Third Class Bed Styles

[Sahand Miraminy]

Hey There,

I've noticed that the beds in third class have either been made of wood in drawings or have been depicted of being made out of white metal frames like in Cameron's film. Would these different styles be used on different decks or would the rooms with the wood be in a better section?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Brian R Peterson]

Hi Sahand,

From the sources I have encountered, most if not all of the Third Class bunks were made of wood, possibly having been built in bulk for both Second and Third class cabins.

Best Regards,

Brian

 

[Bob Godfrey]

The well-known illustration of a 3rd Class cabin with wooden bunks also features a washstand, so that cabin would have been in one of the after sections (for single women and families). The cabins at the fore end (for single men) were furnished more sparsely, but it's notable that The Shipbuilder mentioned steel berths specifically in connection with the 'open steerage' accommodation, which the Titanic did not have.

 

[Robert T. Paige]

Hey There Y'All-

I read or heard something somewhere to the effect that the particular construction of the Third Class bunks shown in the "Jack, Fabrizio and 'Where's Sven'?" scene in the Cameron movie were of a modern type of construction.... also "G-60" location is a bit of a question in historical accuracy ?
Would there have been a porthole ?

Best Regards to all,
Robert

 

[Brian R Peterson]

Hi Robert,

Yes, Cameron took many historical and technical liberties with his Titanic that were not on the original, G-60 is one of those.

There were cabins on the after end of G-Deck numbered 1-40, excluding 13 all of which could be used if necessary as Second Class overflow.

Like on all decks, there were inside and outside cabins, the inside cabins having a sidelight, the outside cabins not.

Best Regards,

Brian

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Robert,

3rd Class rooms did not have a letter designation. They had a section designation. Starting with room number 1 [see the deck plans on this web-site for the E-deck room numbers] in Section B on E-deck and ending up with room number 260 in Section F on G-deck. The only time a 3rd Class passenger could have been in a letter numbered room was if rooms G-1 to G-41 were used for 3rd Class rather than 2nd Class. - This seems to have occurred on the Titanic.

Room 60 was in Section E on F-deck - It was an 8-berth room. - It was located outboard from the forward set of stairs on the port-side of the Squash Racquet Court. - [see the deck plans on this web-site].

 

[Thomas William Goldsmith]

Hey guys,
What about the third class cabins that were in the same area as second class cabins? My Grandfather said that his family's cabin was across the hall from second class. Were They numbered, numbered and lettered, or was there no records kept distinguishing them from other cabins. Also are there definitive records as to who was in what cabin as far as third class was concerned?

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hello Thomas,

I think you may be referring to one of the few 3rd Class rooms on E-deck that were outboard of the main port-side fore-aft passageway. Rooms 101 to 126 in Sections K & M [see the deck-plans for E-deck on this web-site]. - If so that would give us an indication of the room your family occupied.

That passageway was only for use by the Crew and 3rd Class passengers. - There were two emergency doorways that gave access to 2nd Class but they did not use that passageway.

Unfortunately we have virtually no information as to which rooms most 3rd Class passengers were in.

Hope that helps,
Lester

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

The 3rd Class cabins were numbered 1 through to 260 (I'm going by what Lester said as I have no plans to refer to at the moment). To avoid confusion, none of the 3rd Class cabin numbers repeated*, the only way to indicate where to find them was designated by a section letter.

*The only staterooms to repeat the number were 9 and 9A and the alternate accommodation staterooms aft on G Deck, G 1 through G 41.

Brian - the inside staterooms did not have sidelights; it was the outside rooms that had sidelights.

Thomas - I'm sure once upon a time there was a master list which recorded where each of the 3rd Class passengers were placed. There was most likely only one copy of this list which went down with the ship.

The only other way to have a record is from the green immigration cards which were issued to the passengers. They were required to keep these cards on their person at all times and on the day of arrival into US to have them pinned to their clothes and in plain view at all times. I'm sure that almost all, if not all the 3rd Class passengers actually escaped with their immigration card. Various 3rd Class passengers' bodies were recovered still with the card (which is how they were identified). Given this, I'm sure there were a few hundred of these cards that survived the sinking ... the only problem is that they did not seem to survive the ravages of time as only a handful seem to have surfaced.

I would guess, Thomas, that your grandfather and great-grandmother also escaped with theirs. Perhaps you may know if it still exists or did at one stage?

As Lester pointed out, generally, families were berthed in sections K and M. I cannot confirm this, but I think that fathers and sons over the age of 16 were berthed in the forward sections, so I'm not sure if you great-grandfather was in the same cabin as the rest of his family or if he was berthed with other passengers in the forward section.

Best Regards,

Daniel.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

The details of the Goldsmiths' route to the boat deck, as given on several occasions by Frank, indicate that their cabin was in M Section. Thomas, you might recall stories from your grandfather which could narrow it down a bit more. Was there mention of a porthole, for instance? And did young Frankie have his own berth or share with one of his parents?

 

[Thomas William Goldsmith]

Thanks guys I guess I will have to do some more digging. Grandpa stated they were on the starboard side aft and worked their way up and forward, [diagonally], through the second class dining to the port side when going to the boat deck during the sinking. He also stated that he was across the hall from some second class cabins and that the ships surgeon came through to alert them. He said the he and his parents were berthed together. He also told me that his father spent time with Thomas Theobald, his friend who was supposed to be on the Adriatic but was switched to the Titanic, unfortunately I don't know to much about his fathers time on the ship because Grandpa spent most of his time with his friends and his mother.

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Thomas

Thanks for the info. If your grandfather was right about being on the starboard side, then he couldn't have been in section K or M which were on the port side. One of the surviving 3rd Class stewards (can't remember the name) testified that families were berthed in sections K and M on E Deck.

Assuming that he might have after all been in section M; instead of being across the hall from 2nd Class "cabins" perhaps he meant he was across the hall from "2nd Class" - as there is nowhere on the ship he could have literally been across the hall from 2nd Class cabins, and most other 3rd Class sections were generally separate and the passengers may not have realized that they were neighboring either 1st or 2nd Class.

Unless the Goldsmiths were in cabin 103 (section K) they could have been in one of the nine 4-berth rooms in section M. Considering that two of those are known to have been occupied; 121 - by the Moor’s and Sarah Roth and 126 by some of the Sage family, we can perhaps even assume that more of the Sage family were in cabin 123 (also 4-berth). This would narrow down the Goldsmith’s cabin to one of the remaining six 4-berth rooms in section M.

Thomas Theobald was berthed forward in section B in cabin 10, which was a large 8-berth room on the starboard side.

Daniel.

 

[Thomas William Goldsmith]

Thanks Daniel,
I talked to my cousin who has alot of paper items and asked him about the green cards, he wasn't sure and would be doing abit of digging to see if he had them. He also told me that his dad may know about them and that he had one of my Great-Grandmothers desks that had not been gone through yet. Knowing my Grandfather and having his scrap book with newspaper clippings from back then, I would bet that he saved them if they had them on them when they left the ship. I'll let you know what I find out. Tom

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Thomas

Oops, I should have double checked what I wrote more thoroughly! Cabin 10 was on the "port" side and Theobald was actually in cabin 11 (port side) which was a 6-berth room.

Frank Goldsmith's story is among the better known 3rd Class accounts and it would be good to have their cabin verified as well.

Best Regards,

Daniel.