There’s a reason the ship was called the Titanic. Not only was it huge, but it was the biggest shipping vessel afloat at the time. When it set sail, slowly cruising away from its berth and out to the open sea, its size became apparent in comparison to other ships at bay; dwarfing them.
Its name was derived from the Titan of Greek Mythology, the second generation of divine beings, referenced for their colossal size. The ship was 882 feet long, and it towered 175 feet in height. Its rivets on steel plates alone weighed 1,200 tons. Overall, the liner weighed 46,328 tons.
Passenger Count
The sinking of the Titanic caused great misery with an estimated 2,224 passengers coming in from many countries, bound for New York. Most of them planned to seek a new life abroad, and the total casualties are not exactly known due to some confusion in the passenger list.
Its death toll is estimated to be between 1,490 and 1,635 people. Still, considering that the Titanic was under capacity during its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912, things could have gotten much worse. Only 710 people survived the disaster.
Third Class Died First
The Titanic could have accommodated more than 1,000 passengers in the third-class rooms, but only around 700 people were aboard on its maiden voyage, and it is said that a national coal strike could have contributed to this. Some of those who have purchased their tickets might have canceled their plans, and many others preferred to wait for the strike to end before planning to go on trips.
Many had died from the third-class accommodations since they were located on the middle and lower decks. The gates were locked to keep the first-class decks exclusive, and when the accident happened, this was the first to be inundated with seawater. The panicked crews weren’t able to open the gates, and many were trapped at the bottom.
Ticket Prices Were Unthinkably High
The White Star Line, the owner of the RMS Titanic, wanted the design of their new ships to be spacious and comfortable. They wanted to prioritize luxury, and there were few financial restrictions given to their engineers and designers during its construction. This also meant that the ship would have to sell their tickets at a much higher price.
First-class tickets at the time were sold from $30 to $4,350. At today’s rates that would be somewhere between $775 and $112,000. Its amenities included a library, swimming pool, high-end restaurants, and fancy cabins. The second-class tickets were from $12 to $60, equivalent to $300-$1,500 today. And the third-class tickets ranged from $8 to $40. That’s $200-$1,100 today.
The Disaster Was Predicted?
The author of the novel "Futility" or "Wreck of the Titan," was among those who were shocked at the prediction of the RMS Titanic’s fate.
The book by Morgan Robertson was published fourteen years before the tragedy, and many would attribute this to clairvoyance. However, Robertson himself said that he had merely written the book based on his extensive knowledge of ships and sailing. What he had thought of and written as fiction, in other words, was bound to happen one day if shipping standards and rules were not improved.