The Fascinating Engineering of the Titanic: How the Great Ocean Liner Was Built

When many of us first learned about RMS titanicwas first introduced as one of history’s greatest ironies: an “unsinkable” ocean liner that failed on its maiden voyage. Of course, there’s much more to this story, as anyone obsessed with this ill-fated ship (James Cameron being just one notable example) is well aware. Apart from the many human experiences surrounding it, narrated by shipwreck survivors and preserved on film, its mechanical aspects are titanic It has great appeal for people with an engineering temperament. Let’s put aside the question of sinking for a moment and consider how this shipwreck became one of the most glorious, or rather one of the most glorious three fingers, of human creations ever set ashore.

of titanic The ship was one of three similar White Star Line ships completed in the early 1910s. in video aboveBill Hammack, known on YouTube as: engineer guynot just tell a story. titanic,but also, Olympic and H.M.S. Britannic. An engineering professor at the University of Illinois, he found an issue of the magazine in the campus library. engineer Published between 1909 and 1911, it includes detailed photographs of both buildings. titanic and Olympicsister ships built side by side.

Its sheer scale highlights one factor that we may not consider much today. Each was held in place by 3 million rivets, could hold 1.5 million gallons of ballast water, weighed 52,000 tons when fully installed, required 23 tons of lubricant to slide from the dock into the water, and burned 650 tons of coal per day on the Atlantic crossing.

Unfortunately, size alone was not enough to prevent disaster. “Less than a year after these two giant ships were launched, one suffered a collision that left a large hole in its side,” Hammack said. “Of course that ship, Olympic” Due to a sudden encounter with a passing warship, it had to be repaired with wood before returning home for complete repairs, but it remained in service for nearly a quarter of a century. This unlucky brother sank to the bottom of the ocean after running into some trouble of his own. Mines and torpedoes spelled the end of humanity. Britannic In 1916. titanicwe all know about the fateful encounter with an iceberg, and have probably even heard the discussion of how its designers could have cushioned the impact: more or higher bulkheads, a double hull rather than just a double bottom, a larger lifeboat capacity. As for whether and how these solutions work, perhaps Hammack could film a follow-up explaining it all to us.

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Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages ​​and cultures. he is the author of the newsletter books about cities books as well Home page (I won’t summarize Korea) and korean newtro. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.