Titanic - Birth.of.a.Legend

the waters are stilled the shipyard almost silent but a century ago this grey Belfast key side witnessed a legend in the making this was the birthplace of the most famous ship the world has ever seen Titanic he was to be colossal magnificent built to match the vision of the men who made men driven by boundless ambition yes perhaps the greatest in the history of shipping by a sense of foreboding surely the first point of safety must be doing the unthinkable and by absolute conviction as a ship's safer we don't know of it as far as I'm concerned she is practically unsinkable but the truth forgotten Titanic story is that of the workers who built the world's most luxurious ship with their bare hands it's a story of violence and high political drama of despair and try to do out of shame title five years in the making sent in less than three hours 1500 died among them a handful of the shipyard men who brought at a life this is the untold story of those men and their ship this is Titanic she was born in the great Edwardian era of luxury liners shipyards around the world were locked in a ferocious battle who could build the biggest ships the most lavish the fastest the pride of Nations was at stake and the pride of workers to every new ship carried an elite trouble-shooting team to handle any problems Titanic was no different the Troubleshooters were called the guarantee just eight ship workers from 14,000 who would sail on her maiden voyage their story began five years earlier this was the London home of the ship builder William pity that night he was entertaining another shipping magnate Eddie was a hard-nosed poster moon ignore the fact that it's their ship that was broken the record for crossing the Atlantic Bruce is males the fastidious Englishman as owner of the white star shipping line is may face to challenge his rivals Cunard were building new fast liners speed isn't everything but surely you understand why white star must respond you really want to get caught up in some ridiculous competition with tuna they hadn't realized you were so concerned with prestige Bruce without prestige the White Star Line and for that matter your shipyard to William has no future you know its pursuit of speed is futile costs just don't add up people want scale we'll give them scale you see her as big as the Mauretania know half as big again the biggest chip the world has ever seen you think it's achievable they have the best marine engineers in the world you know that what about the accommodation the most luxurious imaginable and the price we use your terms cost plus 4% that would still be astronomical and to compete with cue nard we'd need two ships to trump them you'd need three the deal was made in Belgravia but it was Belfast where Titanic would be built Belfast was Islands industrial heart and its lifeblood was the talent of its workers they'd made Petty's company Harland and Wolff the biggest shipbuilders in the world now a handful of them were about to enter legend Alfie coming up just 16 but starting as an apprentice who's nervous his widowed mother had six mouths to feed Alfie was man of the house Marty frost 33 years old was moving up in the art form and fitter a change of status Tommy Miller age 25 was a ship's carpenter let's see his boys on it tell me your piece the yard was a hard place the six-day week brought as little as a pound to take home late arrivals were locked out discipline was the Foreman's job everyone had God in a bowler hat a word from the foreman could mean either a job for life or no job at all No I'm Cunningham circle starting today there were 14,000 workers in the yard that Alfie Cunningham was bottom of the heap tell me what you know about the ships engine young man any better ways to time and learn and Sun will be a scary Artie frost had started as an apprentice he knew how the yard worked his ability have brought steady progress but to get the Foreman's job he'd had to wait until his father retired at the top of the company - it was a family affair that's a fact your nard have got ahead of us we must show them we won't let them stay there well I'm sure you'll relish the opportunity to do that William Paley's chief of design was his wife's brother Alexander Carla chalk and cheese Roderick Alexander's put you in the picture indeed it's tremendous news Thomas Andrews was Perry's nephew many believed he was already being groomed to take over the company an entire new class of liner it's extraordinarily bold slaughtering chisel chief draft four to five years really William we all know how much you like to throw down a challenge but quite frankly that is ridiculous why these ships cannot simply be imagined into existence William course Alexander and yes I am laying down a challenge perhaps the greatest in the history of ship darling that's a challenge I know you'll want to take on with Tommy and Roderick to help you can turn the vision into a reality pitties iron will ruled throughout the yard the second of a shipbuilding day was his even the lavatories were known as the minutes because of the timekeeper at the door seven minutes per worker per day that was the rule closed and the our dog come on Maddy it's the month of every new bike it's just one in eight workers at the yard was Catholic is that a [ __ ] no what were you idiots but Lord Peary found on sectarianism friendships across the divide with Protestants like Tommy Miller or commonplace charity suffereth law the dinner break through everyone together for 45 minutes of man's time was his own to spend as he pleased in discussion and debate gambling games and