The enduring allure of the Titanic

Since it sank on its maiden voyage more than a century ago, the Titanic has maintained an unshakeable grip on the public imagination.

A monument to the technological progress of its time - and the hubris of men who thought they had built an unsinkable ship - one of the world's deadliest ocean disasters has inspired books, blockbuster movies, stage productions and countless adventurers who want to see what happened when the luxury liner hit an iceberg.

Among them, the wealthy passengers and crew of a submersible that vanished on June 18 in the North Atlantic Ocean on their way to visit the seabed wreck, on a $250,000 ticket.

An all-hands search and rescue operation to find their tiny sub before the oxygen runs out was taking place on June 21as the world watched and waited.

RMS Titanic set sail in April 1912 from Southampton, England bound for New York. At the time, it was the largest ship ever built, a vast floating palace of luxury, where first-class passengers had the run of a gymnasium, squash court, swimming pool and top-notch dining options, or could retire to their lavish cabins where a staff of hundreds waited on their every whim.

Below decks, poor migrants were crammed into steerage quarters, desperate to get to the promise of the New World.

Late on April 14, the Titanic, carrying 2,224 passengers and crew, hit an iceberg, denting and buckling the hull and allowing water to rush in. As compartments flooded, the 269-meter (883-foot) vessel began sinking, bow first.

There were not enough lifeboats for everyone on board, and the harried crew did not know how to deploy them; some were dispatched just half full. Hours after she began tipping up, the huge ship snapped in two, and plunged into the depths.