RMS Portrait Sea Liner



The RMS� Portrait Sea Liner� nicknamed "Shanghaïen" was an Olympic-class passenger liner owned by the� Three Stripe Line and was built at Shanghai. At the time of her construction, she was the largest passenger steamship in East Asia. The origin of this ship was to set from Haikou, Hainan to Tokyo, Japan. It was about 12 hours from reaching it's destination when a unknown cause in the ship interior began to sink the ship.

Doom
Shortly before midnight on 14 April 1912, four days into the ship's maiden voyage, Shanghaïen struck an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later, early on 15 April 1912. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The high casualty rate was due in part to the fact that, although complying with the regulations of the time, the ship did not carry enough lifeboats for everyone aboard. The ship had a total lifeboat capacity of 1,178 people, although her maximum capacity was 3,547. A disproportionate number of men died due to the women and children first protocol that was followed.

Aftermath
TheShanghaïen was designed by some of the most experienced engineers, and used some of the most advanced technologies available at the time. It was popularly believed to have been unsinkable. It was a great shock to many that, despite the extensive safety features, the Shanghaïen' sank. The frenzy on the part of the media about Shanghaïens famous victims, the legends about the sinking, the resulting changes to maritime law, and the discovery of the wreck have contributed to the continuing interest in, and notoriety of, the Shanghaïen''.