The ocean liner that sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 after striking an iceberg was RMS Titanic. Operated by the White Star Line, it was traveling from Southampton, England, to New York City when the disaster occurred.
Titanic began its maiden voyage on 10 April 1912 and collected additional passengers at Cherbourg and Queenstown. On the night of 14 April, four days into the crossing, lookouts saw an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The ship struck it at about 23:40 ship’s time and sank at approximately 02:20 on 15 April.
The vessel had been designed to remain afloat with up to four flooded compartments, but the collision opened more than that limit. Titanic carried over 2,200 passengers and crew; approximately 1,500 people died, although historical estimates vary. The rescue ship Carpathia arrived after the sinking and took survivors aboard.
The disaster exposed weaknesses in lifeboat capacity, emergency procedures, and wireless communication. It helped prompt major maritime-safety reforms, including the 1914 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Titanic’s wreck was located in 1985 on the seabed southeast of Newfoundland.