Loss At 11.40pm on Sunday 14 April, travelling at over 20 knots (about 23 miles per hour), Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than 10 seconds her hull was ripped opened below the waterline for a length of 300 feet (91 metres). The tragedy was not so much that she sank but that there were not enough lifeboats to save all on board. Indeed, many passengers were reluctant to leave the unsinkable Titanic, thinking that it was safer to stay on the ship, rather than risk going on the lifeboats. Leaving Belfast Titanic was originally due to depart from Belfast on 1 April 1912, but this was postponed for one day due to bad weather. This section traces her departure from Belfast, the city of her birth, as she made her way to Southampton. Titanic Leaves Belfast 1 Titanic leaving Belfast, April 1912. This photograph, taken on 2 April 1912, shows Titanic slowly moving down Belfast Lough towards the open sea, escorted by Harland & Wolff s tugs. She was to undertake several hours of sea trials before setting sail for Southampton.
Her four huge funnels tower more than 80 feet above the boat deck, while their elegant rake is matched by her lofty masts. Externally Titanic can be distinguished from her sister ship Olympic by the forward enclosure of Promenade Deck A. This was done in order to protect first class passengers from the weather. Titanic Leaves Belfast 2 Titanic leaving Belfast, April 1912. Although not all are shown here, five Harland & Wolff tugs were used to carefully guide Titanic down the deepwater channel of Belfast Lough on 2 April 1912. Crowds gathered to watch her passage. Titanic Leaves Belfast 3 Titanic leaving Belfast, April 1912. Gentle ripples and eddies in the water show Titanic s slow, steady progress down Belfast Lough as she slips away from the city of her birth on 2 April 1912. Once in the open waters of the Irish Sea, she worked up to speeds approaching 20 knots (about 23 miles per hour).
"When the tugs were left behind the compasses were adjusted, after which a satisfactory speed run took place, and the latest triumph of the shipbuilder s art then left for Southampton, carrying with her the best wishes of the citizens of Belfast". Belfast News Letter, 3 April 1912 Leaving Southampton Titanic was berthed at Southampton from 3 10 April 1912. During this time she underwent the final preparations for her maiden voyage to New York. Bow View at Berth 44 Titanic at Southampton, April 1912. Titanic arrived at Southampton on the south coast of England just before midnight on Wednesday 3 April. Throughout the following week there was continual activity to complete the arrangements for Titanic s maiden voyage to New York, scheduled for 10 April 1912. In this photograph Titanic is at Berth 44 in the purpose built White Star Dock at Southampton. Large quayside cranes, travelling on rails, are loading materials and provisions on board the ship. Alongside at Berth 44
Titanic at Southampton, April 1912. This image shows Titanic at Berth No 44, White Star Dock, Southampton, possibly on Easter Sunday, 7 April 1912. During the week she lay in Southampton, large quantities of stores, including glassware, crockery and cutlery, were brought on board the ship. As well as a huge supply of fresh food and water, Titanic s provisions included 15,000 bottles of beer and 1000 bottles of wine. Finishing work continued on board the ship too. Carpets were fitted, paintwork was completed, curtains were hung and furniture was arranged as part of the huge effort to get Titanic ready for her maiden voyage. Leaving Southampton 1 Titanic leaving Southampton, April 1912. Just before noon on 10 April 1912, Titanic began her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. She was under the command of Captain Edward John Smith. Her first port of call was Cherbourg, about 70 miles (112 km) away in France, and then Queenstown (Cobh) in Ireland. In this photograph, amid clouds of smoke and steam, mooring lines are being cast off and five tiny tugs are manoeuvring Titanic away from her berth and out of the dock. Her mighty propellers would not start turning until she was in deep water. The great liner carries the hopes of everyone on board and on shore.
