What was Titanic?

The biggest ship in the world

Workers used 22 tonnes of soap to make sure Titanic could slip into the water smoothly.
It took around three years to finish the ship but only 62 seconds for her to slide off the slipway and into the water.
Titanic weighed over 24,000 tonnes when she was launched. That's as heavy as 3,428 African elephants!
She weighed much more when she was fully fitted and all passengers were on board.

People were travelling for all sorts of reasons.
People in business were travelling for work, some people were on holiday, and others just wanted to try life on board the world's biggest and most luxurious ship.
First class passengers were some of the richest people.
Many of the second-class passengers were tourists. Normally they worked in jobs like teaching or as members of the clergy in churches.
The passengers in third class were people looking to start a new life in America.

In April 1912 Titanic set sail on her first voyage, carrying over 2,200 people.
Just before midnight on 14th April an iceberg was spotted.
The crew acted quickly to try and turn the ship, but she hit the iceberg. The ice made holes in the ship below the water line.
The Titanic sank within two and a half hours.
Over 1,500 people died.

Titanic had ten decks, three engines and four funnels. Only three of the funnels worked. The fourth was for show!
Titanic crew had been warned about icebergs but the ship kept up speed to get to New York quickly.
There were only twenty lifeboats on board Titanic. There were not enough for everyone on board the ship and many lifeboats left the ship half-full!
The band played on the deck as the ship began to sink.
Captain Smith went down with his ship.
The survivors in the lifeboats were rescued at four o'clock in the morning.