All aboard for a Titanic trivia voyage through grand staircases, wireless messages, iceberg warnings, rescue efforts, and a shipwreck that still commands attention.
These questions separate documented history from movie magic while honoring the real people behind the world's most famous ocean-liner disaster.
Building the Ship of Dreams
Q: Which shipping company owned Titanic?
A: White Star Line.
Q: Which Belfast shipyard built Titanic?
A: Harland and Wolff.
Q: In which present-day country was Titanic built?
A: Northern Ireland.
Q: What class of ocean liner did Titanic belong to?
A: The Olympic class.
Q: What was Titanic's older sister ship?
A: Olympic.
Q: What third Olympic-class ship was later used as a hospital ship?
A: Britannic.
Q: Who was the principal designer most closely associated with Titanic?
A: Thomas Andrews.
Q: On what date was Titanic launched?
A: May 31, 1911.
Q: About how long was Titanic from bow to stern?
A: 882 feet 9 inches.
Q: How many funnels did Titanic have?
A: Four.
Q: How many of Titanic's funnels carried boiler exhaust?
A: Three.
Q: What purpose did the fourth funnel serve besides completing the ship's profile?
A: It ventilated spaces below.
Q: What did the prefix RMS stand for in RMS Titanic?
A: Royal Mail Ship.
Q: How many propellers drove Titanic?
A: Three.
Q: What system divided the lower hull into separate sections?
A: Watertight compartments.
The Maiden Voyage
Q: From which English port did Titanic begin its maiden voyage?
A: Southampton.
Q: On what date did Titanic leave Southampton?
A: April 10, 1912.
Q: Which French port was Titanic's first stop?
A: Cherbourg.
Q: At which Irish port did Titanic make its final stop before crossing the Atlantic?
A: Queenstown.
Q: What is Queenstown called today?
A: Cobh.
Q: What was Titanic's intended destination?
A: New York City.
Q: Who captained Titanic?
A: Edward Smith.
Q: Which White Star Line chairman traveled aboard Titanic?
A: J. Bruce Ismay.
Q: Which shipbuilder sailed as head of Harland and Wolff's guarantee group?
A: Thomas Andrews.
Q: What were the three main passenger classes aboard Titanic?
A: First, second, and third class.
Q: What luxury feature allowed first-class passengers to swim indoors?
A: A heated swimming pool.
Q: What dramatic interior connected multiple first-class decks?
A: The Grand Staircase.
Q: Which first-class dining venue let passengers eat outside the main saloon for an extra charge?
A: The À la Carte Restaurant.
Q: What kind of cargo gave Titanic the right to carry RMS before its name?
A: Royal Mail.
Q: Which ocean was Titanic attempting to cross?
A: The North Atlantic.
Wireless Messages and Ice Warnings
Q: What technology allowed Titanic to send messages without cables?
A: Marconi wireless telegraphy.
Q: Who was Titanic's senior wireless operator?
A: Jack Phillips.
Q: Who was Titanic's junior wireless operator?
A: Harold Bride.
Q: What was Titanic's wireless call sign?
A: MGY.
Q: Which two distress signals did Titanic's operators transmit?
A: CQD and SOS.
Q: Was Titanic the first ship ever to use SOS?
A: No.
Q: Why had the wireless operators accumulated a backlog of passenger messages?
A: Their equipment had broken down and needed repair.
Q: Which ship sent a late warning that it was stopped by surrounding ice?
A: Californian.
Q: Why did Californian not receive Titanic's distress calls during the sinking?
A: Its wireless operator had gone off duty.
Q: Which ship received Titanic's distress call and raced to help?
A: Carpathia.
Q: Who commanded Carpathia?
A: Arthur Rostron.
Q: What did Captain Rostron order prepared for Titanic's survivors?
A: Blankets, food, hot drinks, and medical stations.
Q: What visual signals did Titanic fire during the emergency?
A: Distress rockets.
Q: What nearby ship saw rockets but did not reach Titanic before it sank?
A: Californian.
Q: What kind of messages did ships send Titanic throughout April 14?
A: Warnings about ice and icebergs.
The Iceberg and the Sinking
Q: On what date did Titanic strike an iceberg?
A: April 14, 1912.
Q: At about what time did the collision occur?
A: 11:40 p.m. ship's time.
Q: Who spotted the iceberg from the crow's nest?
A: Frederick Fleet.
Q: Who was on lookout duty with Frederick Fleet?
A: Reginald Lee.
Q: What warning did Fleet report to the bridge?
A: “Iceberg, right ahead!”
Q: Which officer was in charge on the bridge when the iceberg was sighted?
A: First Officer William Murdoch.
Q: Which side of Titanic scraped along the iceberg?
A: The starboard side.
Q: Did the iceberg cut one enormous continuous gash in Titanic's hull?
A: No, it opened a series of smaller breaches.
Q: How many forward compartments were opened to the sea?
A: Six.
Q: How many flooded compartments could Titanic survive at most under its design conditions?
A: Four forward compartments.
Q: Why did water continue spilling from one compartment into the next?
A: The watertight bulkheads did not extend high enough.
Q: Which part of the ship dipped lower as flooding progressed?
A: The bow.
Q: Did Titanic break apart before disappearing beneath the surface?
A: Yes.
Q: At about what time did Titanic sink?
A: 2:20 a.m. on April 15.
Q: Roughly how long passed between the collision and the final sinking?
A: About two hours and forty minutes.
Lifeboats and Rescue
Q: How many lifeboats did Titanic carry?
A: Twenty.
