It was a novel about an ocean liner called The Titan

That sinks in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage

After, a collision with an iceberg.

Of the many people, who read that book that would not realise that the significance of it.

Until 14 years later, when a ship called Titanic

Took over 1500 souls with her when she sank in the Atlantic.

And became one of the most devastating and talked about naval disasters in history.

Still very much studied and remembered to this day.

Here, we look at the event leading up to the disaster.

The people involved and their incredible stories.

Alongside, some of the theories that have since been published

Pointing to the failings in its design

And the greed of those involved.

Leading many to believe the sinking of the RMS Titanic was a preventable disaster.

And should have never happened.

The White Star Line was originally a company making traditional sailing ships during The Great Australian Gold Rush.

As the Gold Rush faded, the company faced bankruptcy.

And was taken over by Thomas Henry Ismay in 1868.

It was after this take over that the company started to commission ships

From Belfast, shipbuilders Harland and Wolff.

Two years later, in 1870

They launched their first breakthrough ship

Oceanic I

This was the first of a series of state-of-the-art super liners that the company built.

That dominated the Australian business and eventually transatlantic routes.

In 1899, Thomas Ismay died and left the way clear for his son Joseph.

It was him who introduced the comfort rather than speed policy the White Star Line would adopted.

A few years later in 1902,

The company was taken over by the International Mercantile Marine.

Headed by John Pierpont Morgan.

And soon after, Joseph Ismay was appointed the overall President of the company.

By 1907, rival company Cunard

Was having unrivalled success with their two quadruple funelled super fast liners

Lusitania and Mauretania.

And in an effort to remain competitive

Ismay proposed the construction of three Olympic-class liners with opulent interiors.

Although, they couldn't rival Cunard for speed

They would make up for it in grandeur and never-before-seen luxury.

The ships were to be called Olympic, Titanic and Britannic

All three ships, were to be equipped with the ultimate in-turn of the century design and technology.

Including sixteen watertighted compartments in their lower sections.

That could easily be sealed off in the event of a punctured hole.

First of the superliners to be launched is Olympic.

And she officially becomes the world's largest man-made moving object.

However, this title was short lived when on May the 31st, 1911.

Titanic is launched in Belfast.

In front of a crowd of over 100,000 people.

After the launch, Titanic's interior was fitted out.

And she turned into a floating palace.

Her lavish rooms were expertly created by highly skilled craftsman.

To produce cabins fit for some of the richest people in the world.

She was also equipped with 20 lifeboats

And surprisingly, this was more than the number required by the Broad of Trade Regulations at the time.

Meaning that were well within the law.

However, this law did not take in consideration the fact

That Titanic was 46,000 tons.

And 20 lifeboats, packed to capacity, would only be enough for 52% of the passengers.

But lifeboats, were considered as ferries

That would take multiple trips to and from a sinking ship to a rescue vessel.

And not as a sole means of escaping.

So as long as a ship is in close proximity of a sinking vessel

The number of lifeboats would have been sufficient.

A date for her maiden voyage to New York is announced as the 20th of March, 1912.

However, after Olympic is damaged during her maiden trip

Titanic is given a revised sale date of the 10th of April, 1912.

One must wonder if the Olympic had not had a collision

altering Titanic's sale date

what would the fate of the Titanic had been?

On April the 3rd, 1912

Titanic arrives in Southampton from Belfast

in preparation for her much anticipated maiden voyage.

The ship has her signal flags and pennants, and the final crew members are recruited.

She is loaded up with cargo and coal,

and on the 8th of April, all the fresh food is stored in preparation for the many mouths

she is to feed during the 7 day trip.

Finally, the day arrives to set sail

the Captain, Edward John Smith, is a much respected and well-liked employee of the White Star Line.

And at 62, was coming to the end of his career at sea

It was reported in fact, although disputed that Titanic was to be his last voyage before retirement.

But, despite his experience, he has encountered many mishaps while in command.

Especially with the introduction of much larger vessels than he was used to.

White Star, however, considered him competent enough to be at the helm of the world's greatest ship.

And he was given a handsome salary

around 6,250 dollars per year

plus a yearly bonus of a 1000 dollars if he returned his ships undamaged.

Smith would be accompanied by Chief Officer, Henry Wilde and First Officer William Murdoch.

Along with a total of 885 crew members.

