Titanic
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168 free Titanic trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
50 free Titanic trivia questions with answers. Test your knowledge of one of history's most famous maritime disasters with our comprehensive Titanic trivia quiz. From the ship's construction to its tragic sinking in 1912, this 168-question quiz covers fascinating details about passengers, crew members, and lesser-known facts. Whether you're a history buff or casual movie fan, see how much you really know about the RMS Titanic.
30 of 168 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On what date did the RMS Titanic sink?
April 15, 1912
April 15, 1912: Titanic went under in the small hours, yet garbled wireless reports had some newspapers that day announcing she was under tow with everyone safe.
Q 02In the 1997 film Titanic, what does Rose use to summon rescue?
Whistle
A whistle: Rose swims to the body of a ship's officer floating nearby, takes his whistle and blows it until the boat's crew turn toward the sound.
Q 03Which Celine Dion song from the 1997 film Titanic won the Oscar for Best Original Song?
My Heart Will Go On
My Heart Will Go On nearly didn't exist: James Cameron wanted no pop song, so composer James Horner had Celine Dion record a demo without telling him and waited for a good mood to play it.
Q 04How many lifeboats did the RMS Titanic carry?
Twenty
Twenty lifeboats, more than the law then required, yet with seats for only about half of those aboard: the rules were tied to a ship's tonnage, not to the number of people she carried.
Q 05Who captained RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage and went down with the ship?
Edward J. Smith
Edward J. Smith was known as the Millionaires' Captain because wealthy travellers liked to sail with him; he was reportedly last seen at his post as the ship went down, and his body was never found.
Q 06A popular but false legend blames Titanic's sinking on which cursed cargo?
Egyptian mummy
An Egyptian mummy: the supposedly cursed relic of the legend is not even a real mummy, only a painted wooden coffin lid, and it was sitting in the British Museum the whole time.
Q 07From which port did the Titanic depart for its maiden voyage?
Southampton, England
Southampton, England was more than a departure point: about 700 of Titanic's roughly 900 crew came from the port, and most of them never came home.
Q 08In 1918 Titanic's sister ship Olympic, then a troopship, rammed and sank which kind of vessel?
A German U-boat
A German U-boat: Olympic sighted the submarine, turned and rammed it, and she carried so many troops safely through the war that she was nicknamed Old Reliable.
Q 09What was Titanic's dummy fourth funnel mainly used for?
Ventilation
Ventilation: the fourth funnel drew fumes from the galleys and smoking rooms, and was added partly for looks, since four funnels made a liner seem more powerful.
Q 10In the 1997 film Titanic, what do treasure hunters find inside a safe raised from the wreck?
A sketch
A sketch: it shows a young woman wearing the very jewel the salvagers are hunting, and an elderly survivor who sees it on the news gets in touch to say she is the woman in it.
Q 11Who was the wealthiest passenger aboard the Titanic?
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV helped his pregnant wife into a lifeboat and asked to go with her; told the boats were for women and children, he stepped back, and he died in the sinking.
Q 12From where could a switch close Titanic's watertight doors?
Bridge
The bridge: one electric switch there shut the doors between the compartments, but the walls dividing them were not capped at the top, so rising water simply spilled over.
Q 13Approximately how many people died in the sinking of the Titanic?
1,500
About 1,500 died: the US inquiry counted 1,517 and the British 1,503, and no exact figure exists because the passenger and crew lists were muddled by aliases, misspellings and omissions.
Q 21Roughly what share of third-class women died, against about 3% of first-class women?
54%
About 54% of third-class women died (89 of 165) against 3% in first class; five of six first-class children and every second-class child survived, while 52 of 79 third-class children perished.
Q 22Before trying the newer SOS, which distress call did Titanic's wireless operators send first?
CQD
CQD came first; junior operator Harold Bride then half-joked that Jack Phillips should try the new SOS, as it might be his last chance to send it, and the two calls were alternated from then on.
Q 23Which Belfast shipbuilder built Titanic?
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff had built most of White Star's ships for decades and was given a free hand: its own designers drew up the plans, and the line's directors simply approved them.
Q 14What was the name of the ship that rescued the survivors of the Titanic?
RMS Carpathia
RMS Carpathia was about 58 nautical miles away and steamed through the ice field at full speed, but she reached the lifeboats more than an hour after Titanic had gone under.
Q 15What was the maximum capacity of people (passengers and crew) the Titanic could carry?
3,547
The maximum capacity of the RMS Titanic, when fully loaded with passengers and crew, was 3,547 people.
Q 16What was the name of the chief naval architect who designed the Titanic and died in the sinking?
Thomas Andrews Jr.
Thomas Andrews Jr. toured the flooding bow with the captain, worked out that the ship could not stay afloat, and spent his last hours urging passengers into lifebelts and boats.
Q 17Tests in the 1990s on steel raised from the Titanic wreck suggested the hull plates turned what in icy water?
Brittle
Brittle: the tests suggested the cold left the plates prone to cracking, though later studies put more of the blame on weak rivets that let the hull seams spring open.
Q 18At what depth does the wreck of the Titanic lie?
Approximately 12,500 feet (3,800 meters)
Approximately 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) is about two and a half miles down, far beyond any diver's reach, so the wreck has only ever been visited by robots and deep-diving submersibles.
Q 19By what traditional name was third class, the cheapest way to cross on Titanic, commonly known?
Steerage
Steerage was the old name for the cheapest berths, yet Titanic's third class had cabins and three cooked meals a day when many ships still made such passengers bring their own food.
Q 20The sides of Titanic's four collapsible lifeboats were made of what?
Canvas
Canvas: the sides folded flat for stowing, and two of the four boats were swept off the deck by the rising sea before they could be launched.
Q 24On which part of the hull did the iceberg strike Titanic as she tried to turn away?
Starboard side, near the bow
Starboard side, near the bow: the ship had begun to swing away, so the ice scraped along her flank for a few seconds and opened at least five forward compartments to the sea.
Q 25Titanic was designed to stay afloat with up to how many of her forward watertight compartments flooded?
Four
Four: Titanic could float with her first four compartments flooded, but the iceberg opened at least five, and water then spilled over the tops of the dividing walls from one to the next.
Q 26What did the 'RMS' prefix before Titanic's name stand for?
Royal Mail Ship
RMS stands for Royal Mail Ship: Titanic carried mail under contract, with five postal clerks from the Royal Mail and the US Post Office sorting letters aboard so they were ready on docking.
Q 27Titanic's bridge and officers' quarters sat at the forward end of which deck?
Boat Deck
The Boat Deck was the topmost deck, where the lifeboats hung; the captain was reportedly last seen there, at its forward end, as the bow went under.
Q 28Titanic's younger sister Britannic sank in the Aegean in 1916 after striking what?
A naval mine
A naval mine is believed to have sunk Britannic while she served as a wartime hospital ship; built as a luxury liner, she never carried a single fare-paying passenger.
Q 29Which Titanic passenger was accused of bribing his lifeboat's crew?
Cosmo Duff-Gordon
Cosmo Duff-Gordon gave each crewman in his lifeboat £5; the British inquiry accepted it was a gift to replace their lost kit, not a bribe to stop them rowing back, but the press had already dubbed it the Money Boat.
Q 30Which nearby ship saw Titanic's distress rockets but did not come to help?
SS Californian
SS Californian had stopped for the night at the edge of the ice field, and her only wireless operator had switched off his set and gone to bed minutes before Titanic struck the iceberg.