Titanic's Second Class Accommodations

[Music] the titanic saga is ingrained in the popular culture and a lot of the focus is on the seemingly extreme inequality between the accommodation for and treatment of first-class passengers versus the third class passengers on the great ocean ladder but what about the second class quite literally the middle class of the ship there were nearly 300 second-class passengers aboard titanic when she sank but it seems that we rarely hear much about them even though many of us would be among them if we were transported back in time to april 1912. in this video we'll go over what it would have been like to be a second-class passenger aboard titanic or any number of other great ocean liners of the early 20th century after securing their tickets the journey for many of the second class passengers would have begun at the waterloo train station in london this is where the quote titanic special boat trains departed from boat trains connecting london to southampton or any other city to a port were a common feature of transoceanic travel but in this case there were two trains departing london especially meant to serve as the first leg of titanic's maiden voyage like the rest of the journey travel on the boat trains was segregated with second class being grouped with third class on the 8 30 train normally the train ride would have taken between an hour and a half and an hour and 45 minutes but both trains experienced delays that day and the second and third class train didn't arrive in southampton until 11 30 only a half hour before titanic's scheduled departure time luckily for the second class passengers they did not need to undergo health inspections like those traveling in third class and once they arrived in southampton they began boarding right away as was the case with most of the second class accommodations the second class entrance was located toward the stern on sea deck as such second-class passengers boarded via the northern gantry which connected the berth 44 shed to the shell doors leading to this part of the ship in this photograph taken by francis brown from the gantry leading to the first class entrance you can see second-class passengers boarding the ship further aft the entrance for the second class from the outside was actually the second class enclosed promenade deck which wrapped around both second class stairwells and foyers and the second class library not all passengers took the boat train from london the morning of titanic's departure some passengers opted to stay in southampton the night before to allow for a more leisurely sailing day one well-known second class passenger lawrence beasley for example stayed at southampton hotel on the night of april 9th as such beasley who was a former school teacher in england was able to board the ship at 10 o'clock well before either of the boat trains even arrived in southampton being so early the barriers between the classes were not yet in place and those passengers who were on board were free to wander about the ship as they pleased within reason beasley explored various parts of the ship most notably the first class gymnasium on the boat deck where he paused to be photographed by photographers from the illustrated london news who were on board to report on the world's largest ship as noon drew nearer though and the barriers between the classes went up second class passengers were confined to a relatively small part of the ship aboard titanic in her sister ship olympic second class was given the least amount of total space this makes sense when you take into account that titanic's second class capacity represented only about a quarter of her total passenger capacity the middle class in 1912 wasn't what it is today it is interesting to note however that it is difficult to calculate the exact percentage of total passenger capacity that second class made up because of its being the middle class since the upper end of its cabins would have been acceptable to some first-class passengers there were 46 cabins on e-deck which were used for both first and second class depending on the particular needs of the given voyage similarly there were 40 cabins down on g deck which could be used for either second class or third class passengers this would have given white star greater flexibility and thus better economic efficiency as passenger demographics shifted between voyages seasons and years the accommodations the second class did have though were very good it is often said that the second class accommodations on olympic and titanic were better than first class accommodations on older and smaller ships and this is a fair characterization of the reality depending on how generous you're willing to be passengers in the second class had access to space of one form or another beginning up on the boat deck the top deck of the ship skipping a deck but then going all the way down to g deck if you count the alternate second third class cabins on g deck g deck was the lowest passenger jack on the ship so those in the second class had access to every passenger deck on the ship except for adec as did the first class passengers let's start all the way up on the boat deck it is sometimes assumed that the entirety of the bow deck was first class space but this is not at all the reality in fact less than half of the open deck space was technically designated as first class all the way forward was the officers section just aft of that was first class followed by the engineers promenade a very small section and then the section for the second class the second class section was almost as long as the first class and actually if it wasn't for the fact that the lifeboats lined the sides of most of the second class section whereas the first class section was mostly free of lifeboats i would argue that the second class section was better for two reasons one it was at the aftermost end of the deck and thus had open views over