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The sinking of the Titanic may have happened over 113 years ago, but the curiosity surrounding the disaster remains at its peak. Numerous documentaries and a box-office smash hit have since come out, shedding light on what happened on that fateful and bitterly cold night.
However, many details have likely gone under your radar, and these photos may just prove that. They are rare, never-before-seen images of the ill-fated ship, some of the people involved, and remnants of the event that changed maritime travel forever.
From the menus on the night it sank to the faces of the legendary band members who played for the passengers until the very end, these pictures may mesmerize you and make you want to know more.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The Legendary Band Members That Played To The Passengers As The Ship Sunk
Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago
For those who don't get the "Birkenhead" reference (for a ship named after the English town): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Birkenhead_(1845)#Birkenhead_drill
RELATED:
#2
Survivors Can Be Seen Wearing Borrowed Clothing
Rescued from the icy North Atlantic, these dazed Titanic survivors are shown on the deck of the RMS Carpathia. Many had fled the sinking ship in nothing but their nightclothes and were suffering from severe shock and exposure. In this image, they huddle together in warm, heavy coats and blankets given to them by the Carpathia's own passengers, a scene of charity and relief in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
This was taken on the Carpathia, the rescue ship, after the majority of the lifeboats had been picked up.
#3
The Final Shot Taken From Land Of The Titanic Leaving Ireland
The fascination with the Titanic recently turned into a fatal obsession with the implosion of the Titan submersible in 2023. What was supposedly an expedition for wealthy tourists that cost $250,000 per head turned into a world-infamous tragedy that claimed the lives of five people.
However, for those who made the journey and lived to tell the tale, such as 2022 Titan passenger Fred Hagen, it was a breathtaking experience, to say the least.
#5
Lifeboats Roawing Towards Carpathia
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
The one on the right was Harold Lowe's, he was actually tacking to the surviving passengers still in the water.
#6
The Day The Ship Sank, First Class Passengers Were Served This Menu
“Gliding over the Titanic, descending to the grand staircase, and seeing a crystal chandelier still hanging is a thing of immense beauty and tragedy,” Hagen told PEOPLE in a 2024 interview.
Hagen went on to describe his excursion as “life-altering,” while also recognizing that “nobody in their right mind” would dare go three miles deep into the ocean without realizing the imminent dangers, including the potentially lethal consequences.
#7
The First-Class Salon Was Quite Opulent
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
This is not the First Class Salon, it is one of the two private promenade suites.
#8
Purser Hugh Walter Mcelroy And Captain Edward J. Smith
In one of the last known photographs taken aboard the Titanic, Captain Edward J. Smith stands on the deck beside Chief Purser Hugh McElroy. The image offers a candid glimpse of the ship's leadership during the seemingly uneventful start of its maiden voyage. The man who snapped this picture, Father Francis Browne, disembarked in Queenstown, Ireland, unknowingly preserving a final, haunting moment before the ship and both men in the photo were lost to the sea.
#9
The Smoking Room Aboard The Titanic
Right before its maiden voyage in April 1912, the Titanic built itself a reputation as a mighty, unsinkable vessel. So when it suffered the fate that it did, its myth only grew larger.
“There is a lot of time for drama and heroism to be acted out,” Titanic Historical Society historian Don Lynch told Reader’s Digest in 2024. “If it were written as fiction, no one would believe it could have actually happened.”
#10
The Men Who Built The Titanic Leave The Shipyard After Their Shift
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
In the background you can just barely see the Titanic in the gantry.
#11
Second Class Passengers' Menu The Day The Ship Sank
Cheryl Ramsay 2 months ago
This 2nd class menu is a LOT more appealing than that of the 1st class menu.
#12
The Titanic Even Featured A Gym
Jrog 2 months ago (edited)
Titanic was the second ship to feature such a facility, after the RMS Adriatic. Titanic's gym had "electric horses, rowing machines, cycle machines, and a punching bag". You can see the "horse simulator" in the background. It was supervised by a gymnast, Thomas McCauley, who acted as instructor.
There is also the longstanding debate of how and why the massive vessel collided with the iceberg. The ongoing discussion is another possible explanation as to why it remains a hot topic among history buffs.
One known theory, according to Time Magazine, is that a crew member may have “turned the ship the wrong way.” This ill-advised decision led the Titanic to enter the path of the iceberg and subsequently collide with it.
