An artists impression of the Titanic getting ready to sail.
The Titanic
What do you already know about the Titanic?
What was the Titanic?
The Titanic was a massive ship, the biggest built at the time. It was built to take people from England to America (there weren’t planes flying people there in those days).
The Titanic was built by over 15 000 people in a dockyard in Belfast, Northern Island. It took about three years to be built and was finished in May 1911.
The Titanic’s first voyage started on the 10th April 1912 from Southampton, England. It was heading to New York in America and was due to arrive there on the 17th April, a week later. There were just over 2200 people on board. There were about 1300 passengers on the Titanic and about 900 crew. It was only about half full when it set sail and could have been carrying many more people.
The people would have been sailing on the Titanic for many reasons. Very rich people might have been on the ship just to experience the biggest and most luxurious ship ever built. Others would have been tourists, business travellers or people might have been on the ship to start a new life in America.
When it was built it was thought the ship was unsinkable. It was created to have 16 watertight compartments. If up to four of these became damaged it was thought the other compartments would still keep the ship afloat.
A photo of the 'unsinkable' Titanic. Why is this image in black and white?
What was it like on the Titanic?
The First Class passengers had to be very rich to afford to sail on the Titanic. They would have had grand rooms to themselves with bedrooms, walk in dressing rooms and their own bathrooms on the very top of the ship. They probably had a really nice view from their windows. They would have enjoyed fancy dinners in beautifully decorated dining rooms with live music being played. They would have been able to enjoy the promenades outside, swim in the swimming pool, go to the gym, play sports and board games and even get their hair cut.
The Second Class passengers would have slept in cabins with bunk beds. Their rooms would have been in the middle of the ship and would have been comfortable but not as fancy as first class. They would have shared bathrooms with other passengers and had a sink and mirror in their room. The Second class passengers would still have enjoyed dinner in nice dining rooms and some of the spaces of the ship, including being able to go outside, but it wouldn’t have been as special as the first class experience!
The Third Class would have slept in big shared rooms with bunk beds. They would have had a sink and a mirror in their room but would have shared it with many people. They only had two baths to share between hundreds of passengers! The rooms were at the bottom of the ship so it would have been quite noisy because they would have been very close to the engines. They would have had meals but very basic ones and would have been able to share basic spaces to sit out of their rooms but wouldn’t have been able to enjoy any of the outdoor spaces.
You can look at the images in the slide shows below to see what the Titanic would have looked like inside. There are very few photographs of the Titanic, but there are photos of the sister ship called The Olympic which launched in 1910 (The Titanic also had another sister ship called the Britannic, but this was launched in 1914, after the Titanic had sunk). The Olympic was incredibly similar to the Titanic. There are other images you can also look at that are drawings showing what the Titanic looked like, and modern day colour photos that show what some of the rooms might have looked like too.
The first slide shows what it would have looked like on First Class. The second slide show shows Second and Third Class.
What happened to the Titanic?
At nearly midnight on the 14th April an iceberg was spotted in the water ahead of the ship. The Captain had been warned there were icebergs ahead by other ships and had changed course but carried on at almost full speed. When the Captain and crew saw the iceberg just before they hit it they tried really hard to avoid it but unfortunately it was too late. The Titanic scraped along the side of the iceberg and it damaged 6 of the watertight compartments in the ship. Too many for it to survive.
An example of what an iceberg looks like from above and below the surface of the water. Every iceberg is a different shape and size.
A photo taken on April 15th 1912 of the iceberg suspected of sinking the Titanic. Apparently there was red paint seen on the iceberg.
The Titanic sank two hours and 40 minutes after it hit the iceberg. It is thought it sank so quickly because of the watertight compartments people thought would keep the ship afloat. Instead these compartments meant the water built up in the bow of the ship and actually made it sink quicker. The Titanic split in half and sank. It was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, far from land.
