Titanic facts for kids

class="infobox " style="float: right; clear: right; width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; text-align: left; font-size: 90%;"

| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5em;" |

|- | colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5em;" |

|}

The RMS Titanic was a British passenger ship. It sank during its first trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Out of about 2,224 people on board (passengers and crew), more than 1,500 died. This made it the deadliest sinking of a single ship at that time.

Before it sailed, many people believed this ship design was almost impossible to sink. It was considered very safe and strong.

Contents

• The Titanic's Story
• Building a Giant Ship
• The Tragic Sinking
• The Last Survivor
• Safety Changes After the Accident
• Finding the Wreck
• Titanic in Culture
• Amazing Titanic Facts
• Images for kids
• See Also

The Titanic's Story

The RMS Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland. It was the second of three huge ships called Olympic-class ocean liners. The other two were the RMS Olympic and the HMHS Britannic. These ships belonged to the British company White Star Line.

The White Star Line wanted to build bigger and more luxurious ships. Their rivals, like Cunard, had faster ships. So, White Star Line decided to focus on size and comfort instead of speed. They wanted their new ships to be the best in luxury.

The ships were built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast. Money was not a big problem for this project. Harland & Wolff could spend what was needed, plus they got a 5% profit. The first two ships cost about £3 million in 1912.

Building a Giant Ship

Building the Titanic was a huge challenge for engineers. No one had ever built such a large ship before. The ships were constructed in Belfast Harbour. The work was difficult and dangerous.

During the Titanic's construction, 246 injuries were reported. Six people sadly died while the ship was being built and fitted out.

The Titanic was launched on May 31, 1911, at 12:15 PM. About 100,000 people watched. Workers used 22 tons of soap and grease to help the ship slide into the River Lagan. The White Star Line did not formally name or christen the ship with champagne.

After launching, the ship was moved to a special dock. Over the next year, its engines, funnels, and upper parts were added. The inside of the ship was also completed. The work took longer than planned because of changes requested by J. Bruce Ismay, the White Star Line chairman. Also, work stopped temporarily to repair the Olympic after a crash. If the Titanic had been finished earlier, it might have avoided the iceberg.

The Tragic Sinking

Titanicat Southamptondocks, before its first trip on April 10, 1912.

At 11:40 PM on April 14, 1912, during its first voyage, the Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. The iceberg damaged the ship's bottom, letting water flood in. The Titanic sank two hours and forty minutes later, at 2:20 AM on April 15.

As it sank, the Titanic broke into two pieces. Between 1,490 and 1,635 people died. It was one of the worst shipwrecks not caused by war.

Titanic-New York Herald front page. The first reports after the accident had incorrect numbers.

Many people died because the ship did not have enough lifeboats for everyone. The Titanic had 20 lifeboats, enough for 1,178 people. This was only about one-third of the ship's total capacity.

However, the ship actually had more lifeboats than required by law at the time. Old laws in the UK only said that ships over 10,000 tons needed 16 lifeboats. The Titanic weighed 46,000 tons. The White Star Line also thought lifeboats would only be needed to transfer passengers to a rescue ship nearby.

Other reasons why so few people survived include:

• There was no general alarm system. Crew members had to tell each passenger to evacuate. There were fewer crew members for second and third-class passengers, and many more people in those sections.
• Passengers who paid less money could not access certain decks.
• There were locked passages between different class decks. This was a big problem during the first part of the evacuation. Some survivors said these passages were not opened even when the ship was sinking.
• Many third-class passengers were foreigners and had limited English skills.
• The radio on the SS Californian, the closest ship, was turned off. Its crew did not hear the Titanic's distress calls.
• The Titanic used white flares. At that time, red flares meant emergency. Other colors were for identification. The Californian and other ships saw the flares but did not realize they were distress signals. Another ship, the RMS Carpathia, did hear the calls and rescued all 705 survivors.

Women and children from higher classes were allowed on lifeboats first. First-class passengers also boarded before others. Few poorer passengers (second and third class) survived. For example, only 3% of first-class women died, while 54% of third-class women died. The differences were even bigger for men. Nearly all female crew members and first- and second-class women were saved. Men from first class died at a higher rate than women from third class. In total, 50% of children, 20% of men, and 75% of women survived.

Many who died did not drown. They died from hypothermia in the freezing water. The water was just above freezing. Many lifeboats rowed away from people shouting for help. Those in the lifeboats were afraid their boat would flip over if more people got in. Only Lifeboat Number 4 returned to help. Five people were rescued, but two died in the lifeboat. About 40 minutes after the sinking, around 3 AM, the calls for help stopped. Later, Lifeboat Number 14, led by Officer Harold Lowe, returned and saved three more people. He had moved people from his boat to other boats first.

The exact number of deaths is unclear. This is because some people on the passenger list canceled their trip. Also, some passengers used fake names and were counted twice. The table below uses numbers from the British Board of Trade report.