of course the Bible no one was blind to religion but more important still was the division between trades and the kings of the yard with the toughest job with the riveters Michael Flaherty for one thank you thanks on the dowser river tour a whole big deficit bookshop deficit what that's why you wouldn't have to follow them call me signed on as a shipwright and join her instead Seifert read for us a mr. mother see if you say so but weren't you afraid to tell his fellows where to go like but then ben rogerson sonoran fully mister never here we never do never let their basic alright we're all Irish man here even himself is that mr. Perry Lord Perry to me and you must be something mighty important to brought them down here though mr. Miller with the new liners change was coming before Perry could build his giant ships he had to rebuild his shipyard completely new slipways new gantries Peary was making history and to record it he appointed the finest photographer in Ireland Robert Welch would capture every phase of Titanic's construction Titanic had begun with a gentlemen's agreement a year on there was still nothing in writing everything depended on Bruce Ismay it's got four funnels correct but you said that only be three engines William feels these ships will be more cost effective with only three and of course we all know that the more funnels the ship as the keener the paying public are to travel on Cunard built the Mauretania and the Lusitania with four we didn't think you'd want your ships to have less so one funnel is an ornament correct so well I think she's magnificent how soon can you start we can commence work on ship 400 in a matter of months 401 soon after well then I'd better sign the contract of course now they'll need names we can't keep calling them ships 404 oh one Shirley since 400 is the first in the class we must call her Olympic agreed and 401 she's your chef Bruce William you know classics our lympus was home to the Greek gods that's true but what have their great rivals the Titans Giants every one of them Olympics partner should surely be Titanic very good Titanic it is that was ever a ship more appropriately named Olympic and Titanic in Peary's eyes these giant liners were ushered in an age of boundless prosperity what could possibly go wrong the storm was breaking over Belfast if all Lord pity could build the future he had to destroy the past three entire slipways were razed to the ground to make way for two massive cradles when Olympic anti-tank would be laid out of the chaos Pili's vision began to take shape these giant vessels would need mammoth construction Magan trees a six thousand tons steel skeleton towering over 200 feet taller than westminster Alex at its heart is an intricate system of mobile cranes designed to reach every part of the ship's beneath Perry had promised the biggest chips the world had ever seen it was for the design team to deliver them they were led by Alexander kala that it was piri whose word is final for him Olympic and Titanic would confirm Harland and Wolff as the world's greatest ship builder and even the youngest of his workers felt the same what's up fancified day Olympic you know their land on or kale tomorrow hi I can tell you're being safe to do the show right over come on Alfie she's gonna be famous of all over the world so is Titanic and mr. frost says our crews gonna be fitting Titanic's antigens what Olympics gonna be built first solo just a ship that Mars Mir she is to Olympic is gonna be the ship that everyone talks about right first the star Feldon force to be lost first across the Atlantic Titanic's going to be on mighty ship that no one remembers the yard was full of expectation the new gantry is waiting for the ship is to rise with England and a handful of workers hardly daring to dream they might get sail barely three months later Titanic's own keel was being laid a gigantic steel spire to support for a hundred and eighty foot length the keel plates took the height of a man easily reached by the 7 ton riveting machine suspended from the gantry the wooden blocks beneath were carefully angled ready for the eventual launch meanwhile the steel frames that perform Titanic's ribs were being prepared in the molding loft a room the size of a football pitch full-scale cross sections of the ship were drawn is short and the steel work that would give her shape was bent to match one by one the 300 frames of a hull were reared into place and Lord pities ambitions were also growing political ambitions he had always been a unionist happy was placed in the United Kingdom overnight he turned to nationalism Island would prosper more he argued free from rule by London many Irishmen shared this vision they called it home rule but pity was played with fire those against Home Rule included many of his own workers as Titanic took shape a rift was developing in the shipyard this is what you call studying man young man just taking a wee break one so sight though isn't it there's a lot of man I know down there from the yard there's mr. frost my Foreman you better not let him see you taking time away from your studies then what before the exams you've got to curse Tommy Miller's family had dreams of their own that they Welsh is LG when you both heard at it America was America I'll show you son here is Ireland here's Belfast and here's America a lot of people go there not Irish men go there why Apple pay what you see they've got the best apple pie in the world apple pie like you've never tasted covered and cream honest can we go Tommy you're still not yourself for yeah just a wee bit tired so you need to go