Titanic Questions & Answers

What are the causes of Titanic to sink?
The primary factor involved the ship's collision with a massive iceberg. The ship had been billed as 'unsinkable' due to sixteen compartments that were believed to be watertight. When the ship struck the iceberg, six of those compartments were damaged and the ship began to take on water very rapidly.

When did the Titanic sink?
The ship struck a massive iceberg late on the night of April 14, 1912. It took approximately 3 hours for the entire ship to sink. The Titanic became completely submerged about 2:45 AM on the morning of April 15, 1912.

Where did the Titanic sink?
The Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean , having covered half of her trans-Atlantic crossing. The remains of the Titanic were eventually located approximately 13 miles southeast of the location of her last distress call. This distance contributed to part of the difficulty in locating the Titanic, which was finally discovered in 1985.

What did the Titanic look like?
The Titanic was 882 feet and 8 inches long (268 meters) and weighed over 46,000 tons. The ship was approximately 11 stories high. The majority of the ship was painted with a glossy black, while the hull trim was painted white.

Where was the Titanic bound for?
The Titanic departed Southampton, England; made two port calls (one in France and another in Ireland) and was bound for New York.

What is the specific location of the Titanic?
The Titanic is located 1000 miles due east of Boston, Massachusetts and 375 miles southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland. The ship is located approximately 3,925 meters below sea.

How many people survived the Titanic?
The exact number of survivors tends to vary, however the most common reported number is 705.

How many passengers were on board the Titanic?
Of the 2,228 people on board the ship; 1,343 of them were passengers and 885 were crew members. There were only enough lifeboats on board the ship to hold 1,178 people. A number of the lifeboats were lowered at less than full capacity, resulting in a significantly smaller survivor number.

What ship building company built the Titanic?
The Titanic was constructed by Harland and Wolf in Belfast, Ireland.

Was the Titanic a British ship or an American ship?
Although a number of prominent American families were aboard the ocean liner, the Titanic was a British ship.

How much did it cost to build the Titanic?
It cost $7,500,000 to build the Titanic. Today it would cost an estimated $400,000,000

When was the Titanic built?
The Titanic was on her maiden voyage when she sank in 1912. Construction began on the ship on March 31, 1909.

How long did it take to build the Titanic?
It took 3 years to completely construct and outfit the Titanic.

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THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC

On the morning of April 15, 1912, the sinking of the Titanic the previous night shocked the world. The year had dawned bright with promise and the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a symbol of the advances mankind had made in the last few years. The ship was considered to have been so well constructed it was believed she could sustain any amount of damage and still remain afloat. Late on the night of April 14, 1912, the sinking of the Titanic proved this idea wrong in a horribly tragic way.

The causes of Titanic to sink have been the subject of much study and debate. Obviously, the instigating factor was the collision with the iceberg; however the question of 'how did it sink' is frequently the center of most questions regarding the Titanic.

In 1912 the sinking of the Titanic began late on the night of April 14th. Information on the sinking Titanic indicates that the ship approached a massive iceberg, and although efforts were made to steer clear of the large frozen mass, all efforts were to no avail. Sadly, further records of the Titanic accident history indicate that the Titanic disaster may very well have been able to have been completely avoided had officers on ship paid heed to reports received earlier regarding the frozen waters they were approaching.

Summary of SOS Titanic

SOS Titanic

Even though crew members were desperately trying to turn the ship in the other direction, when the ship collided with the berg a massive rip was torn parallel across the ship's bulk. The Titanic sinking began almost immediately, as the ship began to take on water. Surprisingly, many of the passengers remained unaware of this fact. Some passengers reported hearing and feeling a strange quivering in the ship; however, they did not attribute this to any potential problem and went on about their business.

Others had seen the iceberg has it passed their window and hurriedly donned dressing gowns and robes, anxious to discover whether or not they had truly hit the berg. At first, passengers were assured that there would only be a slight delay and were given no indication of the true severity of the situation. Passengers located at strategic points in the ship already knew the devastating truth however: the Titanic was sinking and sinking fast. An SOS was sent out to neighboring ships. The Carpathia picked up the ship's distress call and radioed back to let the ship's crew know they were on their way. It would be too late, however. By the time the Carpathia arrived, all that remained of the Titanic was a handful of lifeboats filled with shocked survivors.