#14
The Titanic Had The Largest Anchor In The World. These Metal Workers Are Dwarfed By The Chain Links At Hingly And Sons
Charl Marx 2 months ago
Made in Netherton in the West Midlands, it was apparently an ordeal to transport it and took over 20 horses carefully being navigated through narrow streets. My great, great uncle worked at the same factory a few years after the anchor was made.
#15
Three Huge Propellers Can Be Seen Below The Ship
Before the Titanic ever touched the water, this incredible photograph captured the sheer scale of its engineering. Three massive bronze propellers dwarf the shipyard workers standing beneath them. These same propellers now lie buried in the mud on the ocean floor, unseen since the vessel's tragic maiden voyage.
The Titanic disaster has even captivated young children. In an April interview with The New York Times, ten-year-old Matheson Multop, a Spring, Texas, resident, admitted to being fascinated by the disaster when he was five years old after reading the book I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912.
“I really like whenever it just cracked open in half and then sank and then just fell apart into the Atlantic Ocean,” he said.
#16
2 Of The 5 Tugboats Guiding The Titanic Into The Waters Of Belfast
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
This isn't her maiden voyage, first she's headed out for her (ridiculously inadequate) sea trials.
#17
Mr. & Mrs. George A. Harder Were On Their Honeymoon On The Titanic's Maiden Voyage
Captured on the deck of the rescue ship Carpathia, this rare photograph shows a handful of Titanic's fortunate survivors. The young couple facing the camera are Brooklyn honeymooners Mr. and Mrs. George A. Harder, who both managed to escape the sinking liner. The woman with her back turned, Mrs. Charles M. Hayes, was not so lucky; she survived, but her husband, the president of the Grand Trunk Railway, went down with the ship.
#18
Deck F Of The Titanic Had A Swimming Pool
As clinical psychologist Dr. Debbie Sorensen explains, children share the same morbid curiosity as adults. And monumental events like the Titanic disaster allow kids to grapple with eye-opening concepts such as mortality.
“Picturing those people who died, picturing the ship cracking and falling down to the bottom of the ocean, it taps into a sense of awe,” Dr. Sorensen told the publication.
#19
The Odell Family Took This Picture, Which Survived Because They Left The Ship In Cobh
#20
A View From A Lifeboat Hanging Beside The Ship
Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago
"View From The 'Carpathia' Of A Lifeboat From The 'Titanic' Brought Alongside 15 April 1912" - the RMS Titanic sunk in the dead of night. This is a photo of some of the survivors.
#21
This Iceberg Was Photographed 2 Days Before Sinking The Titanic
Jrog 2 months ago
"Blueberg taken by Captain Wood SS Etonian on 12/4/12 in Lat 41 50 N Long 49 50 W"". It is unconfirmed if this is the actual Titanic Killer or not. It is resemblant of some descriptions by survivors, and it was in the general area about 50 hours before the accident. There is also a photo taken a few days later by the chief steward of the ocean liner Prinz Adalbert, showing a different iceberg with what look like red paint streaks from the collision. The steward took photos without knowing what happened to the Titanic, but found the red marks suspicious.
#22
One Of The Surviving Deck Chairs On Display In A Museum
#23
The Smoking Room For 2nd Class Passengers
#24
An Impressive View Of The Titanic At The Outfitting Dock
#25
The Opulent Dining Room For First Class Passengers
Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago
I can't help laughing. Another photo of what looks like exactly the same space in this list has the description "The Titanic's Main Dining Room Was Large And Basic".
#26
Cafe Verandh Was Located Ont He Starboard Side Of The Ship
#27
Titanic Suite B-57 Shows Decorations In The Holland Style
#28
Among The Shipwreck Debris A Ladies Shoe Was Found
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
There are a huge number of shoe pairs found, and each shows where a body rested. The bodies were consumed by all kinds of things, but none of them liked the taste of cured leather.
#29
The Explorer's Club, Who Discovered The Wreck, Installed A Commemorative Plaque On The Ship's Capstan
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
There are dozens now. Most have fallen off as the poop has collapsed.
#30
The Actual Violin The Band's Lead Played As The Ship Sunk
#32
Albert Caldwell, Sylvia And Their Son Alden
Here, American missionaries Albert and Sylvia Caldwell are seen on the Titanic's second-class deck with their infant son, Alden. The family was returning to the United States from Siam when the ship went down.
