First Class Staterooms on the Titanic

Some video recreations of various first class staterooms on the Titanic based on surviving images as also of her near identical sister ship, Olympic, and builder's plans.

100 Years Ago

Memory Eternal

The British ocean liner Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank less than three hours later claiming more than 1500 lives. Taking out the two world wars, the Titanic disaster was probably the single biggest news story of the twentieth century until President Kennedy was assassinated. This is being reported on and discussed all over the place so I'm not going to belabor it here. For anyone (is there anyone in this category?) who may not be familiar with the story I recommend the book A Night to Remember by Walter Lord, an eminently readable history of that tragic night.  The movie of the same name remains the gold standard for those seeking an historically accurate film treatment of the shipwreck. 

While the special effects are excellent, I really can't endorse James Cameron's 1997 film.  The plot is so far fetched it strains the bounds of credulity. And of course Cameron presents the same cartoonish caricatures of those in First Class and the passengers in Steerage that one finds in almost all films within the genre.  Beyond which it plays pretty fast and loose with historical detail and "dramatic license."

Crossing the Ocean, 1912 vs. 2012

Cabin B-59 First Class Single Berth on the Titanic

A typical Queen's Grill (first class) cabin on the Queen Mary 2

THE 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy is being widely observed on both sides of the Atlantic, at museum openings, special exhibits and lectures, theatrical performances, concerts, readings and walking and graveyard tours. Guests at some events are invited to dress in fashions of the era, and Titanic-themed cocktails and re-creations of the elaborate first-class meal from the storied liner’s last dinner will be served. Two Titanic Memorial Cruises to the site of the sinking are planned, and the ships are scheduled to be there on the anniversary, April 15.

But what was life onboard the Titanic actually like? Not much like taking a cruise today.

Traveling on the Titanic was a voyage of purpose, primarily to transport mail, cargo and passengers, many of whom were emigrating, as steadily and safely as possible.

Designed to withstand harsh seas and cut through water, the Titanic was built with efficiency in mind. Ships today are capable of traveling at speeds similar to the Titanic’s but rarely do, as cruising is about pleasure, said John Maxtone-Graham, a maritime historian and author of the newly published book “Titanic Tragedy: A New Look at the Lost Liner.”

Eight professional musicians played for first-class (and occasionally second-class) passengers on the Titanic, but there was no other professional entertainment. There were also no shore excursions, and activities were limited to things like playing cards, reading, socializing and sitting or promenading on deck to get fresh air. “The average person today would be bored to tears on the Titanic,” said Charles Weeks, emeritus professor of marine transportation at the Maine Maritime Academy.

Read the rest here.

I am not sure the comparison is fair. The Titanic (second of the Olympic class liners) was a fine ship for the Edwardian period. Of course modern luxuries would be lacking on a ship built in 1912 primarily for passenger service and not leisure travel.  Still she was a very elegant liner of the pre-war tradition.  There were quite a few amenities on the ship including a gym, a library, a swimming pool (the author is incorrect in her description of it as a plunge bath), squash and racquetball courts, and Turkish baths.

For one of the better collections of interior photos of the Titanic and her near identical sister ship Olympic I refer you to this excellent blog post.

RIP: Roy Ward-Baker director of "A Night to Remember"

LONDON — Roy Ward-Baker, the British director best known for "A Night to Remember," the 1958 movie about the Titanic disaster, has died. He was 93.

His son Nicholas Baker says the director died peacefully in his sleep at a London hospital on Tuesday.

Roy Ward-Baker started out as an assistant director on Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" in London in 1938. After serving in the army during World War II, he went to Hollywood where he directed Marilyn Monroe in the 1962 movie "Don't Bother to Knock."

He later returned to England where he directed many television dramas, including adventure series "The Avengers."

He remains best known for "A Night to Remember," which recounted the final night aboard the Titanic.

Source


"A Night to Remember" is IMO still the gold standard for films about that tragic ship.