Since the ship sank to her watery grave, almost one hundred years ago, a number of theories have been put forth to explain how in the year of 1912 the sinking of the Titanic could have occurred. Some theories suggest that had the ship's crew not attempted to turn the ship in the opposite direction of the iceberg and instead took the blow head-on, the collision would not have resulted in such catastrophic disaster. Consequently, neighboring ships in the area had reported earlier in the evening that the waters ahead contained numerous masses of solid ice and that approaching ships should proceed with caution. The Titanic, however, thought to be unsinkable, plowed full speed ahead. This proved to be a fatal mistake and is certainly one of the factors that led to the disaster.

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The Search for the Titanic Wreck

When the ship that was once called 'unsinkable' went to her watery grave in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912 a search immediately began for the Titanic wreck. The closest ship in the area, the Carpathia, had received the Titanic's distress call and responded immediately that they were coming hard to the rescue of the sinking ship.

Despite pushing the Carpathia's engines to their limits, the commanders of the Carpathia were unable to reach the Titanic in time.the ship sank less than three hours after striking a massive iceberg; quickly sinking beneath the calm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The White Star Line immediately chartered a ship to head out to the site of the Titanic wreckage. When recovery ships arrived, numerous bodies were still floating in the area. Only 330 bodies of the more than 1,200 people who perished were found. In 1912 the sinking of the Titanic spawned worldwide interest and more than a few people proposed methods for raising the Titanic within days of the tragedy. The principle persons interested in raising the Titanic ship were wealthy survivors of the tragedy. The technology of the time, however; was not sufficient to locate the Titanic wreckage, let alone raise it from the depths.

During the next sixty years, various individuals and groups continued to propose methods for raising the Titanic wreck. It seemed that even decades after the disaster, the history of the Titanic continued to haunt the world and curiosity regarding the fate of the ship remained insatiable. Many of the theories proposed to raise the Titanic wreck were sound enough, while others were completely farfetched. Each of the proposals had one major flaw. As of yet, no one had been able to locate the Titanic wreckage. By the time the Carpathia arrived just before dawn, all that was left to be seen were life boats, bodies and debris. Speculation abounded, yet no one could correctly identify where exactly on the ocean floor the Titanic rested.

In the early 80's a wealthy Texas man became obsessed with locating the ship's grave. Technology had been significantly advanced by this time and the Texas billionaire remained determined to find the ship. Despite many efforts over the next few years the location of the Titanic wreck remained mired in mystery.

In the summer of 1985 several American and French scientists sailed for the last known location of the Titanic before it sank, hopeful of finally locating the wreckage. After sixty plus years the world had become skeptical that the location of the ship could be found. Many scholars even suggested that the wreckage has disintegrated over the years and was now impossible to locate. Never the less, the search team was determined and for weeks they used a state of the art sonar system to scour the depths of the ocean floor, searching for any sign of the ship's debris. Two months later, on September 1, 1985 the sonar picked up definitive signs of debris thousands of feet below the water. The elusive search was finally over. The Titanic wreck had been discovered. The bow and the stern of the Titanic were found almost 2000 ft apart.

Since that monumental day numerous search teams had returned to the area and ever advancing technology has allowed scientists to recover items from the ship's debris and film incredibly detailed underwater shots of the tragic ship. While suggestions have been made to raise the Titanic, as of yet she remains in the exact location where she finally came to rest early on the morning of April 15, 1912.

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Passengers On The Titanic

Some passengers taking a stroll.

The passengers on the Titanic have become as infamous as the sinking of the ship itself. While the tragic sinking would have no doubt been met with shock, the tragedy was manifested by large number of first class and notable Titanic passengers who perished in the ship's disaster.

There were 2228 people on board of the Titanic, 337 in first class, 285 second class, 721 in third class and 885 crew members.

