Daily Echo: Titanic and Southampton

A Lower Class

Aboard RMS Titanic, it’s like Upstairs Downstairs at sea. Third class passengers are enjoying the voyage. For them, this is luxury. Their facilities are equal to second class on other ships of the time. Certainly, everyday life has never been as luxurious as this!

Most of the 700 steerage passengers are emigrants, looking forward to a fresh start in the New World.

As the Titanic glides past the Isle of Wight and heads for Cherbourg, 70 miles away, they get used to life below decks.

The term Steerage originally referred to the part of the ship below decks, near the steering gear. Over time that became known as the area where third class passengers ate and slept.

They share common bathrooms and sleep four to a cabin. They have running water and electricity. The fact that they are provided with meals is a big surprise to many. Other steerage passengers at the time had to bring their own food.

There are two bathtubs for 700 people. Bunk beds have mattresses, pillows and blankets but no sheets or pillowcases. This isn’t a problem because most third class passengers have all their belongings with them…..everything from cutlery to pillowcases.

They enjoy three meals a day in two common dining rooms. These are located between the second and third class funnels, two decks below the first class dining room.

No individual tables here. They eat on rows on tables lined up next to each other. Combined, the two third class dining saloons hold around 475 people.

Breakfast includes oats and milk, herrings, and beef. At lunch there is brawn, boiled potatoes and cabbage.

All classes now see Cherbourg approaching. Titanic is too large to fit into the port. Another 274 passengers board here, ferried to the gigantic liner – with their luggage – on two White Star tenders.

One and a half hours after arriving at Cherbourg, the enormous propellers start turning again…..destination Queenstown.

“In the distance, one more harbour wall Titanic’s final port of call.”

© These 'Titanic' documents are the original work of David Meikle, cleverwriting.co.uk. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author.