Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Cityon 10 April 1912. Four days into the crossing, at 23:40 on 14 April 1912, she struck an iceberg and sank at 2:20 the following morning, resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disastersin history.
An Olympic-class passenger liner, RMS Titanic was owned by the White Star Line and constructed at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast,Ireland. She set sail for New York City with 2,227 people on board. The high casualty rate when the ship sank was due in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the ship carried lifeboats for only 1,178 people. A disproportionate number of men died due to the women and children first protocol that was followed.
Titanic was designed by some of the most experienced engineers, and used some of the most advanced technologies available at the time. It was a great shock to many that, despite the extensive safety features, Titanic sank, and the fact that it sank on its maiden voyage added to the particularly ironic nature of the tragedy. The frenzy on the part of the media about Titanic's famous victims, the legends about the sinking, the resulting changes tomaritime law, the discovery of the wreck, and the 1997 film have contributed to the interest in Titanic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic
