The Titanic - Acklam Grange School

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Friday, 05 June 2020

The TitanicThe sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage is one of the worst – and certainly most famous – shipping disasters of all time. Built at a cost of £1.5 million (£222 million today) in Belfast from the White Star Shipping Line, it weighed 46,000 tons and was the length of three football pitches. Titanic was as high as a 17 story building. The top speed of the Titanic was 23 knots (more than 26 miles per hour).The ship was originally designed to carry 64 lifeboats but to save from cluttering decks, it ended up carrying only 20 on her maiden voyage.


The owners said that Titanic was “practically unsinkable” because its hull consisted of 16 watertight compartments – and four could be flooded at one time without the ship going down. The owners also advertised luxurious first-class accommodation, a state-of-the-art gym, a swimming pool, a tennis court and a Parisian café. One top-of –the-range voyage from Southampton to New York could cost £870 – that is £27,000 today. £30 in 1912 is about the same as £960 today.

First class best room

£870

First class ordinary room

£30

Second class room

£12

Third class shared room

£3 to £8


Titanic’s first voyage began in Southampton at midday on Wednesday 10 April 1912. The ship called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Southern Ireland, before heading out across the Atlantic Ocean towards New York. On board were some of the richest and poorest people in the world. For the rich passengers (there were 322 in first class), it was a chance to say they had taken a trip on the world’s largest luxury liner. For the poorer people (there were 709 in third class), this was their chance for a new life in America. Poor British passengers were joined by Russians, Italians, Swedes, Germans, Spaniards, French and many other nationalities in the basic third-class compartments deep down in the ship. Some had paid as little as £3 (£95 today) for their ticket.

Click on the image above so that you can see a real film showing the departure of the Titanic. Look at the people on board. See if you can identify the different classes of people.

https://youtu.be/jkjjxioYIuE


Now we are going to go on a tour of one of the world’s most famous ships. Click on the image above and watch the short video. It is going to show you the accommodation for first, second and third class passengers.

What do you notice about the differences in the accommodation?

https://youtu.be/8Ae-5LS3nSY


First class best room

Second class room

First class ordinary room

Third class shared room


Titanic menus


Have a look at the menus for first, second and third class passengers.

What are the differences between them?

Why do you think different classes of people were given different menus?


Now that you have read about the Titanic and what it had to offer passengers, I would like you to pretend that you work in the advertising department of the White Star Line. • Your first task is to produce a leaflet that is aimed

towards the very rich people and promotes the Titanic’s maiden (first) voyage. Your job is to sell as many tickets to these people as possible so they will fill up the ship. Therefore, you will need to think about what the ship will offer them on their journey. You can talk about the luxury facilities on board, the size, speed and status of this world famous ship, the menus and the bedrooms and eating areas. Your leaflet needs to contain pictures or diagrams. You can find some of your own or use some from this power point or complete the task on paper. Don’t forget to add the prices of the voyage. Remember rich people do not travel third class so they don’t need to see these prices.

Activity One

If you want to do your work on paper and still have it marked

then take a picture of your work and e-mail

it to your teacher.


• Your second task is to produce a poster that is aimed towards the very poor people who were looking for a new life in America. Their needs may be very different to the rich passengers – they will want cheap tickets, a warm bed, a safe journey, good food. So you poster needs to be planned to include these facilities.

• Your poster needs to contain pictures or diagrams. You can find some of your own or use some from this power point or even draw your own. Don’t forget to add the prices of the voyage. Remember poor people do not travel first or second class so they don’t need to see these prices.

Activity two

If you want to do your work on paper and still have it marked

then take a picture of your work and e-mail

it to your teacher.


Why did Titanic sink?

Watch the short film about the sinking of the Titanic. Listen carefully to the information as our next task is to try and find out what was to blame for the ship sinking.

https://youtu.be/b0L_2jKEbA4


“We have struck an iceberg…….sinking fast………come to our assistance…..cannot last much longer”.

The sinking of the Titanic, with the loss of over 1,500 lives, caused uproar on both sides of the Atlantic. Like most disasters, people looked around for someone to blame.

It’s time to become a history detective.

Now its time for you to turn into a History Mystery detective. Imagine that you have been put in charge of investigating this tragedy. Your inquiry needs to start with thinking about how to order the information regarding the sinking.


The information in the boxes are reasons why the Titanic sank. You must decide on the order of importance. Number 1 is the most important reason while number 5 is the least important.

It’s time to become a history detective.


So, who is to blame for the sinking of the Titanic?

Watch the short film about who was to blame for the sinking of the Titanic. Listen carefully to the information as our next task is to try and find out who was to blame for the ship sinking.

https://youtu.be/0ofctE1C7AU


Analyse the evidence.

