vrcanaries Chapter 134
Chapter 134
The Arctic iceberg, which was supposed to have run aground and melted on the Labrador Peninsula, was pushed by huge waves and sailed towards the Atlantic Ocean along the tide, which is the route the Titanic would have taken...
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"The coal bunker is on fire!"
"Why are you in such a hurry? Keep pouring it into the boiler. Is it going to be wasted?"
"Hahaha, little York, don't worry, it's not a big deal. When you experience more sailing in the future, you will know that this is normal."
Under the Titanic's first chimney, workers spoke casually as they filled the chimney with burning coal.
The flame in the boiler burned more and more vigorously, and it was filled with more and more. In the end, even when the ship was empty, the Titanic's fastest speed was only 39 kilometers per hour. But at this moment, it reached its peak, and with the hard work of the coal workers, it reached 43 kilometers per hour!
"Is the ship speeding up?"
"Indeed, oh, the sea breeze is too cold, let's go in."
Some of the guests on the deck could not stand the overly fishy and cold sea breeze. They could clearly feel the speed of the Titanic. Compared with the ladies, the men were dressed thicker and could stand on the deck to discuss this ship of the century.
"Don't worry, that iceberg theory won't work! The Titanic has sixteen independently sealed watertight compartments on its bottom, so even if four are destroyed, it won't be a problem!"
"Yes, and there's a lookout!"
"Of course, our captain, Edward, has forty-five years of sailing experience! He's the most experienced captain in the Silver Company!"
"Yes, and even if we hit an iceberg, the most we'd lose would be the bow. The watertight compartments are more than adequate to withstand the impact of the iceberg. At most, only three would be destroyed, which is more than enough to support us reaching America... Oh, and the Titanic also has a 24-hour wireless generator! One of the most advanced generators in the world! What's there to worry about?"
Feng Lan listened without saying a word, she carefully felt every breath coming from the wind...
"It's not because the wind speed is too high and it's cold, it's because there's cold air ahead... icebergs."
Feng Lan immediately returned to the cabin, changed into loose and thick clothes, and quickly packed up everything in the room.
At this time, the crew on the lookout finally discovered the iceberg as big as a ping-pong table in front of them and quickly sounded the ground alarm.
The shrill alarm sounded on the ship, making people feel subconsciously nervous.
At this time, Captain Edward was over 60 years old and just walked away to get some coffee. Only the first mate with seven years of experience, who was considered a novice, was left next to him. After receiving the news, because the iceberg was already visible to the naked eye and there was only 39 seconds left before it would be hit, there was no extra time to think, so he immediately ordered his men to slow down as much as possible.
"Ride hard to starboard! Avoid the iceberg! Quick!"
Under his command, the Titanic, which should have hit the iceberg after 39 seconds and at most broke three watertight compartments, had the entire right side of its solid bottom directly brush against the seemingly small iceberg. The hard iceberg left shallow holes in all sixteen watertight compartments.
You have to remember that the tip of an iceberg is always visible above the sea. The ratio of underwater to surface volume is at least 9 to 1. Based on the surface volume of the iceberg encountered by the Titanic, the underwater volume of this iceberg must have been at least 50 tons! Only the Titanic was capsized, so the first officer in the bridge breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the iceberg barely pass by.
The bottom of the bow, which is invisible to people and immersed under the sea, was directly scratched by the iceberg and five watertight compartments were broken at once!
A large amount of seawater poured into the hull from the bottom of the ship along the gap at a speed of 7 tons per second, quickly flooding the first five watertight compartments, and then continued to flow upwards along the hull. The first to be affected were the third-class passengers located above the watertight compartments.