Introduction On April 10 1912 a ship called the RMS Titanic started its first trip from Europe to New York City There were more than two thousand passengers and crew members on board These passengers came from all walks of life Some passengers were among the richest people in the world Others were poor laborers All of these passengers believed the ship could not sink Four days into the seven-day journey the ship hit an iceberg and sank More than two-thirds of the ship’s passengers and crew died This tragedy shocked the world It took decades to understand what happened and to find the sunken ship Even though the Titanic sank more than one hundred years ago people still talk about it today Life As a Passenger on the Titanic
The RMS Titanic would become one of the best-known ships in history
This photograph shows the Titanic leaving Southampton England on April 10 1912
Chapter 1 The RMS Titanic In 1912 a British company called the White Star Line finished building a very special ship It was called the RMS Titanic It was the largest ship in the world It was more than 880 feet 244 meters long and 175 feet 55 m tall It had three large propellers between 17 and 33 feet 5 and 10 m across They were powered by burning coal The ship’s rudder was almost 79 feet 24 m high and weighed more than 100 tons 91 metric tons The ship could hold 2,480 passengers and more than 900 crew members Parts of the ship were very fancy The ship had ten floors or decks Eight of these The RMS Titanic
