1-148-887 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Prayers at the scene of the sinking of the Titanic, 1912. The White Star Line chartered the cable-laying vessel Mackay-Brown to recover bodies and debris from the wreck of SS Titanic which hit an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland on 14 April 1912. The vessel carried morticians and mortuary equipment and the remains recovered were landed at New York. Here the crew stand solemnly as prayers are said for those lost. Titanic was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of her time, and thought to be unsinkable. In the collision five of her watertight compartments were compromised and she sank. Out of the 2228 people on board, only 705 survived. A major cause of the loss of life was the insufficient number of lifeboats she carried. From Le Petit Journal. (Paris, 5 May 1912).