The RMS Titanic was the largest movable man-made object in the world at the time of
her construction(1), a pinnacle of technological achievement. Even 100 years after
the disaster, this story of the largest and most luxurious ship in the world sinking on her maiden voyage continues to captivate the world. Here are a few interesting facts you probably never knew about the great liner and those who were aboard.
Titanic had originally been scheduled to depart for her maiden voyage on March 20th, 1912. It was due to repairs required for her sister ship, Olympic, following a collision with the HMS Hawke that Titanic’s maiden voyage was pushed back to April 10th, tragically sinking just 5 days later.(Chirnside 135)
Among what some considered to be bad omens at the beginning of the voyage, Titanic came very close to having a collision with the New York, and a stoker’s soot covered face was seen sticking out of the top of Titanic’s fourth dummy funnel(the fourth funnel was mostly just for show, and wasn’t actually connected to the coal burning boilers).(Chirnside 143) Chief Officer Wilde of the Titanic also had written a letter to his sister at the beginning of the voyage stating that, “I still don’t like this ship. I have a queer feeling about it.”(Chirnside 137)
Although it was popularly believed that only a huge gash along the side could have sunken the great liner, sub-surface sonar readings taken at the bow of the wreck site(2) confirm what one of Titanic’s designers proposed at the inquiries following the disaster: that the entire area of damage to the hull totaled just about 12 square feet, in a series of intermittent thin openings where the iceberg impact caused the hull plates to buckle.(Maltin 114) To put this amount of damage in perspective, the total area of hull openings caused by the iceberg would have been no larger than that of a typical household doorway.
The wealthiest passenger aboard Titanic was John Jacob Astor IV, who was indeed also the richest man in the world at the time. His net worth has been estimated to have been as high as $150 million, potentially representing a level of economic power as great as $58.7 billion in today’s dollars.(3) He had requested to accompany his pregnant wife into a lifeboat, but was turned away by Second Officer Lightoller under strict adherence to the rule of women and children first; as a result, he did not survive the sinking.(Chirnside 175)
It took just 2 hours and 40 minutes for the massive Titanic to sink into the Atlantic. Even though the lack of lifeboats is often believed to be the main reason for the tragic loss of life, only 18 of Titanic’s 20 lifeboats were able to be successfully launched before the ship sank. Furthermore, many lifeboats were sent out with empty seats. The problem is that there was a serious lack of crew members aboard Titanic who were skilled and experienced in the process of launching lifeboats, and many passengers were initially hesitant to go out into the cold ocean on a tiny lifeboat, having doubts that the ship would actually sink until it became painfully clear.(Maltin 197)
First Class passenger Margaret Brown, popularly known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” never actually called herself Molly, but she was quoted by the press after the sinking as saying, “The ship can sink, but I can’t; I’m unsinkable!” Maggie, as she was commonly known as by friends, was a tireless philanthropist who established the Survivors’ Committee and helped raise $10,000 for survivors of the sinking before she even left the rescue ship Carpathia in New York.(Maltin 66)
Microbiologist Dr. Roy Cullimore reports that the remaining hull of the Titanic wreck is being eaten away by a variety of bacteria and that within perhaps 90 years, the remains of the Titanic could implode and collapse onto the sea floor.(Chirnside 292)
If you liked this article, then you’d probably also like Interesting Facts About the Titanic.
I’d like to add the following corrections to that article:
~ The Macy’s chain of department stores was actually founded by Rowland Hussey Macy, but Isidor Straus became the co-owner of Macy’s along with his brother Nathan in 1888.(4)
~ Chief Baker Charles Joughin was able to amazingly survive in the freezing water for hours until help arrived, but this could not have been due to consuming alcohol, which likely would have only hastened hypothermia and death. It is more likely that he was able to survive in the water due to only having trod in it rather than swimming, as swimming could cause heat to more quickly leave the body, and besides having a hardy composition he may also have been wearing multiple layers of clothing.(Maltin 249)
Sources cited:
Maltin, Tim, and Eloise Aston. 101 things you thought you knew about the Titanic… but didn’t! London: Beautiful Books Limited, 2010. Print.
Chirnside, Mark. The Olympic-Class Ships. Stroud: Tempus, 2004. Print
