Titanic: Inside the grandest ship of all (Cont)

SECOND CLASS TRAVEL ON TITANIC:  Second class passenger accommodation was to be found over seven decks. Exits were either by the second class grand stairway or an electric elevator which ran up and down all seven decks.

After dinner, the gentlemen of the second class could retreat from the Dining Room to their Smoking Room.

Library:  After dinner, traveling second class women would part company from their partners and often sought in the Library. This was the equivalent of the First Class Reading and Writing Room. The room was excellently appointed filled with mahogany furniture. A large book case was situated at the forward end opposite the bulkhead. Large windows had silk curtains hanging. The rich fabric of the Wilton carpet gave a snug feel to the room.

Second Class Dining Room: The Dining Room was 71 foot long and it could seat 2394 people at one sitting. The room had oak panels with pivoted sidelights which provided a great elegance dining room. There was a piano in the room to entertain diners. All the furniture was mahogany with crimson upholstery.

Second Class Accommodation: Second class accommodation was provided in either two or four berth rooms. A maximum of 550 passengers could be accommodated. The rooms were fitted in enamel white with mahogany furniture.  In second class, passengers slept in berths built into the walls of the cabins. At two to four berths per cabin, privacy was hard to come by, although a passenger could close the curtain around his or her berth. Each second-class cabin had a washbasin and a chamber pot to be used in case of seasickness. Second-class passengers used communal bathrooms. The Staterooms of the second class were very similar to the standard cabins of the First Class.

THIRD CLASS TRAVEL ON TITANIC:  Third class accommodation was much less luxurious than second class. Even so, third class, or “steerage” passengers as they were known, still enjoyed levels of luxury compared to most liners of their day.

Third Class Smoke and General Room:  The General Room was the heart of the Steerage  community. It was the main meeting room. It was panelled in pine and finished in enamel white with teak furniture.

Third Class Dining Room:  The Dining Room, situated on the Middle Deck, was 100 foot long and extended the full width of the ship. It could seat approximately seat 470 passengers in each of the three sittings. The pantries and galley were situated behind the Dining Room.

Third Class Accommodation:  There were over 1000 third class passengers on the Titanic. Their accommodation was much more modest than the other two classes. The rooms comprised mainly of two to six berth rooms. There were only 84 two-berth cabins on board.

Although most passengers had to share bathrooms (only the two promenade suites in first class had private bathrooms), third class had it rough with only two bathtubs for more than 700 passengers.

Third-class passengers slept on bunk beds in crowded quarters at six to a narrow cabin. Like second-class passengers, they shared bathrooms, but the number of people sharing a bathroom was much higher in third class: Only two bathtubs were available for all 710 third-class passengers, one for the men and one for the women.  In those days, many of the poor believed that frequent bathing could cause respiratory disease; therefore, most third-class passengers likely didn’t lament the lack of bathtubs.