With the crew now in place, the Titanic passengers begin the pleasure of boarding.

These included, 325 first class passengers

Where no expense was spared in their cabins

Two of which were called "The Millionaire Suites"

and were considered to be the most luxurious accommodations of the day.

One of these suites was booked by J.P Morgan

but since he did not travel, it was taken up by Joseph Bruce Ismay.

As a first class guest, he and the others could also enjoy Jacobean style dining room

a sumptuous reception room which could be entered using one of Titanic's most priced features.

The Magnificent Grand Staircase.

Gentlemen had the options to retiring to the smoking room for port and cigars

and in the day, they could relax in Verandah Café or Café Parisien.

Or make use of the fully-equipped state-of-the-art gymnasium.

As for the 285 second class passengers,

they too enjoyed a luxury that rivalled first class on any other liner of the day

and they were first to enjoy electric elevators.

In comparison, the 706 third class or steerage passengers did not enjoy such luxuries.

Although they did have more comfort than you may think.

Most of them had a one-way ticket in search for a better life in America

and would have all of their worldly belongings in just a few bags.

These passengers, were mainly immigrants and consisted of a diverse group of nationalities.

Ranging from Finland to Hong Kong.

Although the bulk of them were British, Irish or Scandinavian.

Some were travelling alone while others with their families.

Meals were basic but regular,

although nothing in comparison to that enjoyed by first and second class.

But it wasn't all bad, they did have a smoking and general room

where they would meet and make their own entertainment with the children playing

and dancing on the deck.

A little fact about third class

they enjoyed automatically flushing toilets

although rather for necessity than luxury.

As it was thought, third class passengers would not be familiar with indoor plumbing

and would not understand the need to flush the toilets themselves.

Before boarding, third class passengers were checked for lice and other infectious diseases.

Just before noon, on the 10th of April, 1912

Titanic's triple valve whistle could be heard across Southampton.

The ropes were cast and the five tugs started to slowing nudge the massive liner out into deeper water.

When she was out in the River Test, the tugs dropped their lines and Titanic's

triple expansion 30,000 horsepower engines started to turn the propellers.

Titanic's maiden voyage had begun and she had already made history.

As she powered down the river, the turbulence she created was causing some alarm.

As the large volume of water, displaced by Titanic caused two moored liners to cut adrift

and they collision were narrowly avoided when Captain Smith ordered full astern

and a tug intervened to prevent an early disaster.

Titanic arrived at her first port of call in Cherbourg, France at around 6 p.m.

Where a further 274 passengers boarded.

However, she was far too big to fit into the tiny port.

So passengers and luggage had be frayed by specially tended boats provided by the White Star Line.

This included the Titanic's richest passenger,

John Jacob Aster IV

with an equivalent 2017 net worth of 2.1 billion dollars.

As the Titanic turned out, final port of call was Queenstown, Ireland.

She here early on the 11th of April

and it was here that one lucky crew member decided to disembark by hiding in the mail bags.

He was later named as John Coffey, one of Titanic's fireman.

He had only signed up to the crew to get a lift to Queenstown.

Leaving Ireland, Titanic heads out into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The next stop is New York City.

The crew settled into their routines and the passengers began to explore

and familiarize themselves with the maze of corridors and rooms on the beautiful ship.

In particular, the first class passengers enjoy meeting up with their wealthy and famous friends.

And attending the lavish parties organized for them in the splendour of their extravagant surroundings.

All while, Titanic moves steadily westward towards New York.

Throughout this part of the journey, the crew continuously receive warning from other vessels

that there is a serious threats of icebergs.

Despite, Titanic being the most sophisticated liner of it's era

it's radio room, by comparison, was tiny.

No bigger than a broom cupboard and it relied on Morse Code for communication.

It's operators, John George Phillips and his junior Harold Sydney Bride

worked a shift system to ensure the radio was covered at all times.

From the time, Titanic left Queenstown the majority of these messages were from and for passengers.

In total, between the 11th and 14th of April,

the pair received 21 ice warnings, that would have been passed on to officers and ultimately Captain Smith.

They were fully aware of the dangers that lay ahead

and steered 20 miles off course to try and avoid the ice fields but ultimately this wasn't enough.

On Sunday the 14th,

another iceberg warning comes in early at 9 a.m. from the RMS Caronia.

Meanwhile, passengers were attending divine services in the first-class dining room.