15 Raw Facts Everyone Forgot About The Sinking Of The Titanic

Life

3. The Ship’s Baker Survived The Freezing Atlantic Water Because He Drank So Much

When the Titanic finally sank into the North Atlantic ocean at 2:20 am, it left more than a thousand people stranded and floating in waters that had a temperature of 28 degrees Fahrenheit (just below freezing). If people weren’t lucky enough to be rescued quickly–or find a wooden door to float on–they would have died of hypothermia within 15 to 20 minutes. Luckily, for the head baker on the RMS Titanic, the icy Atlantic waters weren’t a problem for his body because he was completely hammered at the time.

The 33-year-old Englishman and chief baker on the ship, Charles Joughin, had consumed so much booze on the night the ship sank that he remarkably survived in the water until dawn when a passing lifeboat rescued him. As well as warming his blood, the sheer amount that Charles had drunk that night also gave him the courage to swim for his life while countless others drowned or succumbed to the cold around him. Wow!

2. The Wreckage Wasn’t Discovered For 73 Years

In the decades following on from the aftermath of the Titanic tragedy, the memory of that fateful night was kept alive in part by many film and TV adaptations—most notably, the 1958 film A Night To Remember. By the 1960’s, though, Titanic mania seemed to die down again for a couple of decades. That is until 1985 when the actual wreckage of the ship was discovered for the first time—nearly three quarters of a century after it sank.

The remains of the historical and iconic ship were found about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and to say that it sparked a new obsession with the ill-fated ship was an understatement. For the first time, people were able to witness the ship’s interior and thousands of artifacts (which had preserved remarkably well). As we now know, the most excited Titanic geek of all, director James Cameron, was not only inspired to retell the story, but he also made 12 deep-sea dive missions to the wreck–3,800 meters below sea level–before production began.

1. People Were Playing With Fragments Of Ice On The Deck

When the Titanic hit the iceberg shortly before midnight on April 14th, 1912, the lives of everyone on board would be changed forever. But, before panic ensued, the actual collision was barely noticed by the passengers. Fans of the 1997 film may remember the scene when First and Second class passengers were remarking that were woken by a “slight shudder” as the iceberg tore into the side of the ship. This was pretty accurate. Most people felt only a slight vibration.

Passengers on the promenade deck at the time of the collision were so casual about the whole thing, in fact, that some of them began playing with the blocks of ice that had broken off and landed on deck. So, the scene where you see children kicking bits of ice and chucking it to one another really happened. It’s disturbing to think that they had no idea about the damage it had actually caused at the time.