Remembering the RMS Titanic

Everyone knows the tragic story of the RMS Titanic. On April 14th, 1912 the ship struck an iceberg and sank about 740 km southeast of St. John's. Of the 2,200 people on board, about 1,500 perished. The official figure from U.S. authorities was 1,517, the U.K. put the number at 1,503.

The night the Titanic struck the iceberg the ocean was calm. While most shipwrecks attributed to weather is due to severe weather, calm weather may have played a role in the sinking of the Titanic. There were no waves and as such, nothing to suggest to the lookout personnel that there was an object ahead.

New research also suggests that the aurora borealis may have played a role. If the aurora borealis was present at the time, it could have interfered with the ship's communication and navigational equipment.

The sinking of the RMC Titanic was a tragedy that sparked changes to the rules for passengers travelling by sea. There have to be enough lifeboats on board for every passenger, ships were redesigned to make bulkheads higher, and the International Ice Patrol was established to track dangerous icebergs.