TITANIC          WEIRD ODDBALL FACTS

There are a lot of weird, oddball facts surrounding the Titanic that don't really mean anything, but they're kind of interesting. Here are a couple. If you have any you would like to add, please feel free to e-mail me with them, and I will include them. AUTHOR

The Titanic didn't have her name on her forward hull. At right is the famous picture of the Titanic in her dock at Harland and Wolf. The "Titanic" on her side has been painted into the photo by someone for some reason. Why? We can only guess. I scanned this photo into my computer at high resolution and blew it up to examine the lettering more closely. There is a man standing on the deck near the lettering. I put a red arrow pointing to him since the image you're looking at is a lot lower resolution. Assuming that the man is not a midget, and at least 5 feet tall, I would estimate that the lettering (if really on the hull) would be at least 4 feet tall.

If this lettering is 4 feet high, how drunk were the painters?

Here's the lettering up close. Obviously it has been hand painted onto the photo. See how irregular it is? Out of square, spacing way off, crooked lines? The three worst problems, A. The "T" (smeared). B.The very crooked "N". C. Large gap between letters, and the leaning "C". Obviously doctored.

ABOUT THE COAL FIRE
Yes, there was a fire in one of the coal bunkers.
There had been a fire burning in one of the coal bunkers since before Titanic departed, but it was well under control, and only considered a minor annoyance by the crew. All coal burning ships (and that's pretty much all ships at the time)  had this problem at one time or another. Not a factor.

THE DUMMY FUNNEL
The Titanic's fourth funnel, the one furthest back, was fake. Why? Aesthetics. It made the ship look bigger, and among the many immigrants (many who could'nt read company literature or timetables), it was a common belief that the more funnels a ship had, the faster it was. In their rush to reach America, this could be a deciding factor on what ship they bought tickets for.  

ABOUT THE "BRITTLE STEEL" PLATES
From what I've read, Harland and Wolf, the ships maker, was well known for their quality control and rigorous testing procedures, and no stranger to steel plates.
In fact, you could almost call them downright anal. I've read that some of the ships steel had been found to be a bit brittle, but I'm not convinced that this was a factor in her sinking.

THE SHIPS CHRISTENING
I've heard, but have been unable to confirm, that the Titanic was never christened. (The ceremony where the ship is blessed and a bottle of champagne is broken against her hull, long believed by seamen to bring good luck to the ship and her crew.)

ABOUT THE AUTOMOBILE IN THE HOLD
Yes, there was a car in the cargo hold.   And you're point is?
We're talking about a 46,000 ton ship here folks. One car making some sort of a difference as far as overstressing the load bearing support structure of the hull?
Not a factor.
Maybe all the really fat people on the ship all went to the 1st class gym at the same time to sweat to the oldies and overstressed the bulkhead between boiler rooms 5 and 6. This could also have caused a tremendous suction as the ship bobbed up and down in tune to the music. A suction that drew an otherwise harmless iceberg towards the ship and smashed it into the already weakened hull.
Ok, maybe that's a bit much.
But after thinking about that, I'm never riding Carnival Cruise Lines again.

Once again, if you would like to add anything not mentioned on this page, feel free to e-mail me. Please indicate if you would like me to include your name.
AUTHOR