You may already know that the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on the night of April 14, 1912 and sunk just over two-and-a-half hours later, but do you know the following 16 facts about the Titanic?
1. The Weather Was Perfect
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| The Titanic sets sail from England |
It's easy to picture the Titanic battling huge waves at sea, with the fog and rain obscuring the iceberg that famously consigned her to a watery grave. In reality, the opposite was true. As the Titanic sailed toward her doom, the weather was perfectly, eerily calm. With no wind or waves, the sea was stretched out like a flawless mirror, the only ripples in the water coming from the ship herself as she glided along. And that perfect weather may just have been her doom.
2. It Was on Fire the Whole Trip
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| Location of where the Titanic sank |
Shortly before her fateful maiden voyage, a fire started in the Titanic's coal bunkers. As revealed during the British inquiry into the disaster, the flames were still raging when the ship set out for New York, creating a potentially dangerous situation for those on board.
According to surviving stoker
J. Dilley: “We didn't get that fire out and among the stokers there was talk that we'd have to empty the big coal bunkers after we’d put the passengers off in New York and then call on the fireboats there to help us put out the fire.” That didn’t turn out to be necessary, since Dilley claimed the flames were extinguished when the iceberg ripped through the hull and flooded the bunkers with seawater.
3. The Captain Failed His Navigation Test
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| Captain Edward John Smith |
Edward John Smith, captain of the Titanic, has been the subject of countless myths since the fateful night when he went down with his ship. Many even believe that he personally saved a child's life before disappearing into the Atlantic. However, it has also been alleged that this heroic picture isn't the whole truth.
Not only did Captain Smith ignore several ice warnings and fail to keep the ship at a reasonable speed, he also allowed lifeboats to
leave the ship half-empty—the first boat to depart had just 27 passengers in 65 seats. Smith additionally failed to issue a clear “abandon ship” order, which led to many passengers not realizing the gravity of the situation they found themselves in.
In 2012, it was revealed that Smith had actually
failed his navigation exams the first time he took them. He did eventually pass in 1888, but that initial failure was perhaps a bad omen. Ironically, before the Titanic disaster, Smith had actually earned himself the nickname of “the millionaire's captain” due to his reputation for smooth reliability.
4. Canceled Lifeboat Drill
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| Rescued lifeboats, all that is left from the great ship Titanic, New York, 1912. |
Originally, a lifeboat drill was scheduled to take place on board the Titanic on April 14, 1912 - the day the Titanic hit the iceberg. However, for an unknown reason, Captain Smith canceled the drill. Many believe that had the drill taken place, more lives could have been saved.
5. Lifeboats Not Full
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| Last lifeboat successfully launched from the Titanic, 15 April 1912. |
Not only were there not enough lifeboats to save everyone on board, most of the lifeboats that were launched off the Titanic were not filled to capacity. For instance, the first lifeboat to launch, Lifeboat 7 from the starboard side, only carried 24 people, despite having a capacity of 65 (two additional people later transferred to Lifeboat 7 from Lifeboat 5). However, it was Lifeboat 1 that carried the fewest people - only seven crew and five passengers (a total of 12 people) despite having a capacity for 40.
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