On the very first trip for the ‘unsinkable’ ship from Southampton to New York, the passenger liner Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on this day. It is still regarded as the world’s worst peacetime shipping disaster.
The ship was eleven stories high, a sixth of a mile long and weighed 46,328 gross tons. At the time it was the biggest ship the world had seen, and was also noted as the fanciest.
The millionaire suites cost up to $1,200, which is equivalent to about $62,000 today, and were designed for the financial giants of the time. 2,200 total passengers were on board the voyage.
At 11:40pm on the fifth night, lookout Fred Fleet spotted an ice berg directly ahead. Quickly, Fleet banged the crow’s nest bell three times.
A 300 foot gash signaled the doom of the ship.
There were 16 lifeboats, plus four “collapsibles”. Altogether, they could carry 1,178 people.
The exact toll is not known. According to the American inquiry there were 706 left alive of the 2,223 people on board. The official British figures were 711 survivors from a complement of 2,201.
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