Titanic Biography: Ship Overview and Construction
The Titanic biography centers on the British passenger liner RMS Titanic, built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line. The ship was designed to compete with rival Cunard Line vessels and was registered at 46,328 gross tonnage with a length of 882 feet 9 inches. Its construction began in March 1909, with the hull launched on May 31, 1911, and fitting-out work completed in early 1912. The vessel featured two main engines and a set of Parsons turbines, with a top service speed of about 21 knots. At launch, Titanic was among the largest moving man-made objects ever built, and its interiors were designed to reflect the luxury standards of the White Star Line fleet. For more on the ship's design and builder, see the Harland and Wolff historical overview at https://www.harlandandwolff.com and the White Star Line context at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Star_Line.
Titanic Biography: Maiden Voyage, Sinking, and Casualties
The Titanic biography records the ship's maiden voyage departing Southampton on April 10, 1912, with calls at Cherbourg and Queenstown before heading west to New York. On the night of April 14, 1912, Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, roughly 375 miles south of Newfoundland. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, approximately 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The sinking led to major regulatory changes, including the 1914 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, and prompted improvements in lifeboat capacity, wireless watchkeeping, and ice patrols. The wreck was located in 1985 by a joint French-American expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel and Robert Ballard, and subsequent expeditions have documented the site extensively. For more details, see the U.S. Coast Guard historical summary at https://www.uscg.mil and the Titanic historical context at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic.
Titanic Biography: Cultural Legacy, Media, and Modern References
The Titanic biography has become a major cultural reference, with the 1997 film Titanic by James Cameron remaining one of the highest-grossing films worldwide and a frequent subject of renewed public interest around the anniversary of the sinking. The story has inspired numerous books, documentaries, museum exhibits, and artifacts recovered from the wreck site, many of which are held by institutions such as the Smithsonian and Premier Exhibitions. The Titanic's place in popular culture is often tied to themes of hubris, technological limits, and human resilience, and it continues to be studied in maritime history, engineering, and risk management contexts. For more on the film's impact and box office performance, see Forbes coverage at https://www.forbes.com and for broader cultural analysis, see Britannica at https://www.britannica.com.