11 Hidden Facts About The Titanic
The Titanic is one of the worst incidents in American history. Everyone from around the world has heard of this giant wonder. As the years go by, more and more facts are starting to surface about this world wonder.
1. The Name Of Titanic
The name Titanic is over 2,500 years old. The builders of the Titanic were adamant about the ship having the perfect name. The name had to mean “huge”. The shipbuilders Harland and Wolff chose a name from Greek mythology.
The name Titanic comes from Titan. In Greek mythology, Titans were the ancient Gods of Greece. They were thought to be giants. According to Greek history, the Titans were overthrown by a race of younger Gods, the Olympians, including Zeus and Athena. Once you know this, it is not surprising to learn that the Titanic’s sister ship was named the Olympic. The two ships were constructed at the same time and were incredibly similar in design.
2. Seven People Died During The Construction Of Titanic
Seven people died on the Titanic before it ever launched. It is a sad, but true fact, that people died during the building of the ship and her sister ship the Olympic. The Titanic was built over 100 years ago, between 1908 and 1911. As you could imagine the health and safety conditions were nowhere near those that we have today. At that time workers didn’t wear hard hats.
During the construction of the Titanic, six people died on the ship, and 246 injuries were recorded. The seventh worker was killed, right before the launch of the Titanic.
3. The Rudder Alone Weighed Over 100 Tons
The steel rivets on the Titanic weighed over 1,200 tons. The rudder of the ship had to be steered with engines, and weighed in at over 100 tons. The two main reciprocating engines that powered the ship weighed over 700 tons, the ship was built on such a massive scale that it’s still huge, even by today’s standards.
4. It Took 170 Workers To Keep The Ship Moving
The Titanic was a massive polluter burning 600 tons of coal per day. With all of that weight to help move the biggest ship afloat, the Titanic was probably the most polluting ship of its time.
It took over 170 workers, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to feed the furnaces powering the steam engines on the Titanic. There were over 150 furnaces on the ship, heating nearly 30 boilers to create the steam that powered engines. Each day, 100 tons of ash had to be jettisoned into the sea. This was non-stop, around the clock. The furnaces were constantly burning coal to keep the ship moving.
5. The Official Name Was The RMS Titanic
The Titanic was more than just the worlds largest ship. The ships official name was the RMS Titanic, it stood for the Royal Mail Ship. The Titanic was under contract with the Royal Mail service and the United States Post Office. The mail room in the Titanic handled 60,000 pieces of mail each day. There were over 25,000 cubic feet of storage on the ship for mail, letters and parcels.
6. They Could Have Saved Everyone
The Titanic has the capacity to hold over 60 lifeboats. With 16 sets of davits that could each handle four lifeboats, the ship could hold exactly 64 lifeboats. Each lifeboat was capable of holding 65 people. 64 lifeboats would have been enough to carry the roughly 3,500 passenger maximum capacity of the Titanic.
The Titanic was not at full capacity on its maiden voyage. It had only 2,223 passengers and crew when it sank, yet it still did not have enough lifeboats.
There were only 20 lifeboats in total. There were 14 standard lifeboats, each capable of carrying 65 people, four more collapsible lifeboats that could carry 47 people each, and two emergency cutters that could carry 40 people each. That means that the Titanic only had enough lifeboats for 1,178 people. Although the sinking of the ship was a tragedy, what made it even more tragic is they did not have enough lifeboats aboard to save all of the passengers.
7. The Whole Incident Could Have Been Avoided
This Titanic fact is a real jaw dropper. The most controversial fact about the Titanic. There was another ship charting the ice-filled waters of the Atlantic on that fateful night, known as the “SS Californian.” The Californian warned the Titanic of packed ice via the early wireless communication system the ships employed. It was April 14th, 1912, and the Californian stopped for the night to avoid hitting any icebergs, and cautioned the Titanic to do the same.
The Titanic’s wireless operator criticized the Californian for being too cautious. The Titanic continued forward full steam ahead. After the Titanic struck the iceberg, the crew launched flares to attract the attention of nearby ships.
The SS Californian saw the flares, but did not take action. The captain of the Californian instructed his crew to send Morse code signals via lamp. He then went to sleep, telling his crew to inform him if the other ship responded to any signals. It’s likely the Titanic was to far away to see the lamps Morse code.
Early the next morning the Californian finally tried to reach nearby ships using its wireless system. The crew soon learned what happened and went to try and help rescue the passengers of the Titanic, but it was too late and another nearby ship, the Carpathian had already picked up any remaining survivors. The sad truth is the Californian was closer than the Carpathian to the Titanic. Had they responded with wireless instead of Morse lamps, they may have been able to save more passengers. While the number of lifeboats was not enough to save the passengers, there may have been enough to ferry everyone safely to the sanctuary of the Californian.
8. Finally The Titanic Was Discovered
It took a mind blowing 70 years for the Titanic wreck to be located. It wasn’t until 1985 that the wreck of the Titanic was found. Shortly after this, more Titanic facts began to emerge. It had long been debated whether the Titanic had sunk in one piece. One of the passengers of the Carpathian described a scene that was illustrated, showing the Titanic breaking in half before sinking. It was never a proven Titanic fact, until the wreck was found.
In September, 1985, a team of French and American explorers succeeded in finding the wreck of the Titanic. The Titanic had broken in two, and more Titanic facts were to be confirmed. The team showed that the Titanic had sunk more than 13 miles from the coordinates provided by the wireless operators on the ship.
9. The Claim There Was No Gold Aboard The Titanic
It has been said that the Titanic had lots of gold on-board. That has been proven to be a myth. The most valuable item on the Titanic was a painting valued at $100,000. It is ironic that many years later, some of the items retrieved from the Titanic have gained value because of the huge cultural meaning the ship has.
Most of the items held in the Titanic’s cargo were everyday things - food, furniture, and even some automobiles. The wreck has been declared a world heritage site to prevent anyone from taking any further items for their own commercial gain.
10. Ironic Titanic Fact
One positive Titanic fact is that the sinking of the ship led to greater safety standards.
11. All Aboard The Titanic 2
Australian Billionaire Clive Palmer said that he is building a replica of the Titanic and will launch it as a themed cruise ship in 2016.
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