Captain J. Smith

The infamous ship set sail on April 10, 1912 under the command of Captain John Smith. Facts about Captain John Smith, his life and his tragic death aboard the ship are often the subject of much debate and study. Many historians feel that the tragedy could have been avoided in it's entirely had Captain Smith acted differently. Others aren't so sure. Certainly a number of other factors contributed to the heavy loss of life, including the lack of life boats.

Molly Brown

Famous passengers on the Titanic included Molly Brown, wife of a Colorado silver mine entrepreneur, and John Jacob Astor. Molly Brown became famous in her own right for being the only woman to have rowed a lifeboat to safety.

Titanic survivor stories have given the world a wealth of information regarding what actually happened during the fateful last minutes of the ill fated luxury liner and the people in the Titanic. Diaries of the Titanic passengers have revealed the sinking of the infamous ship was a story rich in tragedy, triumph and despair,
sacrifice and selfishness.

Mr. and Mrs. Straus

One of the most touching stories regarding the passengers on the Titanic is the tale of an elderly wealthy couple, the Straus'. When it became apparent that no male passengers on the Titanic could be allowed to board the limited lifeboats, Mrs. Straus chose to stay by the side of her husband; even though it meant certain death. The couple perished with the ship.

While the world is often taken with the stories of the famous passengers on the Titanic, there were also hundreds of second and third class passengers who also perished with the ship. These poor souls were at an unfortunate advantage due to the fact that ship did not
carry enough lifeboats for all the people in the Titanic!

Robert C. Chisholm

Crew members and designers who had worked on the Titanic since the idea of the ship was first conceived were also among the many souls who perished when the ship sank. Several members of the ships design team among the passengers on the Titanic, including the Chief Draughtsman responsible for the design of the lifeboats. While Robert C. Chisholm and Titanic designers boarded the ship for her maiden voyage for the specific purpose of being on hand to monitor any problems that might arise during ship's first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, they were unable to save the ship when she crashed into an iceberg and subsequently began to take on huge volumes of water.

How many people survived the Titanic is one of the most frequently asked questions regarding the history of this legendary ship. Of the 2,227 passengers and crew members who set sail, only 705 Titanic passengers survived.

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The Titanic Ship : An Invincible Tragedy

No other ship has captured the world's attention, quite like the Titanic ship. Constructed to be unsinkable, this first class ocean liner set sail on April 10, 1912. The world had awaited the maiden voyage of this luxury liner for months. The White Star Line had taken great care to publicize the fantastic engineering of the Titanic and the world waited with baited breath for the ship to make her first voyage.

Passengers boarding the Titanic

As the passengers boarded the gangplank at Southampton, England for a trans-Atlantic crossing they were no doubt pleased to be a part of the maiden voyage of the invincible Titanic ship. Little did they know, however; that in just a few short days their names and the Titanic would be forever immortalized.

The Titanic ship disaster began, ironically enough as the ship was heading out to sea. The ship's builders had spared no expense in assuring that the Titanic would not only be the safest ship on the waters, but also the largest. This fact proved to be disastrous from the beginning. The larger ship managed to suck a much smaller vessel, the New York, into her wake as she began plowing through the waters with her massive propellers. The two ships came very close to colliding. This near miss may have set a few nerves on edge, but it was nothing compared to what would come later.

The Titanic Leaving Queenstown

Despite the close call, the first few days of the ship's voyage in no way indicated the tragic history of Titanic ship. Information of Titanic records indicate the ship made two ports of call, both with no incident. After the stop in Queenstown, Ireland to take on more passengers, the RMS Titanic set sail once again, headed for her destination in New York.

For four days the ship's elite passengers reveled in the brand new amenities of the Titanic ship, replete with every modern luxury known at the time. During the early part of the 20th century, it was considered quite sophisticated for wealthy families to spend portions of their time in Europe, which necessitated crossing the Atlantic at least once per year. Even to these jaded travelers, however, the Titanic ship was like no other. Nothing had been spared to insure the comfort of the first class guests. The ship was even equipped with only 20 lifeboats, so that precious deck space for the first class passengers would not be taken up by bulky lifeboats.

