Titanic Tidbits ! Did you know ?.....
Here are some Titanic Tidbits I found interesting.
When reports that the Titanic was in trouble reached New York City,
White Star Line Vice President P.A.S. Franklin announced
" We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe the boat is unsinkable."
But, by the time he had spoken these words,
the ship had already spent the night at the bottom of the Atlantic.
The Titanic was the length of 4 city blocks.
According to British Office of Trade rules,
the Titanic had more than the required amount of lifeboats,
but it only had enough for half of the passengers.
Inquiry into the Titanic disaster by the British Board of Trade
concluded that 3rd class passengers were not unduly denied access to lifeboats,
but no surviving 3rd class passengers were called to testify.
Ticket scalpers in Moscow were getting as much as 25$ a ticket
from Russians dying to see James Cameron Titanic movie.
First class rooms went for as much as 870 pounds for a one way trip.
It would have taken a steward working on board
for almost two years to make that amount of money.
John Jacob Astor offered several priests and ministers $1,000
to perform a wedding ceremony, him & Madeline.
Many refused, believing that Astor was still obligated to his first wife.
Gossip spread by Guggenhiems daughter, indicates that Guggenhiem made
the trip with a secret lover, his blond secretary.
When the news of the Titanic disaster reached New York,
flags on Wall Street flew at half mast,
in honor of the many wealthy investors on board.
Some passengers chose to spend their final moments playing cards.
They drank from the bar, and played cards
until the tables had tilted too much to hold the cards.
Male 2nd class passengers had the lowest survival rate
of all groups on board Titanic, including crew.14 survived out of 154, 12%.
All children from 1st and 2nd class survived.
Out of 109 children, 52 were lost,all 3rd class passengers.
Captain Smith sailed approximately 2 million miles
before his final sailing on Titanic.
One of the most crucial ice warnings was not taken to the bridge.
Instead the wireless operator continued with the personal messages he was sending.
The Titanic sank on Ismays 50th birthday.
He was nicknamed by the press as J.Brute Ismay.
Among the elegance built into Titanic,
two first class suites which cost over $4,000 for one way trip.
One of these was built with JP Morgan in mind,
Morgan was planning on sailing on Titanic,
but canceled due to illness.
The electrical showers on Titanic consisted of coffin-like boxes ,
water was pumped through.You shower
lying down with your head sticking out.
The suction made by the wake of Titanic was so strong,
it dragged the wreck of a sunken barge
800 yards as it was leaving the harbor of Southhampton.
There is a rumor that Titanic actually took
the more dangerous Northern route to save time and energy ,
because she was low on coal. This is not true.
Murdoch took the appropriate actions to attempt
to miss hitting the iceberg, but different actions
might have saved the ship.Had he kept the engines
full speed, the rudder would have turned the ship more
or if he had plowed right into the iceberg,
the ship might not have sunk,
fewer compartments would have been flooded.
Until Captain Smith sent for Thomas Andrews,
he had no idea Titanic had hit the iceberg.
He was working on notes for improving the ship.
The press in the galley did not work properly
and the hat racks had too many screws.
Because of the Titanic disaster, it became illegal to send
up signal flairs at sea for reasons other than distress.
The stern half of the Titanic sank straight into the water.
The bow sank at an angle, almost 2,000 feet apart.
Some Titanic movies show 3rd class passengers
using axes to break down gates.
It is unknown whether this happened or not.
Explorations of the sunken Titanic show that some gates
are still intact and locked.
Collapsible A was found almost a month after the disaster.
There were 3 bodies inside, a crew member, a stoker,
and a first class passenger in formal evening wear.
When the body of Astor was found. He had a gold watch,
gold and diamond cuff links, a diamond ring,
225 pounds, $2440, five pounds in gold,
five 10-franc pieces and a gold pencil on him.
The New York Times broke the story
of the Titanic disaster on April 15th.
In that same paper was an ad for the
Titanic return voyage to Europe.
News of the disaster was slow to reach the States,
possibly due to wireless operator Bride
was offered money for an exclusive interview.
The US Coast Guard drops a wreath at the site of the Titanic
disaster every year on the anniversary of it's sinking.
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