Ooops! Wrong turn...

LONDON — The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing, an author said in an interview published Wednesday.

Louise Patten, a writer and granddaughter of Titanic second officer Charles Lightoller, said the truth about what happened nearly 100 years ago had been hidden for fear of tarnishing the reputation of her grandfather, who later became a war hero.

Lightoller, the most senior officer to have survived the disaster, covered up the error in two inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic because he was worried it would bankrupt the ill-fated liner's owners and put his colleagues out of a job.

"They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn't for the blunder," Patten told the Daily Telegraph.

"Instead of steering Titanic safely round to the left of the iceberg, once it had been spotted dead ahead, the steersman, Robert Hitchins, had panicked and turned it the wrong way."

Read the rest here.

This story is so bizarre I am not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, a steering error does sound plausible. But I question why it never leaked before. Lightoller was not the only surviving officer from the ship. I find it difficult to believe that a secret as monumental as this could be kept under wraps for so long. Also there was testimony from many survivors that immediately after the collision the engines stopped. None that I am aware of ever indicated the ship started to move again afterward.

A study on the etiquette of drowning

The Titanic in Southampton Harbor April 1912 (Click to view any photo full size)

The Titanic depicted on the night of 14-15 April 1912

A post card of the RMS Lusitania in happier days.

Murder on the high seas. The Lusitania sinks in less then 20 minutes after being torpedoed.

It's hard to remember your manners when you think you're about to die. The human species may have developed an elaborate social and behavioral code, but we drop it fast when we're scared enough — as any stampeding mob reveals.

That primal push-pull is at work during wars, natural disasters and any other time our hides are on the line. It was perhaps never more poignantly played out than during the two greatest maritime disasters in history: the sinking of the Titanic and the Lusitania. A team of behavioral economists from Switzerland and Australia have published a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that takes an imaginative new look at who survived and who perished aboard the two ships, and what the demographics of death say about how well social norms hold up in a crisis.

The Lusitania and the Titanic are often thought of as sister vessels; they in fact belonged to two separate owners, but the error is understandable. Both ships were huge: the Titanic was carrying 2,207 passengers and crew on the night it went down; the Lusitania had 1,949. The mortality figures were even closer, with a 68.7% death rate aboard the Titanic and 67.3% for the Lusitania. What's more, the ships sank just three years apart — the Titanic was claimed by an iceberg on April 14, 1912, and the Lusitania by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. But on the decks and in the passageways and all the other places where people fought for their lives, the vessels' respective ends played out very differently.

Read the rest here.

I'm not sure a vast study was required of this. As a hobby I have had more than a passing interest in the history of the great ocean liners. And I am familiar with the tragic stories of both ships. One being the victim of a tragic accident compounded by hubris, and the other the victim of one of the more shocking war crimes in history. (Yes, I am well aware of allegations that the Lusitania was carrying war contraband. But even if true that does not justify sinking an unarmed ship known to be carrying thousands of passengers including women and children.)

The two ships were indeed remarkably similar in many respects including appearance. But really... was a detailed study required to tell them what they found? People in a traumatic emergency situation will panic and some will act badly. Others with time to think and collect themselves tend to behave better. Anyone with a modicum of common sense would know that. And anyone with a working knowledge of the demise of the two steamers could have told them that they went down under very different circumstances.

I guess I am just wondering at the big deal over something that I already knew when I was in High School. Still for those not familiar with basic psychology and or the history of these two tragic ships, the article makes for a good read.

Memory Eternal: Millvina Dean

Ms. Millvina Dean has reposed at the age of 97. She is generally believed to have been the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster. Ms. Dean was a baby at the time and had no memory of the shipwreck that killed 1500 people including her father.

May her memory and that of all those who perished at sea that night be eternal.

And then there was one...

