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The White Star Line’s Titanic was the largest ship in the world at that time. She had a greater tonnage than the first ship of this class the 45,324-ton Olympic, as design changes during construction led to her upper passenger decks being extended. Titanic could carry 905 1st, 564 2nd and 1,134 3rd class passengers. The Olympic class ships were powered by reciprocating piston engines driving two 3 bladed outer propellers - 23 feet in diameter and a low-pressured turbine driving the central 4 bladed propeller - 16 foot in diameter. Titanic had nine decks of which the lower were divided into 16 watertight compartments. Her builders calculated she could stay afloat with any two compartments flooded, possibly three. This would allow Titanic to withstand a collision at the joint of any two compartments. As no large ships had ever received damage greater than this, Olympic class ships were regarded as ‘virtually unsinkable’.

On April 10th 1912, Titanic set out on her maiden voyage from Southampton - Cherbourg/ France, Queenstown/Ireland and New York. She arrived at Queenstown on the 11th around lunchtime and set off bound for New York that afternoon. On April 14th at 11.40 pm, Titanic was approximately 1,300 miles from New York when she hit an iceberg. An inspection of the damage by her designer ‘Thomas Andrews’ found five or six forward compartments taking on water. As Andrews calculated Titanic could sink within a few hours, he recommended passengers should abandon ship. Women and children were ordered to leave first as there were insufficient lifeboats for all the passengers and crew.

Most of the lifeboats that left Titanic were not full, as many passengers believed the largest ship in the world would stay afloat. By 2.05 am, the last lifeboat had made the 60 foot decent from the boat deck to the waterline. At 2.17 am, Titanic’s stern rose in the air until a thundering crash was heard. After breaking up, her lights went out as she disappeared beneath the calm icy seas. Most of the passengers that put on lifejackets and jumped from the sinking ship died of exposure before they could be rescued. The first ship to reach the scene was Cunard’s Carpathia at 4.10 am. Carpathia only picked up survivors, this leaving the accident site littered with bodies. Of approximately 2,277 people on board, only 705 survived. Other steamers avoided the area to prevent upsetting their passengers with the tragic sight. The White Star Line chartered the cable laying ship Mackay - Bennet to pick up the dead. Makay - Bennet set out from Halifax Wednesday April 17th. Mainly first class passengers bodies were taken back; all other souls were buried at sea.