- Fact 3 - She was designed to
compete with the rival Cunard Line's Lusitania and Mauretania.
It was described in the media as follows, "The captain
may, by simply moving an electric switch, instantly close the
watertight doors throughout, making the vessel virtually
unsinkable."
- Fact 4 - Construction of the
Titanic began on 31 March 1909 and was funded by the American
J.P. Morgan and his International Mercantile Marine Co.
- Fact 5 - The Titanic was 882 feet 9
inches (269 m) long and 92 feet 6 inches (28 m) at the beam
- Fact 6 - The Titanic had a Gross
Register Tonnage of 46,328 tons
- Fact 7 - Her height from the water
line to the boat deck was 59 feet (18 m).
- Fact 8 - re were 29 boilers
fired by 159 coal burning furnaces that made possible a top
speed of 23 knots (26 mph)
- Fact 9 - Only 3 of the four 62 feet
(19 m) funnels were functional. The fourth funnel, served only
for ventilation, was added to make the ship look more impressive
- Fact 10 - The Titanic could carry a
total of 3,547 passengers and crew.
- Fact 11 - The Titanic was the most
luxurious cruise liner of the age. It had ornate and expensive
furniture and decorations with a lavish entrance via the grand
staircase foyer
- Fact 12 - It cost about twice as
much to travel 2nd class as 3rd Class, and twice as much as 2nd
Class for the cheapest 1st Class tickets. Passengers were
segregated according to their class.
- Fact 13 - First class passengers
had access to a Squash court , swimming pool, gym, turkish bath,
restaurant, veranda, cafe parissien, library, a la carte,
hairdresser, smoking room and reading room
- Fact 14 - Second class passengers
had access to a smoking room, restaurant and library
- Fact 15 - She was the largest
passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden
voyage taking a route from Southampton to New York City
- Fact 16 - She set sail for New York
City with 2,223 people on board
- Fact 17 - The Titanic sank on its
maiden voyage on April 14, 1912. Four days into the crossing, at
23:40 on 14 April 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg
- Fact 18 - The Titanic sank at 2:20
the following morning
- Fact 19 - Of the 2,223 people on
board on 706 survived
- Fact 20 - 68% of the people on the
Titanic died.
- Fact 21 - The high casualty rate
was partly due to the ship only carrying lifeboats for only
1,178 people (although this number complied with the regulations
of the time).
- Fact 22 - Other factors which
contributed to the sinking of the Titanic were her construction
and metallurgy (steel becomes brittle in cold or icy water), the
rudder construction and turning ability, the orientation of
impact, the weather and excessive speed
- Fact 23 - 20% of the men survived,
compared to nearly 75% of the women, as the rule of 'women and
children first' applied
- Fact 24 - The majority of deaths
were caused by hypothermia in the freezing waters where death
occurred in less than 15 minutes
- Fact 25 - 92% of men in the second
and third class died, 80% of men in first class died
- Fact 26 - The day after the tragedy
the New York Times quoted Philip A. S. Franklin, vice president
of the White Star Line as saying, "I thought her unsinkable and
I based by my opinion on the best expert advice available. I do
not understand it."
- Fact 27 - The conclusion of the
British Inquiry into the sinking was “that the loss of the said
ship was due to collision with an iceberg, brought about by the
excessive speed at which the ship was being navigated”.
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