The largest and most luxurious ship ever built, Titanic departs Southampton on her maiden voyage. She will meet her tragic fate in the North Atlantic.
At 11:40 p.m., the lookouts spot an iceberg directly in her path. First officer Murdoch orders a hard starboard turn. The ship hits the iceberg with a glancing blow.
1. The Ship’s Maiden Voyage
When the titanic timeline set sail in April 10, 1912, it was the largest passenger ship in the world. The luxurious, modern ship promised to be fast and comfortable on its journey from Southampton, England, to New York City. The voyage was full of wealthy passengers, including Benjamin Guggenheim and his wife Isidore; journalist William Thomas Stead; and Macy’s department store co-owner Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida.
The luxury liner was touted as “practically unsinkable” by its builders. While this claim was not completely unfounded, the truth is that the ship had many shortcomings that led to its demise. The following timeline highlights the most important events in the Titanic’s tragic maiden voyage.
May 31, 1911: Titanic’s immense hull is launched from the slipways in Belfast. The launch is attended by 100,000 people and goes smoothly.
April 9, 1912: The Titanic’s designer, Thomas Andrews, inspects the ship to ensure that all the safety precautions are in place. The inspection results in some minor adjustments to the ship. The captain, Edward J. Smith, and most of his crew board the ship.
After leaving Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, Titanic makes final preparations for its voyage to New York City. The rest of the passengers begin to board, and final food supplies are loaded onboard. The first lifeboats are readied for launch.
Throughout the night of April 14-15, Titanic’s radio operators, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, receive iceberg warnings from other ships, such as the Mesaba. However, the messages are never relayed to the bridge.
At about 11:40 p.m., lookout Frederick Fleet spots an iceberg in the ship’s path. First officer William McMaster Murdoch orders a hard starboard turn, but the ship hits the iceberg. Only 37 seconds passed between the initial sighting of the iceberg and the moment when it struck the Titanic.
As the water rushes in, the stern section of the ship begins to list. The stern section is slowly but surely flooded, and the Titanic sinks from view. The disaster has captivated the world’s imagination for more than 100 years, and its legacy continues to live on in the many books, plays, movies and songs that have been inspired by it.
2. The Ship’s Sinking
April 14, 1912: Two hours into the voyage, senior wireless operator Jack Phillips starts receiving warnings about icebergs from other ships farther to the west. But because he’s busy sending messages to land stations, he doesn’t immediately pass the information on to Captain Smith or Titanic’s bridge.
At 10:20pm, the ship collides with a large chunk of ice. The impact causes six of the ship’s sixteen compartments to flood. The iceberg causes the ship to tilt severely to starboard, and she begins to turn over.
The iceberg breaks off a small section of the ship’s hull and propellers, which then hits the water’s surface, creating an enormous hole in the hull. Water rushes in through the hole and into the ship’s forward compartments, flooding them. The water then rises through the flooded hull and begins filling the ship’s bow, making it impossible for Titanic to stay afloat.
In a panic, Captain Smith orders his officers to send out distress flares and radio calls for help. He also orders the lowering of the first lifeboats. Lookout Frederick Fleet spies an iceberg in the ship’s path and alerts the bridge. First Officer Murdoch orders a hard starboard turn, but the ship scrapes the side of the iceberg and only moves 37 seconds before hitting it.
The glancing blow buckles the starboard side of Titanic and opens four of her forward compartments to the sea. Although she was designed to withstand a collision with an iceberg, it takes less than two hours for Titanic to sink completely.
As the stern disappears into the depths, survivors use flares and their phones to signal for help. At 3:30 am, the rescue ship Carpathia arrives in the area. White Star chairman Ismay writes a message to be sent to his offices: “Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning fifteenth after collision with iceberg, resulting serious loss of life; further particulars later.” The survivors are loaded into the ship’s lifeboats and begin their journey to New York City. It would take over a day to get all the survivors to safety.
3. The Search For Survivors
During the hours that followed the impact of the Titanic and her sinking, a scene of both craven cowardice and extraordinary bravery played out in the frigid North Atlantic. Passengers rushed to lifeboats and were either loaded aboard them or held on to flotsam in the freezing water. Several hundred people would not survive, but for the few who made it to boats, the horror was far from over.
