In 1898 (14 years prior to the Titanic tragedy), Morgan Robertson wrote a novel called
Futility. This fictitious novel was about the largest ship ever built hitting an iceberg in the
Atlantic ocean on a cold April night. The fictional ship (named Titan) and the real ship
Titanic were similar in design and their circumstances were remarkably alike. Both ships
were labeled "unsinkable".
RMS stands for Royal Mail Steamer. RMS, in formal terms, means "Royal Merchant
Ship". However, the dual meaning was also "Royal Mail Steamer", because the Titanic
carried mail under the auspices of His Majesty's postal authorities. At that time, all ships,
military and civilian, that were under the British flag carried the distinction of "R.M.S."
This, in effect, gave the ship the protection of the British Crown. An attack on an R.M.S.
was considered an attack on the crown and an act of war.
Two dogs were among the Titanic survivors.
There were no cats on the Titanic. Cats were often brought on ships as a form of good
luck. They also controlled rodents.
The Titanic is about as long as the Empire State building is tall.
The Tower Bridge, located in London England, is approximately the same length and
height as the Titanic.
Originally, the Titanic's design only included 3 funnels (smokestacks). The aftmost
funnel (towards stern) was added to make the Titanic look more impressive-it gave the
feeling of "power and grace". It only functioned as an air vent.
No one ever claimed that the Titanic was "unsinkable". The quote, "practically
unsinkable" was taken out of context. In 1911, Shipbuilder magazine published an article
describing the construction of the Titanic. The article stated that when the watertight
doors were closed, the ship would be "practically unsinkable".
It was customary to break a bottle of champagne on the bow of a boat when launched.
The Titanic launching did not include the traditional bottle-breaking.
Many of the passengers were not originally suppose to be traveling on the Titanic. Due to
a strike, coal was in short supply. This shortage threatened Titanic's maiden voyage and
forced the White Star Line to cancel travel on the Oceanic and Adriatic and transfer their
passengers and coal stocks to the Titanic.
There were 13 couples on board celebrating their Honeymoons.
Captain Smith was planning to retire after Titanic's maiden voyage.
The Titanic had 4 elevators (3 in First class and 1 in Second class).
At the time, Titanic's whistles were the largest ever made.
Titanic's whistles could be heard from a distance of 11 miles.
The Titanic carried 900 tons of baggage and freight.
The Titanic used 14,000 gallons of drinking water every 24 hours.
Coal consumption per day: 825 tons.
Carried 20 lifeboats and 3560 life jackets. The life jackets were made of canvas and cork.
More than 3 million rivets were used to build the Titanic.
In a test done to determine stopping distance, the Titanic was accelerated to 20 knots and
then the engines were reversed at full power. The distance required to stop the Titanic
was about half a mile.
The Titanic's radio call sign was: MGY.
Port of Registry - Liverpool, England. Registry date: March 24, 1912.
Official ship number: 131,428
The number 3909 04 was NOT assigned to the Titanic as a hull number.
The lookouts in the crow's nest did not have binoculars. Having binoculars might have
prevented the Titanic tragedy.
The time interval from first sighting of the iceberg to impact was a little over 30 seconds.
The Titanic sank 2 hours and 40 minutes after hitting the iceberg.
It probably took Titanic about 15 minutes to sink to her final resting place on the ocean
floor. That means that Titanic sank at a rate of 10 miles per hour (or 16 km per hour).
The Titanic hit the iceberg on the starboard (right) side of the bow. It has been speculated
that the Titanic may have suffered only minor damage and minimal loss of life had it hit
the iceberg head-on. It has also been suggested that the Titanic may have completely
avoided colliding with the iceberg had the bridge not requested that the engines be
reversed ("Full Astern"), prior to steering the ship to the left ("Hard-a-starboard"). This
action would have decreased the forward momentum of the Titanic causing it to turn at a
slower rate.
July and August are the only two months the weather permits expeditions to the Titanic
wreck site.
Strange, but True:
British spiritualist, William T. Stead, wrote a tale similar to Futility (mentioned at the top of the
page). "How the Mail Steamer went down in the Mid Atlantic, by a
survivor" appeared in the March, 1886 issue of Pall Mall Gazette. In
this story, Stead tells of a large steamship that sinks after colliding with
another ship. Many lives are lost due to lack of lifeboats. Stead wrote
that, "This is exactly what might take place and what will take place, if
the liners are sent to sea short of boats". Stead was travelling to the
United States at the request of President Taft to address a peace
conference at Carnegie Hall on April 20, 1912. Stead sat calmly in the
library reading a book as the North Atlantic sea water came rushing in
as the ship he was traveling on sank. That ship was the Titanic. Stead
did not survive.