the ship's stern and the ship's wake and two it was the only section which allowed passengers to walk in a loop around the deck without encroaching on the space of another class and without having to awkwardly turn around this is of note because unlike those in first class who had access to the entirety of the adec promenade the boat deck was where second class passengers would have gotten their fresh air and open c views there were no deck houses on the boat deck designated for second class space though so let's move on we'll skip past adec since the only part of this deck the second class passengers could use was the landing of the stairwell which descended through it second-class passengers had access to the aftermost part of b-deck proper the focal deck being off limits and the poop deck being for third class passengers this is where the second class smoke room was located but since it was restricted to men only women would most likely only be passing through pausing on the enclosed promenade to look out to the sea the smoke room was decorated in the louis xvi style and featured comfortable chairs of dark green moroccan leather linoleum tiled floors a bar and its own lavatory windows on either side let in light from the enclosed b deck promenade overall the second class smoke room was simpler than its first class counterpart but was a comfortable enclave for the overall tiny number of titanic's passengers who would have used it below the smoke room down on c-deck was the second-class library again this is the only second classroom on the deck given the small size and vertical nature of the second class aboard titanic most of sea deck was occupied by first class cabins amid ships the library was small but warm and decorated in the colonial adam style chairs were upholstered with green fabric green was quite common throughout titanic's decor there was a nine and a half foot wide bookcase on the forward wall which housed a modest collection of books for the passengers as i mentioned earlier sea deck is also where the second class passengers would have boarded the ship in southampton down on d-deck the longitudinal size of the second class expands a bit also known as the saloon deck this is where well the saloon was located for both first and second class in fact the two saloons shared a galley although the passengers would not have been privy to this unless they had studied the layout of the ship in case you don't know galley is the nautical equivalent of kitchen as for the second class dining room itself like its first class counterpart it extended the full width of the ship but was smaller and could not see quite as great a proportion of the entire class it served at once with seating for only 394 it was also not as lavish as the first class dining saloon which was beautifully decorated and was arranged with smaller more private tables and regular non-fixed chairs a first for the atlantic with the introduction of the olympic class liners instead the second class saloon had long tables and fixed swivel chairs the norm for ocean drivel at the time while it might sound uncomfortable to us this was to be expected as even the newest liners aside from olympic and titanic including lusitania and mauritania had fixed swivel chairs even in first class in this photograph the tables were extra long this photograph was likely taken during the busy summer season when inserts were added between somewhat smaller tables to allow for extra seating even though it would have been a little less comfortable after the saloon on d-deck were the uppermost second-class cabins generally the second-class cabins were much more similar to each other than those in the first class the bulkheads were all white enameled and the furniture was all of the same style some of the ship's structural elements were left exposed unlike in first class where they were cleverly hidden cabins either had two births or four berths depending on the intended occupancy of the given cabin the quadruple birth cabins could be changed over to double occupancy and the second set of bunks converted to a sofa there was at least one wash basin in each second class cabin sometimes two depending on the occupancy unlike those in first class though the wash basins were not fed with hot and cold water from the ship's plumbing but rather by a tank above which needed to be refilled periodically by the stewards cabins were also equipped with wardrobes made of mahogany but were most often out of frame in photographs due to the confined nature of the cabins while most passengers aboard titanic were likely to be very satisfied with their accommodations they were among the best in the world after all this was not without exception second class passengers emmanita shelley and her mother lucinda parish were distraught after finding their cabin and referred to it as a cell they tried relentlessly for the first few days to be switched to another cabin but even if they had been successful they would have likely remained unsatisfied as like we discussed all second class cabins were generally alike another young man in second class named alfred nerney fancied himself more of a first class passenger and after some complaining to the purser was upgraded to first class for a 38 pound surcharge moving down to edek the second class accommodations were consolidated to the starboard side of the ship due to the famous scotland road and other working areas of the ship on the port side this is where the second class slashed alternate first class cabins were located on titanic's maiden and only voyage these were actually used for first class passengers but in all reality they were only slight upgrades from the standard second class cabins while we are used to seeing the cream of the crop in terms of first class accommodations it is important to remember that the cabins in the first class varied greatly and even some of those up on the higher decks could easily be mistaken