Titanic navigation bridge

The bridge was the "brain" of the liner and was located in the most appropriate place, in line with the ship's direction of travel, i.e. forward of the boat deck. Situated sixty metres from the bow, the navigation bridge rises some twenty-three metres above the waterline. This gives officers a clear view of the front of the ship and the horizon. The bridge was accessible from the boat deck on the port and starboard sides. Staircases located forward allowed access from either side of the A deck promenade. It also communicated with the officers' wardroom, located aft of the wheelhouse, at the level of the first funnel. However, access was reserved for officers in charge of navigation and crew members on watch at sea. == Infrastructures ==

Gangway shelter bridge shelter, similar to that on Titanic, was equipped with an auxiliary steering wheel and five order transmitters. At the forward end of the boat deck, there was a shelter and two manoeuvring fins. A railing connected them, lining the front of the deck. The bridge shelter was airy and open on both sides to the officers' promenade. Nine windows gave the helmsman and navigation officers an unobstructed view of the foremast and bow. Auxiliary helm and course compass Under the bridge shelter, there was an auxiliary steering wheel for Titanic's rudder. It was used during harbour entrances and exits, so that the helmsman, working in open space, could more easily hear the successive orders of the manoeuvring officers. The auxiliary helm was also used along the coast, in good weather or hot conditions. It was mechanically connected to the main rudder. Telephone system The wheelhouse was equipped with a set of four horn telephones. These were used to communicate with four of the ship's installations, to ensure smooth navigation. The forecastle, crow's nest, engine room and docking gangway were all linked to the wheelhouse. On the evening of the collision, the watchman, Frederick Fleet, used the telephone in the crow's nest to warn the bridge of the presence of the iceberg. In addition to these telephone installations, Titanic was equipped with a switch to close the watertight doors. On the night of the sinking, this switch was operated by First Officer William Murdoch, closing the compartments. There could have been an indicator, but only the testimony of a sailor confirms this. Other installations In addition to the telephone system, the wheelhouse also included an underwater signal receiver, capable of warning the ship of the approach of a dangerous area. This system worked by means of two boxes, each containing a microphone, placed inside the hull, below the waterline, on the port and starboard sides. Connected to the receiver in the wheelhouse, these boxes received noises identified by bells of different tones, over a distance of up to 20 miles. This indicator was useful when approaching a dangerous place, but also for navigating in fog, as it allowed the liner to be located in relation to the signals picked up. Titanic's wheelhouse was also equipped with a speed indicator and a clinometer to measure the ship's angle of heel. Lastly, it was equipped with two pendulums, sextants, marine chronometers, thermometers and barometers. (chief operator) and Harold Bride (second operator), was located about 12 m from the forward end of the boat deck, behind the first funnel. It communicated with the bridge via a passageway port of the officers' quarters. It consisted of three rooms. The room furthest to port was known as the "silent", which contained the radio transmission equipment and an emergency transmitter. From the roof of the "silent", there was a 50 m high vertical radiating radio wire linking four horizontal wires to form the T-shaped antenna. This was where the radio receiver and control equipment were located. Finally, the room furthest to starboard was a rest room, equipped with a bunk. During the voyage, the two wireless operators took it in turns to ensure a permanent listening watch by wireless telegraphy on the 600 metre waveband from Titanic. At night, Phillips, the chief operator, was on watch from 8:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M., while Bride was on watch from 2:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. During the day, the men took turns for mutual convenience, always ensuring a continuous watch. The operators shared the toilets and showers with the navigation officers. They also had a small lounge on C deck. Radiotelegraphic correspondence Normally, since 1903, for the exchange of radiotelegraphic correspondence with ships at sea, ships such as Titanic transmitted on a wavelength of 300 metres (1,000 kHz) and listened on a wavelength of 600 metres (500 kHz). (Coast stations normally transmitted on a wavelength of 600 metres and listened on a wavelength of 300 metres). Ships and coast stations were able to transmit and receive on the same wavelength; for example, a ship contacting another ship on the 600 metre wavelength or a ship broadcasting weather information or iceberg positions on the 600 metre wavelength. Docking gangway Overlooking the third-class promenade deck, Titanic's stern bridge was a facility for manoeuvring the ship to dock or handling it in confined spaces. It was arranged transversely to the stern deck and, unlike the main bridge, was not sheltered. It had several facilities, similar to the wheelhouse. It was equipped with two telegraphs linked directly to two of the order transmitters on the navigation bridge, so that they operated in pairs. One pair was used to communicate orders to the engine room, while the other transmitted manoeuvring and steering orders. It also included Titanic's third steering wheel (along with the one under the bridge shelter and the one in the wheelhouse), used in the event of failure of the main wheel's remote control motor. Finally, the stern bridge had a course compass. == Command of the ship on its only crossing ==

. The crew assigned to command the ship consisted of eight navigation officers. Captain Edward John Smith, in command of Titanic, and his second-in-command, Henry Wilde, supervised a team of six navigation officers, who were responsible for navigating the ship according to their watch. The captain reported directly to three "senior" officers, who were responsible for the navigation of Titanic according to their watch. The three most senior officers designated for these tasks were the Executive Officer, Henry Wilde, First Officer William McMaster Murdoch and Second Officer Charles Lightoller. David Blair, originally the second officer, left the liner. These three men took turns every four hours 13, and had under their command two 'junior' officers, who worked in pairs. Depending on the watch, the two junior officers supervised by a senior officer are Herbert Pitman, third officer and Harold Lowe, fifth officer or Joseph Boxhall, fourth officer and James Paul Moody, sixth officer. The officers were also responsible for reporting important events in the bridge diary, located in a small room at the back of the wheelhouse, the chart room. Wilde was generally in charge of this task Titanic's helm was entrusted to one of the seven petty officers of the deck crew, who reported to a senior officer. == The night of the sinking ==

