 On its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, the British liner Titanic with 2200 people on board is gashed along 300 feet of its hull by an iceberg. As it starts to sink, the new invention of radio is used to try and summon help, although this is disastrously ignored by the closest vessel. With lifeboat places for only 1200 people, it is not only women and children first, but also First Class before Steerage.