Built for White Star Line’s transatlantic service, British passenger liner RMS Titanic, constructed by Harland and Wolff at Belfast, was one of the largest moving objects at the time, 882 ft long, and was able to carry over 2,200 passengers and crew. Titanic represented the height of technology and engineering, with luxury public rooms, electric elevators, and swimming bath; there was also an electric squash court that was unusual for ships of the time.

She commenced her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to Cherbourg, France, Queenstown, Ireland (now Cobh, Ireland) and onwards to New York on 10 April 1912 with a wide range of passengers and crew including, but not limited to, the world’s wealthiest men and women, engineers, musicians, officers, and crew members. The presence of such people, including emigrants, and the mix of other professions and social ranks that made up Titanic’s complement made her an exceptional example of contemporary society.

Late on the night of April 14, 1912, RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, damaging her below the waterline, which allowed seawater to flood the ship. At some point, the ship’s design became insufficient to keep her afloat, as the water continued to flood her watertight compartments and Titanic’s fate became inevitable in the early morning hours of April 15. Lifeboats launched, but they were few compared to the total number of people on board due to outdated lifeboat standards that considered the weight of the ship, rather than passenger capacity; many lifeboats were only partially filled at launch. In the early hours of April 15, Titanic broke apart and sank and more than 1,500 people died. RMS Carpathia arrived hours later and picked up the people left in lifeboats, rescuing more than 700 people.

The world mourned and investigated, including inquiries from Britain and the United States that examined the cause of the sinking. These inquiries led to stricter maritime regulations regarding speed, radio communications, lifeboats, and preparedness for icebergs. Titanic was located in 1985, in an expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel and Robert Ballard, at 12,500 feet underwater, and she is now the site of scientific investigations, as well as the subject of popular history, as she is considered both an example of engineering innovation and a warning for the dangers of hubris, and her history has been preserved around the world for people to experience through museums, media, and memorial sites.