110 years anniversary of Titanic tragedy
The side anchor assembled at Noah Hingley & Sons, Netherton, was the largest ever forged by hand
ONE hundred and ten years ago, in April 1912, RMS Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage to New York. As the name implies, she was large, one of three super liners belonging to the White Star Line – Olympic, Titanic and Britannic – and measured over 880 feet long, weighed over 46,000 tons and built at Belfast by shipbuilders Harland and Wolff.
The journal The Shipbuilder claimed at the time the three ships were ‘practically unsinkable’ on account of the fifteen watertight bulkheads that divided the ship into sixteen compartments. In theory, if struck the ship could remain afloat with two compartments flooded, or even if the four smaller compartments in the bow flooded. However, each bulkhead was only ten feet (3m) above the water line: should the ship list forward or on its side, then just like water in an ice tray, the next compartment would flood. In fact, the ‘watertight’ compartments were pierced by a series of doors – although these doors were watertight only the twelve at the bottom of the ship could be closed electronically at the very bottom of the ship. The remaining thirty doors had to be closed by hand. When the ship struck the iceberg some of these doors were closed, while others were re-opened to make it easier to set up the water pumps.
White Star Line’s main rival Cunard was focussed on building the fastest liners, whereas White Star focussed on building the most luxurious liners: second class cabins and facilities aboard Titanic were equal to those of first class on rival liners. The Titanic’s side plates used in the First Class dining room were produced by the pottery company W.M. Brownfield based in the Potteries. Other Staffordshire links include the Captain, Edward John Smith, born in Hanley, Leonard Hodgkinson, the Senior Fourth Engineer on board Titanic, who was born in Stoke-ontrent and Christopher Mills, the assistant butcher, born in Longton.
Titanic’s keel was laid on the last day of March 1909 and the double bottom and frame began to grow into 1910. Hundreds of workers used three million rivets to form the frame using thousands of steel plates.
The side and front anchors commissioned for the vessel were put together at Noah Hingley & Sons Ltd ironworks in Netherton, near Dudley: the side anchor was the largest ever forged by hand. The cast steel head was sub-contracted to John Rogerson and Co in Newcastle-upon-tyne and measured 10 feet 9 inches across. The steel drop forged anchor shank was manufactured by Walter Somers Ltd in Halesowen. Once finished, on April 30, 1911, Netherton’s trams were
stopped and the townsfolk lined the roads to watch a team of shire horses pull the whitepainted anchor just over two miles to the goods yard at Dudley Railway Station. The dray (flat-bed wooden waggon) on which the anchor was positioned belonged to the haulage firm W.A. Ree from nearby Great Bridge. Eight of their horses were used, plus six from Hingley’s and there were an additional six ‘backup’ horses. A ‘Sunday Special’ train transported it to Fleetwood in Lancashire from where the Duke of Albany cargo steamer transported it to Harland and Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast.
Hingley and Sons Ltd also forged the anchor chains, all of which had links which were 33 inches long (except for the ones within the anchor attachment which were three inches longer). The chains and fittings for the anchor weighed around 100 tons, and after tests at Belfast the central side anchor was painted black. The anchors were the only parts of the ship tested and certificated by the Board of Trade.
Eventually, on the last day of May 1911 the hull was launched and formally named Titanic. Now adjacent to the fitting out basin, the boilers, engines and the necessary mechanical and electrical machines were manoeuvred into place. The flooring, light fittings, and furniture occupied a
Captain Smith took a more southerly course out of the busy shipping lane – hence fewer ships to assist in the rescue
million man-hours, and accoutrements such as tableware, cutlery and bed linen were brought on board. Finishing touches were followed in early 1912 with the masts being placed in position, along with the four distinctive red funnels (one of which was necessary to gulp air down into the engine room). Sixteen lifeboats came on board in February 1912.
In early April 1912, the Titanic travelled from Belfast to Liverpool and then on to Southampton dressed in flags rising from the bow to the top of the two masts and on to the stern. On April 5 mail sacks and cargo were stored plus passengers’ luggage labelled ‘not wanted on voyage’. The first passengers were received on Wednesday April 10, with First and Second Class passengers boarded using a covered walkway, while Third Class (aka ‘Steerage’) passengers mounted the angled gang plank into the lower decks of the liner.
The ship set out at noon on April 10, 1912, and nearly ended in disaster – the huge propellers created so much suction the liner New York broke away from its moorings and almost struck the Titanic. Had they collided the Titanic may not have encountered the ice fields a few days later…
A little over six hours later (6.30pm) Titanic arrived in Cherbourg to take on more passengers and mail and after an overnight passage, arrived at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland the following morning at around midday. More passengers boarded (mostly ‘steerage’), with a few fortunate passengers disembarking prior to the full voyage to America. Passengers and crew numbered 2,228 (the maximum capacity was 3,547 and the starboard anchor (weighing 15.5 tons) was raised, the engine-room telegraphs rang ‘ahead full’ and the ship steered into the Atlantic. The Titanic was due to berth in New York on Wednesday, April 17, 1912.
Instead, she sailed into maritime history as arguably the most wellknown disaster ever. One of the factors contributing to the tragedy still resonates 110 years later – the fact that the sixteen lifeboats and four ‘collapsible’ boats had a capacity of 1,178, or roughly a third of what was needed if the Titanic was full. Fatefully the Board of Trade Regulations of 1884 had not been updated despite the high growth in ship size – Titanic had 216 life boat spaces above the minimum requirements. The original design intended to have three lifeboats at each station, with special ‘double acting’ davits (cranes manufactured by Welin) installed to accommodate two boats in one another with a third boat inboard (that is, on the deck) – had the Welin davits been installed then immediately the lifeboat capacity could have been tripled. It would appear the decision was made for aesthetic reasons – the owners felt the clean lines of the ships design would be ruined by the decks being ‘cluttered’ by lifeboats on the ‘virtually unsinkable’ Titanic.
Another argument was made that as the Titanic was ‘unsinkable’ then the lifeboats would be used to ferry passengers to ships that would come to its aid, when the wireless telegraph sent out its message requesting assistance. It was also decided that fewer lifeboats meant more promenade space on the decks for passengers. It’s worth noting that White Star never claimed Titanic to be unsinkable (as mentioned earlier, printed in the shipbuilding magazine) but, the idea was that the lifeboats would simply ferry passengers to rescue vessels.
The route Titanic was due to take was a very busy transatlantic sea lane at the time, so if she did get into trouble, the theory was that other ships would be passing right by and could give assistance. The reason it went so wrong was that Captain Smith actually took a more southerly course to avoid the ice field – and consequently took Titanic out of a busy shipping lane to a relatively quieter route to the south – hence fewer ships to assist in the rescue; a fatal error of judgment.
The Titanic: Honour and Glory travelling exhibition is on at the Potteries Museum, Bethesda Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-trent, ST1 3DW until May 1, 2022, and includes artefacts and models plus items from the Titanic film released in 2012, including some of Kate Winslett’s dresses. Admission is £5 (concessions £3).