Titanic, the ship, was the largest movable objects ever built at the time, measuring in at 883 feet long (1/6 of a mile), 92 feet wide, 46,328 tons, and 104 feet high, from keel to bridge.
Many attempts have been made to find the wreck of the Titanic, yet it wasn't until 1985, when an expedition combining teams from IFREMER and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute discovered the famous ship. The team, led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Luis Martin, took the first photographs of the Titanic in 73 years.
Some interesting Titanic facts:
- Titanic carried 900 tons of baggage and freight
- Used 14,000 gallons of drinking water every 24 hours
- 825 tons of Coal consumed per day
- Two dogs were among the Titanic survivors
- Lillian Gertrud Asplund, the last American survivor of the Titanic tragedy, died in Massachusetts on May 6, 2006, at age 99.
In 1898 (14 years prior to the Titanic tragedy), Morgan Robertson wrote a novel called Futility. This fictitious novel was about the largest ship ever built hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic ocean on a cold April night. The fictional ship (named Titan) and the real ship Titanic were similar in design and their circumstances were remarkably alike. Both ships were labeled "unsinkable".
British spiritualist, William T. Stead, wrote a tale similar to Futility. "How the Mail Steamer went down in the Mid Atlantic, by a survivor" appeared in the March, 1886 issue of Pall Mall Gazette. In this story, Stead tells of a large steamship that sinks after colliding with another ship. Many lives are lost due to lack of lifeboats. Stead wrote that, "This is exactly what might take place and what will take place, if the liners are sent to sea short of boats". Stead was travelling to the United States at the request of President Taft to address a peace conference at Carnegie Hall on April 20, 1912. Stead sat calmly in the library reading a book as the North Atlantic sea water came rushing in as the ship he was traveling on sank. That ship was the Titanic. Stead did not survive.
William T. Stead also authored the novel From the Old World to the New. In this book, he describes the sinking of a ship in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. To add to the irony, the captain of the ship which picked up the survivors, was Edward J. Smith -- the eventual captain of Titanic.
If you'd like to see your shipping cost, add the item to your "Shopping Barge" and then use our Shipping Rates Calculator on the next page.
For Go2marine's shipping and return policy,
click here.
)
