Titanic File

When the Carpathia docked in New York, the world was changed forever. The tragedy exposed the reckless arrogance of the Edwardian class system. It was discovered that the Californian , a ship less than 20 miles away, had seen the Titanic 's flares but had turned off its wireless radio for the night.

On Wednesday, April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage to New York City. Carrying an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew, the ship was a floating microcosm of Edwardian society. Titanic

The ship’s safety architecture was considered revolutionary. It featured a double-bottomed hull and a system of . The ship could remain afloat with any two compartments flooded, or even the first four. This advanced engineering prompted contemporary trade journals to famously proclaim the vessel virtually unsinkable. Titanic facts for kids | History - National Geographic Kids When the Carpathia docked in New York, the

A double-bottom hull and 16 watertight compartments with doors that could be closed from the bridge. On Wednesday, April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic

In the early 20th century, the White Star Line was locked in a fierce rivalry with Cunard. To dominate the lucrative transatlantic passenger trade, Chairman J. Bruce Ismay conceived a new class of ocean liner: the Olympic, the Britannic, and the Titanic . Built in the massive Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, the Titanic was a floating city. She measured 882 feet and 9 inches long—about the length of three football fields—and weighed 46,328 gross register tons.

The disaster also changed the rules. Following the sinking, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was established, mandating enough lifeboats for everyone, 24-hour radio watches, and the creation of the International Ice Patrol. The Titanic gave us safety protocols that save lives every day, but it took 1,500 deaths to teach us that lesson.

In the early 1900s, the transatlantic passenger trade was a fiercely competitive and profitable industry. The White Star Line, seeking to outdo its rival Cunard, which had focused on speed, decided to focus on luxury and size. The result was a plan for three magnificent Olympic-class ocean liners: the Olympic , the Titanic , and the Britannic . The ship was designed by the Belfast firm of Harland and Wolff, and construction of the Titanic began in March 1909.