Winner Jack, Age 9

by Jack Lee
(Chiang Mai Thailand)

The Sinkable Unsinkable Ship

Are icebergs our enemies? Two thousand two hundred and six people were on the safest ship ever built and when it hit an iceberg only 705 people survived it. This ship could have accommodated an extra 16 lifeboats but the owners didn’t want the boat to look too crowded. Maybe the owners were at fault and icebergs aren’t really to blame.

On April 10th, 1912, the unsinkable ship went on its maiden voyage. This ship was known as the Titanic. At the time it was the world’s largest ship. The Titanic was going to New York but it had to stop at Ireland to pick up more passengers.

Four days later at 11:40 pm it was pitch dark. Suddenly the lookouts spotted an iceberg dead ahead! The Titanic veered off but the ship was too long and the turn was too late! The iceberg carved 6 deep gashes in the Titanic’s side and water started gushing in.

At midnight, the Titanic called for rescue over the radio but all the other ships in the area had turned off their radios. Only 1 ship heard the call but it was more than 50 miles away. Five minutes later the captain gave the order to uncover the lifeboats but he knew there were not enough lifeboats for everyone. At 12:45 am the first lifeboat was lowered with 28 people even though it could accommodate 65. The lifeboats were lowered with women and children first. At 2:05 am the last lifeboat was lowered with still over 1000 people on board.

Twenty minutes later, the Titanic sank and hours later the people in the lifeboats saw lights up ahead. It was the ship the Carpathia! The survivors were put on board the Carpathia and three days later the Carpathia arrived in New York.

Many people thought the Titanic was unsinkable but they were mistaken. The Titanic was a tremendous disaster and an important lesson too. Now no ship will ever be called unsinkable ever again!