Collision . On the evening of 14 April 1912, at 11:40 pm, while Titanic was travelling at 22.5 knots, an iceberg was spotted by the crow's nest watchmen Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee. The senior officer of the watch was William McMaster Murdoch; the junior officers were Joseph Boxhall and James Paul Moody. Frederick Fleet immediately rang the crow's nest bell three times, then telephoned the wheelhouse. The sixth officer, Moody, took the call. Fleet alerted him to the presence of an iceberg less than 500 metres in front of the ship. Moody immediately informed First Officer Murdoch, who ordered the helmsman in the wheelhouse to turn to starboard: "Hard a'starboard ". Titanic finally hit the iceberg, which left gashes in the hull below the waterline which stretched over five compartments. Using the control in the wheelhouse, Murdoch closed the ship's watertight doors. Shortly afterwards, the captain, who was in his quarters, came out after the collision and asked First Officer Murdoch for a report. He also asked for the engines to be completely shut down. Fourth Officer Boxhall went down to inspect the damage soon after the collision. During his first trip, he did not notice anything unusual. After meeting the ship's carpenter who informed him the cargo hold was taking in water, Boxhall found the damage himself and informed Captain Smith. The captain then ordered a survey of the ship by the ship's carpenter and by Thomas Andrews, one of the ship's architects. Andrews drew up a prognosis after going down with the captain to the lower decks to see the damage, along with the carpenter. Fourth Officer Boxhall went to wake up the off-duty officers Charles Lightoller, Herbert Pitman, and Harold Lowe, and inform them of the collision and damage. Assignment of officers to lifeboats . Orders were given to lower the lifeboats and to send wireless messages from the station near the officers' quarters. The evacuation of the passengers in the lifeboats was organised as follows: First Officer William Murdoch was in charge of all the lifeboats on the starboard side (i.e. all the odd-numbered lifeboats plus collapsible lifeboats A and C), and Second Officer Charles Lightoller was in charge of all the lifeboats on the port side (all the even-numbered lifeboats plus collapsible B and D). The other officers had to assist Murdoch and Lightoller in their tasks. At 12:55 A.M., Third Officer Pitman helped to fill Lifeboat 5 and then boarded it to take command. Chief Officer Henry Wilde was carefully involved in loading the boats, but Charles Lightoller took control of operations, having had experience of a previous shipwreck. At around 1:30 A.M., Sixth Officer Moody assisted Fifth Officer Lowe and told Lowe to take Lifeboat 14 and that he would go away in another boat. The fourth officer, Boxhall, boarded Lifeboat 2 at around 1:45 A.M. Operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride sent distress messages until shortly after 2:00, when both agreed that messages were no longer transmitting. Two hours and thirty minutes after the collision with the iceberg, the water reached the bridge shelter and the wheelhouse at around 2:00 A.M. Captain Smith and Chief Officer Wilde, as well as Officers Murdoch and Moody, disappeared in the wreck; their bodies were never recovered. Charles Lightoller survived by climbing onto Collapsible Boat B a few minutes before Titanic sank. He was in the company of Archibald Gracie and second operator Bride. He was the most senior officer to survive the sinking. At around 4.10 A.M., the first lifeboat was picked up by . It was Lifeboat 2, under the command of Joseph Boxhall. Lifeboat 12 was the last boat recovered. Charles Lightoller was the last survivor to board. State of the installations on the wreck After sinking, the Titanic crashed violently to the bottom of the ocean at a depth of almost 3,700 metres. The bridge shelter and wheelhouse were damaged by the fall of the first funnel, then destroyed as the ship fell to the ocean floor. The foremast collapsed onto the port gangway railing. The crow's nest, shown in the 1986 photographs, has now disappeared, probably having fallen inside the hull. The bronze control formerly attached to the main helm is still present. The officers' quarters and adjacent rooms are in better condition, particularly Commander Smith's cabin. However, the roof of the wireless room is pierced in several places, having been used as a landing platform for submersibles. In 2000, an expedition made it possible to refloat the foot of the wheelhouse bar. == On Olympic and Britannic ==

Titanic was the second of the three Olympic-class ships. In fact, it benefited from improvements over its predecessor, Olympic, and the lessons learned from the sinking led to a rethink of the gangways on the two surviving sister ships. On board Olympic, the officers' quarters were organised differently and were smaller. The shape of the wheelhouse also differed from those on Titanic and Britannic. However, it was later modified. A platform for a compass was also placed on top of the wheelhouse following the redesign. Britannic, which was still under construction when Titanic sank, had its gangway redesigned. The panel for the watertight bulkheads no longer indicated whether they were closed or open, but clearly indicated their position. The order transmitters had also been improved, and a device indicated the precise number of revolutions of the ship's engines. As on Olympic after her refit, the bridge roof housed a compass. Communication between the bridge and the wireless room, which had been lacking on board Titanic, was improved by means of a pneumatic tube linking the two installations. On Olympic, this link was made by telephone. == See also ==

Notes Bibliography • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • External links • (fr) Le Site du "Titanic", site dedicated to the liner; in particular this page devoted to the navigation bridge. • Titanic's Bridge And Wheelhouse , description of the gangway on Titanic-Titanic.com. • Wheelhouse and Bridge on the website of RMS Titanic INC, the company responsible for operations on the wreck.