Titanic
The story of the Titanic is about a luxury passenger ship that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City:
The ship
The Titanic was one of the largest and most luxurious ships in the world at the time. It was considered unsinkable because it had a double-bottomed hull with 16 watertight compartments, four of which could flood without endangering the ship's buoyancy.
The disaster
The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in less than three hours, killing more than 1,500 of the 2,240 passengers and crew on board. The disaster was one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.
The aftermath
The sinking of the Titanic led to major changes in maritime safety regulations, including requiring that the number of lifeboat places equal the number of passengers. The International Ice Patrol was also established to monitor icebergs in shipping lanes.
The discovery of the wreck
In 1985, Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic lying upright in two pieces at a depth of 13,000 ft (4,000 m).
The legacy
The story of the Titanic has been told in many books, articles, and movies, including the 1997 film starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The Titanic has become a cultural icon and a cautionary tale about the perils of human hubris.
In the real-life sinking of the Titanic, 706 people survived:
Total passengers and crew: The Titanic had 2,240 passengers and crew.
Crew members: About 700 of the victims were crew members.
Third-class passengers: Around 174 of the 710 third-class passengers survived.
Rescue: The RMS Carpathia arrived about an hour and a half after the sinking and rescued all of the survivors by 09:15 on April 15.
Britannic
The story of the HMHS Britannic is about the sister ship to the Titanic that sank in 1916 after striking a mine in the Aegean Sea.
Design
The Britannic was designed to be safer than the Titanic, with a hull that was less vulnerable to icebergs and enough lifeboats for all passengers.
Launch
The Britannic was launched in 1914, two years after the Titanic sank.
Service
The Britannic was requisitioned as a hospital ship for the British during World War I. She made five voyages, transporting wounded soldiers from the Balkans to England.
Sinking
On November 21, 1916, the Britannic struck a German mine while on her sixth voyage. She sank in 55 minutes, killing 30 people and rescuing more than 1,000.
Discovery
The Britannic's wreck was discovered in 1975 by French explorer Jacques Cousteau. It was found lying on its starboard side at a depth of 390 feet.
Memorialization
The Britannic is commemorated at several memorials, including the Mikra Memorial in Greece, the Tower Hill Memorial in London, and Netley Military Cemetery in Southampton.
RMS Lusitania
The RMS Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915, during World War I:
The sinking
The Lusitania was traveling from New York to Liverpool when it was torpedoed by U-20 without warning. The ship sank in 18 minutes, killing 1,195 of the 1,959 people on board, including 123 Americans.
The aftermath
The sinking caused international outrage and riots in Liverpool and London. It helped turn public opinion against Germany and led to the United States launching a strong protest against German conduct in the war.
The controversy
There was controversy over why the Lusitania was attacked, as the Germans had previously alerted neutral passengers of Atlantic vessels to the potential for submarine attacks. There were also questions about why the ship sank so quickly, with some speculating that it was carrying heavy ammunition.
The dockland communities
The sinking devastated the dockland communities in north Liverpool, where most of the Lusitania's crew lived. 405 crew members died, including many Liverpool Irish seamen.
SS Californian.
The SS Californian was a British steamship that was near the Titanic when it sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912. The Californian's crew did not respond to the Titanic's distress signals, and the ship's captain, Stanley Lord, refused to help. The Californian was within sight of the Titanic, but the ship's crew turned off communications for the night and went to bed.
SS Californian
Built
1901 in Dundee by the Caledonian Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
Captain
Stanley Lord
Role in the Titanic sinking
Failed to respond to the Titanic's distress signals
Aftermath
Investigated by the United States Senate and British Wreck Commissioner
Fate
Sunk by German U-boats in 1915
Some say that the Californian was close enough to the Titanic to have rescued some or all of the people on board. However, others say that the Californian was not the Titanic, and that the rockets the Californian's witnesses saw were too low on the horizon to be distress signals.
The story of the SS Californian has been told in many ways, including the novel The Midnight Watch and a number of videos.
RMS Empress of Ireland.
The RMS Empress of Ireland was a Canadian ocean liner that sank in the St. Lawrence River on May 29, 1914, after colliding with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in dense fog:
The ship
The Empress of Ireland was a British-built ship that was launched in 1906 and was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was 570 ft long, had four steel decks, and was equipped with watertight compartments.
The collision
The collision occurred in the early hours of May 29, 1914, when the Empress of Ireland was returning to Liverpool from Quebec. The Storstad crashed into the Empress of Ireland, creating a hole in the ship's side that allowed water to pour in at a rapid rate.
The sinking
The ship sank in less than 15 minutes, with 1,012 of the 1,477 people on board dying. The watertight doors couldn't be closed, and the list became so severe that the lifeboats on the port side couldn't be lowered.