At 1:30 a.m., Captain Smith orders the lifeboats to be readied and begins to load passengers. The 20 available lifeboats had enough space for only 1,178 people, and an order was given to load women and children first. Men were to board last and help row the boats. After a few hours the last boat was lowered with only 28 of its possible 65 spaces filled. The crew began broadcasting the emergency signals CQD and SOS, although the nearest ship had turned off its radio.
On the deck below, shift change occurs on the bridge, with First Officer William Murdoch replacing Second Officer Charles Lightoller as officer of the watch. The officers are shocked to see the Orlop deck completely flooded forward of the #4 watertight bulkhead, as well as other damage to the ship.
A warning from the Mesaba ship, anchored nearby, is received via wireless. But it is not passed on to the Titanic’s bridge, because the Marconi wireless operator is busy handling passengers’ messages.
By the time the first lifeboats are lowered, the water has already risen to the level of the upper decks. Despite the strict order to load women and children into boats, many men are still reluctant to board. One of them is a wealthy American named John Jacob Astor, who is five months pregnant. Against protocol, Astor asks to join his wife, Madeleine, in a lifeboat, but Lightoller refuses.
A Catholic priest comforts the panicked passengers. The lights in the lifeboats go out, and everyone is plunged into darkness. Despite the Captain’s instructions for a media blackout, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Carlos Hurd secretly interviews survivors and takes notes. Knowing his eyewitness account will be a major story the next day, Hurd seals his notes in a cigar tin and ties champagne corks to the top for buoyancy.
4. The Discovery Of The Wreck
The discovery of the Titanic in 1985 sent shockwaves through the world. Oceanographer Robert Ballard, a Navy Reserve officer and top-secret Naval Reserve pilot who had conducted a number of clandestine missions during the Cold War, was on the verge of realizing one of his most ambitious dreams: finding the remains of the famous ship that had sunk in 1912. The story behind how he finally found the ship would make headlines across the globe.
On April 15, 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The massive ship broke apart and sank in two separate sections, leaving only a small portion of the Titanic’s stern visible on the seafloor. Despite a desperate search for survivors, only 705 of the more than 1,500 people aboard survived.
At approximately 11:40 pm, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg directly ahead. The first officer, William Murdoch, ordered a hard starboard turn. But the iceberg’s right side scraped against the Titanic and caused it to take in water. Water quickly filled successive compartments, causing the bow to sink and the stern to rise to a nearly vertical position.
Then, just after 12:00 am, the captain told his passengers that the ship could only float for about a couple of hours and that they should prepare to evacuate into the lifeboats. Several women, including Madeleine Astor, five months pregnant with twins, are helped onto the lifeboats by their husbands. Astor asks Second Officer Lightoller if she can join them, but Lightoller refuses to deviate from the protocol of saving women and children before men.
While passengers wait to board the lifeboats, Titanic’s musicians entertain them with a rousing rendition of “Nearer My God to Thee.” Then the ship sinks and disappears from view. Speculation swirled for decades over what caused the Titanic to sink, but the discovery of the wreck put several myths to rest. Ballard’s team used both Argo and Angus, an unmanned submarine designed to take still photographs, to document the Titanic’s remains. The pristine china plates and pieces of furniture were preserved, but the wooden decking had been eaten away by iron-eating microorganisms.
Conclusion
The Titanic, a grand vessel once deemed unsinkable, met a tragic fate on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. This disaster resulted in the loss of over 1,500 lives and left a profound impact on maritime safety regulations. The Titanic remains an enduring symbol of human hubris and vulnerability.
FAQs:
- How many people survived the sinking of the Titanic? Out of the approximately 2,224 passengers and crew on board, around 710 people survived the sinking of the Titanic. The majority of survivors were women, children, and passengers from the upper classes, as they were prioritized during the evacuation.
- Were there any repercussions after the Titanic disaster? Yes, the Titanic disaster led to significant changes in maritime regulations. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was established in 1914, requiring ships to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers, perform lifeboat drills, maintain radio communication, and implement other safety measures to prevent similar tragedies.
