A Grand Design

At the time, White Star ran a regular service from Southampton to New York with Teutonic, Oceanic and Adriatic, but these could not compete of an average speed of 26 knots. At 21 knots, the Teutonic was the fastest of the White Star ships. To attempt to increase a ship's speed would necessitate restricting passengers and cargo space, clearly an uneconomical move. So White Star elected for a different option - it would construct a fleet of hug liners whoe spacious acomodations and overwhelming luxury would be prove irresistable to passengers. not only would first-class passengers be treated in accordance with the finest hotels, but even steerage travellers would find far better facilities than on other transatlantic liners. And so, backed by American finance, Lord Pirrie and J Bruce Ismay sat down over coffee and cigars that evening in 1907 to plan the contruction of three great liners. At 850ft, each would be 100 ft longer than the Cunarders and, at least 46,000 tons, they would be 15,000 tons heavier. They would revolutionise transaltantic travel. The emphasis would be on elegance and, above all, safety, an achievement of which White Star was justifiably proud. Between 1902 and 1912, the liner carried 2,179,594 passengers, of whom only two were killed.

Pirrie's grandiose plans appeared to have just one flaw. No dock or yeard was large enough for the ship's construction. But Pirrie was not to be deterred and so the two specially strengthened slipways were built at Harland and Wolff. Meanwhile, deatiled plans for the liners were drawn up by the team of designers, led by Lord Pirrie's brother-in-law, Alexander Carlisle, who expanded the hull design he had produced for the second Oceanic. It was Carlisle, Harland and Wolff's general manager, who would also be responsible for the ship's interiors and their life-saving equipment. When he retired in 1910, he was succeeded by another of Pirrie's relatives, his nephew Thomas Andrews.

Contiued to ... Construction

 

Chronology

The Making of History
| Owners | A Grand Design | Construction | Sister Ships - Olympic and Britannic |
| Strict Segregation | Outdated Lifeboat regulations | The Aura of Invincibility |

| Launch | Specifications |

Leaving for the New World
| Southampton | Southampton - The New York and a Near Miss | Cherbourg | Queenstown | Provisions |

Passenger Lists
| First Class | Second Class | Third Class | Alphabtical list
| Crew | The Band |

Lifeboat Lists
| Lifeboats 1- 3 | Lifeboats 4 - 6 | Lifeboats 7-9 | Lifeboats 10-12 | Lifeboats 13 -16 | Collapsibles |

Aftermath
| American Inquiry |
| Causes - An extract from February 1995 Edition of Popular Mechanic |

Remembrance

Facts and Figures
| Harland and Wolff's 101 Answers to the most asked questions about the RMS Titanic |