Sinking of the Titanic (apr 14, 1912 – apr 14, 1912)

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On 15 April 1912, RMS Titanic struck an iceberg while on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. The largest ocean liner at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 passengers on board. The ship was traveling at a speed of around 22 knots when she spotted the iceberg, which buckled the steel plates covering her starboard side and opened six of her sixteen compartments to the sea. The crew used distress flares and radio messages to attract help as passengers were put into lifeboats. However, the lifeboat system was designed to ferry passengers to nearby rescue vessels, not hold everyone on board simultaneously. As a result, there was no safe refuge for many passengers and crew, as the ship was equipped with only twenty lifeboats, including four collapsible lifeboats. Poor preparation and management of the evacuation led to many boats being launched before they were completely full.

Titanic sank with over a thousand passengers and crew still on board, with almost all dying within minutes due to cold shock and incapacitation. RMS Carpathia arrived about an hour and a half after the sinking and rescued all 710 survivors by 09:15 on 15 April. The disaster caused widespread outrage over the lack of lifeboats, lax regulations, and unequal treatment of third-class passengers during the evacuation.

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