RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City.
Here some facts about the shipwreck:
FACT 1
Before the Titanic was discovered, resting over 12,000 below the ocean's surface, it was believed to have sunk in one piece. After she sank, some survivors claimed that the ship never broke apart, some claimed it did. But the ship was discovered, alone in the dark.
The stern was found broken apart. Over 600 meters away from the bow. Which brings us to the second fact
FACT 2
The reason why the stern is so far from the bow, and why it's completely destroyed is because when the stern broke off and sank, a lot of air was trapped inside. This caused the stern to spiral down rapidly until it crashed to its resting place. While the bow gently sank down. It took between 5–10 minutes for her to reach the bottom, traveling over 30 miles per hour…
FACT 3
The bow is buried at least 50 feet in the mud.
FACT 4
John Jacob Astor was the richest man on board the Titanic. What was his fate? He was seen in the water, with the first funnel collapsing on top of him. His body was recovered, but was horribly mangled. $2,800 were found in his pocket (equivalent to $60,000 today). He was believed to have been the richest man in the world at the time. His wealth back then, was equivalent to $3.25 billion in today's currency.
FACT 5
The water was 28 degrees F when the Titanic sank.
FACT 6
Last photo taken of the Titanic: check the link at the end to see pictures
FACT 7
Bruce Ismay was labeled the biggest coward of the 20th century. He persuaded Captain Smith to speed the ship up to make headlines. Once the ship began sinking after her fatal crash, he jumped on a lifeboat.
FACT 8
825 ton songs of coal a day was being burned to power the Titanic.
FACT 9
The baker of the ship, Charles Joughin, managed to survive the frigid waters for 2 hours due to all the whiskey he drank while the Titanic sank.
FACT 10
While the Titanic was sinking, the SS Californian was within 20 miles of her. The captain saw the distress flares, but thought they were company rockets, and that they were celebrating. Since the Californian's radio operator went to sleep, they received Titanic's messages in the morning.
However, once they arrived to the scene, all they found was dead bodies and some debris.
FACT 11
The Titanic's Turkish Bath is one of the most preserved rooms in the wreckage. Visited by James Cameron. Other preserved rooms, like the boiler rooms are completely inaccessible because of the collapsed structure.
FACT 12
It is said that by 2030, the only thing left of the Titanic will be a big imprint of the hull in the mud, due to hungry bacteria. James Cameron, however; argued that the wreck will be completely gone within a century from now.
FACT 13
This is all that is left of Titanic's infamous Grand Staircase.
FACT 14
Grand Staircase's Cherub on display…
FACT 15
A body is believed to have been in these boots… However, there are no human remains anymore due to marine life. However, it is believed that there are preserved bodies in the boiler rooms, since they're all trapped between the wreckage and the ground.
FACT 16
First Officer William Murdoch was the fastest working officer on the lifeboats during the Titanic's sinking. While other officers finished launching their first lifeboats, Murdoch had already launched 2. His fate is uncertain. However, survivors said they heard a gunshot and saw his body fall into the water.
FACT 17
Fifth Officer Harold Lowe organized launched lifeboats. He would move passengers around and get a lifeboat for himself to find any survivors in the freezing waters.
FACT 18
Captain Edward Smith was seen walking into the wheelroom, and closing the door behind him while the ship sank. He went down with his ship.
FACT 19
Engineers worked bravely to keep the lights on while the Titanic sank. None of them operating the lights survived, nor were any of their bodies recovered.
FACT 20
The RMS Carpathia arrived and rescued the survivors a little over 4:00 am.
More facts after I charge my phone! :)
FACT 21
The Titanic weighed over 46,000 tons.
FACT 22
Milton Hershey (founder of Hershey's chocolate), had first class tickets to sail. But did not get on board the day the ship sailed.
FACT 23
Frederick Fleet was the lookout on the night the ship sank. He did not have binoculars. On the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking, pranksters put binoculars on his grave, along with a note that read, "Sorry, they're 100 years too late." Which brings us to the next fact…
FACT 24
The lookout crew did not have binoculars because they were locked in a cabinet. The key to the cabinet was left in Southampton.
FACT 25
Roger Bricoux, the cello player of the band, was only 21 years old when he perished, along with the other musicians. However, he wasn't declared dead until 2000. When WWI, the French called him a deserter, unaware he died during the sinking, bravely playing with the band until the end.
FACT 26
This is referred to as "The key that could've saved the Titanic." This was the key that was for the locked cabinet, where the bincoluars were in. The key was sold at an auction for $130,000 in 2010.
FACT 27
In 1889, a book called Futility: The Wreck of the Titan was written by Morgan Robertson. In the book, a ship called The Titan set sail. It was believed to be unsinkable. On April, it hit an iceberg, and sank, just how the Titanic sank. 1,500 people perished in the Atlantic, just like in the real sinking. If that's not enough, the Titan and Titanic both had the same amount of lifeboats, both capable of speeds over 20 per hour, and both practically the same size. (Titanic was 25 feet longer).
When confronted, people believed he was psychic and asked how he knew. Robertson simply replied, "I just know what I'm writing about. That's all."
FACT 29
Ann Elizabeth Isham was in a lifeboat during the sinking. But when she realized she couldn't take her dog with her, she got back on board and stayed with the dog. Later, her body was found in the water, frozen, hugging her frozen dog.
FACT 30
This was the iceberg that sank the Titanic. This photo was taken on April 15th, 1912 by a photographer on the SS Prinz Adalbert. Interestingly, no one onboard knew of the Titanic's sinking yet. The picture was only taken because they saw streaks of red paint on the side of the iceberg, indicating that a ship hit it.
FACT 31
The Titanic's 4th funnel was only served for ventilation purposes, not for smoke.
FACT 32
Second Officer, Charles Lightoller, survived the sinking. In 1940, he volunteered to set sail and save the trapped British soldiers at Dunkirk from the Germans.
FACT 33
Isidor Straus (co owner of Macy's), was onboard with his wife, Ida Straus. After she refused to get on a lifeboat without her husband, she decided to die with him. Isodor's body was recovered; however, Ida's was not. This eldery couple from the 1997 movie Titanic, represents them.
FACT 34
This violin was found in the sea. It was used to play Nearer, My God, To Thee by Wallace Hartley, a band member who perished when the ship sank.
FACT 35
Over 100,000 people attended the Titanic's launch.
FACT 36
400 tons of water filled the Titanic's gash per minute.
FACT 37
Dorothy Gibson was onboard the Titanic's sinking. She was a famous actress of silent movies. After she survived the sinking, she played in a silent movie, portraying the sinking. To be realistic, she wore the same dress she had worn the night of the sinking. However, she had a mental breakdown during filming. In 1944, she was arrested by the Nazis and died of cardiac arrest two years later.
FACT 38
Recent studies showed that the full moon of January 4th, 1912, caused unusually strong tides that sent many icebergs into the Titanic's direction. The moon was the closest lunar approach since 796 AD.
FACT 39
In the wreckage site, hundreds of debris was spread everywhere. Most of it was grabbed up. Worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
FACT 40
Civil War veteran, Edward Crosby, refused more lifeboats to be put on the Titanic. Ironically, he couldn't find a lifeboat seat when the Titanic sank.