William T. Stead also authored the novel From the Old World to the New. In this book, he
describes the sinking of a ship in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. To add to the irony,
the captain of the ship which picked up the survivors, was Edward J. Smith -- the eventual
captain of Titanic.
Lifeboats:
The Titanic carried a total of 20 lifeboats. 14 of these lifeboats were wooden and each one had a
capacity of 65 persons, 2 were wood cutters with a capacity of 40 persons each and 4 were
collapsibles (wood bottoms and canvas sides) and each collapsible was capable of carrying 47
persons. The total capacity of all 20 lifeboats was 1,178 people. This was obviously not enough
lifeboats to save all the 2201 people on board the Titanic. If every lifeboat left the Titanic filled
to maximum capacity, 1,023 persons would have been left behind. Unfortunately, very few
lifeboats were filled to maximum capacity when they were lowered from the Titanic into the icy
water. This caused the death toll to rise dramatically. When the order came from Captain Smith
to commence loading the lifeboats, the Titanic's Officers were probably unaware of the
magnitude of the situation. Their apparent complacency did not instill a sense of urgency and
therefore caused many passengers to balk at the opportunity to get into a lifeboat. To make
matters worse, there were never any lifeboat drills and the crew had not been informed that each
lifeboat could be safely lowered when filled to capacity. Only 711 persons were rescued and
1490 died. Luckily, the Titanic was not filled to capacity (3,547 persons). If this were the case,
there would only be enough lifeboats to save one-third of the people (assuming that every
lifeboat was filled to capacity).
Why so few lifeboats? Well, believe it or not, the Titanic actually exceeded the number of
lifeboats required by the Board of Trade at that time. The regulations, ratified in 1894, applied to
ships of 10,000 gross tons or larger. As ships increased in size over the years, the lifeboat
requirements stayed the same. The Titanic was designed to carry a total of 48 lifeboats, but the
White Star Line decided that passenger comfort was most important. They believed that an
increase in the number of lifeboats (beyond 20) would have cluttered the decks and taken up
valuable space. Harland and Wolff tried to persuade the White Star Line to install more lifeboats,
but eventually gave up the fight. As they say, "the customer is always right".
When the lifeboat needs were finalized, the general feeling was that the modern ship was
engineered and built so well that even if a ship was in a situation where it might sink, there
would be plenty of time for other ships in the area to come to the rescue. It was also believed that
the main purpose of the lifeboats was to ferry passengers and crew from the distressed ship to the
rescue ship(s). The Titanic tragedy prompted laws requiring that ships carry enough lifeboats for
all passengers and crew.
Tableware, Glassware and Cutlery
Asparagus tongs: 400 Dessert spoons: 3,000 Oyster forks: 1,000
Beef tea cups: 3,000 Dinner forks: 8,000 Pie dishes: 1,200
Beef tea dishes: 3,000 Dinner plates: 12,000 Pudding dishes: 1,200
Breakfast cups: 4,500 Dinner spoons: 5,000 Salad bowls: 500
Breakfast plates: 2,500 Egg spoons: 2,000 Salt shakers: 2,000
Breakfast saucers: 4,500 Entrée dishes: 400 Salt spoons: 1,500
Butter dishes: 400 Finger bowls: 1,000 Soufflé dishes: 1,500
Butter knives: 400 Fish forks: 1,500 Soup plates: 4,500
Celery glasses: 300 Fish knives: 1,500 Sugar basins: 400
Champagne glasses: 1,500 Flower vases: 500 Sugar tongs: 400
Claret jugs: 300 Fruit dishes: 400 Table & dessert knives: 8,000
Cocktail glasses: 1,500 Fruit forks: 1,500 Tea cups: 3,000
Coffee cups: 1,500 Fruit knives: 1,500 Tea pots: 1,200
Coffee pots: 1,200 Grape scissors: 100 Tea saucers: 3,000
Coffee saucers: 1,500 Ice cream plates: 5,500 Teaspoons: 6,000
Cream jugs: 1,000 Liquor glasses: 1,200 Toast racks: 400
Crystal dishes: 1,500 Meat dishes: 400 Vegetable dishes: 400
Cut glass tumblers: 8,000 Mustard spoons: 1,500 Water bottles: 2,500
Dessert plates: 2,000 Nut crackers: 300 Wine glasses: 2,000
Linen
Aprons: 4,000 Double sheets: 3,000 Pillow slips: 15,000
Bath towels: 7,500 Eiderdown quilts: 800 Roller Towels: 3,500
Bed covers: 3,600 Fine towels: 25,000 Single sheets: 15,000
Blankets: 7,500 Glass cloths: 2,000 Table cloths: 6,000
Cook's cloths: 3,500 Lavatory towels: 8,000 Table napkins: 45,000
Counterpanes: 3,000 Pantry towels: 6,500 Miscellaneous items: 40,000
Iceberg Facts and Figures:
What is an iceberg?
