The RMS Titanic, the great ship built in Belfast, sunk by an iceberg on April 15, 1912.Getty
1,500 souls lost their lives on board the Titanic. Here we take a look at some of the massive, staggering figures associated with the White Star liner from deaths during construction to the number of lifeboats on board.
On April 15, 1912, the Belfast-built RMS Titanic sank, after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew on board. This was one of the deadliest commercial, peacetime maritime disasters in modern history.
Here are some of the facts and stark figures associated with the sinking that has fascinated the world for 107 years:
Building the “unsinkable” Titanic
3 years – construction and fitting out time.
3 million rivets used in hull.
2 – the number of workers killed during the build.
269.1 – the length of the Titanic in meters (882 feet 9 inches).
825 – the amount of coal used per day, in tonnes.
10,000 – the approximate number of lamp bulbs used on the ship.
$7,500,000 – the cost of building the RMS Titanic.
20 – horses needed to transport the main anchor.
9 in total decks onboard the Titanic.
Disastrous lack of lifeboats
3,547 – the maximum number of people the Titanic could carry.
2,223 – the number of people aboard (passengers and crew).
1,178 persons – lifeboat total rated capacity.
Life and provisions on board the Titanic
3,547 – the maximum number of people the Titanic could carry.
2,223 – the number of people aboard (passengers and crew).
13 – the number of honeymooning couples on the voyage.
14,000 – the gallons of drinking water used every 24 hours.
40,000 – the number of fresh eggs in the ship’s provisions.
1,000 – the number of bottles of wine taken aboard.
When tragedy struck the Titanic
64 – the number of lifeboats the Titanic was equipped to carry.
20 – the number of lifeboats she actually carried.
28 – the number of people on board the first lifeboat out of a capacity of 65 people.
6 – the number of iceberg warnings the Titanic received before the collision.
160 – the minutes it took the Titanic to sink after hitting the iceberg (2 hours and 40 minutes).
-2 Celsius – the temperature of the seawater.
A photograph of the iceberg which the Titanic struck.
How many survived the Titanic
31.6 – the total percentage of passengers and crew who survived.
53.4 – the percentage who could have survived, given the number of spaces available on the Titanic lifeboats.
Survivors greeted by family and friends in Southampton.
The aftermath of the Titanic
2 – the number of dogs who survived (lapdogs taken aboard lifeboats by their owners).
12,600 – the depth at which the wreck of the Titanic lays, in feet.
18 – the distance that the bow penetrated into the sea bed, in meters.
74 – the number of years it took to find the wreck of the Titanic.
Here is amazing British Pathe footage of Titanic leaving Belfast in 1912:
* Originally published in 2019.