The aftermath
The bodies of the victims were recovered and buried near Métis-sur-Mer, where a monument stands to their memory. The wreck of the Empress of Ireland lies in 130 ft of water, making it accessible to divers, who have retrieved many artifacts from the ship.
The Empress of Ireland disaster is considered Canada's worst peacetime maritime disaster. Although the loss of the Empress of Ireland has often been overshadowed by the Titanic and Lusitania disasters, more people died on the Empress than on either of those ships.
HMS Audacious. (All known cases)
The story of HMS Audacious is the story of multiple ships in the British Royal Navy, including a battleship that was sunk by a mine during World War I, and a submarine launched in 2017:
HMS Audacious (1912)
The fourth and final King George V-class battleship, HMS Audacious was built in 1913 and served in the Home and Grand Fleets. In October 1914, the ship struck a German mine off the coast of Ireland and slowly flooded. The crew was rescued, but the ship sank after the British were unable to tow it to shore. A petty officer on a nearby cruiser was killed by shrapnel when the ship exploded. A follow-up investigation suggested that faulty seals and broken pipes contributed to the sinking.
HMS Audacious (1785)
The first ship to bear the name HMS Audacious, this 74-gun third-rate ship of the line was launched in 1785. She fought in the Battle of the Nile and was broken up in 1815.
HMS Audacious (1869)
The lead ship of the Audacious-class ironclads, this ship was built in the late 1860s and spent most of its career on the China Station. It was decommissioned in 1894 and sold for scrap in 1929.
HMS Audacious (S122)
Launched in 2017, this Astute-class submarine has a nuclear reactor that doesn't need to be refueled for 25 years. It can purify water and air, and can circumnavigate the planet without surfacing.
Oceanic (II)
The story of the RMS Oceanic (II) includes its construction, maiden voyage, and loss in World War I:
Construction
Built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, the Oceanic was the largest ship in the world when it launched in 1899. It was the White Star Line's last express liner before the Titanic and Olympic.
Maiden voyage
The Oceanic's maiden voyage was from Liverpool to New York on September 6, 1899.
World War I
When World War I began, the Oceanic was one of the first merchant ships to be converted into an armed merchant cruiser. It was commissioned into the Royal Navy on August 8, 1914.
Loss
On August 8, 1914, the Oceanic ran aground on the rocks off Foula in the Shetland Islands and became a total loss. It was the first British passenger ship to be lost in the war, not due to enemy action but a navigational error. The Oceanic's wreckage is spread over a large area in depths up to 20 meters, but mostly in shallow water. The engines are visible and three of the boilers are still almost intact.
The Oceanic was originally planned to have a sister ship named Olympic, but the death of the company's founder in 1899 put an end to those plans.
Wilhelm Gustloff.
The story of the RMS Oceanic (II) includes its construction, maiden voyage, and loss in World War I:
Construction
Built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, the Oceanic was the largest ship in the world when it launched in 1899. It was the White Star Line's last express liner before the Titanic and Olympic.
Maiden voyage
The Oceanic's maiden voyage was from Liverpool to New York on September 6, 1899.
World War I
When World War I began, the Oceanic was one of the first merchant ships to be converted into an armed merchant cruiser. It was commissioned into the Royal Navy on August 8, 1914.
Loss
On August 8, 1914, the Oceanic ran aground on the rocks off Foula in the Shetland Islands and became a total loss. It was the first British passenger ship to be lost in the war, not due to enemy action but a navigational error. The Oceanic's wreckage is spread over a large area in depths up to 20 meters, but mostly in shallow water. The engines are visible and three of the boilers are still almost intact.
The Oceanic was originally planned to have a sister ship named Olympic, but the death of the company's founder in 1899 put an end to those plans.
SS Andrea Doria.
The SS Andrea Doria was an Italian passenger liner that sank in the Atlantic Ocean after colliding with the MS Stockholm on July 25, 1956:
The collision
The Andrea Doria was traveling west in dense fog when it was struck by the Stockholm, which was traveling east in clear weather. The Stockholm's bow penetrated the Andrea Doria's starboard side, killing 46 people and five crew members. The Andrea Doria began to list and took on water, but remained afloat for over 11 hours.
The rescue
The Andrea Doria's crew responded appropriately, and other ships quickly responded to the SOS call. Rescue ships saved 1,660 passengers and crew, and the Andrea Doria sank the following morning.
The aftermath
The collision was the worst maritime disaster in US waters since the Eastland capsized in Chicago in 1915. An inquiry was set up, but the two sides reached an out-of-court settlement.
The cause
The debate over what caused the collision continues, but many researchers believe the Stockholm's captain misread his radar and thought the Andrea Doria was farther away than it was.
The media
The Andrea Doria's sinking was the first major event to be covered by the media in real time. Reporters and photographers were able to document the event from helicopters and rescue boats.
There was probably another Oceanic story but am not including it.