The Titanic By the Numbers-- Part 5: Who Was the Richest Passenger to Die That Night?

Number of iceberg warnings received:  6

Miles sailed before sinking:  2,070

Temperature of the water at sinking:  28 degrees

Number of lifeboats the ship was equipped to carry:  64

Number of lifeboats the Titanic actually had:  20

Number of people who died:  1,517

Who was the richest passenger:    John J. Astor

How much was he worth:  $787 million  (about $2.21 billion today)

--Cooter

USCG Cutter Tampa-- Part 2: Originally the USRCS Cutter Miami

Commissioned  19 August 1912, 190 feet long, 32.5 feet beam. 70 crew.

From 1912-1917, she mounted three six-pounder guns.  In the Navy she traded those for two 3-inch guns, machine guns and depth charges.

After commissioning, the Miami (original name until renamed the Tampa) served in the Revenue Cutter Service and did duties typical to revenue cutters.  It served on the International Ice Patrol, keeping an eye on icebergs in the North Atlantic, for several tours of duty.

It operated out of several stations as well, including Key West, Tampa and New York City.

On 29 August 1915, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life-Saving Service  were merged to form the present-day U.S. Coast Guard.  A year later the name of the Miami was changed to Tampa.

--Cooter

USCG Cutter Tampa-- Part 1: Served in Revenue Cutter Service, Coast Guard and U.S. Navy.

In the last post, I wrote that today is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of this ship by a torpedo from a German  U-boat during World War I.  I'd never heard of the ship so did some more research.  Of course, good old Wikipedia was the first place I stopped.

United States Coast Guard Cutter Tampa   The ship initially served in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, then in the U.S. Coast Guard and finally in the U.S. Navy. Commissioned in 1912, it was used extensively in the International Ice Patrol which monitors icebergs, something founded after the sinking of the Titanic.

Its sinking on September 26, 1918, is regarded by some as the largest American combat loss during World War I.

--DaCoot

Worst North Atlantic Ship Disasters Involving Icebergs

From the Bethel Patch. From Ben Hill's iceberg database website. //// The Titanic is by far the best-known ship disaster in the North Atlantic involving an iceberg (and it also resulted in the most deaths), but there were others: 1. TITANIC-- 4-14-1912 Southampton-NY, 1,517 deaths // 2. CITY OF GLASGOW-- 3-1-1854 Liverpool to Philadelphia, 480 deaths // 3. CITY OF BOSTON-- 1-29-1870 Halifax to Liverpool, 192 deaths // 4. PACIFIC-- 1-23-56 Liverpool to NYC, 186 deaths // 5. PRESIDENT-- 3-11-1841 NYC to Liverpool, 120 deaths //// 6. JOHN RUTLEDGE-- 2-19-1856, 118 deaths // 7. LIMERICK-- 5-10-1849 Limerick to Quebec, 109 deaths // 8. HANS HEDTOFT-- 1-30-1959 Godthabb to Copenhagen, 95 deaths // 9. VALIANT-- 4-14-1897 St. Malob to St. Pierre, 78 deaths // 10. NARONIC-- 2-19-1893 Liverpool to NYC, 74 deaths.