Everyone is familiar with the movie based on the real-life tragedy, Titanic. It portrays most of the details about the sinking of the RMS Titanic which struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 14th, 1912.
For two hours and forty minutes the ship slowly filled with water and sank which resulted in over 1,500 casualties.
At the time Titanic set off for her journey, she was the largest ship in the world measuring 882 ft in length. This made it the largest man-made moving object.
Although most of these facts are well-known and easy to access, a few other facts about the RMS Titanic are unique and kind of creepy.
Here are 10 little-known facts about the Titanic that will send a chill down your spine.
The Sinking May Have Been Predicted: In 1898, Morgan Robertson wrote a novella called The Wreck of the Titan which eerily resembles the details of the Titanic tragedy. In the novella, there is a ship called the Titan that is described as the largest unsinkable ship. Both Titan and the Titanic hit an iceberg and were not carrying enough lifeboats.
Screen Shot 2017-06-23 at 1.16.12 PMwikiaA Full Moon May Have Been Responsible: National Geographic’s Richard A. Lovett said: ‘That full moon, on January 4, 1912, may have created unusually strong tides that sent a flotilla of icebergs southward–just in time for Titanic’s maiden voyage.’ Not only was it a full moon, it was the closest the moon has been to earth since A.D 796.
Optical Illusion Theory: British historian Tim Maltin thinks that on the night of the sinking, atmospheric conditions may have made it difficult for the crew to spot the iceberg in time. According to the Smithsonian, ‘The atmospheric conditions in the area that night were ripe for super refraction.’ This strange bending of light causes miraging.
Canceled Drill: Not only was the ship significantly short on lifeboats, there was also a lifeboat drill scheduled the day the ship sank, but it was canceled. Had they gone through with this drill, the crew would have been better prepared to help passengers and save more lives.
Musicians: There really was a group of musicians that played music to help calm down the passengers. They played for as long as they possibly could, and all of them went down with the ship. They were each recognized for their heroism.
Cold Deaths: Most of the people who perished in the Titanic sinking passed away due to hypothermia. When the ship went down, the water was around 28 degrees Fahrenheit below the freezing point. Most people wouldn’t have survived longer than 15 minutes and some people could have died within two minutes of being in the water.
Screen Shot 2017-06-23 at 1.24.05 PMsciencevshollywoodOne Man And His Whiskey: Among the most famous Titanic survivors was Charles Joughin. He drank his way through the horrors of the sinking. He claimed he couldn’t feel the cold due to all the whiskey he drank. Many people may have thought his character in the movie was comic relief, but he actually survived the sinking of the Titanic.
A Nearby Ship Could Have Helped: 20 miles away, the SS Californian stopped to avoid ice. The captain of that ship saw the Titanic’s flares but he decided to ignore them, thinking they were ‘company rockets.’ The SOS signals from the Titanic were not seen until the morning because the Californian’s radio operator went to bed. When they got to the scene the next day, they discovered all the bodies.
Screen Shot 2017-06-23 at 1.26.52 PMwikipediaFalse Reports: The first paper to report the sinking of the Titanic on April 16th, was the UK’s Daily Mail. They wrote that no lives were lost. It wasn’t too long before they realized the terrible mistake they had made.
- Ships Still Get ‘Iced’ Today: After the Titanic, icebergs continued to be a problem up until today. Just last year, an iceberg ripped a hole in the hull of a Russian fishing boat that was cruising in the Antarctic. The crew consisted of 32 people. They had to throw cargo overboard to lighten the load while waiting almost 2 weeks for help.
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There you have it, 10 facts about the Titanic that you may not have known before.