The maiden voyage of the White Star liner Titanic, the largest ship ever launched, that ended in disaster.
The Titanic started its trip from Southampton for New York on Wednesday. Late on Sunday night it struck an iceberg off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. By wireless telegraphy, it sent out signals of distress, and several liners were near enough to catch and respond to the call.
Next was the Conflicting news, alarming and reassuring, after midnight it was said all the passengers were safe. All reports, of course, depended on wireless telegrams over great distances.
the White Star officials in New York announced that a message had been received stating that the Titanic sank at 2.20 in the morning after all its passengers and crew had been transferred to another vessel. Later they admitted that many lives had been lost. An unofficial message from Cape Race, Newfoundland, stated that only 675 have been saved out of 2,200 to 2,400 persons on board.
This was confirmed later by White Star officials in Liverpool, who said they were afraid the report was likely to prove true. Assuming that only 675 of the passengers and crew have been saved, and taking the smallest estimate of the number of people on board, the disaster is one of the most awful in the history of navigation, for at least 1,500 lives have been lost.