Before the times of air-travel, ships were needed to do any form of movement across the seas. Whether you intended to move from Europe into the United States for the promise of a new life, or simply on a vacation or business trip and the journey might have been something you did once a month or once a year; shipping was the lifeline of movement across the seas.

Now like any business, sea-travel naturally had a fierce competition going on starting around the 1880's and continuing on well into the 1940's and even 50's. There were two main British lines that operated the Atlantic crossing and their names were, and still are to those aware of anything to do with sea travel, household; Cunard and White Star Line.

These two giants had been constantly trying to one up each other in practically every way shape and form since the fierce competition started for who could in essence "control the Atlantic" and make the most profit. But then something happens. The introduction of a 3rd liner company, this time German owned. This new liner's ships were immensely profitable, and wounded (somewhat) what had been up until that point a two-company battle for the Atlantic.

White Star had already begun to try and answer the German companies ships by creating what would soon be known as 'The Big Four'. Four large ships, immaculately decorated, and capable of a decent speed to ferry people of whatever class across the ocean. But there was just one problem...

Cunard had been working on their response to the German liners, and the two liners they would create became legend; Mauretania and Lusitania. These two ships were practically, at that time, perfect in every regard. If you wanted the fastest crossing to the new world? Take the Cunard line. Did you want to travel in the largest moving object ever made by the hand of man up until that point? Take the Cunard line. Did you want to travel in real style, the type meant for royalty for the first and second class passengers; while 3rd class had moderate accommodations that deemed pleasing for the relatively quickest way to a new and better life? Take the Cunard line.

White Star had to respond, and they did so in a way that was rarely seen in human history. They built two large ships so massive that they had to destroy three slipways (areas to build ships). Now for reference, these slipways they destroyed were some of the largest in the world, but these two new liners would require so much room that three slipways had to be demolished and turned into two. Cunard offered speed, White Star had long since given up trying to obtain the prestigious Blue Ribbon; instead they chose to focus on two very other important things, safety and luxury.

The first ship completed was the RMS Olympic, with the RMS Titanic scheduled to begin her own Atlantic journey shortly afterward. Everything about these ships were immaculate. To understand precisely how, you have to understand the living conditions at the time for each class which is frankly too much for me to write about because it doesn't pertain directly to the ships. But just think about this, you are a 3rd class passenger. By all accounts and social rankings, you are the very bottom. But on board these new ships, you were treated with dignity. You had stewards to assist you with any questions you may have. You even had a room designated specifically for gatherings of 3rd class outside of a dinning room. You had real silverware to eat your meals with. Everyone was allowed a seat. You had designated areas of the ship in which you were free to roam the decks because they were YOUR decks.

The ships were designed to be the pinnacle of sea-travel at that time, and they were. They were designed to best the competition in every regard except for speed, and they did.

That about covers the history and mechanisms behind the ships construction, but as to directly answer your question; Titanic was extremely important from the very moment the order was placed to build her up until this very day. Not only because she sank.

When the ship was released from the slipways and glided into the water in Belfast, there was a crowd of 100,000 people. Craftsmen from all over the world, artists from all over the world, along with Belfasts best toiled away on this ship from then on out until she was completed. The same could be said for Olympic, but herein lies part of Titanic's unique legacy.

On the maiden voyage of the Olympic, Thomas Andrews and a guarantee group of 12 men from Belfast came along. Andrews was an absolute perfectionist, and he took time to note not only things that he thought should be improved with the ship, but also passenger and crew observations as well. Olympic had very lavish first class cabins, but many passengers complained that during a normal day spray from the water down below would come up and sprinkle onto the A-deck promenade which was designated for first class primarily. Andrews had them enclose nearly half of the A-deck promenade because of this, and not only that he made changes to the first class cabins that were located within this closed off promenade deck. Titanic would now have 4 very large first class cabins spread over multiple rooms, with their own 60ft enclosed private promenade.

There was the Cafe Parisian, a first on any ship. Swimming pool. Turkish Baths. Squash Court. I could really go on about the lavishness of these ships but I don't really need to; because the fact that so many people remember their names is a testament to how truly revolutionary they were.

When Titanic set sail for her sea trials from Belfast she carried with her the pride of the thousands of workers who built her. When she arrived in Southampton to begin loading crew, supplies, and coal. People marveled at the ship which was now docked at the pier. Olympic had been groundbreaking, but Titanic was something special. A near identical ship to Olympic, yes; but still she represented not only the best in travel at the moment in history but also the refinement of what was already deemed perfection.

Now we all know how the story goes, the ship left port, tragically 1500 lives were lost, and Titanic has rested on the bottom of the Atlantic ever since. But even in 'death' the ship has continued to revolutionize travel. The way ships were designed were influenced by the disaster, we now have systems to make sure that communication between any moving vessel is always listened to and responded to, we have satellite tracking that helps us keep an eye out for any form of danger that might threaten the voyage. Whether this is by sea or by air, it all traces back to that night on April 14-15 1912.

Olympic and Titanic were meant to be the ultimate response to a rivalry of ocean travel across the Atlantic. Had things gone differently, we might have had another more grander ship built by Cunard or even the German company but alas none. Even though the design and construction of the Olympic class ships met shipping standards of the time, in present day they could never be built.

All of the lavish wood interiors that were so ornately carved by hand from master craftsmen all over the world? Can't be done now, fire safety designates you can't build ships that way anymore.

The large 300ft long, 95ft wide First class dinning room on D-deck? Can't be done now, ships have a certain size limit to how large a room can be.

The list goes on and on, but you simply can't build ships that are built the way Olympic and Titanic were anymore. And in that regard, they are a perfect time-capsule of their day and age. Where you didn't have to worry about running into an iceberg in the middle of the night, such a thing would have been unthinkable. You could travel in the best style imaginable, no matter the class you chose to travel, and you could still brag that your voyage was better than if you had taken another ship.

The Titanic disaster shocked the world when news finally was confirmed that the ship had went down. But I think a great question to ask was, why? 1,500 lives lost is a tragedy no matter how you chock it up, but it could have happened in another instance on another ship. Could you say that you would have remembered the ships name? Or simply that the event occurred.

One of the primary reasons the Titanic story is retold time and time again, is that the ship WAS the grandest ship in the world. It WAS the best of its time. It WAS the ultimate statement of mans supposed mastery over the seas. And it was thought to be practically unsinkable because of these things and many many more. The ship sailed into legend when she left Southampton England, but the often overlooked aspect of the life of the ship was; she was already a legend to begin with.

*edit spelling mistakes