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==Maiden voyage==
==Maiden voyage==
''Titanic'' left Southampton on April 10, 1912, picking up additional passengers at Cherbourg, [[France]], and Queenstown (now Cobh), [[Ireland]], before heading out into the [[Atlantic]]. At 11:40 pm on April 14, the ship was about 400 miles south of Newfoundland when it collided with an iceberg, rupturing six watertight compartments on the starboard side, resulting in flooding of the bow, and eventually flooding each watertight compartment aft until the ship broke apart at the surface and sank at 2:20 am on April 15. The 706 survivors were rescued by the Cunard liner ''Carpathia'', which was more than 50 miles away when it first heard the distress calls; she arrived some eighty minutes after the ''Titanic'' went down.
''Titanic'' left Southampton on April 10, 1912, picking up additional passengers at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, before heading out into the Atlantic. At 11:40 pm on April 14, the ship was about 400 miles south of Newfoundland when it collided with an iceberg, rupturing six watertight compartments on the starboard side, resulting in flooding of the bow, eventually flooding each watertight compartment. As the bow flooded, the stern was gradually lifted out of the water, until the ship snapped in two between the third and fourth funnels and sank at 2:20 am on April 15. The 706 survivors were rescued by the Cunard liner ''Carpathia'', which was more than 50 miles away when it first heard the distress calls; she arrived some eighty minutes after the Titanic went down.
==Passengers==
==Passengers==
The watertight compartments were designed without capping at the top; water filling the six ruptured compartments pulled the bow of the ship down far enough that water spilled over the top of the next compartment in line. ''Titanic'' also had 16 standard lifeboats and 4 collapsibles, with enough combined space to carry 1,178 passengers, far short of the 2,224 persons aboard; many of the lifeboats were lowered down the side only partialy filled with passengers (many of those remaining on board initially believed the ship to be "unsinkable"). Although the number of lifeboats was determined to be inadequate,<ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepRec.php#a2</ref> the Titanic had in actuality exceeded the British Board of Trade's lifeboat regulations, which had been written down for much smaller ships.
The watertight compartments were designed without capping at the top; water filling the six ruptured compartments pulled the bow of the ship down far enough that water spilled over the top of the next compartment in line. ''Titanic'' also had 16 standard lifeboats and 4 collapsibles, with enough combined space to carry 1,178 passengers, far short of the 2,224 persons aboard; many of the lifeboats were lowered down the side only partialy filled with passengers (many of those remaining on board initially believed the ship to be "unsinkable"). Although the number of lifeboats was determined to be inadequate,<ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepRec.php#a2</ref> the Titanic had in actuality exceeded the British Board of Trade's lifeboat regulations, which had been written down for much smaller ships.
[[Image:Titanic.jpg|right]]
[[Image:Titanic.jpg|right]]
Inquiries also revealed a fatal design flaw in the ship's vaunted watertight compartments. The compartments were essentially cubical, so required watertight seals on all six sides in order to remain watertight. However, the compartments were open at the top, which meant that as one compartment flooded, it would spill over into the next, filling that up, and so on, much as one might fill an ice cube tray. The ship was also designed to be able to stay afloat with any five compartments flooded. The iceberg ruptured the first six compartments, essentially dooming the ship.<ref>http://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_watertight_compartments.shtml</ref>
Both inquiries also determined that part of the blame for the high loss of passengers rested with Captain Stanley Lord of the liner ''Californian'', which was stopped for the night by an ice field some twenty miles from ''Titanic''. The board members alleged that ''Californian'' could have aided ''Titanic'' had its radio operator been on duty after 11:00 pm, and able to hear its distress signals. Indeed, it was determined that officers on the bridge of the ''Californian'' had seen distress lights from what they considered to be a "large passenger steamer", keeping under observation until the lights vanished after 2:00 am, but doing nothing further than that.<ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepCalifornian.php</ref>
Both inquiries also determined that part of the blame for the high loss of passengers rested with Captain Stanley Lord of the liner ''Californian'', which was stopped for the night by an ice field some twenty miles from ''Titanic''. The board members alleged that ''Californian'' could have aided ''Titanic'' had its radio operator been on duty after 11:00 pm, and able to hear its distress signals. Indeed, it was determined that officers on the bridge of the ''Californian'' had seen distress lights from what they considered to be a "large passenger steamer", keeping under observation until the lights vanished after 2:00 am, but doing nothing further than that.<ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepCalifornian.php</ref>