100 Years After Titanic: Remembering the 'Ship of Dreams'

Few events in the last century have captured the public imagination in quite the same way as the tragic sinking of Titanic. 

Heralded in 1912 as the “Ship of Dreams" and “Millionaire's Special," Titanic had the makings of a legend even before it set sail on its maiden voyage. Some 2,200 people, 1,300 of whom were passengers, boarded the ship on April 10-11, 1912 and 1,500 of them stayed with her when she collided with an iceberg and sank on April 15.

From the moment news of the sinking reached ports in the U.S., Canada and Europe, the tragic tale promised to become one that would endure across the decades.

At approximately 11:40 p.m. April 14, 1912–exactly 100 years ago tonight–Titanic is reported to have hit the iceberg that slashed its hull and caused the ship to sink less than three hours later, at 2:20 a.m. April 15.

Michigan Links

• Winifred Quick Van Tongerloo, Michigan’s last Titanic survivor, died on July 4, 2002. She was 8 years old when she boarded the ship in England with her mother and sister bound for Detroit, where her father had a job. They were in second class. All survived.
• Nellie Becker and her three children–Ruth, 12, Richard, 2, Marion, infant–were traveling to America from India to find treatment for an illness contracted by Richard. They were in second class. All four survived and the family settled in Benton Harbor, MI.
• Helen (Walton) and Dickinson H. Bishop from Dowagiac, MI, were first class passengers aboard Titanic. They were put into the first lifeboat, No. 7, and both survived. 
• Maude Sincock, 20, was traveling in second class from Cornwall to Hancock, MI. She was rescued from a lifeboat and spent her 21st birthday aboard the Carpathia.
  
• Sen. William Alden Smith of Michigan, a native of Dowagiac, led the U.S. investigation in to the tragedy.

By the Numbers

16 - The number of watertight compartments that could be closed from the bridge in the event the hull was breached. But these compartments were not capped at the top, meaning if one filled, it could spill into the others in a domino effect.  

882.5 - The number of feet stetching from Titanic's bow to stern. 

52,000 - The number of tons the ship displaced, or weighed when fully loaded.

20 - The number of lifeboats aboard the ship. Titanic could accommodate at least 48 lifeboats, but for financial and aesthetic reasons, White Star decided to only carry 20. This was still four more than required by the British Board of Trade.

1,178 - The number of passengers the ship's 20 lifeboats could have potentially carried. Only 705 people were rescued in lifeboats.

2 - The number of bathtubs available to serve the more than 700 passengers in third class.

36,000 - The number of oranges reportedly carried by Titanic.

Visit Titanic in Person

The Henry Ford will host Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, through Sept. 30. This exhibition, which spans some 10,000 square feet, features more than 300 artifacts – 250 of which have never been displayed in Michigan.

Visitors can walk through extensive room re-creations, have their photos taken near the full-scale replica of the Grand Staircase, and learn about passengers with ties to Michigan.

Tickets are $27 for adults age 13-61, $25 for seniors age 62+, $22.50 for youth age 5-12 and free for children under 4. Admission is $10 members of The Henry Ford.

Dive Back to Titanic

The History Channel documentary, Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved, premiers Sunday at 8 p.m. This documentary will highlight the most recent return to the site of the disaster with RMS Titanic, Inc.

Statistics courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica. Survivor list courtesy of http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org.