Jack K. 5 G

The Kelly Chronicles

April 16, 1912

DISASTER IN THE ATLANTIC – 1,500 DEAD!!!

 Tragically, just before midnight on Sunday, April 14^th the British passenger liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and less than three hours later sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Early reports indicate only 705 of the 2,228 people on board survived this terrible disaster. The ship was on its maiden voyage from Ireland to New York but sadly never reached its destination.  

   While the official cause of the accident is still unknown, some are speculating the Titanic sank because J Bruce Ismay, Chairman of the White Star Line, wanted to make headlines by arriving in New York ahead of schedule and thus ordered the boat to proceed at unsafe speeds.   The ship was unable to fully maneuver out of the way of the unexpected huge iceberg and was raked below the waterline on the starboard side. Quickly, the forward compartments flooded filling the boat with water as the bow started sinking. 

 The Titanic reportedly did not carry enough lifeboats for everybody on board as the builders thought it was unsinkable and did not want to ruin the view of the First Class passengers. As the ship began descending to the bottom of the ocean, the crew frantically loaded women and children into lifeboats, while those left behind were stranded in the freezing water screaming for help that unfortunately arrived too late.  

   The nearest boat, the Carpathia, received Titanic’s SOS signal but was 58 miles away and thus could not reach the doomed vessel for almost 4 hours.  Only 1 lifeboat from the Titanic returned to search the waters for survivors but sadly by then, all but 4 people had either frozen or drowned to death.  Among the 1,505 victims was John Jacob Astor, the richest man in the world, who perished on board while his wife Madeline survived in a lifeboat.  The Waldorf Astoria hotel, that he owned, flew its flag at half-mast as soon as they heard of the death of their founder.  President Taft issued a statement sending his condolences to all those affected by this horrible tragedy.