The Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri, USA, is a two-story museum dedicated to the famous shipwreck. It is located inside a 1:2 scale replica of the front of the ship, anchored in a small pool, which gives the illusion of the ship floating on the sea. A piece of iceberg hitting the side of the ship is the entrance to the museum.
Inside the Titanic Museum you can see several exact replicas of the ship’s rooms and facilities – the Grand Staircase, the Dining Hall, Class I and III cabins, the Captain’s Bridge – and about 400 artifacts brought to the surface from the wreck and located in 20 different rooms. In addition, the museum has several interactive galleries, such as the captain’s bridge from where the ship is controlled, a telegraph room from where you can send an SOS signal, as well as many actors dressed as crew members.
At the entrance to the museum visitors are given a ticket with the name of one of the real passengers who sailed on this ship. The visitor will not know if that person survived or died until they complete the tour by reaching the Memorial Plaque with the names of all 2208 passengers and their rescue stories. Costumed characters walk around the museum: men in double-breasted officers’ uniforms, women dressed as maids, and, of course, the ship’s captain. Sirens, bells and muffled voices can be heard from hidden speakers, creating an atmosphere close to the real thing.
One of the most exciting places in the Titanic Museum is a full-size replica of the Grand Staircase, built from original drawings at a cost of over a million dollars. Upon ascending the staircase, the visitor enters Class I, where the luxurious staterooms are located. On the Captain’s Bridge, located nearby, you can try your hand at steering the ship. On the lower floor are the cramped cabins of Class III and the boiler of the engine room.
In a room called the Sunken Room, there are a series of gradually sloping decks to try to stand on, lifeboats to sit in and a bowl of salt water at a freezing temperature of -2.22°C where you can dip your finger in and use a nearby clock to test your stamina. This will help to understand why almost all the passengers who found themselves in the water died very quickly.