After two years of construction, the Belfast company Harland & Wolff launched the Titanic on May 31, 1911. The ship successfully completed a short test sail on March 31, 1912 and docked at Southampton port on April 4, 1912. From here, it set sail for New York on April 10, 1912. There were 2208 passengers and crew members on board. First class was 46 percent booked, second class 40 percent and third class 70 percent. Passengers wanting to travel to New York had been painstakingly poached from other steamships, so that 55 percent of the total capacity was booked.

Shortly after noon, the ship pulled away from its pier in Southampton and went to sea. As she set sail, a slight mishap occurred. As the ship passed the steamships New York and Oceanic, the water it displaced was pushed under these ships. As a result, the New York broke away from its moorings and drifted towards the Titanic. A collision was narrowly prevented only through the fortunate intervention of a tugboat.

Everything went according to plan during the next two days. In calm sea conditions, the Titanic docked at Cherbourg port in France on the first evening, where further passengers came on board. Once the mail had been loaded – the Titanic also served as a "Royal Mail Ship" – the voyage continued. The final port of call was Queenstown in Ireland. Here, the ocean giant anchored around midday on April 11, 1912, and again more passengers embarked, most of whom were emigrants wishing to start a new life in America. Then, at around 1.30 p.m. in calm weather, the Titanic commenced its great transatlantic voyage.

The ship was scheduled to arrive in New York within four days at the latest and in the meantime a variety of balls and gala dinners were to be staged to make the voyage an unforgettable experience. In the second-class section, the promenade deck, the smoking room and the library were the main communal areas. The guests here were mostly academics and small-scale traders. According to the report of the contemporary witness and author Lawrence Beesley, the passengers were singing hymns in the library on Sunday evening, shortly before disaster struck.

The first class passengers belonged to the elite of Anglo-American society. They had brought vast amounts of luggage and attendants with them. The richest man on board was Colonel John Jacob Astor. The great grandson of a furrier was blessed with a considerable fortune and a young and beautiful wife who was pregnant at the time. Also on board was Benjamin Guggenheim of the American mining dynasty as well as the couple Isidor and Ida Straus, owners of the famous New York department store Macy's.

Along with diverse American steel tycoons and general directors of banks, railways and insurance companies, the British upper class was also well represented: Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon, for example, were on board, he a British aristocrat and she a renowned fashion designer with boutiques in Paris and New York. The famous financial tycoon J.P. Morgan had to cancel his trip due to illness, as did the general director of the shipyard where the Titanic had been built. The millionaire couple Mr. and Mrs. George Vanderbuilt decided not to join the voyage at the very last minute. Their servant and luggage were already on board – and sank with the Titanic.

Until Sunday, April 14, 1912 the journey went comfortably and smoothly. However, on Sunday afternoon, the temperate dropped noticeably and outdoor activities had to be cancelled. The rich and famous gathered around 7.30 p.m. for a gala dinner held by the millionaire couple Widdener in honor of the captain Edward John Smith. Smith was an experienced man who had spent his life at sea. The maiden voyage of the Titanic was intended to be his last voyage as a captain before he retired.