9 Interesting Facts About the Titanic
At around 2.15 am in the year 1912, the famous luxurious ship by the name ‘Titanic’ sank deep into the ocean after hitting an iceberg two hours before. The giant ship was carrying approximately 2,100 passengers on board before disaster struck.
The cataclysm occurred on April 15, 1912, after the ship left Southampton, England on a voyage moving passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. In those days, the Titanic was purportedly the largest man-made moving object on earth.
There has been a lot of conflicting theories surrounding the tragic story of the Titanic. Perhaps that is due to the fact that, back then, technology was not that advanced. Today, the Titanic remains the most documented story depicted in books, movies, and TV shows.
No one has ever come up with ‘true’ figures regarding the total number of deaths by the Titanic. For now, all we have are facts about the Titanic; which we are going to discuss below.
1.Titanic was the biggest passenger ship
‘Harmony of the seas’ remains the biggest passenger ship on earth today standing over 360 meters in length. But it was the Titanic which previously held that record for being the largest ship on earth standing at 800 feet. The estimated cost for building the Titanic was around 7.5 million dollars.
One of the most iconic features of the Titanic included an indoor swimming pool, a library, a fitness center, and a squash complex. During its launch, the ship was so big that it almost caused another calamity. It is believed that the catastrophic sinking of the Titanic was due to poor planning.
Oddly, the ship was designed to only support 63 lifeboats. Therefore chances of survival were limited considering the number of passengers on board. It is perhaps the reason why many people lost their lives on that fateful day.Rich and famous on deck
2. Rich and famous on deck
The Titanic was full of rich men and women on deck booked in the First class. During that time, the cost of a single First class ticket was 4,000 dollars. The First class was a showcase of pure extravagance and luxury. For instance, the smoking bay was only meant for rich males. The dining area was decorated with hand-made mahogany roofing.
There is no doubt the First class was filled with glamour and elegance as documented with presence of rich persons on aboard. Eleanor Widener is an illustration of such extravagance as she wore a multi-million necklace worth more than 200,000 million (value back then).
After the ship hit the iceberg for the first time and started to sink gradually, of course, women from the First class were given first priority. Therefore it was no surprise when women from First class were boarded to safety untouched and still dressed in their evening dinner gowns.
Surprisingly, 59 percent of all First class passengers survived the Titanic tragedy.
3. The Iceberg
Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic ship had managed to steer the ship from hitting many more icebergs before finally hitting one that crushed the ship. It is documented that Capt. Edward had received several radio calls from other ships warning him to stay clear of icebergs in the Atlantic Ocean.
The first person to spot the iceberg on the Ocean was Frederick Fleet, who described the ‘killer iceberg’ as something out of the ordinary and about 90 feet in length. It is also believed that the iceberg was initiated from a glacier which went on to float into the path of the Titanic.
The sudden impact of the ship hitting the iceberg was so powerful that it ruptured the ship’s lower decks. What was believed to be an unimaginable tragedy was now proving a reality- the ‘’unsinkable’’ was going to sink. In a spurn of close to 2 hours or so, since the impact, the ship was completely submerged in deep waters.
