The Intro...
On April 11, 1912 a large passenger liner sat anchored off
of Roche's Point, Queenstown, Ireland. There was no
dock large enough in Queenstown to accommodate this
ship, so passengers and mail were loaded by tender from
the shore. The great ship was over 850 feet long,
displaced 66,000 tons of water, boasted three propellers
powered by triple expansion and turbine engines, and
carried 2,223 passengers and crew.
When all of the port officials, journalists and passengers
disembarking made their way off the ship and onto the
tenders, the passenger liner was ready to make her
maiden voyage across the Atlantic. It is said that just
before her anchors were raised and she made steam, a
stoker, black from his work of feeding coal to the great
ship's boilers, appeared in the at the top of the aft
funnel, up the ladder for a breath of pure Irish air. This
was thought to be a bad omen, but the sight was soon
forgotten. At 1:30 P.M. the great ship's engines were fed
steam, her propellers turned and she began her
departure.
As a tender made his way back to the docks, Francis
Browne, a thirty-two-year-old teacher and hopeful Jesuit priest
who sailed on the great ship from Southampton to Queenstown, snapped one
last photograph of the ship as she steamed away.
This would be the last photo known to be taken of the
great ship for over seventy years. She would sail into
history, leaving in her wake a trail of tragedy, mystery,
intrigue and fascination by millions. Her name is Titanic.
Source:
Titanic Online
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