and see dr. Henry can't afford it an outside lavatory a tin bath and just about enough food on the table for the men building Titanic there'll be a choice of 39 private suites each one of which were comprised bedroom bathroom private sitting and dining rooms all fitted out to the highest standards yes gentlemen are splendid though these plans are we had agreed to discuss less exotic subjects today now then gentlemen I propose we install 16 and lifeboat stations for lifeboats at each station giving us up to a total of 64 lifeboats which would exceed board of trade regulations by some way as board of trade regulations start given the size of these ships we must surely expect them to demand greater lifeboat accommodation William I'm sure it's best to prepare for all eventualities now if we look at the first-class lounge the Palace of Versailles it had taken a year the Titanic skeleton was in place now it was time for her outer skin mm steel plates 30 feet long and 6 feet broad each one over an inch thick weighing three tons plates were fixed to the frames with rivets but the curving lines of the heart were too complex now for machines this called for hair's breadth judgement and muscle power three million rivets red-hot iron stitches would hold this ship together 1,500 tons of as Titanic's bulk groove underneath her the work of fixing the wood ensuring continued hard and dangerous anything activity there was unease the rift over Home Rule was growing the fiercest opposition came from the orange order itself be Cunningham isn't it I you're a thought of joining a large Sun oh well maybe I have liked football a mckerrod launched we may know we meet let's drown weather every Monday Wednesday and Friday nights I hope to see you hi maybe a well you wouldn't wouldn't what go to an orange Lodge meeting who says I what needed you looking a sashing and Bora had banging a stupid grid thrown black come on can't you take a joke I'm looking for my sister's husband Tommy Miller do you know him aye aye he's over there honey what are you doing here it's Jeannie the tide and Tommy Miller's life was turning I find on the kitchen floor dr. Henry says his rheumatic fever sabar doctor before antibiotics rheumatic fever was common the result almost certainly would be heart disease same shape you've been building for years isn't it Francis Carruthers the representative from the Board of Trade charged with ensuring safety standards not disputing the size colossal but the hydrodynamics haven't changed at all longed and narrow in beam which is why they're known as the greyhounds of the sea all coughing ships is your rivals refer to them no time for joking mr. druthers I'm here to discuss safety not and these discussions a year before Titanic's launch would be critical they'd be determined who would live who would die and they would cost the lives of two of the men and where to behold as a result I think I can fairly say that our new bulkhead door system is both revolutionary and uniquely the damaged area will be completely sealed from the rest of the vessel hermetically sealed in theory she should stay afloat no matter what the damage the ship is in a real sense her own lifeboat nonetheless I see you allowed for 16 lifeboats 16 have made lunch for a great deal more than 16 but 16 will meet the legal requirements exactly Lord Peary knows that he has spoken directly to you well yes a provision of lifeboats the entire design for carlile 40 years with harland and wolff this was breaking point the regulations clearly show that 16 lifeboats is sufficient for a vessel of 10,000 tons and over the greed William but these ships are five times that size how on earth can we get more than three thousand people into 16 nice books I freely offered a further provision of four life rafts as well we are now giving them more than their regulations demand all the regulations are out of date this is a theoretical risk only alexander the ship's have been designed by you so that they cannot sink don't you see any human design is fallible surely the first root of safety must be to think the unthinkable and you are happy for our passengers to do the same what I said occur to you what they would think if the promenade decks were festooned with lifeboats you are concerned the passengers may be alarmed by the lifeboats in the numbers you recommend yes our intention is to offer passengers the experience of a lifetime not to frighten them so much they never want to travel on a white starship again so this is one of your economic decisions these ships have to sail it's a profit alexander and i have to build them at a profit no doubt not having to provide a few dozen lifeboats will add a small but very welcome addition to your profit margin you know that's nonsense Alexander it was the end of Carlile's involvement with the company Titanic was the last ship he would ever design Titanic would need a new chief designer for Lord pity there was only one choice his nephew Thomas Andrews in the spring of that year 1910 Halley's Comet was visible in the night skies throughout Europe some say it was there when Andrews took his wife Helen pregnant with their firstborn to show off his new liner is my ship now Helen Titanic and Thomas Andrews would be inseparable to the very end by the spring of 1910 Olympics hull was fully plated for the workers on Titanic the challenge was to catch up working with hot metal speed was everything derivatives were paid on piece rate of haast they worked the more they earned danger was always close by Samuel Joseph Scott aged 15 was the first to die on Titanic 17 would lose their lives building