The Titanic sank at approximately 2:20 AM on April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. The iceberg that sank the legendary ship had existed for about three years and was expected to survive only a few weeks after the collision.
This particular iceberg appeared in the summer of 1909, measuring over 3.2 kilometers in width and more than 30 meters in height at the time of its formation. The Titanic was built with the ambition to compete in size and luxury, being the largest passenger ship ever known.
The Titanic was constructed over a span of more than three years, designed by the White Star Line along with two sister ships, the Olympic (1911) and the slightly larger Britannic (1915). They were crafted for the wealthy and famous, offering well-connected transatlantic journeys in intricately decorated cabins with Victorian-era amenities.
The highest ticket price on the Titanic was equivalent to about $60,000 today, allowing passengers access to premium dining rooms, oak-paneled lounges, Turkish baths, a saltwater swimming pool, enormous bay windows, and a live orchestra.
Painting of the Titanic sinking after hitting an iceberg.
The ship departed from a dry dock in Northern Ireland in early 1912, stopping to pick up passengers in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, before heading west toward New York. According to recorded accounts, the ship carried over 2,200 people, more than one-third of whom were crew members. The majority of them perished, with only 710 survivors.
At that time, people knew very little about the behavior of icebergs, aside from the fact that most had melted. John Thomas Towson, a scientist specializing in ship navigation, who wrote a book titled Practical Information on Compass Deviation, noted in 1857 that these icebergs were no different than rocks formed over millennia by time and pressure. He believed that icebergs posed a significant danger to the wooden hulls of 19th-century ships. A vast number of icebergs drifted southward through the eastern strait of the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland, earning the nickname “iceberg alley.”
Over three years, the iceberg drifted and intermingled in Arctic waters. At some point, it moved northward and spent the summer of 1910 farther north. Eventually, it encountered the Labrador Current, which carried frozen waters southward. Most icebergs drifted during the first year after their formation. Ultimately, the Labrador Current met the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream, acting like an ocean microwave.
Only about 1% of icebergs in the Northern Hemisphere survive this desolate region, and only about 1 in 1,000 icebergs reach 41 degrees North, at the same latitude as New York City and right in the path of the transatlantic ship.
The Titanic at the ocean floor
When the Titanic sank in 1912, it plunged straight down an astonishing distance of over 2 miles, hitting the seabed at a speed of about 3 miles per hour. The tomb beneath the ocean remained elusive, and the ship’s location was a mystery until 1985, when a government submarine exploration team and remotely operated vehicles managed to capture some blurry images. Thus, it took over 70 years to find the wreck of this famous sunken ship.
The sinking of the Titanic has been widely known, recounted, and recreated in films, books, museum exhibitions, consumer products, and special television programs. However, the most astonishing detail about the “culprit” iceberg is often forgotten. The iceberg that struck and sank this largest passenger ship ever built is now nearly gone. After about three years of existence, this ice mass could only survive for about two weeks after causing the disaster.
Icebergs diminish in size as they enter warmer waters, but they become heavier and flip more, gradually eroding until they reach the size of a basketball, continuously flipping until there is nothing left.
Estimates suggest that there are more icebergs today than during the time of the Titanic. However, thanks to advancements in radar, GPS, and aerial monitoring, along with larger and better-designed ships, the risk posed by icebergs to maritime vessels has been reduced.
Yet, icebergs still pose a significant threat. In 2007, a small cruise ship near Antarctica named the MS Explorer collided with an unseen iceberg. Fortunately, passengers hurried to lifeboats and were rescued by another nearby cruise ship a few hours later.
