An Awesome Ice Beauty with an Element of Danger

Icebergs are awesome! They are also dangerous, especially when they journey into shipping lanes. It was just such an iceberg that sank the RMS Titanic in April 1912. The Titanic was not the only ship to ever hit an iceberg. It remains etched in our memory and history because of the great loss of life. The recent Oscar-winning film "Titanic" brought the tragedy to the big screen. Humans touted that they had built an "unsinkable" ship. Nature, however, proved them wrong. The captain ignored the warnings of icebergs and proceeded at an excessive speed with 2224 passengers on board. 1517 people were killed as the ship came to a grinding halt upon striking the iceberg and sank beneath the icy waters. It was this tragedy that led to the formation of the International Ice Patrol now maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.