In the early 1900’s, when people were looking to travel across the ocean, the only option available was to travel by ship. During this time large ocean liners were being built and put into service to make transatlantic travel easier. These luxury liners had all the finest amenities such as dining rooms, dance floors, and other diversions that would make long voyages a pleasure for travelers.

To compete with some of the larger ships of that era, ship builder White Star Line had plans for the largest, most luxurious of the ocean liners – the unsinkable HMS Titanic . Utilizing the latest in technology and materials, construction on Titanic began in March 1909 and the ship was completed in March 1910. When finished the vessel was nearly 900 feet long and almost 100 feet wide, and could accommodate over 3,500 passengers and crew members.

The ship had all of the finest first class extras such as a swimming pool, Turkish bath, gymnasium, squash court and a library. In addition, the furnishings and décor were top quality. For food, first class passengers could enjoy food prepared by world class chefs. When completed, and prior to taking on passengers, the Titanic went on a sea trial to provide that the ship was sea-worthy. With crew and members of the ship company aboard, Titanic passed the trial easily.

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, with its final destination slated to be New York City. A total of 2,240 people were aboard the Titanic when it set off for New York for its maiden voyage, including several prominent businessmen such as John Jacob Astor IV , Benjamin Guggenheim and Isidor Strauss, traveling in the first class section.

However, on April 14, 1912, the Titanic needed to alter its course slightly because of iceberg warnings . Unfortunately, the Captain of the ship did not receive the most important warnings that icebergs were immediately in the path of the Titanic. Later that evening, one of the lookouts spotted an iceberg dead ahead, and the ship took evasive action . However, the ship was not able to turn in time, and the side of the Titanic brushed against the iceberg causing severe damage to the ship.

The damage caused water to come into the hull of the ship, and the Titanic began to sink . The crew sent distress calls out to any ships in the area. However, the closest ship was the Carpathia, but they would not be able to arrive for four hours. Since the Titanic would not be able to stay afloat for that long, lifeboats were put into the water. The Titanic had 20 lifeboats available that unfortunately would only hold about 1,100 of the passengers.

The Carpathia arrived on the scene in the middle of the night, but it was too late for the majority of the passengers. The rescue boat picked up the passengers in the lifeboats and searched for survivors without luck.

Because of freezing temperatures, many of the passengers that were rescued died from hypothermia. Out of the 2,223 passengers and crew that were on the Titanic, only 706 passengers survived. All crew members of the ship remained aboard when the ship sunk.

The sinking of the previously thought unsinkable Titanic was a shocking development. The loss of life was one of the highest in any disaster . As an aftermath, boats needed to follow more rigorous guidelines, travel insurance policies began to be issued and improvements in communications were made so that no future disasters would occur. The tale of the Titanic has been told many times and many ways, including several movies based on the events. It’s a tragic tale that will continue to be told for many more generations.