It was 110 years ago today that the "unsinkable" Titanic sank in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage, with the loss of over 1,500 lives. The ship was warned 6 times about icebergs in the area, but still proceeded through the dangerous ice field at 22 knots, way too fast for the conditions. It struck an iceberg on the starboard side, flooding 5 watertight compartments. The ship was designed to withstand the flooding of only 4 compartments. There were only 20 lifeboats, enough to hold just half the passengers, and many of those boats were launched half empty. It is still the largest peacetime maritime disaster in history. The photograph above shows the Titanic as it looks today. It was discovered by a joint French-American expedition at a depth of 12,500 feet. In addition to the many photographs taken, including the one above, they salvaged many items, most of which have been featured in exhibitions around the world. Which is good, since it is a tragedy that should never be forgotten.
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