The Shard vs RMS Titanic
The Shard (310 m) is 1.15× the size of RMS Titanic (269 m).
RMS Titanic is 87% of the height of the Shard. The gap between them is 40.5 m (133 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Shard | 310 m | 1,016 ft | height |
| RMS Titanic | 269 m | 883 ft | length |
What the scale shows
The Shard (310 m) is 1.15× the size of RMS Titanic (269 m). The gap between them is 40.5 m (133 ft). One is among the buildings & towers and the other among the vehicles & ships, so the figures are standing in for different kinds of size — read the basis below.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 87% of the frame while the larger one runs to the top. The two are close enough that the difference is easy to see side by side.
Read the rest — 8 more sections
What each figure means
The figure for the Shard is its height (architectural height). The figure for RMS Titanic is its length (overall length).
Crossing them
Walking pace is 1.4 m/s, so crossing the Shard's 310 m takes 3.7 minutes and RMS Titanic's 269 m takes 3.2 minutes.
In people: the Shard is 182 adults of 1.7 m tall, RMS Titanic is 158.3. By size the Shard is 15th of the 23 buildings & towers on this site, while RMS Titanic is 5th of the 14 vehicles & ships.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. The Shard is given as a height, architectural height. The RMS Titanic is given as a length, overall length. One is a height and the other is a length, so the drawing stands them side by side by convention: everything is stood upright on a single baseline so one scale can hold. That is a fair way to compare overall extent, not a claim that the two are oriented the same way in real life.
Building heights depend on the rule used: architectural height counts spires but not antennas, tip height counts everything. The basis is named with each figure. Vehicles are listed by overall length. Rockets are the exception and are given as full stack height standing on the pad. Everything is drawn standing upright so one scale holds.
Where the pair sits among all the sizes here
Across all 86 things on this site, the Shard is number 45 from the top and the RMS Titanic is number 46. No other item falls between them, so in this collection they are direct neighbours.
Because the collection spans 13 mm up to 1,392,700 km, a ratio of 107,130,769,231× from smallest to largest, the position of a pair says a lot: the pair sits in the middle of the range rather than at an extreme.
What the length ratio hides
A length ratio of 1.15× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, the Shard would have about 1.32× the surface or footprint of the RMS Titanic, and about 1.52× the volume. These two are not the same shape, so treat the figures as an upper bound for an imaginary scaled copy, not as a measurement of either one.
The drawing above shows length only. The RMS Titanic is drawn 87% as tall as the Shard, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 75.5%, which is why the smaller one looks even slighter than the numbers alone suggest.
Time to cross each one
A sprinter holding about 10 m/s covers the Shard in 31 seconds and the RMS Titanic in 27 seconds. Sound, at about 343 m/s in air, takes 903 milliseconds for the larger and 785 milliseconds for the smaller. A jet cruising at 900 km/h needs 1.2 seconds and 1.1 seconds.
These times assume a straight line and constant speed, which no real crossing has, but they turn a number in metres into something the body understands. At any fixed speed the travel times keep the same 1.15× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
The Shard measures 310 m, which is 1,016 ft or 338.6 yards. The RMS Titanic measures 269 m, which is 883 ft.
The difference between them is 40.5 m (133 ft). In metres the smaller one is 269.1 against 309.6, so the 1.15× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, the Shard or the RMS Titanic?
The Shard is bigger. At 310 m it is 1.15× the size of the RMS Titanic, which is 269 m.
How many times does the RMS Titanic fit along the Shard?
Less than twice: the RMS Titanic is 87% of the size of the Shard, so one fits with 40.5 m to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
No. The Shard is a height (architectural height) and the RMS Titanic is a length (overall length), so read the comparison as overall extent.
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, the Shard is about 182 people tall and the RMS Titanic is about 158.3. The gap of 40.5 m is 24 people.
Where do the numbers come from?
Each item has its own page that names the measurement and links to the Wikipedia article it was taken from. Some figures are rounded, and animals vary from one individual to the next, so treat them as representative values rather than records for every case.
How the sizes are taken. Each figure says what it measures — height, length, diameter or elevation — and for which individual or convention. Everything is drawn standing upright on one baseline so a single scale holds, including things that are long rather than tall. Values come from the linked Wikipedia article for each item.