by the untrained eye as second-class cabins the second-class first-class alternate cabins featured standard second-class furniture a wash basin with a tank like in second class and exposed structural elements of the ship the only true uprights from standard second class cabins were the occasional electric heater and carpet rather than linoleum although most of the second class cabins on e-deck were also first-class alternates it is important to note that there were three distinct sections and each section would only be used for either second class or first class ultimate on a given voyage never both while this would have been slightly less efficient at times it simply would not have been acceptable to have second class and first class passengers mingling this was 1912 after all since there were no private bathroom facilities in the second class and actually very few even in the first class there were plenty of public facilities on edec as well as the other decks in second class on e-deck there were 26 water closets 5 urinals and 17 baths if you want to learn more about the bathroom facilities aboard titanic i have a video on this very topic as part of my great quick move series which is exclusive to my supporters on patreon link in the description edek also include this second class barbershop where passengers could get their haircut and buy souvenirs and house the ship's musicians even lower on the ship on f deck is actually where the bulk of permanent second class cabins were located these were the same as the rest of the second class cabins so i won't go into further detail here finally on g deck is where the second class third class alternate cabins were located these were of lower quality than the standard second class cabins but did include nicer furniture which would normally not have been found in the third class life in the second class while the ship was at sea was simple but comfortable in the morning one would rise for breakfast served between 8 and 10. breakfast might be followed by a stroll on deck before settling down in the library until it was time for lunch served at 1. those lost in conversation with fellow passengers might linger at lunch or take their socialization to the lounge with some time to spare before having to get ready for dinner passengers might head to the library to write some letters to friends and family to tell them about their journey and future plans dinner was served at seven passengers were assigned to tables in the saloon and the matter of with whom to eat was decided for them unlike their first class counterparts second class passengers had only one dining option the second class dining saloon so if their meal time neighbors were unpleasant or disagreeable there was unfortunately no alternative i would like to think that most passengers used this opportunity to meet new acquaintances and maybe even long time friends given that this is a tradition which continued into the 21st century aboard many cruise ships i have to assume that it was generally a positive experience for most passengers as for the food itself the meals for the second class aboard titanic were quite good pictured here is the second class dinner menu from the night of april 14th 1912. the last meal served in second class at board titanic as was generally the case the offerings were more than what someone in second class would eat on a daily basis crossing the atlantic on a large express liner was a special occasion after dinner some passengers would wind down and get ready for bed others would stay up longer maybe they would get some fresh air on the boat deck or on the promenade on the night of april 14th it would have been noticeably cold though on some nights the musicians would put on a concert for the second class passengers instead passengers could have gathered in the lounge or man in the smoke room which was open until 11 30 at night at which point the lights were turned out gambling was common at night but it was off-putting to some passengers class passenger benjamin hart was so bothered by the amount of gambling he saw on the night of april 14th that he turned in early to read a book his wife esther hart was preparing for a long night of sitting up and listening listening for any odd sound or disruption in the ship's normal movement she had been beside herself in paranoia for the entire journey thus far at 11 40 that night her paranoia which had been mocked and dismissed for the preceding few days was validated esther's daughter seven years old at the time credited her mother for their survival that night believing they would not have made it to a lifeboat in time had esther hart not been staying up all night every night waiting for tragedy to strike eva hart's father though was not so lucky and he perished in the sinking along with more than half of the nearly 300 second-class passengers aboard titanic on her maiden voyage before we conclude i would like to officially announce that the great big move has partnered with fox starline i collaborated with fox star line in part one of my two part series on rms queen mary and we will be doing another collaboration in the coming months this particular upcoming collaboration will be significant as it marks a turning point in this channel but i won't reveal that topic just yet so stay tuned in the meantime please consider joining the great ships facebook group by foxstarlime if you have not done so already it's a great community of respectful people sharing a common interest in ocean liners so [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: The Great Big Move

Views: 368,055

Keywords: titanic, olympic, white star, white star line, ocean liner, liner, passenger, ship, second class, class, first class, third class, steerage, britannic, lusitania, Mauretania, Cunard, atlantic, transatlantic, maritime, documentary

Id: 30Je21hdsF8

Length: 17min 36sec (1056 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 26 2021