Titanic - luxurious ocean liner that sank on its maiden voyage April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. The tragedy did not survive the 1517 passengers and crew members. In its time it was the largest passenger ship in the world. It was built in Belfast commissioned by White Star Line, which it introduced into service April 10, 1912.

The mighty Titanic surpassed the then compete in all respects, not only in size but also technical parameters, structural design and the level of luxury offered to passengers. Comparing him to his only sister ship Olympic, which was the first of three planned giant steamers built by the same sponsor. (Third finisher was Britannic, which originally should have been called Gigantic). Titanic was water running May 31, 1911. The steamer with a displacement of 52,310 tons measured the length of almost 270 meters in width had over 28 meters and possessed nine decks. The passenger compartment was divided into classes. The first and the most expensive was located on the upper decks and versatile offering passengers the luxury swimming pool, gym, library, spa and a restaurant with a Parisian cafe. There were also boat newspapers Atlantic Daily Bulletin.

The ship was considered unsinkable. I possible could puncture the hull shell to the liking of designers only meant flooding some of the resealable safety chambers. The steamer could then rest sail to the dock for repair. Under this impression Titanic was equipped with only twenty lifeboats that could hold only about 1,180 people. But that did not correspond to the actual number of persons on board (including the crew, there were more than 2200).

Titanic left the shores of April 11, 1912, when he sailed from the Irish port of Queenstown and took the direction of New York. Fate pride of the White Star Line was filled after three days of relatively peaceful voyage. April 14, twenty-one minutes before midnight, the watchman saw directly ahead of the iceberg. The first officer immediately gave reverse gear and rudder shoot. Water powered propellers in the opposite direction, paradoxically reduced the effectiveness of the rudder. Collision with a huge mountain of ice, however, the same could not be avoided. Glacier literally tore the right front side of the Titanic at length about ninety meters, thereby eliminating the security features watertight compartments in the bow. These thus first began to fill with water. Other smaller glacier caused a rift in the place where it was stored supply of coal to the boiler room.

The board included the chief designer of the Titanic Thomas Andrews, who after visiting the affected areas captain told the devastating news: The ship will go over an hour to an hour and a half to the bottom.

Five minutes after midnight gave Captain Edward John Smith command to launch the lifeboats and shortly after a radio operator sent into the ether first request for help. The nearest boat that could intervene effectively, the steamer Californian. However, his radio operator slept. The signal picked up the crew of the transatlantic steamship Carpathia, which is the maximum speed to help. At the crash site but did not arrive until around half past four in the morning, more than an hour after the sinking of the Titanic.

Of the more than two twelve hundred people managed to save only 706 people. Among the victims was the captain and chief engineer Smith Andrews. The longest surviving passengers were rescued Englishwoman Millvina Dean, who died in 2009.