TITANIC TRIVIA

The St. Petersburg Times' contribution to Titanic trivia is a misspelling of the ship's name (Titantic) on its front-page headline on Tuesday, April 16, 1912.

The giant ship with the enduring story is often just as fascinating in its tiny details. The following is a collection of some well-known, and some lesser-known, Titanic facts.

Cost to build the Titanic: $7.5-million

Cost to make Titanic, the movie (1997): $200-million-plus

Price of single first-class passage: $4,700

Price of single first-class passage in today's dollars: $50,000

Unsuccessful expeditions by Texas oilman Jack Grimm to find sunken Titanic: 3 (in 1980, 1981 and 1983)

Unsuccessful expeditions by Grimm to find Noah's Ark, the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot: 3

Passenger Stuart Collet's damage claim for handwritten college-lecture notes: $50

Charlotte Cardeza's damage claim for lost luggage: $177,352

Number of Titanic's four smokestacks that were operational: 3 (fourth, nearest stern, was for looks)

Headline in New York Times on morning of April 15, 1912: New Liner Hits An Iceberg; Sinking By The Bow At Midnight; Women Put Off In Life Boats; Last Wireless At 12:27 A.M. Blurred

Headline in New York Evening Sun on afternoon of April 15, 1912: All Saved From Titanic After Collision

Last message sent from Titanic: "We are sinking fast. Passengers being put into boats."

First message written by passenger Arthur Peuchen to family after rescue by Carpathia: "Safe."

Question asked by Sen. W.A. Smith at Titanic inquiry: "What is an iceberg composed of?"

Response given by Fifth Officer Harold Lowe: "Ice, I suppose, sir."

Percentage above survivors' estimates of men in lifeboats: 70

Percentage below survivors' estimates of women in lifeboats: 45

Ice warnings received by Titanic on day of collision: 6

Speed of Carpathia as it entered ice field to reach survivors: 9 knots

Speed of Titanic through same ice field when it struck iceberg: 221/2 knots

Chief Officer Henry Wilde, in a letter to his sister, wrote: "I still don't like this ship. I have a queer feeling about it."

Number of lifeboat seats not used: 472

Number of passengers and crew who died: 1,503

Number of children from first-class who died: 1

Number of children from steerage who died: 49

New luxury for passengers of Titanic: Heated swimming pool

Temperature of Atlantic on night Titanic sank: 31 degrees

Number of dogs that survived: 2

Number of orchestra members who survived: 0

Number of lifeboat seats required by law: 962

Number of lifeboat seats carried aboard: 1,178

Number of lifeboat seats needed: 2,228

Servants accompanying approximately 190 first-class families: 40

Only man who disguised himself as woman to get on lifeboat: Daniel Buckley, who reportedly put a shawl on his head

Only person to survive in frigid Atlantic: chief baker Charles Joughin, who reportedly had been drinking heavily

Titanic officers who went on to their own commands: 0

Sources:

Titanic: An Illustrated History, by Don Lynch with paintings by Ken Marschall, 1992, Madison Press

On Board The Titanic, by Shelley Tanaka with paintings by Ken Marschall, 1996, Hyperion Books for Children

A Night To Remember, by Walter Lord, 1955, Bantam

Last Dinner on the Titanic, by Rick Archbold, 1997, Madison

"The Tragedy of the Titanic," by George Howe Colt, Life magazine, June 1997

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