A map showing the Titanic's journey and where it sunk in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Over 1500 people sadly died. One of the main reasons so many people died was because there wasn’t enough lifeboats for everyone on board. In fact, there were only 20 lifeboats…for over 2000 people aboard. This was common back then, it wasn’t just because the Titanic was thought to be unsinkable. A law was put in place after the Titanic sunk that every ship had to have enough lifeboats for all people on board.
A ship had been quite close to the Titanic when it sank but they missed their distress signals. If they had gone to their rescue many more people may have been saved out of the freezing cold water and survived.
Around 706 people survived, 492 passengers and 214 of the crew. An hour and a half after the Titanic sunk another ship came across the survivors in the lifeboats. By 9.15 the next morning all the survivors were rescued and on the new boat. They were taken to New York, their original destination, arriving on the 18th April, 3 days later.
A painting showing the Titanic sinking and the hundreds of people on lifeboats who were able to escape.
This was a collapsible boat with canvas sides. Canvas is a type of material.
A photo of survivors on a lifeboat taken from the ship that rescued them.
Discovering the wreck of the Titanic
When the Titanic sank many people wanted to find it and even maybe lift it back out of the water. But it was impossible to find it.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s people again tried to locate the Titanic. It took a long time and many attempts but with technology that didn’t exist in 1912 the Titanic was finally found in 1985, 73 years after it sank! When it was found it was on the ocean floor broken into two pieces, almost 3800 metres from the surface.
Amazingly all sorts of objects were found inside the wreckage of the Titanic and a lot was very well preserved. At first things were left where they were found out of respect. A few years later different people went to the wreckage and they took almost 2000 artifacts back up to the surface. Many people thought this was wrong but other people followed to collect even more things from the shipwreck.
Many things were found, such as plates and bowls, cutlery, decorative features from the ship and people’s clothes and belongings. Sadly clocks and watches that were found all had stopped around the same time, 2.20am, which was when the Titanic sank.
A photo of the Titanic shipwreck, showing the hull of the ship.
A photo of the Titanic shipwreck, showing what would have been Captain Smith's bathroom. Can you see the bath?
What we've learnt...
The Titanic was traveling on its first trip from Southampton in England to New York in America. It set sail on the 10th April 1912. It should have taken one week to get there.
There were around 2200 people on board. 1300 passengers and 900 crew. Only 706 people survived.
On the 14th April the Titanic hit an iceberg in the middle of the night. It took just two hours and 40 minutes to sink. It had been thought the Titanic was unsinkable.
Just over 1500 people died. There were only 20 lifeboats, not enough for everyone on board to escape the sinking ship.
The Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean floor. It wasn’t found for 73 years! It is still there today.
Test your knowledge...
Titanic Quiz
If you click the correct answer the box will turn green. If its the wrong answer it will turn red and then show you what the correct answer was. Make sure you read or listen to the questions carefully!
#1. Where was the Titanic travelling to?
#2. What ocean did the Titanic sink in?
#3. When was the Titanic found on the ocean floor?
#4. Where did the Titanic sail from?
#5. What year did the Titanic sink?
Results
I really hope you have enjoyed learning all about The Titanic, with me Tock!
Question Time...
What happened to the Olympic and the Britannic?
By Rajat
The Olympic was built before the Titanic and launched in 1910. It sailed successfully between this country and America many many times. It was used during the First World War and then returned to sailing as normal afterwards. It sailed until 1935 but then was sold for scrap as it wasn’t making enough money anymore.
The Olympic
The Britannic was built after the Titanic sunk. It was launched in 1914, just before the start of the First World War. Changes were made when it was being built because of lessons learned from the Titanic sinking. More lifeboats were added too. During the war it was a hospital boat. In1916 the Britannic hit a mine in the water near the coast of a Greek island and sank just 55 minutes later, killing 30 people on board. Luckily over 1000 survivors were rescued.
The Britannic
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All photos and illustrations on this page are Whizzbots, Public Domain or Shutterstock Images.