Thaindian News

London, Mar 27 (ANI): Nearly a century after the world famous luxury liner sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, motor car specialists Haynes has come up with a manual for the ‘unsinkable ship’ -’RMS Titanic Owners’ Workshop Manual 1909-12 (Olympic Class)’.

The new and ‘missing’ manual has been published exactly a year ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking in April 1912, reports the Daily Mail.

The 160-page hardback tome covers both the technical specifications of the superlative steam ship and the all too human tragedy, which befell the passengers and crew after the ship’s owners and captain tempted fate too far - and lost.

Details range from the making and fitting of its three giant propellers to the furnishing of the luxury staterooms, and from the creation of its three vast anchor to the choice and fitting of rivets - many of which failed.

A whole chapter is devoted to the intricate design of lifeboats - of which there were sadly and scandalously far too few.

The book includes hundreds of photographs and illustrations showing how the ill-fated ocean liner was designed, built, launched, fitted out and operated - from launching the lifeboats to repairing a rivet, firing up the vast boiler furnaces, and running the giant refrigerator to produce ice for the champagne of the super-rich.

In its day, the Titanic’s scale was simply epic as it sacrificed speed in favour of size, luxury and space on the North Atlantic passenger route.

The ship was 882ft long, weighed 46,328 tons, and was capable of carrying 3,300 passengers.

She was not revolutionary in design, but was remarkable for her size, according to the authors.

This Leviathan, which then cost 2million pounds to build, had only 20 full-sized lifeboats capable of carrying 65 passengers each.

Cutaways and technical illustrations show key machinery and equipment, including features such as the Titanic’s 15 watertight bulkheads that were supposed to make her ‘practically unsinkable’ even when holed.

But they didn’t extend high enough. So the water went over the top and into the next compartment, dragging the ship down. Illustrations also include fatigue cracks in Titanic’s sister ship ‘Olympic’ - at exactly the point where Titanic broke in two.

“Most people know us for our car owners’ workshop manuals. But as the centenary of the Titanic’s loss approaches, we thought it fitting that the world’s most famous passenger ship should finally gets the Haynes treatment,” said a spokeswoman for Haynes.

“We wanted to take people right in to the heart of the ship - behind every nut, bolt and rivet,” she added. (ANI)