The Titanic had ten decks, each with its own purpose. Where do you want to go aboard the Titanic? The Grand Staircase? The Turkish baths? You’d need to know how to find your way around the Titanic’s many decks to find what you were looking for.
This table lists the ten decks on the Titanic, starting with the uppermost deck (called the Boat deck because most of the lifeboats were stored there) and ending with the Tank Top deck, the lowest deck in the ship. The table shows what was located fore, amidships, and aft on each deck:
Fore: Toward the front of the ship
Amidships: In the middle
Aft: Toward the back
In the table, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and crew indicate what parts of the ship were accessible to first-class passengers, second-class passengers, third-class passengers, and crew members. Also, the poop deck was an exposed deck that formed the roof of an aft cabin on the ship.
| Deck | Fore | Amidships | Aft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boat | Officer’s bridge (crew) | Promenade (1st) Gymnasium (1st) |
Promenade (2nd) |
| Promenade (A) | Reading and Writing Room (1st) | Lounge (1st) | Smoking room (1st) Verandah Café (1st) Palm Courts (1st) |
| Bridge (B) | Forecastle deck (crew) | Suites, cabins (1st) | À la Carte Restaurant (1st) Café Parisien (1st) Smoking room (2nd) Promenade (poop deck; 3rd) |
| Shelter (C) | Crew mess (crew) | Cabins, staterooms (1st) Crew mess (crew) Purser’s office (crew) |
Library (2nd) Smoking room (3rd) General room (3rd) |
| Saloon (D) | Open space (3rd) Cabins (3rd) |
Dining saloon (1st) Reception room (1st) Cabins (1st) |
Dining saloon (2nd) Kitchen galleys (crew) |
| Upper (E) | Cabins (3rd) | Cabins (2nd) Cabins (crew) |
Cabins (2nd) Cabins (3rd) |
| Middle (F) | Cabins (3rd) | Dining saloon (3rd) Swimming pool (1st) Turkish baths (1st) |
Cabins (2nd) Cabins (3rd) |
| Lower (G) | Storage rooms (crew) Engine rooms (crew) |
Boiler rooms (crew) | Squash court (1st) Post office (crew) |
| Orlop | Cargo rooms (crew) Baggage rooms (crew) Mail room (crew) |
Boiler rooms (crew) | Engine rooms (crew) Cargo rooms (crew) |
| Tank Top | Boiler rooms (crew) Engine rooms (crew) |
Boiler rooms (crew) Engine rooms (crew) |
Boiler rooms (crew) Engine rooms (crew) |
To get from deck to deck on the Titanic, first-class passengers could use an elevator or the Grand Staircase. The Grand Staircase rose from the first-class dining room and reception room on the Saloon deck (D) to the Boat deck, the uppermost deck on the ship. In the daytime, an iron-and-glass dome at the top of staircase let in natural light that flooded the staircase’s candelabra, oak paneling, and other ornate details. The Grand Staircase was the Titanic’s pièce de résistance and an important passageway from deck to deck. Even at the bottom of the ocean it serves an important purpose: The best means for submersibles to explore the interior of the Titanic wreck is to use the Grand Staircase.