Q: About how many people could Titanic's lifeboats hold in total?
A: 1,178.
Q: Did Titanic have lifeboat space for everyone aboard?
A: No.
Q: Why did Titanic technically satisfy British lifeboat regulations?
A: The rules were based on outdated ship tonnage categories.
Q: Which lifeboat was the first lowered from Titanic?
A: Lifeboat 7.
Q: Were some early lifeboats launched below capacity?
A: Yes.
Q: What phrase guided many officers when loading the boats?
A: “Women and children first.”
Q: Which officer took Lifeboat 14 back to search for people in the water?
A: Fifth Officer Harold Lowe.
Q: Which collapsible lifeboat floated away upside down?
A: Collapsible B.
Q: Which officer survived by balancing on overturned Collapsible B?
A: Second Officer Charles Lightoller.
Q: At about what time did Carpathia reach Titanic's lifeboats?
A: Around 4:00 a.m.
Q: Roughly how many people survived the disaster?
A: About 710.
Q: Roughly how many people died?
A: More than 1,500.
Q: On what date did Carpathia arrive in New York with the survivors?
A: April 18, 1912.
Q: At which New York pier did Carpathia first unload Titanic's lifeboats?
A: White Star Line's Pier 59.
Passengers, Crew, and Remarkable Stories
Q: Which American socialite became known as “the Unsinkable Molly Brown”?
A: Margaret Brown.
Q: Which department-store co-owner died with his wife Ida?
A: Isidor Straus.
Q: Why did Ida Straus reportedly refuse to remain in a lifeboat?
A: She would not leave her husband.
Q: Which wealthy American businessman was the husband of Madeleine Astor?
A: John Jacob Astor IV.
Q: Which mining heir reportedly dressed formally and prepared to face death?
A: Benjamin Guggenheim.
Q: Which Catholic priest heard confessions and prayed with passengers?
A: Father Thomas Byles.
Q: Who led Titanic's eight-member band?
A: Wallace Hartley.
Q: Is the band's final song known with certainty?
A: No.
Q: Which song is traditionally associated with the band's final performance?
A: “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”
Q: Which chief baker survived after spending a long time in the freezing water?
A: Charles Joughin.
Q: Which Japanese passenger survived and later faced criticism in Japan?
A: Masabumi Hosono.
Q: Which seven-year-old survivor later became a prominent eyewitness to the disaster?
A: Eva Hart.
Q: Who was the youngest Titanic survivor?
A: Millvina Dean.
Q: Which two French brothers became known as the “Titanic Orphans”?
A: Michel and Edmond Navratil.
Q: Which first-class passenger survived with her Pekingese dog, Sun Yat-Sen?
A: Myra Harper.
Investigations and Safer Seas
Q: Which country opened the first official inquiry into the disaster?
A: The United States.
Q: Which senator chaired the U.S. inquiry?
A: William Alden Smith.
Q: Who led the British Wreck Commission inquiry?
A: Lord Mersey.
Q: What international safety treaty was first adopted in 1914 after the disaster?
A: SOLAS.
Q: What does SOLAS stand for?
A: Safety of Life at Sea.
Q: What North Atlantic service was created to monitor dangerous ice?
A: The International Ice Patrol.
Q: Which branch of the U.S. military operates the International Ice Patrol today?
A: The U.S. Coast Guard.
Q: What lifeboat rule became standard after Titanic?
A: Ships needed space for everyone aboard.
Q: What radio-watch practice became a major safety requirement?
A: Continuous wireless monitoring.
Q: What emergency preparation became more rigorously required for passengers and crews?
A: Lifeboat drills.
Q: What design issue allowed water to spill over the tops of Titanic's bulkheads?
A: They did not rise high enough through the ship.
Q: Which Cunard liner held the prestigious Blue Riband speed record when Titanic sailed?
A: Mauretania.
Q: What did both inquiries criticize about Titanic's speed?
A: It was too high for known ice conditions.
Q: Which nearby ship's response became a major focus of both inquiries?
A: Californian.
Q: Which United Nations agency administers the modern SOLAS convention?
A: The International Maritime Organization.
The Wreck, Museums, and Movie Magic
Q: In what year was Titanic's wreck located?
A: 1985.
Q: Which American oceanographer co-led the expedition that found the wreck?
A: Robert Ballard.
Q: Which French oceanographer co-led the search?
A: Jean-Louis Michel.
Q: Which two institutions partnered in the successful search?
A: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and IFREMER.
Q: About how deep is the Titanic wreck?
A: About 12,500 feet.
Q: Near which Canadian island does the wreck lie?
A: Newfoundland.
Q: Are Titanic's bow and stern lying together as one piece?
A: No, they are separated.
Q: What icicle-like formations on the wreck are created by microbes consuming iron?
A: Rusticles.
Q: What 1955 book by Walter Lord became a classic account of the disaster?
A: A Night to Remember.
Q: In what year was the acclaimed British film A Night to Remember released?
A: 1958.
Q: Who directed the blockbuster film Titanic released in 1997?
A: James Cameron.
Q: Which actors played the fictional Jack and Rose?
A: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Q: Which singer performed “My Heart Will Go On”?
A: Celine Dion.
Q: How many Academy Awards did the 1997 film win?
A: Eleven.
Q: Were Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater real Titanic passengers?
A: No, they were fictional characters.
Your Voyage Is Safely Back in Port
If you navigated all 120 without hitting an iceberg of a question, consider your trivia credentials first class. Keep traveling through history with our famous people trivia and decades trivia.
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