The _Titanic_ was a three-screw vessel of 46,328 tons gross and 21,831
net register tons, built by Messrs. Harland & Wolff for the White Star
Line service between Southampton and New York. She was registered as a
British steamship at the port of Liverpool, her official number being
131,428. Her registered dimensions were--
Feet
Length 852.50
Breadth 92.50
Depth from top of keel to top of beam at lowest point of
sheer of C deck, the highest deck which extends
continuously from bow to stern 64.75
Depth of hold 59.58
Height from B to C deck 9.00
Height from A to B deck 9.00
Height from boat to A deck 9.50
Height from boat deck to water line amidships at time of
accident, about 60.50
======
Displacement at 34 feet 7 inches is tons 52,310
The propelling machinery consisted of two sets of four-cylinder
reciprocating engines, each driving a wing propeller, and a turbine
driving the center propeller. The registered horsepower of the
propelling machinery was 50,000. The power which would probably have
been developed was at least 55,000.
_Structural arrangements._--The structural arrangements of the _Titanic_
consisted primarily of--
(1) An outer shell of steel plating, giving form to the ship up to the
top decks.
(2) _Steel decks._--These were enumerated as follows:
---------------------------------------+---------+-------------------
| | Distance
| Height | from 34 feet
| to next | 7 inches water
| deck | line amidships.
| above. +---------+---------
| | Above. | Below.
---------------------------------------+---------+---------+---------
|_Ft. in._|_Ft. in._|_Ft. in._
Boat deck, length about 500 feet | | 58 0 |
A deck, length about 500 feet | 9 6 | 48 6 |
B deck, length about 550 feet, with | | |
125 feet forecastle and 105 feet poop| 9 0 | 39 6 |
C deck, whole length of ship | 9 0 | 30 6 |
D deck, whole length of ship | 10 6 | 20 0 |
| |(Tapered |
| | down at |
| | ends.) |
E deck, whole length of ship | 9 0 | 11 0 |
F deck, whole length of ship | 8 6 | 2 6 |
G deck, 190 feet forward of boilers, | | |
210 feet aft of machinery | 8 0 | | 5 6
Orlop deck, 190 feet forward of | | |
boilers, 210 feet aft of machinery | 8 0 | | 13 6
---------------------------------------+---------+---------------------
C, D, E, and F were continuous from end to end of the ship. The decks
above these were continuous for the greater part of the ship, extending
from amidships both forward and aft. The boat deck and A deck each had
two expansion joints, which broke the strength continuity. The decks
below were continuous outside the boiler and engine rooms and extended
to the ends of the ship. Except in small patches none of these decks was
water-tight in the steel parts, except the weather deck and the orlop
deck aft.
(3) _Transverse vertical bulkheads._--There were 15 transverse
water-tight bulkheads, by which the ship was divided in the direction of
her length into 16 separate compartments. These bulkheads are referred
to as "A" to "P," commencing forward.
The water-tightness of the bulkheads extended up to one or other of the
decks D or E; the bulkhead A extended to C, but was only water-tight to
D deck. The position of the D, E, and F decks, which were the only ones
to which the water-tight bulkheads extended, was in relation to the
water line (34 feet 7 inches draft) approximately as follows:
--------+-------------------------------
| Height above water line
| (34 feet 7 inches).
|---------+---------------------
| Lowest | |
| part | |
| amid- | At bow. | At stern.
| ships. | |
--------+---------+---------+-----------
|_Ft. in._|_Ft. in._| _Ft. in._
D | 20 0 | 33 0 | 25 0
E | 11 0 | 24 0 | 16 0
F | 2 6 | 15 6 | 7 6
--------+---------+---------------------
These were the three of the four decks which, as already stated, were
continuous all fore and aft. The other decks, G and orlop, which
extended only along a part of the ship, were spaced about 8 feet apart.
The G deck forward was about 7 feet 6 inches above the water line at the
bow and about level with the water line at bulkhead D, which was at the
fore end of boilers. The G deck aft and the orlop deck at both ends of
the vessel were below the water line. The orlop deck abaft of the
turbine engine room and forward of the collision bulkhead was
water-tight. Elsewhere, except in very small patches, the decks were not
water-tight. All the decks had large openings or hatchways in them in
each compartment, so that water could rise freely through them.
There was also a water-tight inner bottom, or tank top, about 5 feet
above the top of the keel, which extended for the full breadth of the
vessel from bulkhead A to 20 feet before bulkhead P, i.e., for the whole
length of the vessel except a small distance at each end. The transverse
water-tight divisions of this double bottom practically coincided with
the water-tight transverse bulkheads; there was an additional
water-tight division under the middle of the reciprocating engine-room
compartment (between bulkheads K and L). There were three longitudinal
water-tight divisions in the double bottom, one at the center of the
ship, extending for about 670 feet, and one on each side, extending for
447 feet.
All the transverse bulkheads were carried up water-tight to at least the
height of the E deck. Bulkheads A and B, and all bulkheads from K (90
feet abaft amidships) to P, both inclusive, further extended water-tight
up to the underside of D deck. A bulkhead further extended to C deck,
but it was water-tight only to D deck.
Bulkheads A and B forward, and P aft, had no openings in them. All the
other bulkheads had openings in them, which were fitted with water-tight
doors. Bulkheads D to O, both inclusive, had each a vertical sliding
water-tight door at the level of the floor of the engine and boiler
rooms for the use of the engineers and firemen. On the Orlop deck there
was one door, on bulkhead N, for access to the refrigerator rooms. On G
deck there were no water-tight doors in the bulkheads. On both the F and
E decks nearly all the bulkheads had water-tight doors, mainly for
giving communication between the different blocks of passenger
accommodation. All the doors, except those in the engine-rooms and
boiler rooms, were horizontal sliding doors workable by hand, both at
the door and at the deck above.
There were 12 vertical sliding water-tight doors which completed the
water-tightness of bulkheads D to O, inclusive, in the boiler and engine
rooms. Those were capable of being simultaneously closed from the
bridge. The operation of closing was intended to be preceded by the
ringing from the bridge of a warning bell.
These doors were closed by the bringing into operation of an electric
current and could not be opened until this current was cut off from the
bridge. When this was done the doors could only be opened by a
mechanical operation manually worked separately at each door. They
could, however, be individually lowered again by operating a lever at
the door. In addition, they would be automatically closed, if open,
should water enter the compartment. This operation was done in each case
by means of a float, actuated by the water, which was in either of the
compartments which happened to be in the process of being flooded.
There were no sluice valves or means of letting water from one
compartment to another.