivet the strakes together securely but prevented Titanic from having a smooth outer hull. Today shell plates are laid edge to edge and welded, thus creating a smooth and efficient profile.
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Finally, the shell plates were triple-riveted at each joint - and this also applied at the turn of the bilge, or in other words the curve of the bottom hull. Directly attached at this point of curve was the bilge keel, or stabilising bar, which was 25in deep and extended for 295ft along the length of the vessel amidships. The bilge keel was an early development of the modern day stabiliser and was designed to reduce as far as possible the rolling motion of the vessel in rough sea conditions.
Running together at the maximum continuous service rating, these three engines produced a normal service speed of 21kts. However, Titanic was capable of emergency, or flank, speed of 23½kts. This additional reserve power output was achieved when the engines were run on their maximum revolutions, much the same as "red lining" a modern motor vehicle. In normal service these operating conditions would have been studiously avoided due to the enormous strain placed on the engine component parts in operating them for exteneded periods at their maximum limit.
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| Once the boiler uptakes were installed, the funnels were erected. |
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