Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic the ship. The boats were supposed to be stocked with emergency supplies, but "Titanic"s passengers later found that they had only been partially provisioned. No lifeboat or fire drills had been carried out since "Titanic" left Southampton. A lifeboat drill had been scheduled for the morning before the ship sank, but was cancelled, allegedly because the ship's captain, Edward Smith, wanted to deliver one last Sunday service before he went into full retirement. Lists had been posted on the ship allocating crew members to particular lifeboat stations, but few appeared to have read them or to have known what they
Sinking of the RMS Titanic time of her entry into service on 2 April 1912, Royal Mail Ship (RMS) "Titanic" was the second of three sister ships, and was the largest ship in the world. She and her sister, , were almost one and a half times the gross register tonnage of Cunard's and , the previous record holders, and were nearly longer. "Titanic" could carry 3,547 people in speed and comfort, and was built on a hitherto unprecedented scale. Her reciprocating engines were the largest that had ever been built, standing high and with cylinders in diameter requiring the burning of of coal per