
                    **********************************
                          PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE 
                    RECORDS INFORMATION Leaflet No: 81
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  [Note: this and all other PRO Records Information leaflets are (c)
  Crown Copyright, but may be freely reproduced except for sale or
  advertising purposes.  Copies should always include this Copyright
  notice -- please respect this.]  (c) Crown Copyright, September 1989

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                     RECORDS RELATING TO SS TITANIC



GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The steamship Titanic was launched from the Belfast yard of Messrs
Harland and Wolff Ltd on 31 May 1911.  At 852.5 feet long and 92.5 feet
across the beam, and weighing 46,382 tons, the White Star Line vessel
was the largest in the world at the time. Her registration documents can
be found in BT 110/426. After being fitted out and undergoing sea
trials, the Titanic left Southampton on her maiden voyage on 10 April
1912 with 922 passengers on board. Later the same day she called at
Cherbourg and took on 274 more passengers. On the following day, she
called at the Irish port of Queenstown and took on a further 120
passengers. The Titanic then set off on its voyage across the Atlantic
on 11 April, with a total of 1,316 passengers and 885 crew. Four days
later, on 15 April, the ship foundered after colliding with an iceberg.
Of the 2,201 people on board, only 711 were saved.



LISTS OF PASSENGERS

Board of Trade: Passenger Lists, Outwards (BT 27/780 B) lists passengers
who boarded at Southampton.

BT 27/776 lists those who boarded at Queenstown. Board of Trade
regulations did not require masters of ships to make returns of
passengers who both embarked and disembarked at foreign ports and there
is therefore no complete list of those who boarded at Cherbourg. Those
who boarded in France and died are known but not those who survived.
Harland and Wolff employees travelling as passengers are included in the
crew list (see BT 100/260 below).

Marine Department, Correspondence and Papers (MT 9/920/201) lists all
those passengers and crew who lost their lives, and in the case of
passengers shows the port of embarkation.

A card index of passengers' names compiled from the above sources is
available for consultation in the Reference Room.



LISTS OF CREW

Board of Trade: Crew Lists and Agreements (BT 100/259, 260) contain the
names of all crew members with details of age, previous ship, address
(often omitted) and whether or not they survived. The crew lists are
generally arranged by rank and occupation, but BT 100/259 includes a
separate alphabetical list.   BT 100/260 is unusual in that it also
includes a list of passengers.



INQUIRY INTO THE DISASTER

Board of Trade Marine Department: Correspondence and Papers, contains
files relating to the official inquiry (MT 9/920). The class list
contains a subject index to the files.

The Board of Trade Establishment Division: Correspondence and Papers
also contains a signed report of the court of inquiry into the loss of
the Titanic (BT 13/50/E24382).

The Report of the Inquiry into the Loss of the Titanic was published as
command paper 6352 in Parliamentary Papers, 1912 (ZHC1/7661).



OTHER RECORDS

Proposals by the Chamber of Shipping over the making of a film of the
disaster (MT 9/2922).

Medals and awards for the captain and crew of SS Carpathia (MT 9/4469).

British embassy, Washington, file of correspondence (FO 115/1710)
concerns Treasury decisions subsequent to the disaster. The Foreign
Office index for 1912 contains several references relating to the
Titanic, the most important of which is FO 369/522 file 16033. The
papers on this file mainly report the hearings of the US Senate
Commission of Inquiry into the disaster, and contain press cuttings from
the New York Sun.

Correspondence with the Public Trustee Office concerned with keeping a
record of the Titanic Fund (T1/11444/13936).

Payment of compensation to dependants of Postal Officers lost
(T1/11470/20507/12, TS 27/21).

A return of the expenses incurred by the Board of Trade and other
government departments in connection with the loss of the Titanic was
published as command paper 6738 in Parliamentary Papers, 1913 (ZHC
1/7768).

Further records may also be found in Consultation Marine: Correspondence
and Papers, MT 15/114, 142, 173, 212.

Note:    John P Eaton and Charles A Haas, Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy
(1986), contains hundreds of pictures of the ship, passengers, and crew,
as well as much other detail.

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The records cited in this leaflet may be seen only at the PRO, Kew.

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  Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LR.
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  Tel: +44 (0) 181 876-3444

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  in October). 

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  proof of identity, such as a (UK) driving licence or passport.
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