Titanic

Shannon Davidson

His 402

Independent Research Paper

3 May 2012

Global Union through a Maritime Disaster

A disaster has a way of uniting those it affects. In some cases, disasters are so great that it has more of an impact on a greater number of people. In the case of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the impact of the disaster was felt on a larger scale. Because of what the ship was and what it represented, it was more than just an ordinary disaster (if such a thing exists). The disaster of the titanic had a huge impact on a global scale and from this disaster a new level of international cooperation was seen, and many new laws and regulations about maritime safety—not just UK laws, but American, and Irish, too.

To understand why the titanic was so important, there needs to be an understanding of what the ship was and what it represented. The titanic was the epitome of luxury and class; and along with its sister ships, the Olympic and the Britannic, Titanic was the largest ship of its kind in 1912. For example, the Titanic had well over thirty private suites. Each suite was like a mini apartment; there were two bedrooms, two wardrobe rooms, and a built in bathroom equipped with a toilet and a sink. In first class alone, there were more than three hundred rooms, each with one bed. There were also five staterooms, built and reserved for the most rich and elite of passengers, such as John Piermont Morgan (who was unable to board the Titanic last minute, probably much to his relief after news of the sinking reached international presses) and John Jacob Astor, each decorated in a specific style—Queen Anne, Georgian, Louis XV, Louis XVI, and Empire. The amount of craftsmanship and detail that went into creating every corner of the ship was revolutionary, even in third class accommodations. The furniture was all hand carved and made of expensive woods, like teak, oak, and mahogany. Hand carved baseboards could be found all over the ship and in the cabins there was a floral...