A rare photograph of the short-lived Titanic forms the backdrop for this room at the Titanic exhibit in Orlando, FL.  To the left is a true-size replica of the Titanic's centre propeller... 16 feet in diameter!  The outside props were 20 feet.

 

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Founded in 1847, the White Star Line, intended recipients of the fictitious Jack Dawson's   "strongly-worded letter", might be unknown to most today had it not been for the fate of Titanic, which of course is the most celebrated shipwreck of all time (although not that with the greatest loss of life).  Though its flew the British Union Jack, White Star was owned by American Financier J. P. Morgan., and in fact James Cameron's book about the making of his film reports that Morgan had booked passage on Titanic's one and only voyage and cancelled at the last minute.

Despite the loss, White Star continued to operate until 1934 when it merged with its biggest British competitor, Cunard, which used the name Cunard White Star until 1940.

When Cunard was bought by Carnival in the 1990's, with it came the rights to the name White Star and Titanic.  Carnival Chairman Mickey Arison has been quoted as saying there will never be a second Titanic, despite reports to the contrary from various websites that sprung up after the movie.  However, Cunard were not above coyly introducing the branding "White Star Service" in advertising.

 

 

Olympic
©Kinshipsprints.com. Used with Permission.
This and hundreds of prints available at www.kinshipsprints.com

The Olympic was the first of the trio which was to include herself, Titanic and Gigantic (which was renamed Britannic after Titanic was lost) and the only one to survive long enough to have a career.  The ships were, for the most part, identical, although Titanic had a partially-enclosed promenade deck, which  Olympic did not. Olympic's career was not without drama.  She was launched 20th October 1910 and completed 31 May 1911 (the day Titanic was launched), entering service 14 June.  On her fifth voyage she collided with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke, fortunately not sinking it or killing anyone. Olympic was withdrawn in the fall of 1912 and extensively rebuilt, incorporating safety changes and adding enough lifeboats for everyone on board. She served as a trooper during World War One, and holds the rather unique distinction of being the only liner to sink a submarine!  During the war she carried some 100,000 military and civilian personnel. After the war,  Olympic was renovated again, and she served profitably throughout the 'twenties.  The stock market crash changed that, and in 1934 White Star merged with Cunard.  On May 15 of that same year, Olympic struck and sank the Nantucket lightship, killing most of her crew.  She was withdrawn and scrapped in 1935. Many of Olympic's fittings were auctioned off and you can see them in various places.  For instance, the smoking room was recreated as a restaurant in the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, Northumberland.  More recently, the Celebrity Line used some wood in the a la carte restaurant on its newest liner, the Millennium.

 

Possibly the most famous ship of all time after Noah's Ark, the Titanic would have probably faded into total obscurity like the hundreds of liners which did what they were supposed to do... get their passengers across the Atlantic safely.

Instead, in a bizarre set of  coincidences, she collided with an iceberg in the north Atlantic on her maiden voyage and sank on April 15 ,1912, taking with her the lives of over 1,500 people.

The Titanic disaster, besides being one of the most celebrated disasters in history, had a profound effect on the design and operation of ocean liners, quite probably saving thousands of lives in the process.

All these pictures are from the Titanic exhibit in Orlando, Florida and used with permission.  If you get the chance to see this exhibit, it is well worth the admission cost (under $20).  Here are more pictures of the exhibition, better than mine.  For the official page of this exhibit, visit www.titanicshipofdreams.com. 

There is a larger exhibition touring the country which is currently in Seattle, WA.

Four views of the recreated First Class Staircase at the A Deck landing at the Titanic exhibit in Florida.

First Class Cabin (left) Steerage Corridor (right)

As this replica demonstrates the first-class accommodation on Titanic was quite opulent.  By comparison, third-class accommodations resembled a prison with bare metal walls and gates like the one pictured above preventing steerage passengers from becoming too upwardly mobile.  Unfortunately, these same gates prevented them from reaching the lifeboats, which did not have enough room for everyone on board anyway.

A replica of the Renault in which our heroes Jack and Rose  "did the deed" in the 1997 James Cameron film. The exhibit suffered from relying too heavily on gimmicks related to the movie, which took away from the experience.

A replica of Titanic's Promenade Deck.  The lifeboats were housed one deck above and lowered over the ship's side.  The distance from the Boat Deck to the sea was some 70 feet.  Today, this distance cannot exceed 40 feet.

Authentic  White Star Line china service from First Class, probably from Olympic .  The name of the ship is not printed on the dishes so they can be the same for the entire fleet.  This practise is still in place today.

A third-class dinner plate which was retrieved from the ocean floor.  Although the ship is slowly being devoured by iron-eating microbes, many fragile-seeming items such as china and silver are perfectly preserved.

A chunk of marble, with a hot-water tap.  The ship collided violently with the ocean floor, which smashed many things to pieces. 

At right, a life jacket which was removed from a body found floating.  Some 300 Titanic victims' bodies were recovered in the days after the wreck, and are buried outside Halifax, NS.

A flaw in the design of these jackets broke the necks of many victims when they hit the water.  Considering the alternative of dying of hypothermia, perhaps this was merciful.
 

 

The Britannic, which was originally to be called Gigantic, was renamed before her launch on 26 February, 1914.  She was slightly larger than the other two ships due to additional safety features which were incorporated after Titanic sank.  

Before she could even enter service, she was requisitioned as a hospital ship and sent to Turkey to serve in World War One.  On her fifth voyage, she struck a mine off the coast of Greece and sank in under an hour.  However, only 30 of the 1,100 aboard are lost.

Violet Jessop, a White Star Line stewardess, survived the sinking of the Titanic and Britannic and was also aboard the Olympic when she collided with the Hawke.