THIRD CLASS TRAVEL ON BOARD
Third class accommodation was much less luxurious than second class. Even so, third class or "steerage" passengers as they were known still enjoyed levels of luxury compared to most liners of their day.
1. Third Class Smoke and General Room
The General Room was the heart of the Steerage, third class community. It was the main meeting room. It was panelled in pine and finished in enamel white with teak furniture.
The Smoke Room was panelled and furnished in oak with teak furniture and was very comfortable.
It was clear from outset that the White Star Line had given much consideration for the third class passengers, many of whom would be crossing the Atlantic to start new lives away from their home country left behind. The White Star Line wanted them to enjoy the voyage as a good start to their "new life."
2. Dining Room
The Dining Room, situated on the Middle Deck, was 100 foot long and extended the full width of the ship. It could seat approximately seat 470 passengers in each of the three sittings. The pantries and galley were situated behind the Dining Room.
3. Third Class Accommodation
There were over 1000 third class passengers on the Titanic. Their accommodation was much more modest than the other two classes. The rooms comprised mainly of two to six berth rooms. There were only 84 two-berth cabins onboard.
The size of the rooms compared to first and second class reflected the class attitudes of the age. The first class Turkish Bath was larger than the third class galley. A thousand passengers would rely on the galley but only a handful would have used the Turkish Bath.
The designers wanted to change the attitudes towards third class travel. The third class cabins were not dormatory like rooms but individual closed cabins, thus adding privacy to the passengers, but they would still have shared their experience with strangers.
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