The Titanic- the unsinkable ship The Titanic was called the unsinkable ship. It took three years and fifteen thousand people to build it but less than three hours to sink. It left Southampton in the UK on 10th April 1912. It was travelling to New York. The owners of the Titanic made some terrible mistakes. The people on the ship didn't know where to go if there was an emergency. Although 64 lifeboats were actually needed for everyone on the ship, there were only 20 lifeboats on the Titanic. On 14th April 1912, the Titanic was in a part of the ocean with some very large pieces of floating ice called icebergs. Messages were sent to the captain about them, but it was too late - the ship hit an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.