The Titanic sailing from Southampton

10 April 1912

Barbara West Dainton (96) the second to the last living survivor of the Titanic disaster has reposed. This leaves only one known survivor of the epic catastrophe still among the quick. Ms. Dainton was traveling to America with her family at the time and making the passage on the maiden voyage of the world's largest ocean liner must have been seen as quite a treat for the family. She was too young to recall the accident and always avoided discussing it later in life. However various family sources report that after the ship hit an iceberg her father behaved in exactly the manner expected of an English gentleman of that era. He put his family into a lifeboat and waived goodbye from the deck of the sinking liner. His body was not recovered. More than 1500 people were lost in the ice cold waters of the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank a little over two hours after hitting the berg.

The ship was a marvel of luxury and modern engineering at the time. She was almost 900 feet long and 13 stories from her keel to the top deck. Her three massive propellers could mover her at a very respectable speed of around 22 knots. She boasted such amenities as a French style sidewalk cafe, squash and racquetball courts, an indoor swimming pool and electric elevators. Her 16 watertight compartments that could be closed off from each other by reinforced steel watertight doors were thought to make the ship virtually unsinkable. However the watertight bulkheads did not extent to the top deck. While the ship was said to be able to float with any two or three of her compartments flooded (a worst case scenario in the minds of her builders) the collision opened up her first five compartments to the sea. Tragically the ship carried only enough lifeboats for a little over a thousand people. Even given this terrible discrepancy many of the early boats launched left with room to spare. Of the 2200+ passengers and crew aboard only 705 survived.

Since childhood I have had something of a fascination with the doomed liner. Because her service life was so very short and given the age she was built in there are relatively few pictures of the Titanic around. Many photos of her nearly identical sister ship the Olympic are occasionally mistaken for the Titanic. For those interested I am going post some of the few known pictures of the Titanic below. You may click on any of the photos to see it full sized.

The Titanic dressed in holiday regalia for Good Friday 1912 four days before sailing on her maiden voyage. This is the only known photograph of the ship with all her flags and pennants up.

The starboard boat deck probably taken during the passage from Cherbourg to Queenstown Ireland (modern day Cove)

Titanic's propeller shaft under construction in Belfast N. Ireland

The Titanic's propellers while under construction in Belfast N.Ireland

The Titanic on the stocks while under construction

Titanic fitting out at Harland & Wolfe after her launch. The forward section of her promenade deck would eventually be glassed in (see the picture at the top of the post) to protect passengers during inclement weather. This was one of the few features distinguishing her from Olympic.

The Grand Staircase made famous in the romantic film drama with Leonardo DiCaprio. The elaborate wood carving around the clock was supposed to represent Honor and & Glory crowning Time.

The top of the Grand Staircase under the stained glass dome over the First Class Foyer. The windows look out onto the boat deck.

The First Class Smoking Lounge. Men only of course...

The First Class Lounge

The Palm Court a popular place for afternoon tea

The French style Cafe Parisean

One of only three known photographs of the massive Jacobin style First Class Dining Saloon

This is believed to be the only existing photograph of the Titanic's First Class Dining Room during a meal. Given what appears to be daylight it is likely that it was taken during the lunch served on the 11th of April en route to Queenstown.

First Class dinner menu (almost certainly a reproduction but included to provide some flavor)

The Turkish baths. This is one case where the black & white really does not do the subject justice. The baths were incredibly gaudy and would have fit in well with any Rudolph Valentino movie set.

The gymnasium with its electric rowing and riding machines. There was a large map on the wall that was updated daily with the Titanic's position for passengers keep track of. The odd looking riding machine in the far corner was an electric camel.

Stateroom B-57

Bedroom of stateroom B-58

Stateroom B-59

The bedroom of stateroom B-64

The Second Class lounge

Second Class dinner menu.

The 3rd class (steerage) common room. Compared to most other steamers of the period the 3rd class accommodations in the Olympic class ships were considered quite decent. Of course the standard steerage ticket covered meals but not access to the lifeboats in case the ship sinks. The loss of life among the poor immigrants in steerage was appalling.

The 3rd class dining room.