THE TITANIC

The RMS Titanic was a British luxury ocean liner that sank on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York after it rammed an iceberg about 400 miles or 640 kilometers south of Newfoundland, Canada.

Date and time:  April 15, 1912, 2:20 AM

Jack Phillips, the ship's wireless operator, sent a telegram when the Titanic started to go down, reading

"We are sinking fast passengers being put into boats"

Phillips' wire was picked up by the Russian SS Birma. But the steamer wasn't close enough to help.

About 1,500 people and Jack Phillips lost their lives. The exact figure can't be determined. Only 705 people survived.

Women and children travelling first class were put on the boats first and almost all of them made it. First-class passengers survived by 60%. Third-class passengers by 25%.

Onboard were about 2228 passengers and crew. Lifeboats were only enough for half of them.

At the time of its construction, the Titanic was the world's largest ship and officially declared unsinkable. The publicity was enormous, hence the proportional shock and devastation.

In 1985 the ship was located at

41°46¢ N 50°14¢ W

TITANIC MAP

Laura Mabel Francatelli was one of the survivors. Read more about Laura, provided by Discovery News. Another survivor was famous Molly Brown.

James Cameron made the story into a movie, Titanic, 1997.

Check out Voyages in History.