Titanic – Then And Now Essay, Research Paper

In 1910, Belfast Ireland, the biggest and most luxurious party boat was being constructed. It would take two years to build, furnish, and prepare this ship, known as the Titanic, before it sailed to New York. It weighed 66,000 tons and had a hull of 40 city blocks. It would take 3,000 men to construct it. This ship was said to be unsinkable. In fact, the ship’s builders were so confident of their ship they only supplied life boats for 1,200 people. It was planned to reach New York in seven days.

On the night of April 14, 1912, Fredrick Fleet, a man in a watch tower, reported an Iceberg to be near the ship, his attempt to warn the captain was made in vain. The Titanic hit the iceberg and began to sink. Distress signals and flares were sent out and a nearby ship, the British California, received them. When the California’s captain was informed he disregarded the signals and went back to bed. That night, out of 2,228 people aboard the Titanic, only 705 survived. 1,523 People drowned or died from hypothermia, and out of that only 300 bodies were recovered.

74 years later, a man named Ballard would set out to visit this ship that rested 2 miles below, on the ocean floor. Using navy technology, he accomplished this goal. Alvin, a submarine used by the navy, was used in the mission. Alvin had a smaller robot attached to him named Jason Jr. Jason, also called J.J., had a video camera attached to him and 5 motors to propel him through the Titanic’s rummage. On July 9th, 1988, Alvin left Woodshole Oceanographic Refuge and traveled 1,000 miles east of New York where the ship was said to be resting. The first attempt to reach the ship was help on July 13, 1988. After a two and a half hour plunge to the ocean floor, Alvin had to return to the surface due to a power failure. The next morning, Ballard and his crew prepared for a second try. This time, they were successful. Photographs were taken of the ship for the first time in 74 years.

I feel it was important for history to attempt to find the Titanic. I hope the next stop will be the retriving and recontruction of the ship so it can be put on display for the world to view.