Even if all boilers had been lit, her maximum speed was 21 knots, a far cry from the 26 knots the Cunarders regularly recorded. Not all of Titanic's boilers had been lit and besides this she was sailing on the longer southern route across the Atlantic in order to avoid the very threat which caused her eventual loss. It is often said she was trying to make a record on her maiden voyage, attempting to arrive ahead of schedule in New York.

Speed plays a major part in the continuing story of Titanic. However, there were many other ocean liners built in Britain, France and Germany which were technically superior and had stunning interiors. Titanic, nevertheless, was a fine, well-built vessel, with large public rooms and finely-appointed suites for those travelling in first class. White Star could not afford to lavish the same expense on their new ship Titanic, which was much larger than Oceanic.

As huge people carriers, travelling at moderate speed, with space for large cargoes, they posed a great commercial threat to the smaller and more expensive-to-operate Cunarders. Titanic and Olympic should best be described as the 747s of their day. This was a giant leap forward in marine engineering, comparable to the advances made in 1969 with the introduction of the Concorde supersonic aircraft.

They were built principally from lessons learnt from advances in warship construction, but most importantly both were powered by steam turbines driving quadruple screws, each fitted with a large balanced rudder, making them faster than the competition and easier to manoeuvre. Designed and built as record breakers, both held the coveted 'Blue Riband' for the fastest Atlantic crossing. The ships that Titanic, and her slightly older sister Olympic, were designed to compete with were the Cunard liners Lusitania and Mauretania, which entered service in 1907. Size, seldom an indication that something is better, was the only record she held. Titanic, the largest vessel in the world when she entered service in 1912, was neither the finest nor the most technically advanced of her day. The claim actually made was that she was 'practically unsinkable', close enough, but nevertheless an unfortunate statement and one which would haunt both builder and owner for years. It was said that the builders and owners of Titanic claimed she was 'unsinkable'.

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