Мировые трагедии.

The Tragedy of The Titanic

On April 10, 1912, a large crowd came to watch a new ship, the Titanic, set sail from England on her first voyage. The Titanic was the biggest and fanciest ship ever built. It was 900 feet long - as long as three football fields. It had a gym, a swimming pool, a lot of dining rooms, three libraries, five grand pianos, a squash court, and even a hospital.

The Titanic was said to be the safest ship ever built. It was said to be unsinkable.

At noon the Titanic set sail for New York. For the next few days, Captain Smith and his crew were busy running the ship. The passengers were busy making friends, playing games, listening to music, and eating lots of good food.

On the evening of April 14 the passengers were having so much fun that they did not worry about ice or accidents at sea.

At 9:20 p. m., Captain Smith went to bed. He gave orders for his crew to wake him if there was any trouble. But he did not give any orders to slow down because of the ice. He was trying to sail across the Atlantic Ocean faster than any ship had before.

Just before midnight, a lookout saw a big, dark shape. He knew it was an iceberg, a floating mountain of ice – and the Titanic was heading right for it! He rang the bell three times and called down to the bridge: “Iceberg right ahead!”

But the ship could not turn fast. The Titanic hit the iceberg. The Titanic, was going to sink on its first voyage. As water poured into the ship, the Titanic sent the same message over and over again: SOS – HELP! The captain and crew waited for replies from nearby ships. But the ships did not answer. Now the captain knew that the ship was sinking and nobody could save it. “Load the lifeboats,” he ordered. Bur there were not enough lifeboats. “Women and children first!” he shouted.  Some women and children got into the lifeboats. They waved good – bye to their husbands and fathers. “See you in New York,” the men called back.

Finally, Captain Smith gave his crew one last order: «Every man for himself». Some stayed on the ship. Some jumped into the cold ocean. The captain did not survive – he went down with the ship.

At 2;20 at night there was a loud sound. The ship broke into two pieces and sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The people in the lifeboats were cold in the night. At last they saw the ship and were rescued.

The sinking of the Titanic was a horrible disaster. Of the 2,224 people on board, only 705 lived.

Today ships must have enough lifeboats for every person on the board The Titanic still lies at the bottom of the ocean. Some people want to bring up her treasures. But most people want to leave it untouched. That shows respect for those who died.