RMS Titanic

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"Titanic" redirects here. For the film by James Cameron, see Titanic (1997 film). For other uses, see Titanic (disambiguation).

A colourised photo of the RMS Titanic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912
History
United Kingdom
Name:	RMS Titanic
Owner:	White Star Line
Port of registry:	Liverpool, UK
Route:	Southampton to New York City
Ordered:	17 September 1908
Builder:	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Cost:	7.5 million (US dollars)
Yard number:	401
Laid down:	31 March 1909
Launched:	31 May 1911
Completed:	2 April 1912
Maiden voyage:	10 April 1912
In service:	10–15 April 1912
Identification:	Radio call sign "MGY"
Fate:	Hit an iceberg 11:40 p.m. (ship's time) 14 April 1912 on her maiden voyage and sank 2 h 40 min later
Status:	Wreck
General characteristics
Class and type:	Olympic-class ocean liner
Tonnage:	46,328 GRT
Displacement:	52,310 tons
Length:	882 ft 9 in (269.1 m)
Beam:	92 ft 6 in (28.2 m)
Height:	175 ft (53.3 m) (keel to top of funnels)
Draught:	34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)
Depth:	64 ft 6 in (19.7 m)
Decks:	9 (A–G)
Installed power:	24 double-ended and five single-ended boilers feeding two reciprocating steam engines for the wing propellers, and a low-pressure turbine for the centre propeller;[1] output: 46,000 HP
Propulsion:	Two three-blade wing propellers and one four-blade centre propeller
Speed:	Cruising: 21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph). Max: 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Capacity:	Passengers: 2,435, crew: 892. Total: 3,327 (or 3,547 according to other sources)
Notes:	Lifeboats: 20 (sufficient for 1,178 people)

RMS Titanic (/taɪˈtænɪk/) was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The largest ship afloat at the time it entered service, the RMS Titanic was the second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, and was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, her architect, died in the disaster.
Under the command of Edward Smith, who went down with the ship, Titanic carried some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and elsewhere throughout Europe seeking a new life in North America. The first class accommodation was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. A high-power radiotelegraph transmitter was available for sending passenger "marconigrams" 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 people—slightly more than half of the number on board, and one third of her total capacity.
After leaving Southampton on 10 April 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland before heading west to New York.^[2] On 14 April, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles (600 km) 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 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 because of a "women and children first" protocol for loading lifeboats.^[3] At 2:20 a.m., she broke apart and foundered—with well over one thousand people still aboard. Just under two hours after Titanic sank, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene, where she brought aboard an estimated 705 survivors.
The disaster was greeted with worldwide shock and outrage at the huge loss of life and the regulatory and operational failures that had led to it. Public inquiries in Britain and the United States led to major improvements in maritime safety. One of their most important legacies was the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), which still governs maritime safety today. Additionally, several new wireless regulations were passed around the world in an effort to learn from the many missteps in wireless communications—which could have saved many more passengers.^[4]
The wreck of Titanic, first discovered over 70 years after the sinking, remains on the seabed, split in two and gradually disintegrating at a depth of 12,415 feet (3,784 m). Since her discovery in 1985, thousands of artifacts have been recovered and put on display at museums around the world. Titanic has become one of the most famous ships in history; her memory is kept alive by numerous works of popular culture, including books, folk songs, films, exhibits, and memorials. Titanic is the second largest ocean liner wreck in the world, only beaten by her sister HMHS Britannic, the largest ever sunk.