History
United Kingdom
Name	RMS Titanic
Namesake	Titans
Owner	White Star Line
Operator	White Star Line
Port of registry	Liverpool, England
Route	Southampton to New York City
Ordered	17 September 1908
Builder	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Cost	£1.5 million (£150 million in 2019)
Yard number	401
Way number	400
Laid down	31 March 1909
Launched	31 May 1911
Completed	2 April 1912
Maiden voyage	10 April 1912
In service	10 April 1912
Out of service	15 April 1912
Identification	UK official number 131428 Code letters HVMP Wireless call sign MGY
Fate	Struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm (ship's time) 14 April 1912 on her maiden voyage and sank 2 h 40 min later on 15 April 1912; 113 years ago (1912-04-15)
Status	Wreck
General characteristics
Class and type	Olympic-class ocean liner
Tonnage	46,329 GRT, 21,831 NRT
Displacement	52,310 tonnes
Length	882 ft 9 in (269.1 m) overall
Beam	92 ft 6 in (28.2 m)
Height	175 ft (53.3 m) (keel to top of funnels)
Draught	34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)
Depth	64 ft 6 in (19.7 m)
Decks	9 (A–G)
Installed power	24 double-ended and five single-ended boilers feeding two reciprocating steam engines for the wing propellers, and a low-pressure turbine for the centre propeller; output: 46,000 HP
Propulsion	Two three-blade wing propellers and one centre propeller
Speed	Service: 21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph) Max: 23 kn (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Capacity	2,453 passengers and 874 crew (3,327 in total)
Notes	Lifeboats: 20 (sufficient for 1,178 people)

The Last Survivor

The last person to survive the Titanic disaster was Millvina Dean. She was the youngest passenger on board, just nine weeks old. She passed away in Ashhurst, Hampshire, England on May 21, 2009, at 97 years old.

Safety Changes After the Accident

The Titanic disaster led to many new laws for ships. Because so many people died, authorities wanted to make sea travel safer. New rules included:

• All ships must carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board.
• Ships must have emergency supplies like flares.
• Someone must always be listening to the ship's radio.

A German scientist named Alexander Brehm was shocked by the disaster. He wanted to invent a way to detect icebergs. He didn't achieve this goal before he died. However, he got patents for measuring sea depth using sound. Today, this technology is called echo sounding.

Finding the Wreck

Titanic's bow, photographed in 2004.

The wreck of the Titanic was found by a French and American team. It was led by Robert Ballard. They found it on September 23, 1985, at 1:02 AM.

In 1986, Ballard returned to the wreck with a special submarine. He took many photos and made films of the sunken ship.

In 1987, a French team brought 900 objects from the wreck to the surface.

Titanic in Culture

The story of the Titanic's sinking has been made into several movies. The most famous film is the 1997 movie called Titanic. It starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. This movie won 11 Academy Awards, tying the record for most awards won by one movie.

Other movies about the story include:

• The 1958 film A Night to Remember
• The 1953 film Titanic
• The 1979 film S.O.S. Titanic
• The 1996 movie Titanic

In the 1980 film Raise the Titanic, people try to lift the shipwreck from the ocean floor. However, this is not possible in real life. The Titanic broke in half. Parts of the wreck are buried in over 1 meter (3 feet) of mud. The ship has been on the ocean floor for more than 100 years. It would break into many more pieces if disturbed. Worms and other sea animals have also eaten away much of the wood and other parts.

Amazing Titanic Facts

• The name Titanic comes from the Titans in Greek mythology.
• It was the largest ship afloat when it began service.
• The ship's total height, from the bottom to the top of the bridge, was 104 feet (32 m).
• The Titanic's electrical system could make more power than an average city power station at that time.
• The ship could hold 833 First Class, 614 Second Class, and 1,006 Third Class passengers. This was a total of 2,453 passengers.
• The Titanic's furnaces needed over 600 tonnes of coal each day. 176 firemen worked all the time to shovel coal.
• First-class passengers had a 7 ft (2.1 m) deep saltwater swimming pool, a gym, a squash court, and a Victorian-style Turkish bath.
• The dining room on D Deck was 114 ft (35 m) long and 92 ft (28 m) wide. It was the largest room on any ship and could seat almost 600 passengers.
• One of the Titanic's most famous features was the Grand Staircase. It was made of solid English oak and went down through seven decks.
• Titanic's owner, J. P. Morgan, was supposed to travel on the first trip but canceled at the last minute.
• The Titanic received warnings about icebergs near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. However, Captain Smith did not act on them.
• When the ship sank, the lifeboats that were lowered were only filled to about 60% of their capacity.

Images for kids

• 

  Titanic in 1912

• 

  Marconi company radio equipment.

• 

  A collapsible lifeboat with canvas sides.

• 

  RMS Titanic leaving Belfast for sea trials on April 2, 1912.

• 

  John Jacob Astor IV in 1909. He was the richest person on Titanic.

• 

  London newsboy Ned Parfett with news of the disaster.

• 

  The SS Californian, which tried to warn Titanic about ice.

• 

  Bell from the Titanic.

• 

  An ice patrol aircraft checking an iceberg.

• 

  Titanic Belfast museum, 2012.

• 

  Diagram of the Titanic.

• 

  First Class Lounge of the Olympic, similar to the Titanic, now a dining room.

• 

  The sinking, sketched by J. Thayer on board the RMS Carpathia.

See Also

In Spanish: RMS Titanic para niños