How Cold Was the Water Around the Titanic?

At the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, Missouri, visitors can get up close with models of the famous RMS Titanic ship and even walk down a reproduction of the grand staircase. Some exhibits show how the ship literally cracked in half, leaving passengers jumping for their lives into the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Actually, the water was colder than ice since freezing temperature is 32˚F! One exhibit there shows visitors just how cold it was.

This part of the attraction allows visitors to stick their hand into a vat of water that’s kept the same temperature as the water that fateful night Titanic went down. In a video that’s gone viral 3 visitors try the water out, competing to see how long they can stand the water on each of their hands. The first person makes it to 20 seconds, and keeps repeating, “that’s rough.” When asked if she’s done she answers that its enough and takes her hand out.

The next person to try immediately notices that the water isn’t just cold, it’s stinging cold. Right away he says, “Oh wow, that’s kind of like a burning sensation.” After a few seconds, he removes his hand, saying, “I’m done.” He didn’t keep his hand in the cold water for long.

The last person handles the cold water the best, noting right away how cold it is. But, even she can’t keep her hand in for very long as she keeps on repeating, “Oh my God!”

With this exhibit it becomes clear that the passengers who didn’t make it into one of the 20 lifeboats had almost no chance of survival in water that cold. Within only 1 hour a person can die in water this temperature (28˚Fahrenheit), meaning many of the victims of the Titanic sinking would have perished long before the RMS Carpathia came to the rescue. Plus the victims were not only battling cold water, but also shock and possible injuries from the ship tearing right apart under their feet! It’s unimaginable how scared the passengers must have been.

Watch the video below to see how long these 3 visitors lasted in the dangerously cold water!