Overview

On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic embarked on its maiden voyage, sailing from Southampton, England, to New York City. One of the largest and most luxurious passenger liners at the time, the Titanic was also equipped with watertight compartments, which led many to consider the ship unsinkable; an anonymous deckhand famously claimed that “God himself could not sink this ship.” On April 14, however, the ship struck an iceberg, and early the next day it sank. Some 1,500 people perished.