LANCEMENT

On the day of the launch, the weather was clear and mild. Early in the morning, site workers and their families, visitors and VIPs begin to invade the yard. Platforms for guests and the press were built near the point where the huge bow juts out into the blue sky. It was later estimated that over 100,000 people were present to witness the event. Just before noon, a red rocket was fired from the construction site to signal the imminent launch.

At 12:13, a second rocket shoots into the sky. The shouts of the crowd die down to a murmur of expectation. Lord W. J. PIRRIE calmly gives an order to the foreman in charge of the launch. There will be no ceremony and no christening of the ship. The absence of a christening, some would later say, was another reason for the ship's disappearance. In reality, it was simply a continuation of W. S. L.'s usual policy. None of its ships are christened.

A burst of cheers rips through the air, as the Titanic glides gently through the water, thanks to 22 tons of soap and tallow spread 2 cm thick along the length of the holds. After reaching a speed of 12 knots, the hull is gently stopped at 1 m length and held in place by special anchors anchored to the river bed and connected by 14 cm steel hawsers to plates riveted to the hull. The hull itself, freed from its anchors, is towed back to its berth by five tugs.