these ships alphy Cunningham was starting work on Titanic spoilers theirs was the heartbeat that would pump 30,000 horsepower to the engines 29 boilers fed by 159 furnaces burning over 600 tons of Coleman each day the boilers dwarfed the men who built them but Titanic was designed for efficiency excess team would be diverted through a turbine to increase her power by more than half and this is where all that energy would be driven to the giant manganese bronze propellants a central one of 22 tons flanked by two more thirty-eight turns each and four times the height of a man it was these that would drive Titanic from the Atlantic swell but that was still two years away first a 200 ton floating crane was needed to lower the engines and boilers into Titanic a German company was supervising the cranes construction but as the monster grew so the rouse began if you want a sophomore you can whistle the Belfast men were deeply suspicious of the Germans the nah dragon it's none too safe up there and they might have a point the way they say it is a German crane let them risk their own necks see a lot of the boys are convinced they're spies I'm here to steal the secrets of our new ships tell them to our competitors no one was better equipped to tackle a problem on the chief draftsman Roderick Chisholm his way with words would eventually win him a place on Titanic Roddy Chisholm had worked his way into managing from his job for me he could get on with anyone better still he spoke German another glance did - no spell over that he alibied us through Hausa national pride was at stake the Germans agreed to finish the creme themselves for young men these were staring times cartridges and religion were to be celebrated alfie hadn't joined the Orange Order himself he was too busy studying but he could understand the pride felt by those who were Orangeman he was proud to of Titanic this was the launch day for Olympic Lord pity was never happy to see work stop those watching the launch had to forfeit their pay what are you doing here aren't you can watch.watch what you know what five minutes go come on you want me to lose half a day's wages just to watch that I pin Club splice under the Logan just my chef I'll be all right and I'm trying to build mine here if you hadn't noticed sure I need you calling um so yeah with hard work Alfie might yet get on to Titanic but today it was Olympic in the lineman Lord Perry had even had her painted white for the photographs the giant floating crane was ready at last but the German flag had been raised as a finishing touch the Belfast men were not impressed so where do we stand mr. chasm they've apologized handsomely and I promised you all a drink the Germans surrendered both the Train and their flag they would even persuade it to hoist the Union Jack soon enough these men really would be at war but for now peace six days a week noise from the yard echoed across Belfast on Sundays it stopped that's when the men brought their families to admire their work how would you call that a funnel or not you can fit a tramcar and it imagine the size of the engine nine have the bells as these a funnel that size will take away the smoke now the stage was set for Titanic it was launch day and time for difference is to be set aside I'm sure there won't be sent me over to help lock out the shores on Titanic he's working an iron ship after all this time ascend she was second best high are not gonna be permanent soon another big sea result for a sea trout this afternoon so go on then get to work i'ma do be careful under there son that's no place for Skylark of course the world you're right that Michael are you too often first class so we are will be going down the slope honor if I have to help gather on the cable that's not fair no it isn't is it a last inspection for period is made even without engines and fittings the hull weighed 24,000 tons as the timber props were knocked away have full weight settled on to the sliding way on the launch platform Captain Edward J Smith who would skipper both Olympic and Titanic ten minutes to the launch and a red flag was hoisted to warn other river traffic to stand clear Titanic now rested fully on the slipway thickly coated with 20 tonnes of liquid soap and trainer just two hydraulic triggers hold her in check there would be no champagne no ceremonial naming for Titanic that was not the white star way a simple command was enough release the triggers as he entered the water with scarcely a ripple she was already traveling at 12 knots only the drag chains trailing behind 160 tons of them could draw her to a halt it had taken just 62 seconds Titanic was a flood nothing could check the chain of events that would follow and it would destroy the life of the very man who had brought Titanic into being the slipways were empty for the first time in over two years Titanic was in the water she was still an empty shell waiting for carpenters engineers and painters to transform her into a life yeah meanwhile her sister ship Olympic was on her maiden voyage Thomas Andrews was anxious for news last a wire from Olympic yes for mr. Ismay he's raised some real concerns about the show the springs and the mattresses are too soft and there's a lack of cigarette holders in the WCS also we are short of a potato peeler well done Tommy well done but even as Titanic slipped weight was being cleared there was another forewarning of tragedy to come James Tobin aged 43 was fatally injured by falling Timbers he died the next day already Titanic was at the fitting-out Wharf but it would be almost a year before she was ready to sail funnels and