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History of Titanic

   Titanic left Southampton pier where she received her official glorious name, on Wednesday, April 10, 1912, at 12:15pm. Titanic took a 24 mile trip down the English channel en route to Cherbourg France. Titanic then arrived in Cherbourg at 5:30pm, where the famous "Unsinkable Molly Brown" boarded.
 

At 8:30pm, the anchor is raised and she leaves for Queenstown, Ireland, taking her through the English channel and around England's south coast. Thursday, April 11, 1912: Titanic arrived at the Queenstown Harbour at 11:30 am. Finally, at 1:30pm, her anchor is raised for the last time and she departs with a total estimate of 2,228 passengers and crew members (1,343 passengers and 885 crew members) aboard, bound for a destination that she would never reach. New York.


Friday, April 12, 1912: By daybreak Titanic was well out in the Atlantic running 21 knots. Between April 11th and 12th, Titanic covers 386 miles in fine, calm, clear weather. Each day, as the voyage went on, everybody's admiration of the ship increased: for the way she behaved; for the total absence of vibration; for her steadiness even with the ever-increasing speed. As Lightoller observed, "We were not out to make a record passage; in fact the White Star Lines invariably run their ships at reduced speed for the first few voyages." During the day, Titanic had received many wireless messages of congratulations and good wishes including those from the Empress of Britain and La Touraine. Each greeting had also contained advice of ice, but this was not uncommon for an April crossing. Late in the evening, Titanic's wireless apparatus ceased to function, forcing Jack Phillips and Harold Bride to work through the early morning hours to troubleshoot the apparatus and locate the problem. As Friday passed into Saturday, vessels were encountering ice all along the North Atlantic shipping lines.


Saturday, April 13, 1912: Between noon Friday and noon Saturday, Titanic covers 519 miles. At 10:30 a.m., Captain E.J. Smith begins the daily inspection.


Sunday, April 14, 1912: The fine weather continued with a smooth sea and a moderate southwesterly wind. Everyone was in good spirits. The hardier passengers paced briskly up and down the Boat Deck, even though the breeze was chilly but invigorating. Between Saturday and Sunday, the Titanic covered 546 smiles. Earlier, Titanic had picked up a wireless message from the Caronia warning of ice ahead, followed by a message from the Dutch liner Noordam, again warning of "much ice" ahead. In the early afternoon, the Baltic reports "large quantities of field ice" about 250 miles ahead of the Titanic (this is the message which Smith eventually gives to J. Bruce Ismay). A short time later, the German liner Amerika warns of a "large iceberg" but this message was not sent to the bridge. Just before 6:00 p.m., Smoth alters the ship's course slightly to south and west of its normal course, perhaps as a precaution to avoid the ice warned by so many ships. Titanic's course is now South 86 West true. But no orders are given to decrease speed, in fact at this time, the Titanic's speed was actually increasing.


At 7:30 p.m., 3 warning messages concerning large icebergs are intercepted from the Californian indicating that ice is now only 50 miles ahead. After excusing himself from dinner, Smith heads for the bridge where he discusses the unusually calm and clear conditions with 2nd Office Lightoller.


Around 9:20 p.m., Smith retires for the night with the usual order to rouse him "if it becomes at all doubtful" after which Lightoller cautions the lookouts to watch carefully for ice until morning.


At 9:40 p.m., a heavy ice pack and iceberg warning is received from the Mesaba. This message is overlooked by Bride and Phillips due to their preoccupation with passenger traffic. Altogether, the many ice warnings received that day show a huge ice field 78 miles long and directly ahead of Titanic. By 10:00 p.m., Lightoller is relieved by 1st Officer Murdoch.


At 10:55 p.m., some 10-19 miles north of Titanic, the Californian is stopped in ice and sends out warnings to all ships in area. Bride rebukes the Californian with the famous reply, "Keep out! Shut up! You're jamming my signal. I'm working Cape Race" and the Californian wireless officer shuts down his set for the night. By this time, 24 of 29 boilers were fired and the Titanic was now running at over 22 knots, the highest speed she had ever achieved.


At 11:30 p.m., lookouts Fleet and Lee note a slight haze appearing directly ahead. At 11:40 p.m., with the Titanic steaming at over 22 knots, Fleet sees a large iceberg dead ahead and signals the bride. Sixth Office Moody acknowledges the signal and relays the message to Murdoch who instinctively orders "Hard-a-starboard" and telegraphs the engine room to stop all engines, followed by a full astern. He also closes the watertight doors. Titanic slowly begins to veer to port, but an underwater spar from the passing berg scraps and bumps along the starboard side forward to the sea, as 300-foot distance fully opening the five forward compartments to the sea, as well as flooding the coal bunker servicing the No. 9 stokehole.


By 11:55 p.m., 15 minutes after the collision, the post office on "G" Deck forward is already flooding. After a quick inspection of the damage by Wilde, Boxhall and Andrews, Smith knows the worst... that Titanic was sinking and the more than 2,200 people aboard were in extreme peril. With a heavy heart, Smith personally takes the Titanic's position, worked out by a 4th Office Boxhall, to the wireless room. Handing the paper to Phillips shortly after midnight, he ordered a call for assistance. Phillips taps out the regulation distress signal CQD...MGY...CQD...MGY...


