Did
You Know
When she sailed, Titanic's fares were: First Class $4350, and Third Class $40. Nowadays, that would be more like $50,000 and $460.
Titanic received 6 ice warnings the day she sank. The last one, from Mesaba, never reached the bridge because Phillips was overworked with passenger traffic. He spiked it and left it for Bride to take up. It was lost in the shuffle. It told of heavy field and pack ice right in their path, and would have made a difference, had it been seen.
Titanic was NEVER christened.
Titanic did NOT carry enough lifeboats....even though they were written into the original plans. All in all, she carried 20 (4 were collapsibles).
There were enough lifeboats for less than a third of her passengers, yet there were more than enough lifeboats, according to the laws of the time.
There were no binoculars (known as glasses) on the lookouts, they were misplaced during changeover of staff at South Hampton.
The operator on the titanic told the operator of the Californian to "keep out". This was normal. If the master of the Californian, Captain Lord had sent a master to master message, he would have taken it.
As the ship went down, the band played light and cheerful music. Most popular opinion is that they went down playing "Nearer my God to thee", although, this will forever remain a mystery. Wallace Hartley, the bandmaster had Nearer reserved for his funeral.
After TITANIC hit the iceberg, most of her passengers were unaware that she would sink.
Many passengers were transferred from another liner. Most thought themselves lucky.
There really was a J. Dawson. He worked in the boilers, and it is said he was one of the first to die.
The titanic was the most luxurious ocean-going ship ever built by the hands of man.
Titanic almost collided with New York as she left the dock in Southampton. The combination of Titanic's suction, and the water displaced by her hull caused New York to pull at her hawsers and they snapped. The Pilot, George Bowyer, reversed the engines and stopped her. The Captain of the tug Vulcan managed to get a rope on New York and tow her away, mooring her at another pier.
Some of the wealthiest people in the world were on her passenger list.
There was more ice afloat in the North Atlantic in the Spring of 1912 than at any time in the previous 50 years.
The shipbuilders KNEW she was not unsinkable.
Standard practice for sailing through ice was FULL SPEED AHEAD.
Titanics maneuverability had never been tested at full speed.
It seems that the Californian was within 10 miles of Titanic, and could have saved all of her passengers from the disaster.
Many of the life boats were sent out to sea only half filled with passengers
The day after the sinking, three ships, the Mackay Bennet, the Minia, and the Montnagnay went in search of bodies. Many were still wearing life jackets, and were floating near the area of the sinking. Those that were unrecognisable were buried at sea, and 328 bodies returned to their families, or buried in Halifax Cemetary.
In 1898, an American fiction writer named Morgan Robertson wrote a book called "The Wreck of the Titan" or "Futility", about a huge luxury liner which sinks on her maiden voyage, killing 1500 of 2200 passengers onboard. The novel was published in 1910, two years before the Titanic tragedy.