The plan to construct the Titanic and its sister ships came as a direct response to the White Star Line’s principal competitor, the Cunard Line, which had just commissioned two new superliners in 1907: the Lusitania and the Mauretania. Their fate, and that of the 892 crew members, would become a part of history. Only about half of the cabins had been sold, to 1,316 passengers. The ship could accommodate 2,567 passengers, although on its maiden voyage, it was not fully booked because not every experienced-or wary-traveler cared to face the North Atlantic in April. Weighing 46,328 tons and spanning 852.5 feet long by 92.5 feet wide, she could reach a speed of 21 knots, or about 39 kilometers per hour. Its flagship, the Titanic, was the largest ship in the world when it took its maiden sailing from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. Among the many U.S., Belgian, British, Dutch and German lines controlled by the IMM, certainly the most famous among the British-flag steamship lines was the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company-more commonly known as the White Star Line. This giant shipping trust was the brainchild of the Philadelphia Quaker shipping magnate Clement Acton Griscom and was made possible by the financial backing of the New York banker J. The most important shipping event in North Atlantic history was the creation of the International Mercantile Marine company (IMM) in 1902.
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