Home > Facts > History Facts > Titanic Facts

Titanic Facts

Titanic Facts
Early in the morning on April 15th, 1912, the British passenger liner RMS Titanic, believed to be unsinkable, hit an iceberg and sank. It was the Titanic's maiden voyage en route from Southampton in the United Kingdom to New York City in the United States. The ship was filled with some of the wealthiest people in the world as well as many emigrants seeking a new life in North America. Although the Titanic was built to be unsinkable, it was equipped with life jackets and lifeboats. Unfortunately there were only enough lifeboats to carry 1,178 people and there were approximately 2,223 people aboard the ship, including crew and passengers. 1,517 people lost their lives. Only 706 people aboard the ship survived.
Interesting Titanic Facts:
It cost $7,500,000 to build the Titanic.
The Titanic was 882 feet, 9 inches in length.
There were approximately 40,000 eggs packed onto the ship before it launched for the epic voyage. There were also approximately 1,000 bottles of wine, 75,000 lbs. of fresh meat, 1,000 lbs. of grapes, 36,000lbs of apples and 3,500 lbs. of tomatoes aboard the Titanic when it set off.
Two workers were killed during the construction of the Titanic. More than 15,000 people were involved in the construction of the Titanic.
The Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland by ship builders Harland and Wolff.
The Titanic was equipped to carry 64 lifeboats but in order to save space only 20 were carried on the maiden voyage.
The lifeboats were not filled to capacity. The first lifeboat to leave the Titanic after its collision with the iceberg was only carrying 28 out of the possible 65 people it could have taken to safety.
While there should have been a survival rate of 53.4%, given the number of lifeboats available, only 31.6% of passengers survived.
It took only 2 hours and 40 minutes to sink after hitting the iceberg.
The water temperature at the time was -2 degrees in centigrade.
Two dogs survived because their owners brought them onto lifeboats.
The Titanic carried 900 tonnes of freight and passengers' baggage.
The Titanic had 10,000 light bulbs.
The Titanic had two anchors, each weighing 15 tonnes.
14 years before the Titanic sank a book was published titled Futility. The author was Morgan Robertson and it was a fictional novel about a ship called 'Titan', the largest ship ever built, that hit an iceberg and sank in April in the North Atlantic.
The most expensive ticket on the Titanic was a First Class Parlor ticket and it cost $4,350. This is equivalent to approximately $69,600 today.
There were only two bathtubs available for the 700 third-class passengers aboard the Titanic.
About 60% of the first class passengers survived while only approximately 25% of the third class passengers survived. Gates that were used to keep the third class passengers separate from the other passengers were kept locked, even after the Titanic hit the iceberg and began to sink.
It took 74 years to locate the Titanic at the bottom of the sea.


Related Links:
Facts
History Facts
Animals Facts