The Titanic had a reputation for being spacious, which is shown to advantage on the Boat Deck with its sweeping pine expanses. Earlier ships were cluttered with ventilating equipment, skylights, guy wires, and lifeboats, but the Titanic’s designers kept all of these features to a minimum.

Electrical deck lamps (87/0182), visible over the bench in the foreground of the adjacent photograph, illuminated the upper decks. Raised roofs over the lounges formed terraces on which passengers could stroll or play deck games such as quoits or bull ball. If exercise was not on the agenda, benches (87/0150) were strategically placed for rest and contemplation. RMS Titanic, Inc.'s Artifact Collection contains several excellent examples of the copper alloy supports from these benches. Though their wooden slates have long disappeared, the armrests remain as a graceful symbol of the Gilded Age opulence that was Titanic.

Highly visible from the open promenade areas were Titanic’s four imposing funnels—three of which were used for ventilation, with one extra added to achieve symmetry of design. Attached to each of the funnels was a set of whistles (93/0112, 93/0133, 93/0130). Those on the two forward funnels worked and were operated electrically from the bridge. In the case of "thick weather," these whistles could be automatically timed to blow for eight to ten seconds every minute. The after two whistles were dummies mounted on the funnels in a further attempt to achieve symmetry of design in Titanic’s profile.

The first-class promenade area was amidships on the Boat Deck, while the second-class promenade (shown here on the Olympic) was aft. Passengers using this area strolled past lifeboats 10, 12, 14, and 16 on the port side and 9, 11, 13, and 15 on the starboard side as they took their daily constitutionals, perhaps in a natty bowler hat (93/0084). By 1912, the laws governing lifeboat capacity were hopelessly outmoded. Through a quirk in the regulations, the number of lifeboats depended on the cubic feet of the ship. That regulation required that Titanic carry 9,821 cubic feet of lifeboat capacity or enough space to evacuate 950 passengers. Though the Titanic did exceed this by some 1072.9 cubic feet with her 20 lifeboats, it was still not adequate.

After the iceberg was struck at 11:40 pm, precious lifesaving time was lost in evaluation, examination, and fevered decision making. Finally, at 12:45 am, starboard lifeboat 7 was swung out on a davit (93/0136A) to begin the terrifying seven-story descent to the waiting sea. In it were just 28 people, a far cry from the 65 it had been designed to carry. At this point it was difficult to convince the passengers that a small craft in the open sea would be safer than the warm, well-lit decks of the Titanic.

(To view details of Titanic's Builder's Plaque, click on more details below.)