In April 1912, the optimism engendered by the apparently unstoppable march of technology was shattered in the most dramatic circumstances. Vaunted as unsinkable, the super-liner Titanic, which had been under construction in Belfast since 1909, sank after collision with an iceberg while on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. In spite of her glittering luxury, she carried lifeboats for only a fraction of her passengers and crew. More than fifteen hundred souls were lost in the worst-ever disaster at sea. Britain and the United States were rocked to their foundations by the most
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