Leaving Southampton 2 Titanic leaving Southampton, April 1912. Titanic begins her maiden voyage to New York, 10 April 1912, calling first at Cherbourg in France and then Queenstown (Cobh) in Ireland. The man in the foreground is holding a camera and is watching the departure of Titanic on board the same ship as the photographer who recorded this view. Leaving Southampton 3 Titanic leaving Southampton, April 1912. Titanic moves downstream from Southampton, under her own power, 10 April 1912. She was scheduled to call at Cherbourg in France and then Queenstown (Cobh) in Ireland before crossing the Atlantic to New York.
Leaving Southampton 4 Titanic leaving Southampton, April 1912. Titanic steams away from Southampton, 10 April 1912. Her first port of call was Cherbourg in France, where a further 274 passengers went on board. As Titanic was too large to enter the tiny port of Cherbourg, the passengers were ferried to the liner on the White Star tenders Nomadic and Traffic, both of which had been specially built in Belfast for this purpose. Her next, and final, port of call was Queenstown (Cobh) in Ireland. Leaving Queenstown The Irish port of Queenstown, now known as Cobh, was Titanic s final port of call before setting off across the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage to New York. At Queenstown she collected more passengers, their luggage and mail. Postcard from Queenstown Postcard from Titanic, April 1912.
At 11:30 am, 11 April, Titanic dropped anchor 2 miles (3km) offshore from Queenstown in county Cork, Ireland, her last port of call before sailing for New York. Two tenders, America and Ireland, carried new passengers and their luggage out to the ship. At 1:40pm she set sail again. This card was posted from Titanic at Queenstown (Cobh) on 11 April 1912. It was sent by Mr Robert Phillips, travelling in second class with his daughter Alice. It reads: "RMS Titanic 11/4/12 Dear Bill, Just a line to let you know we are all right up to now and having a jolly time. I wrote to Bill yesterday, if you call in he will tell what I have said. Kindest regards to you and the wife from one of the old school. R.Phillips Alice has made friends with a gentleman and wife and two daughters that sit at the same table." Mr Phillips was lost in the disaster, but his daughter Alice survived. Postcard showing White Star Line office in Queenstown View of the White Star Line office in Queenstown, County Cork. Operated by Messrs, James Scott and Company, the office was one of the busiest places in the port town. Representatives of the White Star Line looked after the transfer of the passengers and mail to Titanic which anchored at the entrance to Cork harbour. In the background you can see St. Colman s Cathedral.
Sinking At 11.40pm on Sunday 14 April, 1912, tragedy struck. Titanic struck an iceberg and two hours and forty minutes later, she sank to the ocean floor, with the loss of almost 1500 lives. This section describes the events leading up to the sinking, as well as its aftermath. Titanic Voyage Chart 1912 illustration of Titanic's intended voyage to New York and the location of her sinking. Titanic left Queenstown (Cobh) in Ireland on the afternoon of Thursday 11 April 1912 and sailed into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There were 2201 souls on board, but lifeboat space only for 1178. At 11.40pm on Sunday 14 April, tragedy struck. The ship hit an iceberg and two hours and forty minutes later, she sank to the ocean floor, with the loss of almost 1500 lives. Titanic hits the Iceberg 1912 illustration of Titanic's collision with the iceberg at 11.40pm on Sunday 14 April.
