Level: R
DRA: 40
Social Studies
Strategy:
Summarize
Word Count: 1,240
6.3.11 Build Vocabulary
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1033028
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
by Nate Pervil
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Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Smooth Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Iceberg Dead Ahead! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Search and Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Death of a Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Survivors’ Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Legend Lives On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Introduction
On April 10, 1912, a ship left England for
New York City. It was carrying more than 2,200
passengers and crew. The ship was called the
Titanic and what a fitting name. It was huge!
The Titanic was as tall as
an 11-story building.
It was as fancy as some
of the best hotels in
the world. And many
people thought that
it was so well built, it
could not sink. But they
were wrong.
The Titanic never
reached New York
City. Only 705 people
who boarded the
Titanic would survive.
What happened to
the Titanic?
The Titanic cost
$7.5 million to build.
3
Smooth Sailing
April 11–April 13, 1912
The weather is fine, clear
and calm. The Titanic receives
warnings, though, from other
ships in the area about ice.
One ship reports damage after
coming through an ice field,
a large sheet of floating ice.
The Titanic’s Captain Smith
tells the crew to be on the
watch for danger.
Sunday, April 14, 1912 Icebergs
The Titanic moves along at are large floating
nearly top speed. More warnings masses of ice
that break away
about ice come in. The radio from glaciers.
operator is busy sending messages
for the passengers. He ignores many of the warnings.
Captain Smith receives a message in the early
afternoon, warning of a large ice field about
250 miles away. A later message warns of an iceberg.
The captain does not receive that message. By
7:30 P.M., the iceberg is only 50 miles ahead.
4
Iceberg Dead Ahead!
8:55 P.M.
The captain returns to the bridge.
Shortly after, he goes to bed. But he leaves
an order to call him if there’s a problem.
10:30 P.M.
Air temperature is 32°F. The sea
is even colder.
10:55 P.M.
Another ship, the Californian,
is about 20 miles away. It is
stopped in ice. The Californian’s
wireless operator sends out
warnings to all nearby ships.
The ice field could be as much as
78 miles long! He tries to contact
the Titanic. However, he can’t get
the operator’s attention.
11:30 P.M.
The wireless operator on the
Californian goes to bed. No one takes
his place.
Edward Smith was an
experienced sea captain.
5
11:40 P.M.
Suddenly, lookouts on the Titanic spot an iceberg.
It’s looming dead ahead. The upper part of the iceberg
jutted 50–60 feet above the water.
The warning bell blares out three times. All
engines stop. The Titanic begins to turn to avoid the
iceberg. But one side has already collided with it.
11:50 P.M.
Seawater begins to pour into the ship.
Cutaway of the Titanic Wireless antennae to send
and receive messages
Lifeboats
Stern
Engine rooms
6
Midnight
The captain views the damage. To his dismay, the
ship’s designer tells him that the ship only has about
two hours before it sinks.
Search and Rescue
Early morning, Monday, April 15, 1912
Wireless operators send out calls for help. The
Californian remains the nearest ship. But no one is on
duty to hear the Titanic’s signal.
The Carpathia does hear it. This ship is 58 miles
away. It heads full speed toward the Titanic.
Wireless room Bridge, where the captain
commands the ship
Crow’s Nest, where
the lookout stands
Bow
Boiler rooms Area flooded from
iceberg damage 7
12:20 A.M.
Captain Smith orders the Titanic’s crew to lower
the lifeboats. The lifeboats can seat 1,178 people.
But, there are more than 2,200 people on board.
The captain orders women and children to be put
on the lifeboats.
12:45 A.M.
Some of the lifeboats are not full when they
are lowered. A lifeboat can carry 65 people. But the
first one carries only 28 people. Another has only
32 people. Yet another has just 12. Nor are all the
people in the first boats women and children.
One of the Titanic’s lifeboats
heads toward the Carpathia.
8
1:15 A.M.
The tilt of the Titanic grows steeper. Nothing
can stabilize the ship. The lifeboats now carry
more people.
1:30 A.M.
