The average lifespan of an iceberg in the North Atlantic typically is two to three years from calving to melting. This means the iceberg that sank the Titanic "likely broke off from Greenland in 1910 or 1911, and was gone forever by the end of 1912 or sometime in 1913."
Did You Know? According to experts the Ilulissat ice shelf on the west coast of Greenland is now believed to be the most likely place from which the Titanic iceberg originated. At it's mouth, the seaward ice wall of Ilulissat is around 6 kilometres wide and rises 80 metres above sea level.
How often do cruise ships hit icebergs? While ships might regularly make contact with ice, it's unusual for it to be an issue.
London: The giant iceberg responsible for sinking the Titanic on its maiden voyage may have originated in southwest Greenland in snow that fell about 100,000 years ago, scientists say.
The wreck of the Titanic sits in two parts at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, slowly decaying nearly 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) below the surface, but it's not alone. A sonar blip detected around 26 years ago has now revealed there's much more to this underwater area than previously thought.
Gallo said remnants of those who died likely disappeared decades ago. Sea creatures would've eaten away flesh because protein is scarce in the deep ocean, and bones dissolve at great ocean depths because of seawater's chemistry, Gallo said. The Titanic sits about 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers) below the surface.
On today's date in 1912, the body of James McGrady, a saloon steward aboard the RMS Titanic, was interred in Halifax, N.S., where he's buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Recovered in the preceding weeks, McGrady's body was the last body recovered from the tragic sinking that took place about two months prior.
As the sun set on April 14, 1912, the temperature lowered to freezing. The sea's surface shone like glass, making it hard to spot icebergs, common to the North Atlantic in spring. Nevertheless, Captain Smith kept the ship at full speed. He believed the crew could react in time if any were sighted.
Canine survivors
Three small dogs, two Pomeranians and a Pekingese, survived the Titanic disaster cradled in their owners' arms as they climbed into lifeboats.
When the Titanic collided with the iceberg, the hull steel and the wrought iron rivets failed because of brittle fracture. A type of catastrophic failure in structural materials, brittle fracture occurs without prior plastic deformation and at extremely high speeds.
“They could easily have avoided the iceberg if it wasn't for the blunder,” Patten told the Daily Telegraph. “Instead of steering Titanic safely round to the left of the iceberg, once it had been spotted dead ahead, the steersman, Robert Hitchins, had panicked and turned it the wrong way.”
Answer: That's wrong – it would probably have survived. When a ship hits an iceberg head on, all the force would be transferred back to the ship, so it wouldn't have ripped open, but crumpled round, so only 2-3 compartments would have been breached. It was built to survive with 4 compartments breached.
Such improvements in the way in which we design, construct and operate ships today coupled with vastly improved training for crew lead to much safer ship passages. Thus we can say with confidence that the likelihood of a tragic incident of the scale of Titanic occurring today is very small."
While the deterioration has slowed, in 2010 proteobacteria were found on rusticles that had been recovered from the wreckage. Recent estimates predict that by the year 2030 the ship may be completely eroded. Since the ship's 1985 discovery, the 100-foot forward mast has collapsed.
50-100 feet – the approximate height above water of the iceberg that sank Titanic, as recounted by survivors. 200-400 feet – the estimated length of the iceberg.
5-10 minutes – the approximate time it took the two major sections of the Titanic – bow and stern – to reach the sea bottom. 56 km/h – the estimated speed that the bow section was travelling when it hit the bottom (35 mph).
Were there horses aboard the Titanic? That's still a mystery. Some sources say there were polo ponies aboard, and there's an unverified story about a German racehorse who had a private paddock on C deck.
As the half-filled boats rowed away from the ship, they were too far for other passengers to reach, and most lifeboats did not return to the wreck, due to fear of being swamped by drowning victims.
Like any other ship, Titanic had a substantial population of rats. One was seen running across the Third Class Dining Room on the evening of the sinking, to the shock and amazement of the diners. Some of the women who saw it burst into tears, while men tried unsuccessfully to capture the rat.
Oceanographers have pointed out that the hostile sea environment has wreaked havoc on the ship's remains after more than a century beneath the surface. Saltwater acidity has been dissolving the vessel, compromising its integrity to the point where much of it would crumble if tampered with.
At the time of the accident, the Titanic was sailing at 22 knots (25 MPH) which many historians believe was too fast given the knowledge of icebergs in the area. It is likely that Captain Edward Smith was worried about arriving late into New York, which is why he chose not to slow down despite warnings.
Titanic received six warnings of sea ice on 14 April but was travelling about 22 knots when her lookouts sighted the iceberg. Unable to turn quickly enough, the ship suffered a glancing blow that buckled her starboard side and opened six of her sixteen compartments to the sea.
Smith's body was never recovered, and his final moments remain a mystery—with no shortage of conflicting accounts. No one knows exactly where Captain E.J. Smith was at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912.
150 Titanic victims are buried in Halifax. Of the 337 bodies recovered, 119 were buried at sea. 209 were brought back to Halifax. 59 were claimed by relatives and shipped to their home communities.
All the available evidence says that Titanic survivors didn't suffer any attacks from sharks when the ship sank. It's doubtful that there were sharks in the area at the time, mainly due to the extremely low water temperatures.