45 Unsinkable Titanic Facts

Published July 3, 2019Updated August 3, 2019

The Titanic was carrying 6,598 tons of coal to New York._[2]
The lifeboats on the Titanic were equipped with tins of crackers and water, but the survivors did not know about them, and most did not discover them._[2]
While Titanic's first–class passengers were treated to an opulent Turkish bath, there were only two bathtubs for over 700 third–class passengers._[2]
Twelve cases of ostrich plumes were among the cargo on Titanic._[2]
It took the Titanic 2 hours and 40 minutes to sink after hitting the iceberg._[4]
The Titanic's chief baker nonchalantly stepped of the stern of the sinking liner and calmly paddled around until dawn. After he was rescued, he was back at work within days. Experts note that he survived history's greatest maritime disaster by getting completely drunk._[5]

The survival rate for men on the Titanic was about 20%. The survival rate for women was 74%, and the survival rate for children was 52%

Of the over 1,500 people who died when Titanic sank, only 337 bodies were recovered._[6]
The musicians aboard the Titanic played music to calm the passengers as the ship sank. They all went down with the ship, and all were recognized for their heroism._[9]
The Titanic was designed so that four forward compartments could fill with water without sinking the ocean liner; six flooded on the night she sank._[4]
Of the 35 engineering staff on the Titanic, none survived. They all fought to keep the ship's power on so that others could escape._[2]
It took over 70 years to find the Titanic._[2]
When Titanic was built in 1912, it was the biggest ship in the world and the largest man-made moving object on earth. It sailed for just four days before sinking._[2]
The wreck of the Titanic lies at about 12,500 feet (3.8 km, 2.37 miles) under the ocean, approximately 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland._[2]
Of the 12 dogs aboard the Titanic, only 3 survived._[2]
Dorothy Gibson, an actress who survived the sinking of the Titanic, later starred in the first motion picture based on the disaster._[2]
A priest on the Titanic stayed behind to hear confessions and to give absolution to the people left on the ship._[4]
Titanic was built in Ireland._[2]
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer is building Titanic II, a close replica of the original. It's set to sail in 2020._[7]
Scientists believe that the wreckage of Titanic could vanish by 2030 due to bacteria eating away at it._[4]

The name of the bacteria eating the ship is called "Halomonas titanicae"

After Titanic sank, most people died of cardiac arrest within 15–30 minutes._[2]
The Titanic's architect, Thomas Andrews, was last seen throwing deck chairs into the Atlantic in an attempt to save lives. It is believed that he went down with the ship._[2]
The Titanic burned around 600 tonnes of coal a day and ejected nearly 100 tonnes of ash into the sea every 24 hours._[2]
The Titanic had 20,000 bottles of beer on board, 1,500 bottles of wine, and 8,000 cigars. They were just for the first-class passengers._[2]
The iceberg that sank the Titanic was about 100 feet tall and came from a glacier in Greenland._[2]
Only 37 seconds elapsed between the sighting of the iceberg and the collision._[2]
The last words of Edward Smith, the ship's captain, were: "Well boys, you've done your duty and done it well. I ask no more of you. I release you. You know the rule of the sea. It's every man for himself now, and God bless you."_[2]
During Titanic's four-day journey, it received six warnings about icebergs._[2]
The Titanic broke in two on April 15 at 2:20 am._[2]

The Japanese public, press, and government condemned and ostracized Masabumi for surviving the disaster rather than going down with Titanic

Masabumi Hosono was the only Japanese person on the Titanic. While he survived the wreck, the Japanese government condemned him for not going down with the ship._[3]
The Titanic's lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, didn't have binoculars. They were locked in a cabinet with no key._[2]
The richest man aboard Titanic was John Jacob Astor IV, who was widely believed to have been the richest man alive at the time of his death. He was worth about $150 million or about $3.5 billion in today's dollars._[2]
The 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic cost more to make than the actual ship. The Titanic cost about $7.5 million in 1912, which is about $190 million now. The movie cost $200 million, which in 2018 would be about $360 million._[2]
Only 4 women from first class died during the sinking, compared to 89 third-class women._[2]
Ann Elizabeth Isham reportedly jumped out of a lifeboat once she realized that she couldn't take her Great Dane with her. She later died._[2]
For 73 years, the wreck of the Titanic was lost. In 1985, the ship was found near the coast of Newfoundland, 12,500 feet (3.8 km) deep in the ocean.
_[2]
Titanic's hull was divided into 16 compartments, and because four of them could be flooded without critical loss of buoyancy, the ship was thought to be unsinkable. But the compartments were not sealed at the top, so water could flow to other compartments._[8]
The Titanic broke in half and sank to the ocean floor at about 2:20 am on April 15, 1912._[8]

God himself could not sink this ship.

- Cal, Titanic (1997)

Several notable American and British citizens died when Titanic sank, including British journalist William Thomas Stead, millionaire John Jacob Astor (the richest person on the doomed ship), and Isidore Straus (co-owner of Macy's) and his wife._[8]
Around 97% of the 144 female first-class passengers were rescued, while 32.57% of their 175 male counterparts were saved. Male second-class passengers had the worst survival rate, with only 14 out of 168 making it out alive._[1]
After the Titanic went down, it took one hour and 20 minutes for another ship, the Carpathia, to arrive. However, a second ship, the Californian had been less than 20 miles away. Its radio operator was off duty, so Titanic's distress calls were never heard._[8]

La Circassienne au Bain was the most expensive item lost in the Titanic disaster

The most expensive item of cargo that went down with the Titanic was a painting called La Circassienne au Bain by Merry-Joseph Blondel._[2]
Titanic survivor and socialite Margaret Brown demanded that her group of survivors row back to where the ship went down and look for survivors. Her life was made into a Broadway musical titled "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."_[1]
Isidore and Ida Straus, co-owners of Macy's, died on the Titanic together. He refused a spot on a lifeboat until every woman and child had been saved. Ida then refused to leave her husband, saying, "We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go."_[1]
After Titanic sank, the first International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was held in 1913. The convention required that every ship have lifeboat space for each person on board and that lifeboat drills should be held. It also required that ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch._[8]
The temperature of the ocean water when the Titanic sank was only 28 degrees._[2]