31. Why Build the Titanic in the First Place?
We often get so caught up in the big or interesting facts about the Titanic that we never ask why it was even built. It was costly, huge and a marvel at the time, but was it necessary? According to White Star Line it was. This was all because of competition with rivals Cunard, which owned the Lusitania, which was renowned as one of the most luxurious ships in the world, and Mauretania, which held the Blue Riband, the unofficial holder of the fastest Atlantic crossing.
White Star Line did not want to compete in speed, but it did want to build something more reliable and luxurious. Thus it started work on the Titanic, and her sister ships, the Britannic and Olympic. The idea spawned the start of what we see in cruise liners these days – each competing to offer more luxurious amenities than the next.