Jim Yarasavich, age 10, of Phoenix, Ariz., for his question:

WHY DID THE TITANIC SINK?

Titanic was the name of a British steam ship. It was the largest ship in the world, measuring 882.5 feet long. That's almost three times longer than 'a football field! It was called the "unsinkable Titannic," yet on the night of April 14 15, 1912, during its first trip from England to New York City, it struck an iceberg and sank.

The Titanic tragedy occurred about 1,600 miles northeast of New York City. Crew members sighted the iceberg just before the crash, but too late to avoid it.

Although the experts considered the ship unsinkable, the collision tore a 300 foot gash in its hull. The ship sank in about two and a half hours.

Lifeboats held less than half of the approximately 2,200 persons, and took on mostly women and children. The liner Carpathia picked up 705 survivors later.

A British inquiry reported that 1,490 persons died, the British Board of Trade said the total was 1,503 and the United States Senate investigating committee came up with a count of 1,517.