In 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada, four days into its maiden voyage, and causing it to sink.
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The shipIt spanned 883 feet from stern to bow and had 16 watertight compartments designed to keep it afloat if damaged.
The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and was thought to be the world’s fastest ship.
Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable.

While leaving port, the ship came within a couple of feet of the steamer New York but passed safely by, causing a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the Titanic‘s decks.
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On its first journey across the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.
After stopping at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up some final passengers, the massive vessel set out at full speed for New York City.
However, just before midnight on April 14, the RMS Titanic failed to divert its course from an iceberg and ruptured at least five of its hull compartments.
These compartments filled with water and pulled down the bow of the ship. Because the Titanic‘s compartments were not capped at the top, water from the ruptured compartments filled each succeeding compartment, causing the bow to sink and the stern to be raised up to an almost vertical position above the water.
Then the Titanic broke in half, and, at about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, stern and bow sank to the ocean floor.


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