The Titanic was the newest, most luxurious passenger ship on the seas when it was launched. Yet it sank on its first voyage. Why?

There were many factors. To begin with, it was night. The hole in the hull was just long enough to sink it. Another ship was near enough to see the Titanic’s flares for help, but failed to come to her rescue.
Yet there was one more factor: human error. The ship was moving too fast for the dangerous waters. If the Titanic had been moving more slowly, the calamity might never have happened.

CHILLING PARALLELS

A similar tragedy occurred in the harbour of Chicago, in the United States, three years after the Titanic sank.
The Eastland, a passenger ship, was built in 1903. It was popular for vacations on the water before the automobile became America’s way to travel.
But even from the first day, there were concerns about the Eastland’s safety. The ship was 82 metres long but had a width of only 11 metres. She was more than seven times longer than she was wide. Despite early fears, however, the Eastland was a profitable passenger ship for more than a decade.
By the end of the 1914 season, though, the teak deck of the Eastland was wearing out. Instead of replacing it with expensive hardwood, a new wonder material, cement, was chosen. Cement decking added much weight, high above the waterline.
To know more....
http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/