Titanic was travelling at over 20 knots (about 23 miles per hour) when she struck the iceberg. In less than 10 seconds her hull was ripped opened below the waterline on the starboard (right hand) side for a length of 300 feet (91 metres). Within 10 minutes the ship's five forward compartments were flooded to a height of 14 feet (4.25 metres) above the keel. Titanic's collision with the iceberg was a freak accident in which six compartments were immediately open to the sea. The massive inrush of water, with which the pumps and system of hull subdivision could not cope, doomed the ship. It is interesting to note that shortly after completing her 2 April sea trials, a fire developed in the coal stored in the starboard side coal bunker. It was not fully extinguished until 13 April. It is speculated that the fire may have made the hull plates in this area more brittle. Lowering Titanic's Lifeboats 1912 illustration of Titanic's lifeboats being lowered. At 12.20 am on 15 April Titanic's lifeboats were swung out. About 12.30am the order was given to place women and children in them and 15 minutes later the boats began to be lowered to the icy water 65 feet below. However for various reasons not all of the lifeboats were filled to capacity. Many passengers were reluctant to leave the unsinkable Titanic, thinking that it was safer to stay on the ship, rather than risk going on the lifeboats. There were 20 lifeboats on board Titanic. This was more than the 16 boats she was legally required to carry under the Board of Trade rules. But in 1912 the rules governing the number of lifeboats on ships were determined by the tonnage of vessels, not by the number of people on board. After the Titanic disaster, the rules were quickly changed to ensure that enough lifeboats were provided for everyone on board ships at sea.
Carpathia rescues survivors The survivors in the Titanic s lifeboats were picked up by the Cunard liner Carpathia, which was bound to Liverpool from New York when Titanic s distress signal was received at 12.25 a.m. Captain Rostron immediately turned his ship and steamed at her highest speed in the direction of Titanic fifty eight miles away. At 4.10 am just at daylight, the first lifeboat was picked up by Carpathia. The remaining lifeboats were scattered over an area of four to five miles and it was 8.00 am before they had all been picked up. Only 711 survivors were brought to New York by the rescue ship Carpathia. Sinking of the Titanic 1912 illustration of the sinking of Titanic.
Titanic went down at 2.20am on 15 April. The tragedy was not that the ship sank but that there were not enough lifeboats to save all on board. What is more, of the 20 lifeboats available, not all were filled to capacity. Almost 1500 people, passengers and crew, perished in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Only 711 survivors were brought to New York by the rescue ship Carpathia. News of the Disaster - Daily Mirror reports Titanic report, The Daily Mirror, 16 April 1912. "Everyone Safe"..."Helpless Giant Being Towed To Port by Allan Liner." As this headline story in the Daily Mirror shows, the initial reporting of Titanic's collision with an iceberg was inaccurate and wildly optimistic. However, such reports were soon overshadowed when the true scale of the disaster became known and it emerged that almost 1500 people had died. Morgan Robertson "Prediction" No one could have foreseen the tragedy that would befall Titanic and her passengers. However it is intriguing to note that in 1898, Morgan Robertson, a popular American writer of sea adventures, published a book with remarkable parallels to the Titanic story. In his novel, Robertson wrote about the most luxurious and biggest ship in the world, an 800 foot steel giant with three propellers and a top speed of more than 20 knots. Unfortunately, she had too few lifeboats. Robertson s ship struck an iceberg at about midnight, sometime in April, and sank in the North Atlantic, with a huge loss of life. His book was called Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan. Calling for Help The Marconi wireless radio on board Titanic was a relatively new technological marvel. Its operators were employed by the Marconi Company, not the White Star Line. When Captain Smith realised that the ship was sinking, he ordered the operators on duty, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, to send wireless messages to all steamships within reach.
Bride and Phillips stayed at their post, sending the S.O.S. signal, until Captain Smith informed them that they could leave. Bride survived the disaster, Phillips did not. Marconi Operators 1912 illustration of Titanic's heroic Marconi (wireless) operators. Titanic s Marconigram operators, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, sent out a flurry of messages between 12.15 and 2.17 am, when Titanic's signals abruptly ended. Among those ships that received the messages was Titanic s sister ship, Olympic, under Captain Haddock. The contents of these messages capture the desperate plight of all those on board. Marconigram 1 News of the disaster reaches Olympic.
Marconigram 2 Messages are exchanged between Olympic and Titanic. Marconigram 3 Titanic sends a message that passengers are being put into small boats.
Marconigram 4 Olympic prepares to reach Titanic with all possible haste. Marconigram 5 The scale of the disaster becomes evident.
Marconigram 6 The scale of the disaster is reported.