First Class Passengers

The Titanic: Facts About the "Unsinkable" Ship

By Douglas Main

Researcher Daniela Monge

Citation

Main, Douglas. “The Titanic: Facts About the 'Unsinkable' Ship.” LiveScience, Purch, 10 July 2013, www.livescience.com/38102-titanic-facts.html.

Abstract

Some people think that all the first class passengers on the titanic were horrible and only cared for themselves. This wasn’t however true in all cases. Only a fraction of the people survived the titanic and most were first class. They did have an advantage but some went back to look for survivors. One of these people was Molly Brown. She saved others and survived herself. Some didn’t take it seriously and then couldn’t get on the lifeboat. One of these people was John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthiest man in the world at the time. As you can see not all of the first class passengers were rude and only cared for themselves, but not nearly enough were like Molly Brown so many people perished from the other classes. The attitude of the first class passengers made the whole evacuation process slower.

Notable Quotations

“Of the 2,224 people on board, 1,514 lost their lives, while 710 survived. First-class passengers fared much better than those in third class. For example, only 3 percent of first-class women died, whereas 54 percent of third class women perished." (The Titanic: Facts)

Some of the Titanic's passengers were prominent people, including John Jacob Astor IV, one of the wealthiest men in the world at that time. So were Ida and Isidor Straus, who was the co-owner of Macy's department store. And of course, there was "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, a socialite who became famous when she exhorted her lifeboat to return to look for survivors, and ultimately survived the ordeal herself. (The Titanic: Facts)

Astor didn't survive, as he didn't take seriously the reports that the ship was sinking, and later wasn't allowed onto a lifeboat due to a "women and children first" policy. (His pregnant wife did survive, however.) Ida Straus initially boarded a lifeboat but returned to her husband. "Where you go, I go," she reportedly said. The couple would die together. (He was 67, she was 63.)” (The Titanic: Facts)

Did The Third Class Passengers on the Titanic Have a Fair Chance?

By David Aaronovitch

Researcher Daniela Monge

Citation

Aaronovitch, David. “Did the Third Class Passengers on the Titanic Have a Fair Chance?” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 10 Apr. 1998, www.independent.co.uk/voices/did-the-third-class-passengers-on-the-titanic-have-a-fair-chance-1155678.html.

Abstract

The first class passengers seemed to have an advantage to survive the doom of the Titanic. They were the crew’s priority and therefore most were able to escape. Others were not so lucky. The percentage of the amount of first class survivors greatly outweighs that of the third class survivors. Researchers say that they were helped after the first class passengers and the first class passengers did nothing. They just let themselves be saved. Even though more women and children survived, the majority of the men and women and children that survived were first class passengers. The first class passengers had no intention of helping the third class survive. Their attitude was negative towards the third class passengers. They may have had no respect for them. Some say that the third class people were locked in to make sure that the rich survived, some say that this isn’t true. Some think that they both had a fair chance. This left hundreds of people on the Titanic making the ship heavier, making the ship sink faster.

Notable quotations

“As the Telegraph admits, in first class over a third of the men, almost all of the women and all the children survived. In second it was less than 10 percent of the men, 84 per cent of the women and all the children. But in steerage 12 per cent of the men, 55 per cent of the women and less than one in three of the children survived. Interrogating the figures shows that - despite the strict "women and children first" policy - a greater proportion of first class men survived, than of third class children." (Did the Third)

Strangely, the documents quoted by the Telegraph contain observations by another steerage passenger called Buckley, arguing that "the passengers in third class had as much chance as the first and second class passengers". But how can this circle be squared? How, if they had just as much chance, did so many more of them contrive to be drowned? Simple, says the Telegraph. "More of the first class passengers survived because their cabins were closer to the lifeboats [just as much chance?] and many of the immigrants in third class died because their poor English meant they did not understand what was happening.” (Did the Third)

First Class Life on the Titanic

From A Look Thru Time

Researcher Hailey Rodriguez

Citation

“First Class Life on the Titanic.” ALookThruTime, 10 Apr. 2012, https://alookthrutime.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/first-class-life-on-the-titanic/

Abstract

The 1st class passengers were the wealthiest out of the three rankings in the Titanic. And because of their wealth they had more opportunities and were living a more luxurious life then anyone else in the ship. They had restaurants, suites, and even gardens on the first class deck. The attitudes of the first class was always happy because they had a lot of luxuries and were living the life. On the other hand, the second and third class but mostly the 3rd class weren’t too happy because they didn’t have all the fancy things that the others had. Since, the first class had better service and were closer to the main deck more of them survived than the other 2 classes. 201 out of 324 first class passengers made it out of the sinking titanic ,while the second class had 118 survivors out of 277 and the third class had 181 survivors out of 708.

Notable Quotations

“The first class passengers on the Titanic were living in the lap of luxury. Some of the richest people in the world were traveling on the Titanic for her maiden voyage.” (Matthews 1)

“The more expensive rooms were a parlor suite and usually had a private promenade deck.”(1)

“Everyone is familiar with the breathtaking Grand Staircase with the glass dome over it, but the Titanic had many other amenities, including electricity and the wireless Marconi system. Other amenities found on the First Class deck included a Parisian Café, A La Carte Restaurant, tea gardens, reception room, verandah café, heated swimming pool, gymnasium, library, squash court, barbershop, kennel, elevators, smoking room, Turkish bath, dining saloon, reading and writing rooms, and enclosed promenade decks to walk and sit on.” (Matthews 1)

Inside RMS Titanic

Researcher Hailey Rodriguez

Citation

Inside RMS Titanic - Interior and

Accommodation,

http://titanicandco.com/inside.html

Abstract

First class on the Titanic were the wealthiest of the wealthy. They were living the luxurious life on the ship with a whole bunch of wonderful goodies. Including a turkish bath, a restaurant, cafe and so much more. First class had a lot more opportunities than the second and third class because of all the money they had which bought them all their delicious meals and suites with as much privacy as they could as for. They were very happy and living the life. On the other hand, the third class weren’t to happy because they didn’t have all the privileges that the first class did and they would just see how much fun and the big smiles and grins on their faces. And that would make them feel sad because they weren’t able to do all that the others were doing.

NoTABLE QUOTATIONS

“The first class also enjoyed several Turkish and electric baths, which although technically saunas, were decorated in an Arabian style. The portholes were covered with a carved Cairo curtain so that when light shone through an Orient look was given to the room.” (1)

“The first class public rooms included a dining saloon, reception room, restaurant, lounge, reading and writing room, smoking room and the veranda cafes and palm courts.” (1)

“The size of the rooms compared to the first and second class reflected the class attitudes of the age. The first class Turkish Bath was larger than the third class galley. A thousand passengers would rely on the galley but only a handful would have used the Turkish Bath.”(1)

“The designers wanted to change the attitudes towards third class travel. The third class cabins were not dormatory like rooms but individual closed cabins, thus adding privacy to the passengers, but they would still have shared their experience with strangers.”(1)

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