RMS Titanic and for the ship's operational use. Although "Titanic" had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, it only carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 people—about half the number on board, and one third of her total capacity—due to outdated maritime safety regulations. The ship carried 16 lifeboat davits which could lower three lifeboats each, for a total of 48 boats. However, "Titanic" carried only a total of 20 lifeboats, four of which were collapsible and proved hard to launch during the sinking. After leaving Southampton on 10 April 1912, "Titanic" called at Cherbourg in France and
History of the Port of Southampton large amount of cargo; nearly 90 percent of South Africa's fruit exports to the UK was handled at the port. Express freight trains enabled produce landing at Southampton in the morning to be on sale in London fruit markets in the afternoon: Dock facilities: The King George (No. 7) dry dock was the largest in the world, and could accommodate liners of up to 100,000 tons: Southampton's maritime museum was originally housed in The Wool House on the edge of Town Quay which included a small exhibition about the "Titanic". To mark the centenary of the "Titanic"s voyage a larger