One of the biggest and most shocking maritime disasters was the sinking of the unsinkable, the Titanic.
The titanic sank on April 15, 1912 with more than 20,000 people on board. The majestic ship that was claimed to be unsinkable hit an iceberg and sank claiming the lives of over 1500 passengers on board. Today the Titanic lies approximately 2.5 miles under water, 370 miles off the Newfoundland coast in Canada. Here are some mind-blowing facts about the Titanic.
One of the Ship Funnels Was Just for the Aesthetics
If you remember, the Titanic had four funnels. However, as it turns out, only three of the funnels were actually functional. The fourth funnel was a fake one kept as a dummy to enhance the aesthetics of the ship’s look. The dummy funnel was in fact made to serve as the ventilation shaft for the ship’s kitchen. On the other hand, the other three funnels were linked with the furnaces. It is also believed that the purpose of putting up the fourth fake funnel was to provide the ship a symmetrical look.
The Interior Was Inspired From The Ritz Hotel
The interior design of the Titanic was constructed after the model of the Ritz Hotel. The first class cabins of the ship were modelled after the Empire style suites of the Ritz Hotel. The reason behind modelling the interiors after a hotel was to provide the passengers the illusionary feel of a floating hotel. Moreover, the intention was to make the passengers believe that they were not on board a ship but in the hall of a grand house on the coast.
A Book Might Have Predicted the Titanic’s Fate
About fourteen years before the sinking of the Titanic, a novella might have predicted the ship’s future in 1898. Morgan Robertson’s ‘The Wreck of the Titan’ told the story of a fictional ship that sinks under the ocean after hitting an iceberg. The novella had even described the ship to be “unsinkable” with not enough lifeboats for all the passengers.
A Person Survived Because He was Drunk
The ship’s chief baker, Charles Joughin, survived the Titanic’s sinking because he was drunk. While everyone was trying to save themselves from the impending doom, Joughin sat around drinking all the whiskey on the ship, apparently to keep himself warm in the cold water. Worked like magic!