boilers decking and lighting furnishings fittings and paintings all had to be put into place everything to live up to the dream of the world's greatest land and in that year the guaranty group would be chosen to the eight workers who earn themselves a trip on the maiden voyage many had scarcely left Belfast America is beyond imagining something flirty what sorry mister I think you're on your way to being a half-decent shipwreck you should tell my daughter that is deaf imagine if you are people look mister coming the golfer for example oh that's good here mr. Mayer I made it don't need a bigger favor than you think why's that he's been asked by mr. Andrews they recommend a ship break and an apprentice to go on Titanic's maiden voyage you don't mean he's thinking I recommend in you and me thinking office as far as it goes at the moment Liam everyday counted to complete Titanic pity could not afford distractions but there was no escaping the bitterness in the yard I loved me was heading for political crisis rule simply means grunting Ireland a measure of Independence it doesn't mean casting ourselves adrift in the Atlantic with respect that isn't how many of the men in the yard see it and they're blind get this right now to me the future of Ireland will be assured for 100 years or more no superiors workers were against home unionists were determined to resist Irish independence by force if need be predisposed out there will be no surrender the workers of this shipyard will be at the vanguard the talk was with treachery and for pity's workers there was one man they could not forgive New York what are you talking about it's not definite but oyster mother thanks Steve a real chance appear and ask our slim high you get a hundred yards in the Falls room you don't know where the hell you are then I'll take you to New York so she's not even your Olympics always been your [ __ ] yeah well Titanic's my ship now whatever happened to you Alfie Cunningham mr. curtayne how long is it since you promised to come to one of our lodge meetings oh well I didn't exactly promise it's just difficult to I've classes up at the Institute most nights or studies a fine thing but you should be studying the history of your own people your own traditions I'm sure you're right mr. cozy and it's not just all talk these days believe me we're having drill most nights ready for all eventualities who does he think is true there's a lot of that gun on it the largest these days there's talk they'll be getting rifles I it's madness why some of us want this kingdom to stay united there's a lot of Irishman who don't want to homeroom so you're gonna fight to having said that start a civil war don't want to start anymore we just want to stay loyal to our country you're starting to sign more and more like your mom Gill zine flesh 8 so this trade you really might get asked to go to New York maybe but I've been thinking whether I do go or not we should go as a family America to live doctor says you need through a year clear air all it does is really necessary we can't leave Belfast why not because this is our home we can't give that all up just because of me people leave out of everyday and it wouldn't be just because you its city backyard there's something barred near it's not the police they want to be anymore only on Titanic now to the wheel world seem far away Perry's vision was coming to life to those who built her Titanic had turned into a ship of dreams rafi Titanic's magnificent we really build all this you me and one or two more she didn't build ourselves that's for sure ground solid like she's always been here and always will be maybe she's too good for the likes of us no though Merliah then disaster Titanic sister ship Olympic was hold in a collision with a Royal Navy Cruiser HMS Hawke the impact was felt back in Belfast because the man responsible was the skipper who would soon also command Titanic Captain Smith quite simply got too close and lost control the concern now was that these liners were monster ships too big to be handled safely photographs which vessel came off worse Titanic's builders were past masters at handling the press Olympic comfortably survived the collision consider what would have happened to any other vessel which had suffered such severe damage say the Mauretania as water flooded in her poor crew would have scurried around frantically trying to close the doors between all her separate compartments and stem the flow a vain endeavour but we at Harland and Wolff gentlemen have introduced automatic watertight doors a simple flick of the switch sahara ship and render her safe much had been made of the watertight doors and design that Harland and Wolff had actually borrowed from a German rival what was undeniable was that they worked as soon as water is detected in the same an electric switch is automatically throw causing all the bulkhead doors throughout the ship to close at once mr. Fox I should come to this side of the door mr. green or you make it very quick there we are with her automatic doors in place Olympic has stayed afloat even with two compartments completely flooded so this in your review makes the ship what unsinkable captain Smith had long argued exactly that I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this modern shipping has simply gone beyond that look if there's a ship safer we don't know of it as far as I'm concerned she is practically unsinkable practically unsinkable was the phrase used to sell Titanic to most people it meant simply that Titanic was safe the fact that her sister ship had survived a collision with a cruiser only reinforced