The sinking of the RMS Titanic caused the deaths of 1,517 of its 2,229 passengers and crew (official numbers vary slightly) in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The 712 survivors were taken aboard the RMS Carpathia. Few disasters have had such resonance and far-reaching effects on the fabric of society as the sinking of the Titanic. It affected attitudes toward social injustice, altered the way the North Atlantic passenger trade was conducted, changed the regulations for numbers of lifeboats carried aboard passenger vessels and created an International Ice Patrol (where commercial ships crossing the North Atlantic still, today, radio in their positions and ice sightings). The 1985 discovery of the Titanic wreck on the ocean floor marked a turning point for public awareness of the ocean and for the development of new areas of science and technology. April 15, 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. It has become one of the most famous ships in history, her memory kept alive by numerous books, films, exhibits and memorials.
The British passenger liner RMS Titanic leaves from Southampton, England on her maiden voyage, April 10, 1912. Titanic called at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland before heading westward toward New York. Four days into the crossing, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m., 375 miles south of Newfoundland. Just before 2:20 am Titanic broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people still on board. Those in the water died within minutes from hypothermia caused by immersion in the freezing ocean.
Workers leave the Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, where the Titanic was built between 1909 and 1911. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury and was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. The ship is visible in the background of this 1911 photograph.
A 1912 photograph of a dining room on the Titanic. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins.
In this April 10, 1912 photo the Titanic leaves Southampton, England. The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed, some believe, on low grade rivets that the ship's builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner.
Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partly filled. This photograph of Titanic lifeboats approaching the rescue ship Carpathia, was taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden and was on display during a 2003 exhibition of images related to the Titanic disaster
A huge crowd gathered in front of the White Star Line office in New York's lower Broadway to get the latest news on the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic on April 14, 1912.
This Aug. 28, 2010 image, released by Premier Exhibitions, Inc.-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, shows the starboard side of the Titanic bow.
The British passenger liner RMS Titanic leaves from Southampton, England on her maiden voyage, April 10, 1912. Titanic called at Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland before heading westward toward New York. Four days into the crossing, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m., 375 miles south of Newfoundland. Just before 2:20 am Titanic broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people still on board. Those in the water died within minutes from hypothermia caused by immersion in the freezing ocean.
Workers leave the Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, where the Titanic was built between 1909 and 1911. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury and was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. The ship is visible in the background of this 1911 photograph.
A 1912 photograph of a dining room on the Titanic. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins.
In this April 10, 1912 photo the Titanic leaves Southampton, England. The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed, some believe, on low grade rivets that the ship's builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner.
Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partly filled. This photograph of Titanic lifeboats approaching the rescue ship Carpathia, was taken by Carpathia passenger Louis M. Ogden and was on display during a 2003 exhibition of images related to the Titanic disaster
A huge crowd gathered in front of the White Star Line office in New York's lower Broadway to get the latest news on the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic on April 14, 1912.
This Aug. 28, 2010 image, released by Premier Exhibitions, Inc.-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, shows the starboard side of the Titanic bow.
