By this time, we probably think we know most of what there is to know about RMS Titanic, at least all the relevant details. But here’s an interesting story from The Standard News with 35 facts about the sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage when it hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912; you probably already know some of them, but I think many will surprise you.
The largest ship at the time, the Titanic was carrying 2,224 people at the time; only 710 survived. The Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable, but it sank in less than three hours after it hit the iceberg, a remarkably short period of time. As it turned out, there weren’t enough lifeboats; the crew hadn’t trained properly for an emergency; there wasn’t even a pair of binoculars for the lookout in the crow’s nest.
Some interesting facts:
The tragedy could have been much worse. The Titanic was well under its full capacity of 3,327; her future voyages would have been carrying close to that number.
The sinking was predicted, at least in print. Fourteen years before the Titanic sank, Morgan Robertson, an American writer and former merchant seaman, wrote a novel called The Wreck of the Titan, about the largest ship in the world (a British ship) going down. The Titan’s measurements were almost identical to those of the Titanic, it was going about the same speed as the Titanic when it too hit an iceberg on the starboard side (the same as the Titanic) and it too didn’t have enough lifeboats. Robertson himself said the details in the novel were merely a coincidence and that he just drew on his extensive knowledge of ships.
The Titanic’s crew was dutiful to a fault. There were 908 crew members on the Titanic, and a higher percentage of them died any other group except second- and third-class men. Many were killed when the boiler rooms flooded; others died while trying to save passengers below decks. All five postmen died trying to save the mail. Read more:
http://standardnews.com/insane-titanic-facts-you-wont-believe/
