Timeline of United States discoveries four days into the ship's maiden voyage, "Titanic" struck an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on April 15, 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. After nearly 74 years of being lost at sea on the bottom of the ocean floor, a joint Franco-American expedition led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert D. Ballard, discovered the wreckage of the RMS "Titanic" two miles (3 km) beneath the waves of the North Atlantic on September 1, 1985. Ballard
Passengers of the RMS Titanic Passengers of the RMS Titanic An estimated 2,400 people sailed on the maiden voyage of the RMS "Titanic", the second of the White Star Line's "Olympic" class ocean liners, from Southampton, England to New York City, New York, US. Partway through the voyage, the ship struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning of 15 April 1912, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 people, including approximately 815 of the passengers. The "Titanic"s passengers were divided into three separate classes, determined not only by the price of their ticket but by wealth and social class: those travelling in first