Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic factors contributed to the lifeboats departing with only half capacity. 1,503 people did not make it on to a lifeboat and were aboard "Titanic" when she sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean at 2:20 a.m. on 15 April 1912. 705 people, mostly women and children, remained in the lifeboats until later that morning when they were rescued by RMS "Carpathia". Those aboard the lifeboats were picked up by "Carpathia" over the course of 4 hours and 30 minutes, from about 4 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and 13 of the lifeboats were also taken aboard. The lifeboats were
Wreck of the RMS Titanic but have been consumed by other organisms. "Titanic" sank in 1912, when she collided with an iceberg during her maiden voyage. Numerous expeditions tried using sonar to map the sea bed in the hope of finding it, but were unsuccessful. In 1985, the wreck was finally located by a joint French–American expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel of IFREMER and Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The wreck has been the focus of intense interest and has been visited by numerous expeditions. Controversial salvage operations have recovered thousands of items, which have been conserved and put on public display.