“what events in the sinking of the titanic were most significant in causing the devastating loss of life.” how do you re-state this?

"What particular sequence of events were the most significant in their destruction to take away the lives of those in the sinking of The Titanic?" 

A little confusing, yes, I know. LOL But try and simply change around the wording a bit to make bigger words and move the sentence out a little father. 

"In the sinking of The Titanic, what causes were most significant in the devastating loss of life?"

Try this!