that Titanes completion schedule had been critically hit one of her propeller shafts was now needed to repair Olympic Lord petit pushed the date of Titanic sailing back into April 1912 a fatal move by then the melting ice pack would lie directly in her path Peary was on a collision course of his own bent on home rule come what may he intended to stage a rally in the heart of Belfast his choice of speaker without rage his opponents it has to be mr. Churchill you know they'll hate you for it will make them see the error of their ways Winston Churchill the Lord of the Admiralty was a hate figure for all still a lists like pity he had a unionist pedigree YouTube was seen as a traitor houses future was in the balance but Titanic at last was in drydock unionist or not for some workers it was finishing the ship that mattered mr. frost what you know how there's always a bunch of fellas descent for the ship on its maiden voyage the guarantee group reckons he might be chosen I I was wondering Affleck you know is or man might be heading them all why would he do that man well for a start there's piles of Catholic no but I mean there's some people in this yard who say if you're not a Protestant and a member of an orange Lodge for that matter you're lucky to have a job at all let alone go to America on Titanic there's no place for sectarianism in this yard the jobs what matters I say that as a Protestant and an orange man kept a true New York I wouldn't know I'd only know which engineers will be going yay might also have a shortlist of apprentices in Maine to take with me he don't mean take nothing for granted our fee but just get on work hard see what happens for alpha Cunningham new horizons but Tommy Miller's prospects were darkening Holly oh I know Jeanne Miller was just 32 when she died Titanic's maiden voyage was only weeks away the guarantee group was on everyone's mind maybe we both get to go to New York he was just bringing you mr. frost knows I'm good at my job and your fraud like is what's that got to do with it new chances any harm what do you mean are you saying mr. Frost's a bigot course or not then why'd you said to Joe coffee you know it wasn't awfully I know of a frost on I will you did noise the search and exactly searches veloute me but the loyalists were preparing to fight with whatever came to hand rivets had stitched Titanic together they also made lethal ammunition as Perry prepared to welcome Churchill the mood in Belfast was ugly 10,000 troops have been drafted in I thought it would come to this not sure that even the threat of violence is a disgrace William it's an attempt to stifle free speech you'll not let them succeed I most certainly will not Peary and Churchill found themselves facing the full fury of the Unionists and rivets were their only weapons there were guns on the streets Judy and Churchill were lucky to escape with their lives Perry had never been bettered in any confrontation but that day changed everything Lord Pirrie fled Ireland humiliated the man who had conceived Titanic the greatest ship builder in the world would never see her again after five long years Titanic was almost complete in the drydock but with Lord pities departure all order had gone it was no longer safe if you didn't belong hey don't take any less than mothers from you thirty little take get away do you think your CF don't you well not anymore Perry ran away he's been here all calyx on the way in the end Jerry's not a Catholic boy he's a Catholic lover even worse come on son leave it you're better than this to the unionist Titanic had become a British ship to the Nationalists an Irish ship the world was shifting there's a birthday yard he grew up but still haven't heard anything that's all right hi but the thing is if your toes and you'll not be going to me what you mean you've heard you're not going no I'm giving this job up this yard never did feel sick but there it is I don't know I get a bad feeling about the place and I have to reinstate look after what with our mall are gone taking a job as a deck on the weights darling that's grand but it'll take me away from home oh my sister-in-law honey look out for the boys when I see if they know if I'm gonna bring him out the America you leave oh good luck bye thanks Titanic had been conceived in London's Belgravia that's where pity had taken refuge uncle William Thomas thank you for coming over it's the best thing until things settle down in Belfast and they're able to return there'll be no return I've done with Belfast you're not saying you've done with shipbuilding there must be more to life than building ships to me I don't wanna need you to run the Belfast shipyard for me from now on no-one hemas you're a unionist and the best right man in Harland and Wolff something else I want you to do Titanic's maiden voyage it was supposed to sail with him I'd count now why my health a small tumour my doctor insists I must have an operation but you will recover I want you to take my place on Titanic is Marius going to between the two of you even decide of this our enterprise was worth it I'm not sure if I know anymore there was a different sickness in Belfast politics were being fueled by anger and fear and in a shipyard there were scores to be settled veredict liar day Lord Perry regrets to inform you that your rate of a job and tell makan died here and tell me so himself wallflower II not that there you touch me one more time yo what what's going on Liam here some news for you Titanic Steel's on April 1st and where Donner we're in the guarantee group who old boys let's go what are you doing your old man has