AMAZING FACTS YOU DO NOT KNOW (52)

THE TITANIC

"I looked up from my lifeboat to the ship and I saw souls beginning to fall from her, like oranges into the sea..." - Unsinkable Molly Brown.

I Ifelola, am a lover of history, events & love to really dig down into 'what actually happened'. I have never been more obsessed with anything in my entire life other than the Titanic. I love underwater photos but I am scared of water in its mightiest depths & rage. I debunk superstitions as much as I love to hold on to them. A general believe we all have about the Titanic is that God sank her because the builder said

"This? She is unsinkable! God Himself cannot sink this ship...".

I believed it for years until I threw it off and thought what if God actually laughed the foolishness of men off & forgave the fool that instant but the Ship sank due to other reasons? I investigated.

You might not believe this, but your WILL, EMOTIONS and believes can do ANYTHING. My obsession for the ship make it so real to me that I began to smell death around me. The kind of death that kills at sea, the cold freezing one.

It was real.

100 years before the Titanic was built, an ancient author wrote a book about A ship called the "Titan" that sank on its maiden(first) voyage. 100 years later, a mighty ship (in fact, the mightiest ship ever built then) called the Titanic was built.

You might not know this ?

1. Titanic is longer than 2 standard football stadiums in length.

2. She has(I use 'has' because she is still existing under the ocean) more than 10,000(ten thousand) light bulbs on her.

3. There were many love stories too, like the story of Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, the owners of Macy’s Department Store, New York.

Once it was clear Titanic was sinking, Ida refused to leave Isidor and would not get into a lifeboat without him, apparently stating, “I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die, together.”

Although Isidor was offered a seat in a lifeboat to accompany Ida, he refused, while there were still women and children on board.

Isidor gave their seat on the life boat to their maid (who survived) and went back to their cabin, cuddled on the bed as the ship went down. If you have seen the movie, you will remember this scene I am talking about. Their statues are in their shopping mall till this day as they cuddled on the bed.

4. The American businessman, who upon realising the ship was going down, reputedly changed into his evening wear alongside his valet and remarked: “We’ve dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.”

The two were last spotted on deck chairs drinking brandy and smoking cigars.

5. The cost of a first class ticket is estimated to equate to at least €89,000 in today’s currency.

6. There were 15,000 bottles of beer on board the Titanic and 10,000 bottles of wine. The first-class passengers last supper consisted of 11 courses – including consommé, cream of barley soup, a fish course, two meat courses, foie gras, three desserts, and a cheeseboard.

7. According to the Belfast List, 2,225 people boarded the Titanic. Of those, 1,317 were passengers and 908 people were members of the crew. Only 713 people survived.

8. It took approx. 3,000 men nearly three years to build the Titanic. Three million rivets( a short metal pin or bolt for holding together two plates of metal, its headless end being beaten out or pressed down when in place.) held its massive hull together.

9. More than 1,000 men shoveled charcoal into her massive engines tirelessly.

You see, the Captain of the ship then thought it cool to see the Ship in her glory, he ordered that the ship be ran on full speed (12 knots) to the excitement of the passengers. Now a ship as such running on full speed isn't easy to stop, turn or reversed. You need a great deal of slowing down to do.

This was one of the factors that led to her sinking. Ironically, theorists have submitted that if she had hit the iceberg head on, there would have been little or no damage, because she had a very powerful hull that would have likely crushed the iceberg, but the turning revealed the side of the ship, her MOST vulnerable part and the ice dented(bent) it, allowing water into her water tight compartments. The ice didn't cut her as generally believed.

Another factor was racial discrimination. If you are black and you happen to be on that ship that night, just go down with the ship cos you got no place on the life boats. There was DECK A, B, C, D & E. Of course, A for the wealthy folks. So it was women and children of decks A to C first before the men of A-C came, then the leasts of them... D & E. A life boat could take 68 people but with 26 inside it would be placed on the sea to row off. The ship took approximately 2 hours 40 minutes to sink, enough time to save them all, but man will be man.

When your ship is sinking and you fire red flares into the sky, other ships on the sea would come to your rescue because you signaled "In danger". Titanic fired white flares and white flares in the Navy signifies... "I am experimenting/testing here, go away"

...and her wish was granted.

The sinking of the RMS Titanic occurred on the night of 14 April through to the morning of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into the ship's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest passenger liner in service at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 23:40 (ship's time) on Sunday, 14 April 1912. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 (05:18 GMT) on Monday, 15 April resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, which made it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. mermaid long sleeve wedding dress

Amongst other things you should know is that...

1. There was no ACTUAL Jack & Rose on the ship.

They are fictional. James Cameron(the producer of Titanic & the widely watched 'Avatar') only wanted to show the sinking of the ship, so he taught Jack & Rose would be an amazing ingredient to stir the emotion of the viewers.

2. A cook on the ship drank his last gulp of gin as he went down with the ship. He survived... Because the gin kept his internal organs warm & working. Others froze to death in minutes.

3. A Japanese Survivor (who apparently was the only Japanese person on the ship) was mocked by the Japanese people. They said he ought to have gone down with the ship like a hero.

4. Titanic has swimming pools, gyms, cigar rooms, a ball and theater on board.... She is HUGE!

5. She has 4 boilers (exhaust pipes or silencers). But only 3 of them actually carries smoke from the engines. The last one was for the kitchen.

6. A Legend as she is, the United States Government once opted to bring her out of the ocean as a tourist destination for the world. But critics have prevented that as they argued that she serves as a tomb for thousands & that they should be left undisturbed.

In less than 98 years, Titanic would cease to exist because underwater rodents would have totally consumed her iron body & what would be left would be the rusty floor she laid on as a sign that she used to be there.

If anything will take me underwater in my life, it will be The Titanic, I want to see her so BAD!

Conclusively, another Titanic has been built, an exact replica of her sister underwater today, but having an electric engine & will set sail next year, 2019.

- El Ifelola