It was the largest,
moving, man-made object -- over 4 city blocks long. Perhaps
you'll recognize this postcard from the film....
Big, isn't it. Here's a comparison of the Titanic to a more
modern vessel -- the USS America (CVA-66).
The scaling, while not precise, is close enough to see that
Titanic is not quite as big as a latter day carrier, but close.
Here's some more comparisons -- just for chuckles and giggles.
| Characteristic | Titanic | America |
| Length | 882 ft. | 1,047.5 ft. |
| Fuel source | Coal | Oil |
| Number of Boilers | 29 | 8 |
| Propellers | 2 - 23' 3 blade 1 - 16' 4 blade |
4 - 22' 5 blade |
| Anchors | 1 - 15.5 ton 2 - 7.75 ton |
2 - 30 ton |
| Passengers/ crew |
2200+ | 5000+ |
| Date in Service | 4/10/1912 | 1/23/1965 |
| Length of Service | 4 days | 25+ years |
By another comparison, Titanic's sister ship -- Olympic -- sailed safely for 24 years, before being retired and scrapped. Britannic, launched 2 years later sailed 2 years until being sunk during WW I while serving as a hospital ship.
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A view of the boat deck, the funnels, and some of the too few life boats. |
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One of the aforementioned funnels leaving the shop. |
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15 1/2 tons of anchor makes it's way to the ship. |
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Workmen forging the chain for the anchors. |
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The anchors in thier positions on the bow. |
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The port side and center propeller. |
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The boilers, ready and waiting for installation. |
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The Grand Staircase at A deck level (with the clock) |
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First Class reception area on D deck |
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The Turkish Bath |
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One of the Watertight Doors -- they worked properly, but ultimately proved useless. |
Experts say, had the ship ran into the ice berg straight on, it might have survived -- a lot of off duty crew wouldn't have, and some 3rd class passenger may have died, but only the first 2 or 3 compartments would have been affected, and Titanic was designed to remain afloat even if the first 4 compartments flooded. It was thought by some, that if the watertight doors had not been closed, that the ship would have went down slower, and recent tests with a scale model showed that initial sink rates were slower -- but -- water would have flooded the last boiler rooms an hour sooner -- meaning the lights would have went out an hour sooner than they did. The test ship also ended up rolling over before sinking, and it did that a half hour sooner than the Titanic actually did. So in the end, there wasn't really much that could have helped after the impact.