When did the Titanic sink? The Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. The ship sank at approximately 2:20 a.m. the next morning.

Were there sister ships to the Titanic? The Titanic was one of a class of three ships. The other two were the Olympic and the Britannic. The Britannic was to have been called the Gigantic, but the name was changed after the Titanic tragedy.

What happened to the other ships? The Olympic served a long career for White Star and was scrapped in 1935. The Britannic never sailed for White Star. Completed in 1914, she was pressed into service as a hospital ship before she could sail in revenue service. While sailing to Lemnos on November 21, 1916, she either ran into a mine or was torpedoed off the Greek Island of Kea, and sank in 400 feet of water. White Star had built three ships to service the New York-Southampton run and only one ever reached the New World.

Was there someone who was on board both the last voyages of the Titanic and Britannic? Yes, Violet Jessop was a stewardess on the Titanic's maiden voyage and was working as a nurse on the Britannic. She was also on board the Olympic when its was rammed by the cruiser HMS Hawke.

What happened to the Carpathia? After rescuing the Titanic's survivors and taking them to New York, the Carpathia returned to normal service with Cunard. She was torpedoed and sank about 115 miles east of Fastnet, Ireland on July 17. 1918. At the time, she was part of a convoy traveling from Liverpool to Boston. The wreck was located in September 2000.

What happened to the White Star Line? The White Star Line was merged with the Cunard Line in 1934. The merged line was known as Cunard-White Star although White Star was eventually dropped after world war two. To some degree, the British Government forced this merger. As an inducement to merge, the British Government agreed to provide the funds to finish hull 534 -- the ship that would eventually be known as the Queen Mary. The last White Star ship to remain in service was the 1930 version of Britannic, which was retired and scrapped in 1960. She retained the White Star funnel livery throughout her career.

Did the White Star Line have any other ships sink? Yes, there were two other notable sinkings. The Atlantic, which ran aground off Halifax in 1879 and the Republic, which was rammed in fog 26 miles southwest of Nantucket by the Lloyd Italiano line Florida on January 22, 1909. The Atlantic was sailing for New York, but ran short of fuel. After diverting to dock at Halifax, the ship literally ran out of steam, subsequently ran aground and broke up. Five hundred and forty-six people were killed.

After being rammed, the Republic stayed afloat for almost 40 hours before sinking. Three passengers from the Republic and 2 crew from the Florida were killed.

Was Captain Smith the captain of the Republic? No, the captain of the Republic was Captain Sealby.

How big was the Titanic? The Titanic had an overall length of 882' 9", with a length at the waterline of 850 feet. The beam (width) was 92'6". Its displacement was 60,000 tons with a dead weight of 48,000 tons. By comparison, the HMS Hood was 860 feet long, the USS Missouri is 888 feet long, the Queen Mary is 1,019 feet long and the Queen Elizabeth was 1,031 feet long.

Was the Titanic the first Ocean-liner liner to hit an iceberg? No. In 1879 the Guion line Arizona rammed an iceberg while travelling at 15 knots. The ship didn't sink, although 25 feet of the bow were compressed.

How big was the Iceberg? Hard to say. Observations of witnesses suggest it was100 to 120 feet high. Assuming the 'berg was roughly a cone shape with a diameter at the waterline of 100 feet, this would indicate the iceberg had a mass of between 20,000 and 25,000 tons.

How far away was the iceberg when spotted by the lookouts? There was roughly 40 seconds between sighting of the iceberg and impact. Assuming the ship was travelling at 21 knots, this would indicate that the iceberg was between 400 and 500 yards off the Titanic's bow when it was spotted.

How many engines did the Titanic have? The Titanic had two reciprocating engines, one each on the port and starboard and a centre turbine engine. Each reciprocating engine developed 30,000 shaft horsepower (shp) and the turbine developed 16,000 shp. This gave the Titanic a total power of 76,000 shp. 

How fast could the Titanic travel? The Titanic had a designed speed of 21 knots with a flank, or emergency speed, of 23.5 knots.

Was the Titanic attempting to set a speed record on its maiden voyage? Not likely. In 1912, the holder of the Blue Riband, symbolic of the fastest ship to cross between New York and Plymouth, was the Cunard Line's Mauretania. The Mauretania was powered by four turbines, giving it an average speed of 26 knots. There was no way that the Titanic could challenge this record.

Why was the Titanic called the RMS Titanic? The prefix RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship. Ships carrying this designation were authorized to carry the Royal Mail. The Royal Mail is the normal name for mail originating in the United Kingdom. Most of the Cunard and White Star ships were designated RMS.

What was the hymn that was sung at the first class church service on the morning of April 14, 1912? The hymn most associated with the first class church service on April 14, 1912 is normally titled Eternal Father, Strong to Save. It is often called For those in peril on the sea, which is the last phrase of the first three stanzas. The hymn is number 567 in the current Anglican book of Common Praise. A MIDI file of the hymn and the music is available on-line.

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