White Star transported, more first class passengers in 1911 than any other steamship in history.

Weight of the battle ship Hawke: 7,350 tons

Collision with Hawke, and damage afflicted on the Olympic: 40’ high gash in her starboard side, 8 feet into the hull. Listed badly to starboard, and needed six weeks to repair.

Chief officer Wilde wrote a letter to his sister posted from the Irish port (Queenstown). It said I still don’t like this ship. I have a queer feeling about it.

Lawrence Beesley’s baggage slip number: 208

Things Thomas Andrews wanted to do to the ship: Increase the number of screws used on the hat hooks in the first class staterooms., the color of the pebble dashing on the private decks and cut down the size of the ladies reading and writing room and adding two more staterooms.

Supplies used to build ship: Steel came from Scotland, Teak came from Siam, Fabrics from Holland, Rudder and stern castings from Darlington, Durham.

If 65 tons of "rusticals" which now cover the decaying wreck, were spread out it would cover 23,000 miles.

The Titanic forever changed the way humans considered themselves, their environment, and their relation to nature.

Titanic was 100’ longer than the Lusitania and 50% larger.

The Lusitania sank in less than 20 minutes

Weight of the Lusitania and Maritania the Titanic's closest competitiors: 31,000 tons

Speed of the Lusitania and Maritania: 26-28 knots.

Had the Titanic been going half her 22.5 knots speed, the damage wouldn’t have been as severe and the ship would have not sunk.

1198 died on the Lusitania

They were the largest objects ever moved by man in their time.

Olympic’s maiden voyage: 1,316, including 60 millionaires, 850 crewmembers.

A passenger on the Olympic’s maiden voyage was worried about the maiden voyage of an untried ship There is always that feeling of an added element of chance. What of this man or that has erred in his estimate, what if the unexpected should happen just once, what if a dozen different ifs should develop to upset the calculations and bring you face to face with the hitherto un-encountered, he commented.

A stoker by the name of Frank "Luck" Towers survived the Titanic disaster, and two years later on an unusually warm night he was aboard the Empress of Ireland when it collided with another ship, opening a hole in its side. Because of the heat most of the portholes were open and as she rolled on her side the water poured in. In minutes she sank in the St. Lawrence River killing over 800 people. Frank was one of the few to survive. He took his next job aboard the Lusitania. It is said that he yelled now what as the torpedo struck the Lusitania. He swam to a lifeboat undoubtedly vowing every stroke of the way to take up farming. His story later inspired young writers to script a teleplay entitled Lone Survivor. The well liked teleplay paved the way for a series. The writers name was Rod Sterling and the series became the Twilight Zone. This was all based on Frank "Luck" Towers however his name suspiciously does not appear on the Titanic’s crew list.

Baker Charles Burgess commented Take the dining saloon-Olympic didn’t even have carpet, but the Titanic-ah you sank in it up to your knees. And the furniture, so heavy you could hardly lift it. And the paneling it was the care and effort that went into her. She was a beautiful wonderful ship.

Had lookout Fleet had binoculars he could have probably seen the iceberg a mile sooner. As the Titanic almost collided with the New York, Second class passenger Thomas Brown Commented " That’s A bad omen".

The first class lounge was modeled after the palace of Versailles.

In 1998 a 23 ton piece of hull was brought up from the ocean floor. The equivalent of 16 full size cars.

There were 200 bags of registered mail containing 400,000 letters.

Of all of the Titanics lifeboats only a few were picked up by the Carpathia and returned to New York. The few that were returned to New York were returned to White Star and nonchalantly fitted aboard the Titanics sister ship Britannic that ended up as a hospital ship in WWI. (Some may have been fitted onto other White Star ships.) A torpedo or a mine blew a hole in the side of the Britannic and she sank. The Britannic unlike the Titanic had been built with a double hulled bottom extending up the sides. The water tight compartments also extended above the E-deck unlike the Titanic. In theory she could have floated with her first 6 compartments flooded rendering her "unsinkable" to the Titanic disaster. The hole from the torpedo that was blown in the side of the Britannic included the first 7 compartments. The captain tried desperately to beach her. As the stern rose the propellers continued to spin. As the crew tried desperately to get away, they lowered the lifeboats. The Britannics lifeboats (The Titanic’s old lifeboats) were chopped to pieces in the furiously spinning propellers.

Captain Charles A. Bartlett was the captain of the Britannic.

28 lives were lost on the Britannic.

Through 12sq’ came 24,000 Cubic feet of water.

Captain Bartlett was trying to desperately to run Britannic aground before she sank. He didn’t realize he was chopping men up in the still turning propellers.

