Last Meal Aboard The Titanic: What People Eat Hours Before The Ship Met Its Tragic End

Although its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York took place more than 100 years ago, the history of the ill-fated RMS Titanic remains fresh in almost everyone's mind at present. Dubbed as the most famous maritime disaster in modern history, the doomed ship's tragic story has been chronicled from books to movies, preserving its popularity.

Despite Titanic's notoriety, there are some finer details of the luxury liner that were not documented thoroughly. For example, what did the passengers eat hours before the ship met its catastrophic end on the night of April 14, 1912? What were the differences between the meals of the first, second and third classes of passengers? On that note, here are the last meals that the passengers ate before the ship sunk.

Third Class

According to the National Museums Northern Island, people who were traveling in third class were treated with simple yet plentiful meals. Most menu options included freshly baked bread and fruit.  On the ship's last day, roast beef with brown gravy was offered during dinner along with sweet corn and boiled potatoes. Plum pudding with sweet sauce, and fruit were also served in the later part of the dinner.

Second Class

Titanic's second class passengers were provided with high-quality and delicious dinner options, however, there were fewer courses and fewer choices compared to the first class. Menu options for dinner on April 14 included consommé and tapioca as starters. Curried chicken and rice, baked haddock in sharp sauce, spring lamb with mint sauce, or roast turkey and cranberry sauce followed, with puréed turnips, green peas, boiled rice, or boiled and roast potatoes as side dishes. Dessert included wine jelly, coconut sandwiches, plum pudding, assorted nuts, fresh fruits, American ice cream, cheese, biscuits, and coffee.

First Class

Glorious feasts and brilliantly prepared meals awaited first-class passengers on board Titanic. On April 14, 10 courses were flawlessly served for dinner in the first class café. The last dinner's menu featured various hors d'oeuvres, oysters, salmon with mousseline sauce and cucumber, consommé Olga, cream of barley soup, filet mignons Lili, sauté of chicken lyonnais, vegetable marrow farcie, roast duckling and apple sauce, lamb with mint sauce, sirloin of beef, château potatoes, creamed carrots, green peas, boiled new potatoes, and punch Romaine, among others.