just been sags we're after escorting them from the art from Thursday alright but it's not a joke and neither is this your pal Liam Florida is definitely going with us does he know Puckett's beat up keep it moving all right not take you all the way you wanna walk out on us sister take that prayed man you are trami what's going on please man have decided to look for work elsewhere what you've done this to them because they're Catholics they got what was coming you make me sick well sure you can't let them drive you out like this Liam you can't you've been picked for the guarantee group it's definite we run Titanic together tell them they'll need to get someone else will you in the face of bigotry many friendships were coming to an end Titanic now was ready to leave the city of her birth and to face her final test her sea trials released tons five years of endeavor for one moment the steam from the boilers drove the main engines at a pressure of over 200 pounds per square inch Titanic is underway and with a terrifying engaging the central propeller she was brought up to cruising speed there had been last-minute changes more first-class state rooms and private promenades they'd made her heavier a thousand tons heavier than her sister shoe that over 46,000 tonnes Titanic was now the world's biggest ship the sea trials were not a formality artist Frances Carruthers from the Board of Trade was on the bridge in three years of construction he'd inspected Titanic almost 2,000 times Kathleen Smith just within reasonable limits it was for him to sign her safety certificate on that April day in the Irish Sea Titanic was put to the crucial test at her full speed 21 knots how quickly could she stop full speed astern as the great ships load the hopes of all who built her quickened wellness the colors 850 yards well done that's quite acceptable excellent excellent she'd stopped another half a mile less than three times her own life her passenger certificate was endorsed good for one year Titanic was free to take on the world and chance had brought aboard someone who knew her very well mr. Bella two months earlier Thomas Miller had left the shipyard but white star was short of crew he was back on the ship he'd helped to build hey Dad only my second job is a deck hunt in New York on Titanic and they were short-handed made good lovely well isn't that the best news and you were going to alright so we'll be seeing plenty more of each other crew well Allah hear our faith gonna pay you some up we'll play in New York with the fading light Titanic prepared to leave her birthplace for good and Thomas Andrews gathered his prized guarantee group the troubleshooting team for the maiden voyage a trusted man among them Roderick Chisholm Artie Frost Hogarth ear mommy for me Alfie countin the Tommy Miller was also there must have seemed a happy accident penny each this year's band and play come back will be even richer they're all right Artie frost we know was short of promotion on his return and out of his hard work had also paid off the shipyard had named an apprentice of the year his future was secure mr. Watts every man boarded Titanic in hope and expectation 12 days later on the night of April of 14th 1912 Titanic the biggest ship in the world met her iceberg shaped by nature six times her size she carried over 2200 passengers and crew but lifeboats for only half that number it's popped and steel plates parted half a dozen gashes left Titanic mortally wounded she had been designed to stay afloat with up to four compartments flooded under the icebergs impact six sprang open five years in the making Titanic sank in two hours and 40 minutes Thomas Andrews is said to have helped many to escape he was last seen alone in first class Artie Frost was witnessed heading down into the engine room the body of Roderick Chisholm chief draftsman was never recovered Alfie Cunningham 21 years old was reported among the survivors it was a case of mistaken identity and Tommy Miller died alongside his former work mates all of the guarantee group the man who built Titanic died on board their ship 1500 more people died with them titanic's owner bruce ismay did find a place in the lifeboats a disgrace that finished his career the Titanic enquiry cleared the shipbuilders of blame but Lord Petty's health was broken he died with his business almost bankrupt in Belfast the men who built and sailed on Titanic are remembered by name their families still cherish their memories and keepsakes from Thomas Andrews a telescope from Roderick Chisholm a book presented for Titanic's launch from Archie Frost his Foreman's whistle and slide rule and from Tommy Miller the twopenny as he gave his children those who built Titanic believed they suited the dawn of a new era sadly they were right within two years the entire world would have hit war the Edwardian dream was over but the dreams of the men who brought Titanic to life would never die they have become part of her legend there is more information about the building of the Titanic the politics of Belfast and also the history of ship design at itv.com slash Titanic what Doc Martens back next Thursday at 9 but later tonight rhaggy Omar visits the victims whose faith has been affected by the events of Boxing Day 2004 tsunami journey is at five past eleven after the news which is next

Channel: undefined

Views: 3,450,534

Rating: 4.8046813 out of 5

Keywords: Titanic, Birth, of, legend, beautiful, construction, avi, ship, ocean, liner, cruise, boat, documentary, drama

Id: Dc1FSbM6RKw

Length: 70min 55sec (4255 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 29 2011