212 crewmembers from the Titanic from Southampton returned home. 686 were lost.

The Olympic had many captains including Captain Smith. Sir Bertram Hayes was also a captain of the Olympic.

The Olympic was designed to carry 689-735 first class passengers, 674 second class passengers, 164 third class passengers under "open berth" (the third class portion of the ship was left open and you slept where ever was convenient for you) which was soon disposed of. The open berth was divided into 66 two berth cabins, 112 four berth cabins, 37 six berth cabins, five eight berth cabins, and two ten berth cabins.

The Olympic Titanic, and Britannic were designed in London, Liverpool, and Belfast by Aldam Heaton & Co. Edward Croft-Smith was the senior designer/partner.

Charles Wilson carved the wall clock at the top of the grand staircase (entitled Honor & Glory Crowning Time) for the Olympic and possibly for the Titanic.

186 men worked on the carving of the paneling for the Olympic. The same were required to do the Titanics paneling.

When the Titanic finally set sail from Belfast, the clock at the top of the grand staircase had not yet been installed, as there was not enough time. A mirror had been a substituted in its place until the clock arrived. Charles M. Hays said this to fellow passenger Archibald Gracie while on the Titanic on the eve of the disaster "The White Star, the Cunard, and the Hamburg American lines are now developing their attention to a struggle for supremacy in obtaining the most luxurious appointments in their ships but the time will come when the greatest and most appalling of all disasters at sea will be the result". Charles Hayes died that night in the icy waters of the Atlantic.

Because of alterations the Titanic carried 100 more first class passengers than the Olympic.

Only about 79 crewmembers were required to take the Titanic from Belfast to Southampton.

The Southampton and District Pictorial, a Southampton newspaper had its first issue coincide with the maiden voyage of the Titanic. Its second issue covered the wreck.

The company that loaded the coal aboard the Titanic was R & J. H Rea. Rea could transfer over 4,000 tons of coal in 15 working hours, a world record for a ship the size of the Titanic and Olympic.

Ships laid up because of the coal strike. (Note these ships passengers were transferred to the Titanic.) Oceanic, Majestic, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and St. Paul.

The Titanic carried 1880 tons of coal from Belfast to Southampton.

The Titanic took 415 tons of coal during the week it was in Southampton to run cranes, cargo winches, lights, and the heating system. 699 out of 898 of the crew gave their current address as Southampton. This includes hotels and temporary lodging.

Millers Naval Tailors of London, Tilbury, and Southampton provided the crews uniforms. J. Stonier & Co provided China and glasses. They would buy designs from other countries, primarily firms like Crown Derby. Charles George Hibbert & Co. of Southampton & London provided the 15,000 bottles of beer. The Nursery that provided the flowers, plants, and potted palms aboard the ship was F.G. Bealing & Son. Edwin Jones’ store is believed to have supplied the tablecloths. Oakley and Watling supplied the fruits and vegetables for the Titanic.

The Olympics record landing of dirty linen, serviettes, sheets, bedspreads, towels and the like for a week was 75000 items. A small American ship may only return 23,000 pieces.

The heating system for second and third class at all during the voyage.

In some of the second class womens restrooms, some of the fixtures had not been installed and were in crates.

During the Titanic’s maiden voyage, there was a fire in coal bunker #10.

The Titanic’s headstamped postal number: 7 (This was allotted to the clerks who two of which were employed by Britain mail and two by the U.S. postal service.

The “E” deck contained accommodations for first, second, and third class passengers aswell as 450 of the crew. In a time when classes were segregated this was unusual.

Norman Wilkinson painted "The Plymouth Harbor", painting that hung over the mantlein the smoking room in the Titanic. He also painted "Approach to the New World" a painting of the New York harbor that hung in the same place on the Olympic.

Senator William Alden Smith called 82 witnesses at the U.S. inquiry, 53 of which were British. On April 20, 29 Titanic crewmembers were subpoenaed. After the Lapland left port, 5 more crewmembers were called for and a tug boat was sent after the Lapland to retrieve the crewmembers.

THIS IS A POEM THAT WAS CREATED AFTER THE TITANIC DISASTER HONORING THE CREWMEN LOST:
Down Below in the world of steam,
In the heat and fiery glow,
Worked hundreds of decorated men,
To make the great ship go.

Yet they had wives and children who would never see them more,
Thinking them safe on the largest ship
That ever left the shore

In Southampton, good old sea port,
Wives made widows, what a list.
But so recently together, husbands now missed forever.