Read the information on the next five slides about the people who were blamed for the sinking of the Titanic. As you read, start to think about how much blame they should take.


Analyse evidence A.

Was it Captain Smith’s fault?Captain Smith was due to retire after Titanic’s maiden voyage. Did he want to retire from sailing by getting to New York in record time? He ignored at least seven ice warnings from other ships nearby. Despite having men on the lookout for icebergs, Titanic was still travelling at 20 knots per hour, close to its top speed. If the ship was going slower, maybe it could have turned out of the iceberg’s way in time. Perhaps Captain Smith thought that an iceberg couldn’t sink a modern ship. He once said “I cant imagine anything causing a ship to sink. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that”.


Analyse evidence B.Was it the shipbuilder’s fault?

Titanic was built at a shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. About three million rivets (screws) were used to hold the ship together. When the wreck of Titanic was found on the ocean floor in 1985, some of the rivets were brought back up to the surface and analysed. Investigations showed that the rivets were made of poor-quality iron. When the side of the ship hit the iceberg, the heads of the rivets broke off and sections of the ship came apart. If the rivets were made of better quality iron, perhaps the sections of the ship may have stayed together – perhaps the ship would not have sunk at all. Further tests on steel used for the hull showed that it became brittle in extremely cold conditions – such as on the night of April 14th.


Analyse evidence C.

Was it Thomas Andrew’s fault?

Thomas Andrews designed the ship. Many thought Titanic was unsinkable because it had 16 watertight compartments and as many as four could let in water before the ship would sink. However, the compartments didn’t reach as high as they should have done. Mr Andrews reduced their height to make more space in some of the first class rooms. If two watertight compartments reached all the way up to the top of the ship, maybe Titanic wouldn’t have sunk.


Analyse evidence D.

Was it Captain Lord’s fault?

Walter Lord was the Captain of the Californian, a ship only 19 miles away from Titanic when it struck the iceberg. It was the Californian that sent the Titanic its final ice warning.At around 11.15pm, the Californian’s radio operator went to bed. After midnight, the crew saw rockets being fired into the sky on the horizon. Captain Lord was woken up but decided not to sail towards the fireworks – he thought the ship (which he later realised was Titanic) was just having a party. Should the Californian have investigated the rockets? Should Captain Lord have at least turned on the radio? He would then have heard the distress messages and would have been able to help.


Analyse evidence E.Was it Bruce Ismay’s fault?

Bruce Ismay was in charge of the White Star Line, the owners of Titanic. He was travelling on board ship but managed to get into a lifeboat as the ship went down. Ismay wanted to prove that the White Star Line was better than all the other shipping companies. Did he put pressure on Captain Smith to make the ship go as fast as it could, despite travelling through a sea of icebergs? Was he hoping to get Titanic to make a record crossing? One witness, who survived the sinking, claimed she heard Ismay and Smith arguing on 13th April.Also, was Ismay responsible for more deaths than there should have been. Titanic was originally designed to have 32 lifeboats. The finished ship only had 20 – enough for only 1,178 of the 2,206 on board. The White Star Line had some of the lifeboats removed to make more room for first class passengers.


Balloon debateImagine that there are five important people who have all been blamed for the sinking of the Titanic in a hot air balloon that is running out of fuel. To prevent loss of height, one individual at a time will be thrown overboard.You need to tell me who you would throw overboard first because you think that they are the most responsible for the sinking and then tell me the reason for your choice. Continue to throw people overboard until you have only ONE person left. This should be the person who has the least blame. Remember to always explain your choices.

Who is to blame for the sinking of the Titanic?


• You are going to be a Hollywood film director making a film about the Titanic.

• There have already been a lot of films made about the sinking of the Titanic but I would like you to come up with some new ideas on how to tell this story. Maybe you could make a film about who was to blame for the sinking? Perhaps you might want to make a film about the survivors of the Titanic?

• You will produce a poster advertising your film and this will include:• A dramatic title for the film

• FOUR screenshots from the film showing the key events of Titanic• Captions under each screenshot describing the events• A cast list – which actors do you want for each part?

• Some quotes from the film’s reviewers.

• This work can be completed on your computer or you can just do it on paper. If you want it marked then take a picture of your work and e –mail it to your teacher.

Design a Hollywood film poster


I hope that you have enjoyed learning about the Titanic disaster. Remember to e-mail your teacher with your completed work if you want it marked. Mrs Galloway will be looking at giving out rewards for work that is completed to a high standard when we get back to school.

If you would like to continue to learn about the Titanic there are a number of films that you could watch. Just click on the pictures below for my selection.

https://youtu.be/dZsTyg3AotI

https://youtu.be/NeWQN7os4EY

https://youtu.be/UOCSs8JYU5o

Documents

The Titanic - Acklam Grange School