The Titanic was built by Harland & Wolf
shipbuilders in Belfast at a time
when the British Empire was at the height of it's
powers. It was built for the White Star
shipping company.
It was a fantastically opulent ship and the most luxurious liner ever constructed.
Two critical mistakes were made, both caused by
arrogance. The boat was designed to have bulkheads
that would section the hull into
separate parts. If one section were to be sustain
a leak it could fill without leaking into
the other sections and the boat would remain afloat.
This is why it was considered unsinkable.
In order to extend the size of some
luxury cabins these bulkheads were altered.
When the ship was struck by the ice-berg water leaked
from one compartment to the next.
The boat had the capacity to hold enough lifeboats for all of the passengers.
This would have meant having life-boats on
some of the upper class decks. these were removed as the ship was unsinkable
and didn't need them (doh!).
This is the single reason why so many perished at sea.
After the sinking maritime law was introduced to
measure that all ocean going vessels carry enough
lifeboats to accommodate the entire itinerary of passengers.
There is a memorial park to some of the survivors
on Broadway and 107th in New York.
A much better film portrait of the sinking
is given in the film "A night to remember"
a classic black and white English film from the 50's,
stiff upper lip and all that.