The Titanic: Struck an Iceberg, Shook The World
by From Epics of History: More Prisoners of Eternity.
There have been worse maritime disasters but none more significant or famous. The sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic destroyed the Edwardian myth that man could, and had, conquered nature.
The RMS Titanic was the largest passenger liner in the world, and the the pride of the White Star Line. She was designed to transform trans-Atlantic travel. Passengers would sail in unparalleled luxury and safety. Sea travel would never be the same again, but few at the time could have guessed why. On 10 April, 1912, she set sail on her maiden voyage bound for New York. It was to be her last. No one could have imagined what was to be her fate. For with the Titanic people believed that Man had at last the conquered the Oceans. Though she had never been described as unsinkable with her many safety features that including automatically locking doors that could be sealed at the press of a button she was widely believed to be so. It was known that any four of her compartments could be flooded and she would still float. As a result the procurement of lifeboats hardly seemed a priority. She in fact had 16 lifeboats and 4 collapsibles enough capacity for around half of the 2,240 people on board, if full. This was actually more than was required by the Board of Trade and when it was suggested that she should carry more the owners dismissed the idea claiming that they had done all that was required by law. As such, though there have been greater maritime disasters none has ever come as a greater shock. 
RMS Titanic, in all her glory
The portents appeared bad from the very outset when she almost collided with the liner New York as she was preparing to leave port. Disaster was only diverted when a tugboat managed to pull the New York away at the last moment. The Titanic’s Captain, Edward J Smith, was praised for his swift action during this incident, but it was no less than people would have expected from this most venerable of Master Mariners. At the age of 62, Edward Smith was one of the most experienced Captains then serving, indeed he was a Commodore of the White Star Line. He was due to retire at the end of The Titanic’s maiden voyage and his captaincy was felt to be a fitting tribute to both the man and the ship.
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