History
RMS Titanic. RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship. While it was a luxurious passenger carrier, it was also specifically designed to carry mail from place to place – that was kinda the purpose of it, otherwise it wouldn’t have been named RMS
Sister Ships
HMHS Brittanic
- 1915-1916
- HMHS | Her/His Majest’s Hospital Ship
- It was sunk by a german submarine off the coast of Greece in 1916.
RMS Olympic
- 1911-1935 (retired/scrapped in 1935)
- It was the largest ship twice, 1911 and 1913
- After Olympics 1913 refit, she carried 68 lifeboats, enough for everyone aboard
Quick Facts
Work Completed | March 31, 1912 • Launched | April 10, 1912
- Cost | $1.5 Million ($47 Million in 2025)
Over 100,000 people witnessed the launch as the Titanic was the largest moving human-made object in the world
- 882 feet long, a couple yards less than the length of three football fields
- Max speed 24-26 Knots (26-28mph)
Titanic had a number of innovative features, including remotely sealable compartments that led it to be deemed “unsinkable”.
Iceberg Collision | 11:40pm 4/14/1912
Sank | 2:20am 4/15/1912 (2 hrs 40 min)
Passengers | 1,317
Crew Members | 908
Lives Saved | 706
Lives Lost | 1503-1517
Saved From Water | 4-48
Life Boats | 20
Conditions of the night
- One of the coldest few nights recorded in 50 years during the month of April. It was foggy, which was also a sign of ice in the area but they weren’t exactly expecting icebergs. Icebergs weren’t normally scene in the area during April.
- The water was very calm
- Its been stated you couldn’t tell the difference between the water and the sky, the stars weren’t even helpful on the moonless night. The water being that calm was very dangerous because no one could see ripples in the water clashing against objects like waves would have done
- The water was very calm
- Binoculars
- There were binoculars to use but, they were locked away and the key was with a former 2nd officer David Blair who was transferred off the ship prior to departure. The lookouts needed these but it is debated they may not have helped as the iceberg was also kinda camouflaged.
- The key to the binocular locker was eventually sold at auction for a substantial sum, highlighting the historical significance of this seemingly small detail. That’s disgusting.
- Iceburg Warnings
- Messages from other ships came in regarding iceberg warnings. The messages were given to the captain but he wasn’t too worried about it because he thought they were on the northside of the downward projection of the icebergs due to a bad sexton reading earlier in the day.
- Captain cancelled the lifeboat drills for the crew
- They never practiced lifeboat training before, other than lowering 1-2 in a dry dock prior to departure but the boats never touched the water.
