Things You Didn't Know About The Titanic

Nearly a hundred years ago, the 20th century's most famous ship sank in the North Atlantic. It wouldn't be the last major ship disaster, and it wasn't even the most geopolitically important; the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat three years later compelled the United States to enter the First World War, thereby influencing history far more than Titanic's fate did. However, the Titanic story was perfect for a sensation-loving press and a shocked public, and the event has had surprising longevity, including a handful of fictional retellings.

Of course, the story of the Titanic is also surrounded by its share of total lunacy like the theory that the ship sank because of an anti-Catholic shipbuilder; the theory that the ship sank because of a mummy's curse; and the theory that the ship did not sink at all and merely switched identities with a different ship. However, since those theories require magic and mystery to be possible, here instead are five not-insane things you didn't know about the RMS Titanic.

The Titanic carried more lifeboats than was required by law

It's an easy simplification to imagine this tragedy as the result of an evil company screwing over the lower classes (not exactly an uncommon event in the 1900s), but this particular company was marginally less evil than it might seem.

Shipping laws only required Titanic to carry 16 lifeboats, which it did; it also carried four additional collapsible lifeboats, thereby exceeding its legal obligation. The obvious question is what kind of imaginary disaster these laws could possibly have been made for, given that they were only written to account for half of the ship's passengers. Unsurprisingly, this same question was raised after Titanic sank, probably accompanied by a lot of bellowing and arm-flailing.

Nobody called the Titanic "unsinkable," and it wasn't trying to break any records

Well, maybe people used phrases like "pretty much unsinkable" or "sort of unsinkable if you don't count icebergs," but no shipping magnate ever raised his fist toward the sea and roared: "Try to sink this, you stupid ocean! Ha ha!"

Nor was the ship trying to break any speed records; it was actually sailing a long, slow route in order to avoid -- naturally -- icebergs. However, history is just so boring unless we reinvent everything in order to bludgeon humanity over the head with its own hubris, so at some point the story turned into arrogant mankind piloting an affront to God directly across His ocean, boasting about invincibility and having crazy parties the whole way.

One stewardess survived three major ship disasters

The expected reaction upon finding yourself on a sinking ship is to start shrieking and doing stupid things. At least one stewardess aboard the Titanic was able to think back to her previous sea disaster experience (and would have the opportunity to hone her disaster skills for future use).

Violet Jessop was on board the Olympic when it collided with the Hawke in 1911, moved to the Titanic and survived its sinking a year later, and finally transferred to the Britannic, which hit a mine and sank in 1916, making her one of the only women in history who had a mental list of "Things To Remember When Your Ship Is Sinking." Incidentally, the first thing on the list was a toothbrush.

Intentionally ramming the iceberg may have saved the Titanic

Shortly before the Titanic's collision, the nearby Californian contacted Titanic's wireless operator, Jack Philips, to warn him that there was quite a lot of ice around. Philips literally told them to shut up and went back to whatever it was he was doing, which was evidently more important than not sinking ocean liners.

Had the Titanic's captain, Edward Smith, merely shouted at the iceberg and plowed straight into it with the same disdain his wireless operator had demonstrated, the Titanic probably would have survived the impact. Only two forward compartments would have flooded, allowing Titanic to stay afloat; instead, the ship's attempt to turn caused flooding in five compartments along its starboard side, more damage than the ship could withstand.

A novella published 14 years earlier described a very similar disaster

In 1898, an American author named Morgan Robertson wrote Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, a book whose similarities with the actual event are almost creepy. Aside from the obvious -- that the novella is about a similar ship with a nearly identical name -- the fictional ship sails in the same month, is short on lifeboats, and is sailing from Southampton, England when it collides with an iceberg and sinks into the Atlantic.

Unlike the historical Titanic, the tale of the Titan contains a hero who fights a polar bear while stranded on the iceberg, an addition which would almost certainly improve the quality of the current Titanic narrative.

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