#33
Deck A Was Reserved For First Class Passengers
#34
First-Class Passenger Molly Brown Made A Property-Loss Claim After The Ship Sunk
Peeka_Mimi 2 months ago (edited)
Her name was Margaret Brown and she hated being called Molly. Her house is just a few miles from mine.
#35
The Titanic's Main Dining Room Was Large And Basic
#37
The Titanic Being Launched Into The Water For The First Time
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
This is a very rare photo. I've been interested in Titanic 35 years and it's the second time I've seen it.
#38
Officers Alongside Captain Smith In 1912
#39
A Casual Photo Of Passangers Walking On The Titanic's Deck
Lee Gilliland 2 months ago
This is the First-Class promenade, and there was a second, enclosed one directly below. Second Class was down again and also in the back, and the Third-class promenade was the poop deck.
#40
The Carpathia Was The Rescue Vessel For Many Titanic Survivors
#43
The Ship's Gym Was Only For First Class Passengers
#44
Jack Thayers Description Of The Sinking Of The Titanic
This series of sketches provides a harrowing, firsthand account of the Titanic's final moments, drawn from memory by 17-year-old survivor Jack Thayer. From the initial impact with the iceberg to the ship's violent break-up and final plunge, Thayer's drawings depict the disaster's terrifying progression. His unique perspective, having jumped from the sinking ship, offers a rare and dramatic visual timeline of the two hours and forty minutes it took for the "unsinkable" liner to disappear beneath the waves.
Multa Nocte (she/tiger quoll) 2 months ago
No, it was really Jack Dawson. We ALL saw the movie. ;-)
#45
The Engine Nearing Completion In The Workshop
#46
The Grand Staircase Was Very Grand Indeed
#47
The Portside Promenade A Of The Ship
#48
The Massive Hydraulic Launch Rams Below The Port Bow Of The Titanic
#49
The Wing Propeller Seen On The Starboard Side Of The Titanic's Shipwreck
Multa Nocte (she/tiger quoll) 2 months ago
OK, THIS photo makes more sense than when it was previously accused of being stacks of dishes.
#51
A Photo Of The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic, Taken From Onboard The Carpathia
Photographed from the deck of the rescue ship Carpathia, this is believed to be the very iceberg that sank the Titanic. Survivors on board the Carpathia reportedly identified this specific iceberg by the visible gash of red paint scraped along its base.
Jrog 2 months ago (edited)
There are four existing photos of the four different icebergs that possibly sunk the Titanic: Prinz Adalbert's, Etonian's, Carpathia's and Bremen's. The Bremen's is the most unlikely, having been taken several days later, but the shape matches the witness accounts. Prinz Adalbert's show paint streaks, and it would be in the correct location. The Etonian's is close match for location and shape. The Carpathia's is typically considered unlikely, if not an hoax. The very photo's origin is dubious, the photo appears to be from months before the accident, and only later labeled with the accident's date at a later time. By the time the Carpathia arrived, multiple other icebergs had drifted in proximity, and the Titanic's inertia had separated the ship and the iceberg away. The shape do not match the survivor's description
#52
Workers Are Seen Fitting The Starboard Tail Shaft
#53
Dishes Perfectly Lined Up Upon Discovery Of The Shipwreck In 1985
Forrest Hobbs 2 months ago
The photo's wrong. I followed the link to: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/presentation-of-objects-exhumed-of-titanic-france-on-news-photo/108387995
#54
The Bow View Of The Titanic During Its Build
#56
Bernice Palmer's Kodak Brownie Camera That Took Some Of The Most Important Photos Of The Survivors And The Iceberg
This simple Kodak Brownie camera, a gift to a 17-year-old Canadian girl named Bernice Palmer, ended up capturing history. While on a cruise aboard the RMS Carpathia in April 1912, Palmer used her new camera to document the dramatic rescue of Titanic survivors. Unknowingly, she took some of the only known photographs of the iceberg that sank the ship and the exhausted survivors on the rescue vessel, turning her vacation snapshots into an invaluable historical record of the disaster.
Jrog 2 months ago (edited)
This is strongly disputed and there is no proof the photo of the iceberg was taken by Bernice Palmer. The photo is sometimes credited to Lawrence Stoudenmire, another of Carpathia passengers, and the date of the photo is unconfirmed, with strong signs of being added posthumously. The iceberg shown in the photo is just one of many that drifted into the area, and the claim of a "deep gash" are just shadows on a naturally occurring crevasse.
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