The Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland She had two sister ships named the Olympic and the Britannic. The Britannic sank in 1916 after hitting a torpedo or mine.

The Titanic was the biggest ship ever built at that time. The ship was as tall as an eleven story building. It had nine decks which divided the passengers into classes The richest passengers sailed first class and stayed on the upper decks. A first class ticket with a parlour suite would cost $50,000 today. A second class ticket would cost $700 and a third class ticket would cost about $400. Ships were the only way people could travel from Europe to North America back then. The Wright brothers had flown the first airplanes a few years earlier but passenger planes weren't developed.

The owners of the Titanic wanted their ship to be the fastest to cross the Atlantic. They said their ship was unsinkable because of the way it was built. The Titanic was divided into 15 bulkheads that had walls above the ship's waterline. Each bulkhead had watertight doors that stopped water from flowing into the next bulkhead. But as each bulkhead filled, the ship tilted forward and allowed the water to flow over the wall and into the next bulkhead. The ship owners only had 20 lifeboats on board because they were so sure the Titanic wouldn't sink.

It is unknown exactly how many people were on board the Titanic. It is known that there were more 2,220 people on board the Titanic when it set sail from Southampton, England on April 10,1912. The Titanic sailed into Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland, before heading out onto the North Atlantic Ocean. The Titanic's crew and passengers enjoyed clear weather as they sailed for New York City. On Sunday, April 14, the Titanic received seven warning messages saying there were icebergs in their course. These warnings were ignored and the Titanic increased its speed.

The ship sailed through the night. Some passengers slept and others enjoyed the many activities on board the Titanic. At about 11:40 p.m., a loud bang was heard as the ship began to shake. Most passengers ignored the noise as if nothing happened. They felt safe on the unsinkable. Captain Edward Smith was told that the ship would sink within a few hours. He ordered the radio operators to send out a distress call. By midnight, the crew was told to get the passengers on deck. There was only 20 lifeboats on the Titanic so women and children were told to leave the ship. The ship was sinking but people still thought the Titanic was unsinkable. The lifeboats could hold 65 people but many lifeboats left with as few as 28 people on board. A ship named Carpathia was 58 miles from the Titanic when it got the distress signal. The last lifeboat was lowered from the Titanic at 2:05 a.m. More than 1,500 people were left on board the Titanic. The radio operator continued to send messages as the ship sank. His last radio call for help was sent at 2:17 a.m. A few minutes later the ship's lights blinked and went out. Some survivors said that the Titanic broke in half before sinking into the ocean. The ship Carpathia arrived around 4 a.m. and picked up the 705 survivors. Some of the bodies from the Titanic were buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In August 1985, Doctor Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic. The ship was found 375 miles southeast of St. John's Newfoundland.

Doctor Ballard returned to the Titanic the next year. He used a submarine to take pictures of the ship. They were the first pictures taken since 1912.

In 1996, another team of explorers tried to raise a piece of the Titanic's hull. The piece weighed 11 tons. They raised the piece of metal to the surface of the ocean. Their cables broke and the metal sank back to the bottom of the ocean. Dishes and other artifacts have been taken from the Titanic.

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