Of the estimated 2, passengers and crew aboard, approximately 1, died figures vary , making the incident one of the deadliest peacetime sinkings of a single ship. The disaster drew public attention, spurred major changes in maritime safety regulations, and inspired a lasting legacy in popular culture.
RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat upon entering service and the second of three Olympic -class ocean liners built for White Star Line. The ship was built by the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding company in Belfast. Thomas Andrews Jr. Titanic was under the command of Captain Edward John Smith , who went down with the ship.
Bruce Ismay , White Star Line's chairman, managed to get in a lifeboat and survived. The first-class accommodation was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury. It included a gymnasium, swimming pool, smoking rooms, fine restaurants and cafes, a Victorian-style Turkish bath , and hundreds of opulent cabins.
A high-powered radiotelegraph transmitter was available to send passenger "marconigrams" and for the ship's operational use. Titanic had advanced safety features, such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, which contributed to the ship's reputation as "unsinkable". Titanic was equipped with sixteen lifeboat davits , each capable of lowering three lifeboats, for a total capacity of 48 boats.
Despite this capacity, the ship was scantly equipped with a total of only twenty lifeboats. Fourteen of these were regular lifeboats, two were cutter lifeboats, and four were collapsible and proved difficult to launch while the ship was sinking.