Down below, however, it was a different story. While the luxury liner teemed with a significant number of first class passengers, hundreds of second class and third class passengers survived the first few days of the voyage in cramped compartments. Most of these individuals were immigrant families who had scraped together every bit of money they had to travel to America aboard the grandest, and supposedly, safest ship ever built

When the Titanic ship disaster finally reached its pinnacle on April 14th, each and every passenger on board; wealthy and poor alike; were forced to fight for their very survival. In the end only 705 persons survived the sinking of the ship, out of 2,228 passengers and crew members. 1,523 lives were lost when the Titanic ship beneath the ice cold waters of the Atlantic.

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THE CONSTUCTION OF TITANIC

The idea of the luxury liner was first conceived of in 1907, but the Titanic construction did not actually begin until March 31, 1909 in Belfast (Ireland). The construction of the Titanic was handled by Harland and Wolff.

he luxury liner and her sister ships made up the 'Olympic class' vessels of the White Star Line and were designed to cater to the most elite of passengers. From the beginning, the Titanic was designed to be the largest ship to ever take to the seas. As such, the White Star Line was determined that no expense would be sparred in the Titanic construction. It took 3 years for building of the Titanic to be completed and in the end it cost $7.5 million dollars for the ship to be finished. More than 3000 men were employed in building the Titanic during that time span. In the months, and even years, leading up to the maiden voyage of the Titanic; the White Star Line published numerous marketing materials claiming that the ship was 'designed to be unsinkable.'

At the time, the construction methods used in the building of the Titanic were considered to be second to none. Titanic construction included sixteen compartments that were reported to be watertight. Builders of the Titanic had included steel doors that were supposed to have been capable of being shut in 25 seconds or less; thereby enclosing any water that might have seeped in to threaten the safety of the ship and her occupants.

Of course, we now know from the photographs taken of the ships wreckage that in all likelihood many of the nearly 3 million rivets that were employed to hold the ship's hull plates together popped loose when the vessel struck a massive iceberg. Without the rivets to hold the plating together, they quickly buckled, allowing water to seep into the ship. New theories have suggested that the iron used in the Titanic construction may have been less than the best quality, containing high degrees of sulfur, which made the hull plates particularly susceptible to the icy cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Builders of the Titanic can hardly be blamed for the iron's contribution to the tragic sinking, however. The iron used in the construction of the Titanic was standard for the first part of the 20th century. While the high sulfur content in the iron may have surely played a role in the tragic it was not the sole reason the ship sank.

Titanic propellers

Reports from surviving crew members indicate that the ship had been ordered to proceed through the waters of the Atlantic Ocean faster than safety allowed. There has been debate regarding whether or not the owner of the White Star Line, Bruce Ismay, instructed Captain Smith to attempt to break a speed record in the Trans-Atlantic crossing. Regardless of whether or not he gave those orders, following the sinking of the Titanic (which he survived) he was asked to step down from his role in the company's management.

Numerous other vessels had reported the presence of several ice floes in the area on the day the ship sank, yet the Titanic made no effort to slow down her speed. When it became obvious that the ship was about to collide with a huge iceberg crew members attempted to turn the ship, hoping to avoid the berg all together. They were unsuccessful, however, and the ship sustained numerous gashes along the hull. Some theories speculate that had the ship hit the iceberg head-on, the damage to the ship would not have been nearly so traumatic and the Titanic and her passengers would have been able to complete their journey.

It is quite possible that no one will ever positively know be able to lay the blame of the Titanic's destruction on one single factor, however; the history of Titanic and the fate of her passengers will forever live on.

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HISTORY OF TITANIC

The history of Titanic has enthralled the world quite unlike any other shipwreck known to man. A number of books, articles and movies been made detailed the tragedy of the RMS Titanic. Both the 1950's version of the Titanic's sinking, "A Night to Remember' and the more recent film have been very popular. James Cameron's 1997 box office hit"Titanic" was so popular with viewers that it succeeded in breaking a number of box office sales records.

