Construction

Construction

"It takes three million rivets and a lot of sweat to build a fine ship."
-Thomas Andrews, shipbuilder

Building the Titanic, must of the been one of the greatest projects in history. After plans and preparations, on December 16, 1908, the first keel plate was laid for the giant liner, Olympic. The first three giants to be built, the Olympic first, second would be the Titanic. On March 31, 1909, the first keel plate was laid for the Titanic. Although the Titanic and the Olympic were almost twins, the Titanic had some of the luxuries the Olympic did not have.

On October 20, 1910, the Olympic was luanched and towed to her fitting out basin for the completion. The Titanic was not far behind her older sister. On May 31, 1911, she too slid down the ways, into the water. The whole process took only sixty-two seconds. It required twenty-three tons of tallow, train oil, and soft soap to grease the ways. The launching was viewed by thousands, who got a ringside view of the event.

Now that the hull of the Titanic was completed, she needed to be fitted out. The installation of machinery and completion of the Titanic's interriors, took only ten months to complete, with help of serveral million man hours. On April 2, 1912 the Titanic was complete and was ready for her sea trials. The maiden voyage of the largest ship in the world, was only more than a week away.

The hull of Titanic

Titanic with no funnels

A cylinder casing for one of Titanic's large engines

Titanic without propellers

One of Titanic's funnels

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