Human consequences
About 1,500 dead out of some 2,220 people on board. Third-class passengers pay the heaviest price; the victims also include the millionaires John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim.
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TransportSinking of the Titanic
1,496Deaths
Not quantifiedDisplaced / homeless
Not quantifiedEstimated cost
- Between 1,490 and 1,520 deaths depending on the source; 1,496 is the most likely figure. About 710 people survived.
On her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, the largest liner in the world, said to be unsinkable, strikes an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. and sinks in less than three hours. Her lifeboats can hold only about half of the people on board.
Consequences
Environmental consequences
The wreck, broken in two, lies about 3,800 m down. It is only located in 1985, by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.
Economic consequences
A major loss for the White Star Line and a heavy blow to confidence in the great transatlantic liners.
Political consequences
The first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS, 1914) requires lifeboats for all and a permanent radio watch; the International Ice Patrol is created the same year.
Further reading
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