I was looking at a deck plan of the Titanic and I noticed that on Deck F there were a number of "flavors" of what appear to be bathrooms that I had no idea what their functions, intended uses, or histories were.
I'm hoping that the smart folks here might help me understand what these rooms are for:
Cheers!
Hi there!
I’ve written twice before on the bathroom situations on Titanic. here and here. These might give you a beginning to what you’re looking for. However, what you’re looking at isn’t a bathroom, it’s a sauna!
They are part of the Turkish Baths, or as we would know it today- a sauna, salon, spa, etc. Somewhere you go to be pampered, get away. Not sure if cucumbers on the eyes were a thing in 1912, but that’s the general spirit :)
The steam room is just that, just like you’d see in any YMCA today (ok, a little fancier perhaps). Your hot room would have been a dry sauna, heavily insulated with access to the temperate and cooling rooms. The electric bath was especially fancy- basically an iron lung that you’d lie in, head sticking out, and have your body blasted with hot water/steam. The shampooing room were where you went for a massage and a freshen up after your spa time. All this was connected to the pool complex, and in a different layout than Olympic
But, don’t let the bare washed, spartan pool complex fool you. The Turkish baths were incredibly luxurious. Decorated in a middle eastern motif with couches, chairs, lounges, lanterns and lamps, beautiful stained glass- this was a full on luxury spa experience with its own attendants and appointment times separated by sex, tickets available from the purser.
Fun fact: The Turkish baths, somehow, survived the sinking incredibly well and they are in amazing shape- even the stained glass is still intact. We have some great footage and pictures of it!