97 witnesses were called to testify at the British investigation.

J. Peirpoint Morgan owned the White Star Line.

When the ships were first designed, the were only three funnels. The original plans called for an ordinary stairwell, a huge lounge, a large reception room, a smoking room, a reading room and two palm courts. The first class dining room was three decks tall and topped by a dome. Far below decks would be a spa the size of the dining room, Turkish baths, and a swimming pool and gym. The dome in the dining room was turned into a conventional ceiling and it was constructed only 1 story tall. The gym was moved to the boat deck, the spa was reduced in size and the staircase was made the center of attention with elaborate balustrades, magnificently carved panels, and a large glass dome overhead. The three funnels were also expanded to four as it was thought it would give them better lines.

The proceeds from those who paid to watch the Titanic launch went to a childrens hospital.

The Titanic was 1004 gross tons larger than the Olympic.

River Largan (Belfast) had to be dredged prior to launchings.

The Titanic missed colliding with the New York (a ship in Southampton) by 80’.

Captain Smith’s salary was well over twice that of a Cunard Captain.

In third class, there were only two bath tubs for all of third class for more than 700 people. They were at the very stern of the "D" deck.

OLYMPIC’S MAIDEN VOYAGE
First Day: 458
Second Day: 524
Third Day:

Pieces of the Olympic’s lounge can be seen in the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick, England. Paintings from the Olympic’s grand staircase landings can be seen at the Crown Berger Paint Works in Haltwhistle, England.

According to third officer Pitman Titanic was traveling 10 miles south of the normal shipping route.

When Murdoch came on watch on Sunday the 14th they were steering a course of 71 degrees west. The temperature of the air was 31 degrees.

An informal dog show was planned for Monday the 15th.

A passenger had gone down to the ships kennels and released the dogs before the ship went down sparing them from being trapped in their cages, even though none of the dogs survived except for two which were taken aboard lifeboats earlier. The man that let the dogs loose survived.

Eight honeymooning couples were aboard.

Fully loaded, each lifeboat weighed 5 1/2 tons.

The white star song book contained nearly 350 selections spanning, Operas, Waltzes, hymns, and Rags.

The wreck is 13.5 miles East Southeast of her estimated position by Boxhall.

Most of the floating debris from the wreck was loose cork which was used to insulated the bulkheads.

A crowd of 30,000 met the Carpathia in New York.

Senators at the U.S. inquiry: William Alden Smith of Michigan, Francis G. Newlands of Nevada, George Perkins of California, Jonathan Bourne of Oregon, Theodore Burton of Ohio, F.M. Simmons of North Carolina and Ducan Fletcher of Florida.

Captain Cardner was the Captain of the Mackay-Bennet a cable laying ship that was sent to look for bodies after the wreck.

Wind, Rain, and bad weather had spread Titanic debris including bodies as far as 130 miles from the scene of the wreck as of Friday, April 25th. Bodies continued to be sighted as late as June when the steamer Ilford en route to Galverston to Hamburg, discovered and buried at sea the badly decomposed body of First Class Saloon steward W. F. Cheverton.

The leader of the British investigation was “Lord Mersey” (Sir John Charles Bingham) a 72 year old former president of Admirality, Probate, and Divorce Division of the high court. It was held at the London Scottish Drill hall, and later at Caxton Hall.

Author and publisher Elbert Hubbard said this about the first class passengers "The Strausses, Stead, Astor, Butte, Harris, Thayer, Widner, Guggenhiem, Hays- I thought I knew you, just because I had seen you, realized somewhat of your able qualities, looked in to your eyes and pressed your hands, but I did not guess your greatness. These dead have not lived and died in vain. They have brought us all a little nearer together- we think better of our kind". Of the Strausses in particular he said, "Mr. And Mrs. Strauss, I envy you that the Legacy of love and loyalty left to your children and grand children, the calm courage that was yours all your long and useful career was your possession in death. To pass out as did Mr. And Mrs. Strauss is glorious. Few have such privilege". Ironically Hubard and his wife both died aboard the Lusitania two years later.

During WWII, Germany produced a propaganda film called "Titanic" in which the hero was the ships sole German officer, an invented character.

After the Titanic disaster the Olympic spent six months under going extensive refit. The double bottom was extended up the sides and the lifeboat capacity was increased.

Of the 1100 aboard the Britannic only 30 died

If the Andria Dory had the same watertight configuration as the Titanic it probably wouldn’t have sunk.

In the 40 years before the Titanic disaster only 4 lives had been knowingly lost on passenger ships in the North American Trade.

The Olympic was hull number 400.

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