Titanic Remembrance Day
By: Rachel Linden
Titanic Remembrance Day is always celebrated on April 15th. It is dedicated to the
memory of the Titanic and the over 1,500 people who lost their lives on that day in
1912, when the Titanic sank in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Titanic was called “unsinkable” and the “safest ship afloat” by the people who
built and designed the ship. However, on the maiden voyage from England to New
York City the cruise ship hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. It occurred at 11:40
p.m. Two hours later, the ship quickly sank in icy waters.
Interesting facts about the Titanic:
In 1912 the RMS Titanic was the largest man-made moving object on Earth.
A team of 176 men used to shovel 600 tons of coal a day for the ship to use as
fuel.
The ship had its own newspaper called the “Atlantic Daily Bulletin” and had
facilities like a gym, pool, Turkish bath, a kennel for first class dogs, and a
squash court.
They had lifeboat drills that were to take place on board the day the ship hit
the iceberg. However for an unknown reason the Captain of the ship canceled
the drill.
Officers on the ship had only 37 seconds to react after lookouts called out
before the ship hit the iceberg.
According to the rules, only women and children were to be sent into the 20
lifeboats.
Somehow, two dogs made it into the lifeboats and were saved out of nine dogs
that were on the ship.
The last surviving passenger of the Titanic was Millvina Dean who died on
May 31, 2009 at the age of 97. She was only two months old when the ship
sank.
The third class of the ship had only two bathtubs for more than 700
passengers.
The iceberg that hit the ship was said to be around 100 feet tall and came from
a glacier in Greenland.
13 couples were on board the ship to celebrate their honeymoons.
After the Titanic ship’s maiden trip, Captain Smith was planning to retire.
So take time out of the day to remember the Titanic- go to a museum, research
things about the Titanic, or read about it to celebrate National Titanic Remembrance
Day on April 15th.
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