United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic The sinking of the RMS "Titanic" on April 15, 1912 resulted in an inquiry by the United States Senate. Chaired by Senator William Alden Smith, the inquiry was a subcommittee of the Senate's Commerce Committee. The hearings began in New York on April 19, 1912, later moving to Washington, D.C., concluding on May 25, 1912 with a return visit to New York. There were a total of 18 days of official investigation. Smith and seven other senators questioned surviving passengers and crew, and those who had aided the rescue
RMS Titanic 'gigantic'. Built in Belfast, Ireland, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it was then known), the RMS "Titanic" was the second of the three s—the first was the and the third was the . Britannic was originally to be called Gigantic and was to be over 1,000 feet long. They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Line's fleet, which comprised 29 steamers and tenders in 1912. The three ships had their genesis in a discussion in mid-1907 between the White Star Line's chairman, J. Bruce Ismay, and the American