The public seems incapable of forgetting the tragic history of the Titanic. Numerous myths and legends have developed over the years since the ship sank on April 15, 1912. Some of the myths are true, and others have simply been derived from the imagination of the numerous people who have become somewhat obsessed with the history of Titanic. In part, some of the tales regarding Titanic history can be contributed to the tales spun by the 705 survivors. It has been speculated that more than one of the survivors 'embellished' their personal story. The 'unsinkable' Molly Brown is just one of the surviving passengers are suspected of having added more than a little flair to their tale.

When the names of the numerous famous first class passengers who were lost were revealed, the world was astounded that so many notable figures could perish in a single day. Conversely, immigrants who survived the sinking of the ship are now known worldwide for their part in the tragic history of Titanic. Poor and confined to the steerage of the ship, these individuals were only seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Instead however they earned an immortal place in Titanic history.

Titanic history buffs are quite staunch in their dedication to preserving the truth regarding the history of the ship Titanic. When 'Titanic' was released in December of 1997 moviegoers flocked to the theaters to see the beauty and the tragedy of the fateful ship revealed on the big screen. A number of individuals who consider themselves experts on the history of Titanic were less than impressed with the number of errors contained within the film. Despite James Cameron's dedication to filming the most accurate version of the Titanic accident history possible, the movie never the less contained mistakes. Some of these mistakes had to be included in the movie to insure the viewer's suspense and enjoyment in the film. Others however were simply matters that had been overlooked during the making of the movie.

The history of Titanic continues to be one of the most popular topics in the world. An insatiable thirst for information about the Titanic prompted researchers to search for the exact location of the wreckage site for a number of years. When the titanics wreckage was finally discovered in 1985, the world got its first look at the ship in more than sixty years.

The tragic sinking of the Titanic and history of both those who survived and were lost, will forever be remembered with nostalgia and sadness.

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TITANIC FACTS

Titanic facts are some of the most fascinating of all shipwrecks in maritime history. Perhaps it is because of the number of lives that were lost, or the fact that the entire tragedy could have been avoided, but there is no denying the mysterious allure this ill fated ocean liner still holds, even today.

SOME INTRESTING FACTS ON TITANIC

While the tragic sinking of the Titanic is still shocking and a bit unnerving, many of the Titanic facts are quite interesting.

• The ship was loaded with only enough lifeboats to hold half of the Titanic passengers. There were 20 of them with a total capacity of 1178 people.
• Some of the limited lifeboats were lowered to the waters only half-full.
• Further facts on the Titanic indicate that the ship received information earlier regarding the presence of ice floes in the vicinity, yet continued to speed full throttle ahead towards tragedy.
• Among the property reported as lost on the Titanic were over 3000 bags of mail and an automobile.
• Each first class passenger paid a whopping $4,350 for a parlor suite ticket and $150 for a berth ticket.
• The ship contained a heated swimming pool, a first for any sailing vessel.
• The ship was still so brand new when passengers boarded it on April 10, 1912 that the paint was still wet in some spots.
• Every stateroom contained electric lighting and heat.
• Of the 1523 people of perished in the sinking of the Titanic, only 306 bodies were recovered.
• The largest percentage of survivors came from first class passengers.
• Even though directions have been given for women and children to board the lifeboats first, a number of men were reported as survivors while a surprisingly large number of women and children perished in the disaster. Most of the women and children lost in the sinking came from second and third class.
• Sadly, Captain Smith had made plans to retire after seeing the Titanic safely across the Atlantic on her maiden voyage.

It cost $7,500,000 to build the titanic

• It took three years to fully construct the ship.
• Among the provisions when the Titanic set sail in Southampton, England were 40,000 eggs, 75,000 pounds of fresh meat and 1,000 bottles of wine.
• The Titanic's total capacity was 3547 passengers + crew.
• The Titanic's weight fully loaded was 46,328 tons.
• The Titanic was 882 feet/268 meters long.
• There were 29 boilers on board of the ship.
• The ship consumed 825 tons of coal in one day.
• The top speed of the Titanic was 23 knots.

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