Interesting Facts About the R.M.S. Titanic
"Iceberg right ahead!" ~ Frederick Fleet, at 11:40 P.M. on April 14, 1912 ~ Signalling the beginning of the tragic disaster at sea.
In the 1898 novel Futility, 14 years before the sinking of the Titanic, Morgan Robertson penned a fictitious tale about a ship named the Titan which rams an iceberg and sinks with many victims. Some of the uncanny similarities between the book and the Titanic calamity include the month (April), the length of the ship (Titanic, 882 feet; Titan, 800 feet), and the number of passengers on board 2,200; Titan, 2,000).
It cost $7.5 million to build the Titanic, while Titanic, the 1997 movie, cost $200 million to make. The Titanic carried a $5 million insurance policy. It would cost about $400 million to build the Titanic today.
The original plans for the Titanic were sketched on a dinner napkin by J. Bruce Ismay.
The Titanic's original maiden voyage date; March 20, 1912, was rescheduled due to the collision that Titanic's sister ship the Olympic had with the Hawke on September 20, 1911, which put construction on the Titanic, which was in drydock, on hold until the Olympic could be repaired. Commanding the Olympic at the time of this collision was Captain Edward J. Smith.
The maiden voyage of the Titanic was the last command of Captain Edward J. Smith before he planned to retire at age 62. Smith had sailed over two million miles with the White Star Line over a 30-year span.
"The Titanic itself lies in 13,000 feet of water on a gently sloping alpine-like countryside overlooking a small canyon below. Its bow faces north and the ship sits upright on the bottom. Its mighty stacks point upward. There is no light at this great depth and little light can be found. It is quiet and peaceful and a fitting place for the remains of this greatest of sea tragedies to rest. May it forever remain that way and may God bless these found souls." -- Robert D. Ballard's Washington, D.C. press conference after returning from the North Atlantic after discovering the Titanic's final resting place on September 1, 1985.
Every year on the anniversary of the Titanic's sinking, April 15, the United States Coast Guard drops a wreath over the Titanic's last radio position in memory of those who lost their lives.
Never did the White Star Line ads for the Titanic use the word "unsinkable".
Initially the order of officers had William Murdoch as Chief Officer, Charles Lightoller as First Officer, and David Blair as Second Officer. White Star Line then decided to assign Henry Wilde to the Titanic as Chief Officer, bumping Murdoch to First Officer, and Lightoller to Second Officer. Blair was reassigned to another ship.
Captain Edward J. Smith received a variety of medals and honors for serving in the Boer War, including the Transport Medal, The Reserve Decoration, and the rank of Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, which distinguished the ships commanded by him because being part of the Royal Naval Reserve meant that their masters could fly the "Blue Duster" of the Royal Naval Reserve. The "Blue Duster" was raised on the stern flagpost of the Titanic on sailing day, April 10, 1912.
The maiden voyage of the Titanic lasted four days and 17 hours.
The Titanic had two barber shops on board, one in the first class and one in the second class. The barber shops also sold souvenirs, postcards and plates.
After being promoted to Commodore of the White Star Line in 1904, Edward J. Smith captained every flagship of the White Star Line
until his death.
The Titanic's Board of Trade number was 131,428.
Famed Titanic author Walter Lord was given the whistle belonging to Second Officer Charles H. Lightoller. This was the whistle Lightoller
used to attract the other Titanic lifeboats to the overturned collapsible B. It has not been blown since that fateful night.
In a similar plot to the 1997 movie Titanic, Samuel Morley, who was already married, boarded the Titanic in 1912 with one of his employees, 19 year old
Kate Phillips, under the surname Mr. and Mrs. Marshall to start a new life in America. Phillips survived the disaster while Morley did not.
Captain Edward J. Smith had an illustrious career on the sea before going down with the Titanic. He commanded the Republic, Coptic, Majestic, Baltic, Adriatic, Olympic, and the ill-fated Titanic.
When he took the helm of the Titanic, Captain Edward J. Smith was the highest paid seaman operating a ship. His salary was 1,250 pounds a month, plus he could collect a non-collision bonus of 200 more pounds if his ship was not involved in an accident, making for a grand total of about $11,250 a year.
"An iceberg sir. I hard-a-starboarded and reversed the engines and I was going to hard-a-port around it, but she was too close. I could not do any
more." - First Officer William Murdoch's reply to Captain Smith as the Captain rushed onto the bridge after the Titanic collided with the iceberg.
NBC paid $30 million dollars for the rights to air the 1997 film Titanic for five runs, beginning in the year 2000.
Helen Churchill Candee gave Edward A. Kent an ivory and gold miniature of her mother before she climbed into a lifeboat. The keepsake was returned to her after Kent's body was recovered from the Atlantic and the miniature was found in his jacket pocket.
The Titanic had 150 separate electric motors to supply it with the electricity needed for the cranes, winches, watertight doors, telegraphs, telephones,
and its Marconi wireless set.
First Officer William Murdoch was in command of the Titanic when she struck the iceberg at 11:40 P.M., April 14, 1912. Quartermaster Robert Hitchens was at the ship's wheel with Quartermaster Alfred Oliver assisting. Also on the bridge were Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and Sixth Officer James Moody.
Asprey Jewelers of England have made a replica of the Heart of the Ocean, the necklace in the 1997 movie Titanic. The necklace cost around $3.5 million and was made from a 165-carat Ceylon sapphire.
Bernard Fox, who played Colonel Archibald Gracie in Titanic in 1997, was also in the 1958 film A Night to Remember in an unbilled role as Lookout Frederick Fleet.
The last time anyone saw Thomas Andrews, managing director of Harland & Wolff and a passenger who was on the Titanic to oversee her voyage, he was staring into space in front of the fireplace in the first-class smoking room.
Titanic survivor Edith Russell carried a musical toy pig that played the song Maxine when its tail was pulled. She later gave the toy to A Night to Remember author Walter Lord.
 
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