Titanic was the largest of its time and could expect to be fully booked on its maiden voyage. A national coal strike began in the UK which caused considerable disruption to shipping schedules in the spring of 1912, causing many crossings to be cancelled. Because of this strike many passengers postponed their travels. The strike had finished a few days before Titanic sailed. Despite this, Titanic sailed on the scheduled date, as coal was transferred from other vessels including Olympic. The wealthiest people of the time booked a passage aboard Titanic, travelling in First Class. Among them were the American millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeleine Force Astor, industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim, Macy 's owner Isidor Straus and his wife Ida, Denver millionairess Margaret "Molly" Brown, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife, couturière Lucy (Lady Duff-Gordon), cricketer and businessman John Borland Thayer with his wife …show more content…
Titanic: A Night Remembered. London: Hambledon Continuum, p.21 43 Halpern, Samuel; Weeks, Charles (2011). "Description of the Damage to the Ship". In Halpern, Samuel. Report into the Loss of the SS Titanic: A Centennial Reappraisal. Stroud, UK: The History Press, p.118 few minutes longer, rising to a nearly vertical angle with hundreds of people still clinging to it, before sinking. For many years it was generally believed the ship sank in one piece; however, when the wreck was located many years later, it was discovered that the ship had fully broken in two. All remaining passengers and crew were dipped into lethally cold water of the ocean with a temperature of 28 °F (−2 °C).44 Almost all of those in the water died of cardiac arrest or other causes within 15–30 minutes. There is a supposition that most of the passengers could be saved, if the boats were fully loaded. Only 13 of them were helped into the lifeboats though these had room for almost 500 more people, which means more people could be