Fear is mounting among the passengers. The
messages to other ships now say, “We are sinking
fast. Women and children in boats. Cannot last
much longer.”
The Death of a Ship
Almost everyone left on board is wearing a life
jacket. These people have a choice:
1. They can stay on board and hope for rescue.
2. They can jump into water that’s as cold as ice.
2:17 A.M.
By now many people have begun jumping
overboard in desperation.
2:18 A.M.
CRASH! A terrible roar is heard. Everything in
the ship slams violently forward. The ship breaks in
two. All the lights go out, and an eerie silence follows.
9
2:20 A.M.
The stern of the Titanic fills with water and slowly
sinks into the sea. Everyone on board goes down with
the ship, including Captain Smith. Hundreds of others
float in the water, slowly freezing to death.
3:30 A.M.
The people in the lifeboats spot rockets set off by
the Carpathia. Rescue seems near.
A Dark Night
When the Titanic collided
with the iceberg, the
moon was not visible.
That made it hard to see.
The water was also very
still. If the sea had been
choppy, waves would have
been frothing around the
iceberg. Then the lookouts
might have seen it.
The Titanic sinks to
the bottom of the
Atlantic Ocean.
10
4:10 A.M.
The Carpathia finally arrives. It’s been almost two
hours since the Titanic sank.
8:30 A.M.
The Carpathia picks up the last of the lifeboats
and leaves the area. It’s bound for New York with
705 survivors. About 1,500 lives have been lost at sea.
Help from Halifax?
The captain of the Carpathia radios New York that he will
take the survivors to Halifax, Nova Scotia. But he later
changes his mind. There is still a lot of ice between his
location and Halifax.
Route of the Titanic
11
Survivors’ Tales
The Carpathia arrives
in New York City on April
18, 1912. News of the
disaster has already spread.
Newspaper reporters are
there gathering information.
They know that their
readers are hungry for news.
Many of the newspaper
articles will list the dead.
These include many
wealthy and well-known
figures. Some of the stories,
though, will become the
stuff of legend.
One story is how the The sinking of the Titanic
orchestra kept playing as was a front-page story.
the ship began to sink.
The tunes kept up the spirits of those still on the ship.
Another is how the mail clerks stood in water up to
two feet high, trying to save the mail. There were
many heartbreaking tales.
12
Then there is the story of the “Unsinkable Molly
Brown.” Mrs. Brown gave her fur coat to a man pulled
from the freezing water. She helped row the lifeboat.
Brown also comforted many women who watched the
Titanic sink with their husbands on board.
The Legend Lives On
No matter how many years go by, the memory
of the Titanic has not receded. These and other stories
continue to interest people. There have been books,
plays, movies, and musicals devoted
to the disaster. The Titanic,
the largest ship in the
world, may have sunk.
But its stories live
on and on.
Molly Brown earned
her nickname for
rowing her lifeboat
to safety.
13
Index
B T
Brown, Molly, 13 Titanic
ice field, 4, 5
C ice warnings, 4, 5, 6
Californian, 5, 7 iceberg, 4, 6, 7
lifeboats, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13
Carpathia, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 size of, 3
H W
Halifax, Nova Scotia, 11 wireless operators, 4, 5, 7, 9
N
New York City, 3, 11, 12
S
Smith, Captain Edward,
4, 5, 7, 8, 10
14
Responding
TARGET VOCABULARY Word Builder What
words could be used to describe an iceberg?
Copy the word web below and add more words.
menacing looming
iceberg
? ?
Write About It
Text to World Write a letter to a friend
explaining what happened the night the Titanic
sank. Use words from the Word Builder.
15
TARGET VOCABULARY
collided jutted
desperation looming
dismay mounting
eerie receded
frothing stabilize
TARGET STRATEGY Summarize Briefly tell the
important parts of the text in your own words.
Which word tells the name of the
spookiest Great Lake?
16
Level: R
DRA: 40
Social Studies
Strategy:
Summarize
Word Count: 1,240
6.3.11 Build Vocabulary
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1033028
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
