Titanic

            On April 14, 1912, one of the world's most luxurious ships, the Titanic, sank into the ocean leaving an indelible mark in history. From the idea of the ship to the launch of the ship, the world was very enthusiastic about this "unsinkable- sea monster. The maiden voyage of the ship started quite smoothly, with passengers very happy with the many amenities on the Titanic. When the Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, there was chaos amongst the passengers on the ship.
             In the late 1800's J. Pierpont Morgan opened an international trust to build the two largest steamships of the time. These ships were called the Lusitania and the Mauretania. Soon after thinking of this in 1900, Morgan bought out a naval company called White Star for ten times its earnings. The White Star Line was formed by December 1902 (Wade 14-15). The managing director for the White Star Line was Bruce Ismay, the son of Thomas Ismay who had founded the original White Star (Lord 13). After hearing Morgan's idea for the largest steamships, Ismay met with Lord Pirrie, head of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff, for dinner in 1907 to discuss an alternative idea. They wanted sister ships that would exceed the tonnage, speed, safety, and operation of the Lusitania and Mauretania. They soon created a sketch of what would become the Titanic (Wade 15-16). The creators of the Titanic wanted to focus on passenger accommodations and speed, as they wanted to exceed all the ships that came before (Foster 11). The shipbuilding company of Harland and Wolff took on the task of building the Titanic. Shortly after her sister ship the Olympic was completed, the Titanic was moved to a different location at the company and improvements were made according to Ismay's standard (Wade 18). The official number given to the ship was 3909 04, which spells NO POPE when held up to a mirror. Many say this is the reason that the ship sank (Lord 17).