Top 10 Special Features of the Titanic

The Titanic is probably the most legendary ship in human history, or at least one of them. She’s famous in particular for the extraordinary and tragic sinking, but even before this, she was a famous ship – and you might be wondering what set her apart from the other ships of the time.

Many things made the Titanic unique, but her extraordinary size is undoubtedly the top factor. The Titanic was capable of carrying over 3500 people (passengers and crew), and she was 32 meters high (not counting the stacks), 269 meters long, and 28 meters wide. She had elevators and a gym on board.

In this article, we’re going to check out more about what made the Titanic so unusual and why there was so much interest in and admiration for this ship. Let’s look at the top 10 special features of the Titanic ship.

Top 10 Special Features Of The Titanic Ship

There are plenty of things that set the Titanic apart, but some of the most impressive features include:

1. The Titanic had four elevators and a telephone system
2. The Titanic was about the length of three football fields, and stood about 17 stories high
3. There was electricity in the ship’s passenger rooms
4. It could sail at 27 miles per hour (23 knots)
5. Over 3500 people could be transported on the ship at one time
6. The ship housed a gym, squash courts, Turkish baths, and more
7. It needed between 600 and 800 tons of coal per day
8. The Titanic had her own newspaper on board
9. The ship carried mail as well as passengers
10. Over 14,000 gallons of water per day were needed

Feature 1: Elevators And Telephones

The Titanic was unique in the fact that she carried a functional telephone system, which could be used to communicate between multiple rooms. The user simply had to lift the handset and ask for a room, and the switchboard would connect the cable manually to the appropriate socket.

It could handle 50 lines, many of which connected to service rooms. The telephone was in a room near the First Class elevators on the C-Deck, and passengers could call various services.

This included many of the stewards, the captain, the chief engineer, a restaurant pantry, the smoking rooms in first and second class, a baker’s shop, grocery, and butcher’s shop, and surgery for all three classes, among more.

The ship also had four functional elevators, three of which were dedicated to first-class passengers, and the fourth for second-class passengers. There was a lift attendant for each one.

Feature 2: Length And Height

The Titanic’s extraordinary size will always be one of the biggest features that people mention, and at the time of her launch, she was the largest moving manmade object in the world.

Her size led the builders to add the fourth stack; although the Titanic only needed three to function, they felt that four would look better, given the expanse of the ship. The fourth stack was purely decorative and served no purpose.

From the bottom of the ship to the top of her stacks, the Titanic measured around 175 feet. Each of the stacks was around 62 feet tall, and the height from the water to the deck was around 60 feet. Ships since have dwarfed the Titanic, but there’s no doubt that this ship was a phenomenal feat of engineering and design, especially for her time.

Feature 3: Electricity In The Rooms

The Titanic had electricity throughout the ship, generated by the steam-powered engines. She used this for a whole range of tasks, and the first-class rooms had a power outlet as well as the standard light and fan.

The electricity was also used for a wide range of functions onboard, including the powering of the clocks. A master clock controlled all the others, which was important since the ship was crossing time zones.

Even the third-class passengers had electricity and running water available.

Feature 4: Sailing Speed

After her size, the Titanic’s speed is probably one of her most notable features – and one of the ones that led to her demise. The ship was able to sail at 23 knots. This was slower than some of the other ships of the time (such as the Mauretania).

The Titanic was not sold on speed; her goal was comfort. This attracted many wealthy individuals to sail on her. However, she still offered impressive speed, although she generally only sailed at around 21 knots. She was sailing at around 22 knots when she struck the iceberg.

Feature 5: Passenger Capacity

The Titanic could carry over 3500 people (counting both passengers and crew). There were over 900 crew members on the Titanic, making up an enormous team of waitstaff, attendants, engineers, deckhands, and many more.

The ship was carrying around 2240 people when she sank, and more than 1500 people were killed.

Feature 6: Luxuries On Board

Some of the luxuries offered to first-class passengers on the Titanic were extraordinary for the time. The ship had Turkish baths, a gym, multiple smoking rooms (separate for both first-class and second-class passengers), squash courts, and her own heated swimming pool.

There were deck games, a reading and writing room, opportunities to play backgammon and chess, and more. The Titanic also boasted a dining saloon and a restaurant, and the dining room was the largest of any ship. Her panels were carved from oak, sycamore, and mahogany. A live orchestra played in the evenings.

The Titanic’s first-class suites offered walk-in wardrobes, bathrooms, and large bedrooms. They were designed to be as comfortable as possible. There were also two barber shops on board. The Titanic was undoubtedly the most luxurious ship of her time.

Second-class passengers were provided with a piano in the dining that they could play, plus a dedicated smoking room, and good food – though not nearly as luxurious as first-class passengers. Third-class passengers had a more basic journey and only had access to 2 baths in total, but it was still better than the third-class offering on competitors’ ships.

Feature 7: Coal Consumption

To fuel her engines, the Titanic needed between 600 and 800 tons of coal per day. The steam generated by the ship powered her electricity as well as her movement. She used Welsh coal and was carrying 5892 tons when she left.

Feature 8: Daily Newspaper

To keep her passengers up to date with the world, the Titanic produced her own newspaper, which was actually printed on board the ship herself. This newspaper was called the Atlantic Daily Bulletin, and it provided passengers with a menu for the dining room, social gossip, adverts, stock prices, and horse-racing results.

It also offered news so that passengers were aware of the goings on in the world around them during the 7 day voyage.

Feature 9: Mail Carrying

If you’ve ever wondered what the RMS in RMS Titanic stands for, it’s Royal Mail Ship. The fact that the Titanic also carried mail is a little-known fact, but it was an official transportation method of Britain’s postal service, and was carrying mail even on her maiden voyage.

She had a “Sea Post Office” that was manned by five different mail clerks. Three were American and two were British, and the ship was carrying around seven million pieces of mail. None of this mail was ever recovered from the ship’s wreckage, and it has presumably been destroyed by the Atlantic.

Feature 10: Food And Water Requirement

If you haven’t thought about the food and drink requirements for this ship, you might be wondering how they could possibly feed all the passengers and crew for seven days.

It’s believed that when the Titanic left, she was carrying around 40,000 eggs, 1000 loaves of bread, 40 tons of potatoes, 11000 lb of fish, 250 barrels of flour, and 75000 pounds of meat. Estimates do vary, but this should give you some indication of just how much food was on the ship – and that’s not including the luxuries, such as lobster.

The food offering varied enormously between the classes. The first-class lunch menu includes things like “Galantine of Chicken” and “Veal and Ham Pie,” while the second-class menu offers “Grilled Ham and Fried Eggs” and “Soda Scones.” Passengers in third-class got “Sweet Corn” and “Boiled Potatoes.”

It’s worth noting that while the third-class fare was poor, most ships required third-class passengers to provide their own food.

Even with these variations, feeding the ship was undoubtedly an enormous task. There was also dealing with drinking water, and around 14000 gallons were used each day on board. The ship also carried around 1500 bottles of wine, and about 20000 bottles of beer.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed learning about the top 10 special features of the Titanic ship. This ship stood out from all other ships at the time because of these features, and she has remained an amazing example of engineering, luxury, and beauty, even as modern ships have surpassed her. Everything about the Titanic was extraordinary.