An iceberg is a large piece of ice that has broken away from a glacier. Most icebergs are found in
the ocean, but all consist of frozen fresh water. Icebergs are usually white, blue or green and
extend above and below the water surface. They may extend downward 1,000 feet (305 meters)
and reach a height of more than 200 feet (61 meters). The degree of submergence depends on the
density, rock content and shape of the iceberg.
Icebergs float because the density of ice is lower than the density of seawater. The ratio of these
densities tells us that 7/8 of the iceberg's mass must be below water. Usually, icebergs are 20 to
30% longer under water than above and not quite as deep as they are long at the waterline.
The term "iceberg" probably originates from the Dutch term "ijsberg", which means ice hill. In
German, the word "berg" means mountain.
How do icebergs form?
Glaciers form on land as a result of a net accumulation of snow over thousands of years.
Successive layers compress earlier accumulations until glacial ice is formed. Glaciers "flow" or
"creep" outward under their own weight like a viscous fluid. When the edge of a glacier
advances into the ocean, the pieces of ice that break off are what we call icebergs. The majority
of icebergs in the North Atlantic come from about 100 iceberg producing glaciers along the
Greenland coast.
Classification of iceberg size: (Source: International Ice Patrol)
SIZE HEIGHT (above water) LENGTH (or WIDTH)
GROWLER less than 1 meter less than 5 meters
BERGY BIT 1-4 meters 5-14 meters
SMALL 5-15 meters 15-60 meters
MEDIUM 16-45 meters 61-120 meters
LARGE 46-75 meters 121-200 meters
VERY LARGE greater than 75 meters greater than 200 meters
o Feet = Meters multiplied by 3.2808
The largest Northern Hemisphere iceberg on record was encountered near Baffin Island in 1882.
It was 13 km (7.9 miles) long, 6 km ( 3.7 miles) wide and had a freeboard (height above water)
of about 20 m (66 feet). The mass of that iceberg was in excess of 9 billion tons - enough water
for everyone in the world to drink a liter (1.05 quarts) a day for over 4 years. Despite this
staggering statistic, icebergs from Antarctica may be many times larger than this. In 1987 an
iceberg with an area of 6350 square kilometers broke from the Ross ice shelf. That berg had a
mass of around 1.4 trillion tons and could have supplied the world with 240 tons of pure drinking
water.
This may be the actual iceberg responsible for sinking Titanic. The photo was taken in the
vicinity where Titanic reportedly struck the iceberg.
Compared to others, the iceberg that Titanic hit was fairly small. Titanic survivors estimate that
its height was about 100 feet above the water. It is estimated that the iceberg extended 500 feet
below the surface.
What ever happened to the "Titanic iceberg"?
It kept floating south until it reached warmer waters and eventually melted away.
How cold are icebergs?
The interior temperature of icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland is in the range of -15° to -20°
C (+5° to -4° F). Only at the surface does the temperature increase to 0° C (+32° F) -- the
melting point. Oddly, icebergs in warm water appear colder than those in cold water because the
fast melting steepens the internal temperature gradient exposing the cold interior.
Other cool icebergs facts!
Icebergs are not salty. Remember that icebergs are comprised of pure fresh water. There may be
some dust embedded in the ice and salt water may be on the surface, but it does not penetrate the
ice. Icebergs are quite safe to consume.
When an iceberg melts, it makes a fizzing sound. The sound comes from the popping of
compressed air bubbles which are in the ice. The bubbles form when air is trapped in the snow
layers which are compressed to form glacial ice. Note that the released air is as old as the ice -
thousands of years!
Icebergs appear mostly white because of the air bubbles in the ice. The bubble surfaces reflect
white light giving the iceberg an overall white appearance. Ice that is bubble-free has a blue tint
which is due to the same light phenomenon that tints the sky.
In Newfoundland, iceberg ice is "Harvested" for bottled water production. More products should
be expected as more people enter the iceberg ice business.
Most of the iceberg information presented here is courtesy of Dr Stephen Bruneau, Ph.D., P.Eng.
from Memorial University of Newfoundland.