Monday, April 15, 1912: Shortly after midnight, the Squash court, 32 feet above keel, is awash. The majority of the boilers have been shut down, and the huge clouds of steam roar out of the relief pipes secured to the sides of the funnels. Smith orders that the lifeboats be uncovered and musters the crew and passengers. There is only enough room for 1,178 people out of an estimated 2,228 on board, if every boat is filled to capacity. Wireless operators, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, try the CQD (Come Quick, Distress) MGY (Titanic's call sign) signal but received few responses. They then try the new SOS (Save Our Ship) signal and received responses from Frankfurt, Olympic and Carpathia. Frankfurt's signal was the strongest, however they were 170 miles away. Olympic wouldn't arrive until the next night. Carpathia, however, was the closet ship to Titanic. She was 57 miles away and it would take her 4 hours to get there.


Between 12:10 a.m. and 1:50 a.m., several crewmembers on Carpathia see what is thought to be a tramp steamer's lights. Rockets are also observed, but no great concern is taken. Carpathia's crew members saw Titanic's flares in the early morning sky, but thought they were having a celebration. They didn't think of waking up their sleeping wireless operators.


At 12:15 a.m., Wallace Hartley and his band begin to play lively ragtime tunes in the 1st Class lounge on "A" Deck.


At 12:25 a.m., Smith gives the order to start loading lifeboats with women and children, and this order is particularly followed to the letter by 2nd Officer Lightoller.


By 12:45 a.m., starboard No.7 is safely lowered away with only 28 people, while it can carry 65. At about this same time, the first distress rocket is fired by Quartermaster George Rowe, under the direction of Boxhall, from the bridge rail sockets on the Boat Deck by the No.1 emergency cutter. They soared 800 feet in the air and explode into 12 brilliant white stars, along with a loud report. Boxhall sees a vessel approach and then disappear, despite attempts to contact her via Morse lamp. By 1:15 am, water has reached Titanic's name on the bow, and she now lists to port. By this time, seven boats have been lowered, by with far fewer passengers and crew than rated capacity. The tilt of the deck grows steeper and boats now begin to be more fully loaded, with starboard No. 9 lowered at 1:20 a.m., some 56 people aboard. The Titanic has now developed a noticeable list to starboard. By 1:30 a.m., signs of panic begin to appear as port No. 14 is lowered with 60 people, including 5th Officer Lowe. Lowe is forced to fire three warning shots along the ship's side to keep a group of unruly passengers from jumping into the already full boat. Wireless distress calls tapped out by Phillips reach desperation status, with messages such as, "we are sinking fast" and, "cannot last much longer." Ben Guggenheim along with manservant Victor Giglio, returned to their cabins and changed into evening dress explaining, "We're dressed up in our best and prepared to go down like gentlemen."


By 1:40 a.m., most of the forward boats have left and passengers begin to move to the stern area. J. Bruce Ismay leaves on collapsible "C" with 39 aboard, the last starboard boat to be lowered. The forward Well Deck is awash.


By 2:00 a.m., water is now only 10 feet below the Promenade Deck. Around this time, Hartley chooses the band's final piece, 'Nearer, My God to Thee.' Hartley said it would always be the hymn he would select for his own funeral. They would continue playing to almost the end, and every member would be lost. With more than 1,500 still on board, and just 47 positions available in Collapsible "D," Lightoller instructs the crew to lock arms and form a circle around the boat, permitting only women and children to pass through the circle.


At 2:05 a.m., "D" begins it's downward journey with 44 people out of a rated capacity of 47. The sea is pouring on to the forward end of "A" Deck, and Titanic's tilt grows deeper. At this same time, Smith goes to the wireless cabin and releases Phillips and Bride telling them that they have "done their duty." On the way back to his bridge, Smith tells several crewmen, "It's every man for himself." His last thoughts are likely of his beloved wife Eleanor and his young daughter Helen. As Walter Lord describes the scene in "A Night to Remember," "with the boats all gone, a curious calm came over the Titanic. The excitement and confusion were over and the hundreds left behind stood quietly on the upper decks. They seemed to cluster inboard, trying to keep as far away from the rail as possible." The stern begins to lift clear of the water, and passengers move further and further aft.


At about 2:17 a.m., Titanic's bow plunges under while hundreds of 2nd and 3rd class passengers hear confessions from Father Thomas Byles gathered at the aft end of the Boat Deck.


At 2:18 a.m., a huge roar is heard as all moveable objects inside Titanic crash toward the submerged bow. The lights blink once and then go out, leaving Titanic visible only as a black silhouette against the starlit sky. Many are convinced that the hull breaks in two between the 3rd and 4th funnels. The ship achieves a completely perpendicular position and remains there for several minutes.


At 2:20 a.m., she settles back slightly and slides down to the bed of the North Atlantic some 13,000 feet below. Almost at once, the night was punctuated with the cries of the survivors, growing in number and anguish until Thayer's words they became "a long continuous wailing chant." They ghastly noise would continue for some time, but mercifully many would freeze to death and rather than drown. The cries even affected the hardened Lightoller who heard the "heartrending never-to-be-forgotten sounds" from overturned Collapsible "A." Later, he would confess that he had never allowed his thoughts to dwell on those terrible cries.


At 3:30 a.m., the Carpathia's rockets are sighted by those in the lifeboats and at 4:10 a.m., Titanic's No.2 lifeboat is picked up.


By 5:30 a.m., after being advised by the Frankfort of Titanic's loss, the Californian makes for the disaster site and arrives about three hours later, just as the last boat No. 12, is rescued by the Carpathia. True to form, Lightoller is the last survivor to come aboard.


At 8:50 a.m., the Carpathia leaves the searching for survivors to the other ships and heads for New York. She carries only 705 survivors. An estimated 1,522 souls have been lost. J. Bruce Ismay sent the following message to the White Star Lines New York offices: "Deeply regret advice you, Titanic sank this morning after collision with iceberg, resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later."          

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