Titanic: little-known facts of the most famous shipwreck

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When the largest ship of its time, the passenger liner Titanic, was launched in 1912, the shipbuilder called it "virtually unsinkable." It was the word "practically" that played a cruel joke with this ship. On the fifth day of the voyage, during its first voyage, the ship leaving the British port of Southampton for New York collided with an iceberg and sank after 3 hours. Of the 2,229 crew members and passengers, only 713 people were saved. Since that time, the ship has been surrounded by various kinds of stories that are somehow connected with its death.

The beginning of the voyage was already unsuccessful

Witnesses of the launch of the Titanic claim that the tradition was broken - a bottle of champagne was not broken on the side of the ship. Either the owners of the liner were not superstitious people, or they wanted to maintain the image of the ship's unsinkability, it is now difficult to say, but the fact remains.

When the Titanic departed from the pier of Southampton Port, he almost collided with the American liner "New York". A collision was avoided literally at the last minute, and the liner continued sailing.

The interiors of the liner amazed with splendor, and the service - luxury

A ticket for a liner to a first-class cabin cost several tens of thousands of dollars in modern money. It was especially emphasized that on the first flight of the Titanic there will be 10 millionaires on it, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of jewelry and gold will be kept in safes. In terms of luxury, comfort and service, the liner was comparable to the most expensive hotels. The interiors of the "special cabins" were made in eleven different styles of the Italian and French Renaissance, Dutch style, Adam's style and so on. The Titanic had 7 km of promenade decks and corridors.

Products for the liner's restaurants were ordered all over the world: oysters from Baltimore, fruits from California, coffee from Brazil, ice cream from New York, cheeses from Europe, teas from India. On board the Titanic, when it went on its first and last voyage, there were 44 tons of poultry and meat, 27 thousand bottles of mineral water and beer, 35 thousand eggs, 5 tons of sugar and 40 tons of potatoes.

The higher the ticket price, the more chances of salvation

According to statistics, the bulk of the passengers who escaped traveled in second and first class. In particular, out of 143 women who sailed in first class, only 4 died, and only because they refused to go down into the boat. In the third class, more than 50% of passengers died (the language barrier also played a significant role in this), and about 25% of the crew members.

Social stratification was also observed after death. The ship, sent in search of the bodies of the dead, lifted the bodies of only those who sailed in first class.

Edward Smith - "Captain of the Millionaires" and other heroes of "Titanic"

The captain of the Titanic was Edward John Smith. For an English naval officer who had 30 years of experience as a captain, this was the first and last transatlantic voyage from old Europe to the New World. On April 15, 1912, Edward John Smith went under water with his ship, without even making an attempt to escape. His body was never found.

There were heroes among the passengers. Jack Thayer, a 17-year-old boy, helped people get into the boats, but he was in no hurry to get down himself. When the ship went under water, the young man dived into the cold water and was able to survive, climbing onto an overturned boat. He returned home a hero, the whole country was talking about him. But Jack Thayer became one of the surviving passengers of the Titanic, who committed suicide.

Managing Director spared money for boats

Joseph Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line, is the man who made the decision to save money by not placing additional boats on board. If he did not spare the money, then it would be possible to save everyone who died. This circumstance was aggravated by the fact that, despite the captain's order "children and women first," he took a seat in the boat and survived the disaster. And already on the "Carpathia", on board of which 706 rescued people were raised, Ismay was accommodated in a separate cabin, while everyone else huddled on tables and on the floor.

The violin from the "Titanic" was sold under the hammer for $ 1.5 million

According to witnesses, the musicians of the orchestra in the Titanic restaurant played until the last minutes of the liner's life, and went under water with him. There were no survivors among the musicians.

The body of the orchestra leader, 33-year-old British violinist Wallace Hartley, was found 10 days after the ship's sinking. A violin was tied to his chest, the inscription on which testified that the instrument had been presented to him by Maria Robinson, his bride. The instrument was handed over to the girl. And she donated it to the British Salvation Army. For a long time, the violin was considered lost, and again they started talking about it only in 2006. For 7 years, research was carried out, and only after that it was announced that the instrument was original. In 2013, Wallace Hartley's violin was sold at Henry Aldridge & Son for $ 1.5 million. The buyer wished to remain anonymous.

The unthinkable love story of Ida and Isidor Strauss

Ida Strauss was the only passenger on the Titanic who did not get on the boat because she did not want to be separated from her husband, co-owner of the largest supermarket chain Macy's. “We have lived a lot together. Wherever you are, there I am,”the woman said.

Ida Strauss lost her place in boat # 8, intended for first class passengers, to her maid. She also gave her her fur coat to her, saying: "I don't need it anymore." The Strauss couple were sitting on the deck in armchairs, holding the bows of their friend's hands, and with their free hand they waved to the sailors. “They were calm,” eyewitnesses said. The maid was able to survive, outlived the Titanic and its owners for 40 years.