The RMS Titanic

The RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) Titanic was a passenger ship. Construction on the Titanic began on 31 March, 1909, and ended May, 1911. On 3 April, 1912, the ship arrived at Southampton, England, after an overnight voyage from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

On the morning of 10 April, 1912 passengers boarded the ship. At noon, the ship slipped its moorings and began to pick up speed. The maiden (first) voyage had begun.

The Titanic had been outfitted with only 20 lifeboats, 16 wooden and four collapsible. If any disaster happened, not many people would survive.

It was Sunday 14 April, 1912. As the Titanic sped across the North Atlantic, Captain Smith picked up a lot of telegrams from other ships warning about ice. But Smith was firm in his belief that his vessel would not sink.

But at 11:40 pm, lookout Fredrick Fleet spotted an iceberg ahead of the Titanic. He rang the warning bell three times and then radioed the bridge to them what he saw. Quartermaster Robert Hichens tried to turn the ship, but it was too late. The Titanic struck the iceberg on the starboard (right) side.

25 minutes after the collision, Captain Smith gave the order to abandon ship. The lifeboats were uncovered, and for the next hour, they slid down the sides of the ship. The lifeboats rowed away from the ship, and then watched in horror as the ship sank. The Titanic’s stern was raised high into the air, and after a few second, the ship cracked in two. The bow went down, and the stern floated for a few minutes before it too went down. Only 706 people survived the disaster.