Titanic

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic began its maiden voyage.

The Titanic was constructed to be a part of the White Star Line's fleet of ships.  They were constructing a line of what they called "Olympic Class Liners."  The first was the Olympic, the second the Titanic and the third was the Gigantic, but it was later named the Brittanic.

The Titanic was built over the course of two years by 3,000 men and, at the time of completion, was the largest ship in the world.  Three million rivets were used in the construction.

The First-class section had an on-board swimming pool, a gymnasium, a squash court, a Turkish Bath, an Electric bath and a Veranda Cafe.  The most expensive one-way trans-Atlantic passage was US$4,350 (which is more than US$95,860 in 2008 dollars).

On Sunday, April 14 at 11:40 P.M., the Titanic struck an iceberg.  At the time, the international distress call was CQD, not SOS as was depicted in many Titanic movies.  The Carpathia was 58 miles away, which was a four hour trip.

At 2:20 A.M., the Titanic broke in half after the stern raised high into the air.  Of the 18 lifeboats carrying survivors, only two went back to try and find survivors while they waited to be rescued. 1,503 passengers and crew died and 705 survived.  There were 472 lifeboat seats that were not used.

Two dogs survived in the lifeboats and all but one of the first class children were saved.  49 children from steerage died.

The Titanic rests on the Atlantic Ocean floor, nearly 2-1/2 miles under the surface.  The two main pieces of the ship that split before it sank are 1,970 feet apart.  Because the front section sank nose first, the bow is buried 60 feet in the ocean floor.  That includes the gash that was caused by the iceberg that sank the ship.

After the Titanic accident, White Star merged with Cunard, best known for the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth 11 (QE2).  In 1998, Carnival bought out the Cunard line.

Titanic Facts
Titanic and Nautical Resource Facts
White Star Line