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TREAD302
!U04,33@   THE SINKING OF AN UNSINKABLE SHIP

  It was pitch black on that April night
in 1912 and there had been iceberg warn-
ings off the southern coast of Newfound-
land.  But the White Star Liner Titanic
continued full speed ahead on her maiden
voyage from Southampton to New York.
  The "fastest ship afloat," as she had
been called by the newspapers, was trying
to break a speed record for the trans-
atlantic crossing.
STOP
  Yet despite rumors of icebergs that
circulated through the salons and dining
rooms that evening, none of the 2,200
passengers and crew seemed the least bit
concerned.  After all, they reassured one
another, what could possibly happen.
The Titanic was unsinkable, wasn't she?
  Well, the Titanic did make the headlines
the next day as a recordbreaker.  But in-
stead of going down in history as the
fastest crossing,  it will be remembered
STOP
as one of the greatest sea disasters of
all time. The "unsinkable" luxury liner
had sliced her bow on an iceberg and sunk
in a matter of hours, taking 1,517 sur-
prised and unbelieving people to the bot-
tom with her.  It turned out that there 
were only enough lifeboats for a fraction
of the people on board.  The assurance of
her builders that she was unsinkable and
the ambition of her captain that she win
a record turned out to be no match for
STOP
the dangers of the open sea.
  Still, it might be said that some good
did come out of this tragic event.  In the
wake of the Titanic disaster came a wave
of maritime reforms designed to ensure
safer passage on the high seas.  Perhaps
the lives lost that night were not lost
in vain, and those who went down with the
Titanic helped to prevent countless others
in the years since from meeting a similar
fate.
END
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