Titanic Survives

Point of Divergence

On the night of April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic narrowly avoided an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. Instead of lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee being unable to notice the iceberg until it was too late like in our Original Timeline, now, they had binoculars. The lookouts spotted the iceberg and rang the bell three times, signaling danger. quartermaster Robert Hichens is able to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg, narrowly avoiding it. After conducting an internal investigation for their ship, they went on their way to New York.

Arrival In New York

Delayed by the iceberg scare, the Titanic docked at White Star Line's Pier 60 at 9:30 on April 18. Headlines were quickly printed and the media twisted the story of the Titanic, saying that it had collided head-first into the iceberg, but was so powerful that it split it in half and sailed right through it.

At first, Captain Edward Smith had tried to correct the rumors, but when he realized people were not condemning him for the close call, he let the rumors make headlines.

Newspapers

As first predicted, the Titanic had made headlines. Now it was for all the wrong reasons. New York Times was calling it "Unsinkable by God," which meant that even the Lord couldn't strike the ship down, try as he might. The Daily Mirror also got the news wrong, saying that the Titanic "collides an iceberg on her maiden voyage". The Times Dispatch reported that the Titanic had sunk and killed over 1800 passengers.

Refitting

On May 31, 1913, the Titanic was ready to sail again after being given more life boats, a double hull, and having the watertight compartments raise all the way to the ceiling. More passenger cabins and facilities were added to the ocean liner as well, making her and her sister ship Olympic the biggest ocean liners until the German liner SS Imperator entered passenger service during June of 1913.

Second Voyage

On July 4, 1913, the Titanic was approved to go on her second voyage back to Southampton. The voyage was going to be a speedy one, expecting to last ten days, from July 4 to July 14, 1913.

Original route planned for the Titanic.

Launch

On July 4, 1913, Titanic was launched. Three workers were killed when the Titanic slid down the slipway into the water. Robert Kennedy, Jacob Smith, and Steven Argton were crushed to death. Besides their deaths, the Titanic's launch went without a hitch. Her journey to Southampton had begun.

First Three days

During the first three days of her voyage, Titanic made very good progress.

Notable Passenger

A notable people sailing on the Titanic was Milton S. Hershey, who was well known for his chocolate business. In 1912, Hershey missed the opportunity for him and his wife to sail on the Titanic, and now, they were making that up.

Accident

On April 7, 1913, the RMS Titanic was sailing through the Atlantic. It was a very foggy early morning. The lookouts, Fredrick Fleet and Reginald Lee, were up in the crows nest when out of the fog, what was thought to be a large rock was seen jutting out of the ocean was seen. About a minute later, the fog clears and it turns out the rock was an iceberg. Ringing the bell as they had done almost a year ago, the lookouts alert the bridge. Going 23 knots, Titanic did not have enough time to turn and thus hit the iceberg head on.

Taking On Water

Titanic started to sink from the front. Dipping her head into the ocean, the watertight doors had closed and stopped the flooding. Electricity was still working so Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, the wireless officers on the Titanic messaged a nearby ship, the RMS Cessnock. Luckily, she was only 20 miles away and came speeding to help. All survived except those near the bow of the ship, who were killed in the crash.

Evacuation

The Titanic was carrying 2,500 passengers that morning. All (except the ones killed in the crash) were able to get into a lifeboat and be rescued by the Cessnock. The Titanic had long stopped flooding, but was not able to move. Passengers and crew aboard the Cessnock helped attach cables to the ship and begin towing her to Southampton. The crew on Titanic stayed aboard to make sure she would not sink during the trip back.

Death Toll

In total, 30 people were killed in the incident. Most of them were in the crew quarters or on deck.

Arrival

Captain Smith, who was captain the morning of the crash, was ridiculed for not taking action and letting 30 people die on his watch. After this, Smith resigned as captain of the Titanic and retired as a seaman. White Star Line agreed to use Titanic as a hospital ship in World War One. 

Repair

Titanic was to be repaired over the next two years. For this time, she was inactive. She was to remain inactive until it was thought the situation had blown over. Titanic had rumors printed in the newspapers and it tarnished her career. After the ship was repaired, she was sent back to Southampton. 

World War One

Titanic was entered into WWI during 1915. RMS Titanic became HMHS Titanic, as she became a hospital steamer. As a wartime measure, Titanic was painted in a white and red color scheme. She made various successful voyages around Europe. Mostly picking up the wounded soldiers from Germany and bringing them back to England. Later in her career, she and her sister ship, HMHS Britannic, were sent to Lemnos on November 12, 1916. On the morning of November 21, 1916, the HMHS Britannic struck a mine. Titanic was two miles away from her. Britannic requested for her help and Titanic put full steam ahead toward her sister ship's location. Titanic got there in four minutes. All patients from the Britannic were moved to Titanic. HMHS Britannic was "left to rot" as the fear of enemies and more bombs arose. Titanic was given the nickname "Ol' Faithful" and officially retired from the war.   

Post WWI

After the fallout of WWI, Titanic was back in Belfast and being turned back into a civilian ship. The Titanic was still one of the largest ships in the shipping world, just ahead of her sister ship, the Olympic and behind the Aquitania. The Titanic had several successful voyages during the time period of 1920 up until 1929, when the stock market crashed.

Stock Market Crash

Titanic could not make as many voyages as she could before the crash, so overtime, she became less and less relevant. The White Star Line in general was fading out of the public eye and becoming news of the past. Eventually, she was retired and set to be scrapped. When World War II broke out, she was given purpose again and became a hospital ship like she had previously been in World War I.

World War 2

Still retaining the nickname of "Ol' Faithful", Titanic was set to be in the war. By this time, Olympic had been retired and White Star Line had merged with Cunard Line. From 1940-1942, the hospital ship would be instrumental in aiding the Allied Powers against the Axis Powers.

The Titanic as a part of her museum in 2012, 100 years after the incident that made her even more famous.

End Of Service

After the end of World War Two, Titanic was officially retired from service and set to be scrapped. However, due to the public's popular demand for a museum, one was built and on December 2, 1952, Titanic was officially incorporated into the building's design. It was a unique feat to accomplish and the public thought it was a great way to give tribute to a ship that had been through so much and meant a lot to so many people throughout it's life.