Disaster | Accident

The Sinking of the Titanic

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The Titanic was equipped with 20 lifeboats that could only accommodate about half of the passengers, but the ship sunk so fast that many left half empty and two were never even used.

It took three years and $7,500,000 to build the RMS Titanic, which sank in under three hours on April 15, 1912. On its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, the 882-feet long, 46-ton ship was the embodiment of luxury and built with the newest safety features. It was steaming full speed through icy waters 375 miles off the coast of Newfoundland when it collided with an iceberg, plunging thousands of passengers into the frozen water. Less than a third would survive the disaster.

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One of the ship's safety features might have been its fatal flaw. Of the 16 watertight compartments meant to keep water out of the ship's body in the event of a punctured hull, six failed.

 

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The RMS Titanic carried countless members of high society. American socialite Margaret Brown earned her nickname "Unsinkable Molly Brown" by helping lift morale while lifeboats were being loaded.