How big was the Titanic Ship?
The Titanic was one of the largest passenger ships of that time. It was 882 feet long and 175 feet in height; almost as long as three football fields and as tall as a 17 storey building. The engines of the Titanic were given power by steam pressurized from 800 tons of burning coal, each day. Initially the Titanic had three boiler stacks or chimneys on top to let the smoke and steam out. Later a fourth one was added to make the design look better. Titanic made stops at France and Ireland before moving on towards New York. The Titanic carried 2200 passengers. It could carry 3,457 passengers. But sadly, it did not cater for the saving all of them. Only 700 passengers survived. It was supposed to have 64 lifeboats on board, but they had only 16 since the rest were removed to save space.
How was the Titanic different from other ships?
The Titanic was the first ship to have electric lights and telephone systems in all its rooms. It was luxury on sea. It had four elevators, a gym, two libraries and a heated swimming pool along with a first class lounge, a grand staircase and a first class dining saloon. Since the journey was supposed to be for one long week, the crew catered for food for all its 2200 passengers. It included 86,000 pounds of meat, 40,000 eggs, 36,000 apples, 1000 loaves of bread and gallons of water. Every day the passengers and crew used around 14,000 gallons of drinking water.
The Accident of Titanic
Titanic is well-known for the most famous ship wreck in history. The Titanic started off on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. It was supposed to sail from Southampton England to New York City. The Titanic was considered to be the most luxurious of all passenger ships. It was also considered to be unsinkable. But 4 days after it embarked on its voyage, the ship hit an iceberg on 14th April and it sunk at the early morning hours of the next day. Almost 1500 people died in this tragic incident, but it made the Titanic famous and the most sought after ship wreckage in history. The remains of the wreckage were discovered in 1985.
Titanic’s collision with the Iceberg
On 14th April the Titanic collided with an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. Since the previous two days the Captain was receiving warnings of icebergs. The Captain changed the course of the ship but did not reduce its speed. A crewman spotted the iceberg just before the titanic hit it. The Captain reversed the engines turning the ship sharply but it hit the iceberg which carved a 300 foot hole in the ship. As soon as it hit the iceberg, some chunks of ice fell on the forward deck where passengers started playing with them. But shortly afterwards, everyone realized the danger as water started taking on the Titanic. People started boarding the lifeboats. Water flooded in five of the ships compartments. At 2:20 a.m. the Titanic split in half and minutes later it sinks deep down below the sea. The Titanic sank more than 2.5 miles into the ocean floor. The shipwreck was later discovered 12400 feet below the ocean.
5 Interesting facts about the Titanic
- In order to save some money, cheap building materials were used by shipbuilders, which led to the sinking of the unsinkable.
- The night the Titanic sank, the weather condition of the sea was perfect. It was a calm moonless night, with no wind and no waves.
- During the night the Titanic sank, the temperature of the ocean was 28 degrees Fahrenheit or -2 degrees Celsius.
- The members of the Titanic’s band continued to play music till the last breath.
- The Titanic cost $7.5 million to build.