ON September 1, 1985 a team led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard and French diving engineer Jean-Louis Michel discovered the world’s most famous ship’s final resting place.
Thirty years later, The Titanic still lies in 13,000 feet of water, and yet the story still fascinates people the world over. Dr Robert Ballard who discovered the ship in 1985 - 73 year's after it's tragic sinking
To mark the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the wreckage, here are 30 Titanic facts…
1. Dr Robert Ballard who discovered the ship in 1985 - 73 year's after it's tragic sinking.
2. Titanic’s design was conceived over a glass of wine. Lord Pirrie andJ. Bruce Ismay decided speed would be balanced with quality of accommodation. It is rumoured that when Pirrie enquired as to the length of the ship, Ismay replied, glass of wine in hand, “build me a stable ship that will not disturb the sediment in these fine wines.”
3. Titanic (271m) was long enough to span three tempestuous Atlantic Ocean wave crests.
4. Due to the size of Titanic was one of three, the shipyard, Harland and Wolff in Belfast had to prepare for two years to be able to build it
5. At the time, Belfast was the fastest growing city in the British Empire, it was the linen and ropework capital, with the largest ship building firm in the world. Evidence of this can still be seen throughout the city today.
6. The ship had three wheels for steering.
- The wreckage of the world's most famous and ill-fated ship
7. Titanic’s funnels were wide enough to drive a train through.
8. Facilities on board included a gym, pool, Turkish bath, a kennel for first class dogs, and a squash court. The first class cabins on Titanic, where the same standard as hotel cabins, second class was as good as first class on other ships.
9. The famous staircase, which was among the most luxurious appointments on the ship, was inspired by the staircase at Belfast City Hall, which is still be visited today.
Officers of the White Star liner 'Olympic' including Lieutenant Murdoch (far left) and Captain John Smith (right) later captain of the Titanic (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)10. Titanic was stocked with literally tons of food and drink – including 40,000 eggs and 15,000 bottles of ale.
11. Titanic was launched in 62 seconds on 31st May 1911. The Olympic, and the tender ships, Nomadic and Traffic left Belfast, drawing over 100,000 spectators and journalists travelling from London and America.
12. Titanic now lies 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, nearly two and a half miles (4000m) below sea level overlooking a small canyon below.
13. There is no light at this great depth and little life can be found.
14. Titanic Belfast is built where the Titanic was designed and launched.
15. The Titanic and SS Nomadic have been re-united again in Belfast.
16. Titanic Belfast is the world’s largest Titanic visitor experience. It has welcomed approximately 2.5 million visitors from over 145 countries.
17. From HRH Queen Elizabeth, Film director James Cameron, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Former United States Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton to Michael Buble have all visited Titanic Belfast.
18. It can hold over 3,547 visitors at any one time, the same number as the capacity of Titanic.
19. The hulls are the same height of Titanic from keel to Boat Deck.
What cabins on The Titanic would have looked like20. 40,000 tons of concrete was used in Titanic Belfast’s foundations, nearly the same as for Titanic.
21. Titanic movie director, James Cameron, has recently redeveloped three galleries It is the World’s Largest Titanic exhibition. Since opening in 2012, Titanic Belfast has welcomed approximately 60,000 American guests.
22. The last letter ever to be written on board the Titanic by Essex-born Esther Hart and her seven-year-old daughter Eva just eight hours before the ship hit an iceberg and sank in April 1912 is on display. It recently sold at auction for a world record sum of £119,000.
23. Titanic Belfast is home to the historic plan, commissioned by the Board of Trade for the British inquiry, was designed and prepared by White Star Line architects. It is the second most expensive Titanic artefact in the world.
24. It’s not only the galleries that tell the story of the Titanic but the surrounding buildings. On the plaza surrounding the Titanic Belfast is one of the largest maps of the Northern Hemisphere at 10,000 m2 and follows the route of the Titanic from Belfast.
25. The wooden benches encircling the building and are spaced in Morse code sequence. Moving clockwise around the plaza they read “DE (this is) MGY MGY MGY (Titanic’s call sign) CQD CQD SOS SOS CQD” – the distress message that Titanic sent after hitting an iceberg.
April 1912: Newspaper boy sells copies of the Evening News telling of the Titanic maritime disaster in London's Cockspur Street. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)26. On the slipways, there is life size plan of Titanic’s Promenade Deck which is inlaid in white stone, where the ship would have been constructed, outlining where the liner’s lifeboats and funnels and benches on board would have been.
27. On April 11 1912, 113 people boarded Titanic at Queenstown near Cork. Only 40 Irish Titanic survivors eventually made it to America.
28. Milton S. Hershey, founder of the North America’s largest chocolate firm, was due to travel on Titanic but was needed home at an earlier date.
29. Canada had a strong role to play in recovering the bodies of those lost in the Titanic. White Star purchased plots in three cemeteries in Halifax, Fairview Lawn, Mount Olivet Catholic and the Baron de Hirsch cemeteries. White Star paid for these burials and a simple granite headstone for each of the 150 bodies that were not claimed by relatives.
30. The crew from Mackey-Bennett were so moved by finding the body of a small boy, No.4, that they carried his coffin to Fairview Lawn Cemetery and paid for his headstone. His grave has become a symbol of all the young lives lost.
For more information visit Titanic Belfast
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