The facilities on board were ground-breaking
The Titanic was the first ship to come with a heated swimming pool. Not surprisingly, it was for the exclusive use of first-class passengers. As were the Turkish bath, squash court and dog kennel.
Things in third-class were a little different
700 third or steerage class passengers had to share 2 bathtubs - not many for a journey lasting almost 6 days. To be fair, that wasn't bad for the time - especially for third class passengers. But by today’s standards it leaves a little to be desired.
The ship was designed with looks in mind
One of the 4 iconic smokestacks didn't work. It was never supposed to. It was a design feature to make the ship look more impressive. It worked too, as the 4 chimney appearance became an icon of ship design and is intrinsically linked to the Titanic.
There weren’t enough lifeboats...there could have been more
There were only 20 lifeboats, when the ship was designed to carry 64. What’s more, the first lifeboat to leave the ship was carrying only 28 people even though there was space for 65.
It was a man’s world
There were only 23 female crew members, out of a total of 885. Of these, 20 were stewardesses, 2 were cashiers and 1 was a matron. All but 3 of them survived the disaster.
The band played on
Most people know the band continued to play as the ship went down. But did you know the musicians had to memorise more than 350 songs so that first class passengers could make requests? Talk about a tough gig.
Read all about it
The ship had its own onboard newspaper. The Atlantic Daily Bulletin was written each night and posted in the First Class smoking room. Ironically, it never got to cover the biggest story of them all.
A crew member was still alive until 2000... sort of
Cello player Roger Bricoux wasn't officially declared dead until 2000, even though all of the musicians perished when the ship sank. To make matters worse for Bricoux, the French army even called him a deserter when he failed to show up for service in the First World War .
Did you know there was a movie about the disaster?
The most successful film about the ship is undoubtedly James Cameron’s Titanic. But the first movie about the disaster came out just a month after it sank. Incredibly, it starred an actress called Dorothy Gibson who had been on board and survived the sinking.
The Titanic is disappearing…again
The wreck was lost for many years but finally found in 1985. It’s a good job, as it’s quickly disappearing. A rust-eating bacteria, called Halomonas titanicae, is slowly eating the remains of the ship. In fact, it’s expected to be completely gone within ten years.
LIFE Photo Collection
Find out more about other great transport triumphs and disasters of the 20th century here.
