Tempting Fate?
The Largest Passenger Ship ... at the Time
Before its history-altering crash in 1912, the Titanic was the largest passenger ship in the world. Although there are now several cruise ships that are more than quadruple the size of the Titanic (Royal Caribbean just unleashed Symphony of the Seas, a cruise ship with a gross tonnage of 228,000 compared with the Titanic's 46,000 gross tons), this was an impressive feat at the turn of the last century.
Sinking Time
For a ship that was promoted as unsinkable, the RMS Titanic went down in what seemed like no time. It only took under three hours for the boat to sink. There are different theories on why, such as cost-cutting construction that left the ship vulnerable or unseasonably warm weather that caused rough waters. Safety regulations and procedures at sea improved almost immediately after the worst maritime disaster in history.
Passengers vs. Lifeboats
More than 3,300 people were onboard the Titanic, but the ship was only stocked with 20 lifeboats, holding between 40-65 people each. If each boat had been filled to capacity, it would've only accommodated about a third of the passengers and crew. Two of the boats, both made of canvas, weren't able to be used. A shocking 472 seats were left empty on the lifeboats that were rescued (the first boat lowered into water had only 12 people on it). Also, most of the roughly 700 passengers who survived were from first class.
By the Numbers
The Titanic was 400 miles from land, 58 miles from the closest ship to receive its distress signal, and it had 44 fewer lifeboats than it was able to carry. Not only that, but only about 21 percent of the people to board the big ship made it home.
The Band
While chaos ensued and as the ship went down, the famous eight-member orchestra continued to play their instruments in an effort to keep others calm. The violin that Wallace Hartley played that night is the most expensive piece of Titanic memorabilia, and it sold for $1.7 million at an auction in 2013.
Media Coverage
The first accounts of the worst shipwreck to date came by wireless operator on the rescue ship Carpathia. There was confusion about how many people had survived and who they were. There were full-page articles printed in newspapers worldwide with wrong figures and names of survivors. There has never been a completely accurate account of everyone who boarded, died and survived the only voyage of the Titanic.
