How Many Rivets Did the Titanic Use?

I hope you enjoyed this riveting fact :)
Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels– from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines!

#titanic #history #engineering #oceanlinerdesigns #ships

[JasonM]

It's 4am and I can't sleep, but at least I know how many rivets the Titanic had.

[Y_]

Imagine being a worker who lost 2 years of his life working in terrible conditions just for it to all go down the drain in 4 days

[josephconsoli]

Beyond all the human loss, imagine how all the people who toiled on the Titanic felt when it didn't even make its maiden voyage? So much incredible craftmanship vanishing.

[yusokrazee]

If only they had used 3, 000, 001 rivets...

[mitchellminer]

The four-person rivet team was the heater, the placer, the bucker, and the hammer. (Names may vary.)
A rivet looked like a metal mushroom.
One guy ran a little coal stove on a stand, heating the rivets, fanning the fire, and pulling out red-hot rivets with tongs. He would throw the hot rivets up to the placer who had a catching funnel.
The placer would stick the stem of the rivet in a hole so it went through two plates of metal.
The bucker had a tool that was essentially a heavy bar of metal with a dimple in one end - a bucking bar. The dimple went over the head end of the rivet, shoved in tight, and inertia took over.
The hammer guy would then whang on the end of the stem of the hot, soft-ish rivet with a hammer, spreading and flattening it into a head.
When the rivet cooled, it would shrink in length, pulling the sheets together.
Techniques may vary, but throwing and catching red-hot steel rivets was a thing.

[grizwoldphantasia]

This discussion has been riveting. I was welded to the story.

[BHuang]

There was a study on the quality of the rivets used on the Titanic and there was a theory that the lower quality rivets would've been brittle in the cold North Atlantic waters. It would've been an inconsequential but small contribution to the sinking.

[Hammerandhearth]

My understanding is that iron rivets were used on complex seams and hull sections, where limited access would not permit the use of gantry riveting machines. Iron was inherently softer than steel and could also be worked slightly hotter, meaning that they were easier to drive by hand.

[restojon]

I was a restoration engineer for many years and I had to do riveting as part of my job (although, not quite this many). You really must have a go at riveting if you get the chance, the proper way that is. It'll keep you on your toes mate 👍

[justindunlap]

I've done quite a bit of hot riveting with thinner steel plates and there is just something satisfying about how strong/attractive the joint is with the most basic materials/tools.

[kaltenstein]

Lusitania actually used more rivots than Titanic because they wanted her hull to be able to withstand Duty as an auxilliary warship.

[tubester]

Those numbers add up to over 20 riveting teams working every day for 2 years straight. 20 x 200 x 730 days = approximately 3M rivets.

[laratheplanespotter]

Why have I got addicted to your videos?!

[misssammie]

I'd love to see the Big Piece to witness this craftsmanship! My great grandfather worked in Harland and Wolf during the time the three sisters were built!

[andrewince]

Rivets are insane. Because, and hopefully this isn't new to anyone, things expand when heated and contract when cooled, the rivets "shrunk" as they cooled which squeezed her hull plates together so tight as to become watertight. Interestingly, welding had a disadvantage due to this property of rivets. It took a while for welding to take off partly due to concerns that missing a spot would lead to leaks whereas rivets pretty much prevented that issue. Cost and skill were the main factors as to why welding was slow to take off but a degree of conservate thinking made it hard for the welding arc to hit the shipyard.

[albertogiavani]

I'm really fucking pissed that the Titanic just sank like that, GORGEOUS ship, if only it were still floating to this day.

[JonesNate]

The not-so-subtle pause right after saying the steel rivets were used in the middle because they were supposed to make it stronger...☠️

[Steve-lnkl]

Now wondering what percentage of the ship's weight was in rivets.

[kingmichealthefirstofroman]

The riveters at Clydebank shipyard were legendary for thier riveting skills

[nathieboy]

Hi Mike, just saw you on the news. Great work and wonderful to see you’re getting exposure in the media!! All the best to you 😊