Gigantic: Death of a Giant

One summer noon, the "Empress of the Seas" S.S. Gigantic gracefully sails Oceania to pick up more passengers from her final destination, Australia. The travel is peaceful. The passengers are carefree, the services are wonderful, and the weather is perfect. Suddenly, the unexpected happens. An explosion erupts from her boilers and the ship vibrates severely, causing everything to ricochet. The Gigantic lists to starboard and sinks nose first. The ship will founder in one hour and thirty minutes. The captain declares "Abandon ship!" and the crew uncovers the lifeboats and safely fills them with passengers. Only 33 out of 60 lifeboats are launched successfully, three of which overturned. Moments later, the giant liner capsize and splits. The bow disjoins from the after-part and leaves the ocean surface; the stern stays afloat for three minutes and disappears from sight. Out of 3,500 passengers, only 966 survived. 2,500 souls lost their lives.