The RMS Titanic, British luxury passenger liner that sank on April 14th- 15th, during its maiden voyage, when it was in route from South Hampton, England to New York City, killing about 1,500 passengers and ship personnel. One of the most famous tragedies in modern history, it has inspired numerous, stories several films, and a musical and been the subject of much scholarship and scientific speculation. Titanic was under the command of Edward Smith, who also went down with the ship. The ocean liner carried some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds or emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere throughout Europe who were seeking a new life in the United States.
The first class accommodation was designed to be a pinnacle of comfort and luxury, with an onboard gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high class restaurant and opulent cabins. A high powered radiotelegraph transmitter was available for sending passenger and for the ship's operational use. Although Titanic had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, there were not enough lifeboats to accommodate all of those aboard, due to outdated maritime safety regulations. Titanic only carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 peoples slightly more than half the number on board and one third of her total capacity. The ship carried a total of 16 lifeboat davits which could lower three lifeboats each, for a total of 48 lifeboats. However the Titanic carried a total of 20 lifeboats, four of which were collapsible and proved to be hard to launch during the sinking.
After leaving Southampton on April 10th 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland before heading west to New York. On April 14th, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles south of Newfoundland, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. ship’s time. The collision caused the ship’s hull plates to buckle inwards along her starboard right side and opened five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea, she could only survive four compartments flooding. Meanwhile, passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partially loaded. A disproportionate number of men were left aboard. Just under two hours after the Titanic sank, the Cunard liner arrived at the scene, where she brought aboard an estimated 705 survivors.