On April 14, 1912 the Titanic received wireless messages all day, warning of floating icebergs, particularly for the region between 42°N and between 49° and 51°W. The first warning was received at 9 a.m. After that, similar messages came in from various ocean liners but only a few of these were passed on to the bridge.
Around 9 p.m, Captain Smith briefly conferred with his second officer Charles H. Lightoller before retiring to his cabin for the night.
Both of them knew that on such a clear, moonless night it would be extremely difficult to spot icebergs. Why they did not change course and take the ice-free southern route remains one of the unsolved mysteries surrounding the Titanic.
One can only assume that the ship was supposed to reach its destination as quickly as possible on its maiden voyage.And as no icebergs had been sighted so far, the luxury liner kept up its speed.
Around 9.40 p.m. more ice warnings were received but these were not passed on to the officers. A great number of private telegrams requiring transmission had accumulated during the day, and the wireless operators were busy all evening dealing with these. In the general confusion of private wireless traffic, the ice warnings were largely ignored.
In fact, the wireless operator who accepted the last warning was extremely irritated at the interruption. But clearly, the officers too did not have enough experience in dealing with icebergs and contented themselves with the information coming from the crow's nest.
However, the lookout did not even have a pair of binoculars – these had already been misplaced in Southampton.
At 11.40 p.m. the two lookouts startled the officers with the alarming message: "Iceberg right ahead!" First Officer Murdoch had less than one minute in which to react. He decided to stop immediately and reverse at full power.
In this way, a frontal collision was just prevented. But it was not possible to stop the ship entirely and the bow collided with the iceberg. Later, Murdoch, who did not survive the tragedy, was severely criticised for his decision.
According to the analysts it would have been better to steer directly into the iceberg. Although the bow would have been damaged, the steamer would probably not have sunk.
After the collision, it seemed at first from the bridge that they had had a lucky escape. The few passengers who were still awake had hardly noticed a thing. Only a few people went out on deck to see what had happened. But when they heard that the ship had ‘just’ scraped an iceberg they went back to their cabins and lounges.
Down in the bowels of the ship the effects of the collision with the iceberg were more apparent. The firemen and engineers heard a loud bang and saw water gushing in. The order was immediately given to seal the hatches to cut off the air flow to the furnaces. But the mail room was already flooded when Captain Smith and the master shipbuilder investigated the situation below deck twenty minutes after the collision.
The hull of the ship was divided into 15 watertight compartments - had only four of these been damaged the steamer would have managed to stay afloat, but five compartments had been damaged.
As these would soon be filled with water, which would then flood the other compartments, this meant the Titanic was fated to sink. The shipbuilder estimated that at most one hour remained to evacuate the ship.
Captain Smith wasted no time. He knew that at least 1000 people would have to remain on board as there were not enough lifeboats for everyone.
Around 12.15 a.m. he gave orders to uncover the lifeboats and send out an SOS. This signal had only just been introduced and the Titanic was one of the first ships to use it.
When the distress rockets were fired, the last of the passengers must have realised that something terrible had happened. Many had followed instructions and were already waiting on the boat deck in life jackets.
Access to the lifeboats followed a simple general rule: women and children first, regardless of their possessions. On the port side, Second Officer Lightoller supervised the boarding of the lifeboats; on the starboard side it was First Officer Murdoch.
Around 12.25 a.m. the first boat was launched – even though it only held 28 first-class passengers when 65 seats were available. While Lightoller had to insist on only letting women onto the lifeboats, Murdoch was having trouble persuading people to get into the lifeboats at all.
At first, many people still believed the Titanic was safer than the little boats. A few elderly ladies were even lifted into the lifeboats against their will. Meanwhile, dramatic scenes were taking place on deck.
The millionaire's wife Ida Straus refused to be rescued as, after her long marriage, she did not want to be separated from her husband. Other men bravely bade their families farewell.
The third-class passengers had been the last to hear about the collision. Some of them only became aware of the catastrophe when their cabins were already flooded. Soon there was total chaos. Within an hour, 25,000 tons of water poured into the ship. At around 1 a.m. the bow of the ship was already under water.
The music band still tried to keep up the morale of those who were doomed to die by playing lively ragtimes. Some of the passengers seemed to ignore what was happening. In the first-class smoking room men sat peacefully playing cards.
The Guggenheim heir insisted on getting dressed in his best evening wear saying that he at least wanted to "die like a gentleman." At around 1.30 a.m. when the bow was already so deep in the water, people could hardly keep upright on the steeply inclined deck, a few passengers tried to jump into an almost full lifeboat and could only be stopped by warning shots.
At around 1.55 a.m. even the richest man on board, John Jacob Astor, had to accept that his money was no longer worth anything. He took his pregnant wife to a lifeboat and asked to be allowed to join her.
Officer Lightoller remained adamant: women and children only. The boat was finally launched, only two thirds full. According to survivors, once all the boats had been lowered, a strange calm spread over the decks.
At 2.15 a.m. the water had already reached the level of the first funnel. Rumbling, crackling and roaring noises followed. The lighting on board flickered and finally went out. The stern tilted up to a 45 degree angle.
The critical load at a point between the third and fourth funnels had been reached and the ship split apart down the middle under its enormous weight. The larger part reared up again by 75 metres and then the ship that had been considered unsinkable went down, bow first.
Although a few hundred places were theoretically still vacant, the people in the lifeboats rowed away from those in the water crying for help for fear that their boat would capsize if too many people tried to climb on board. Only lifeboat number four turned round and picked up five people floating in the water, two of whom died in the lifeboat.
At this point, the lifeboats themselves were not out of danger. Some people were wounded, while others suffered from the cold in their inadequate clothing. When would help reach them? Who could rescue the victims of the shipwreck?
The ocean liner nearest the Titanic was the Cunard steamer Carpathia, which had set off from New York for Gibraltar on April 11, 1912. It had changed course immediately on receiving the first call for help and was heading directly to the scene of the accident.
It took four hours to get there even though the captain had immediately given orders to go at full speed.
Fortunately, the Carpathia, which was usually filled to the limit with emigrants was not carrying its full load and was able to pick up all of the survivors of the Titanic.
Between 4.14 a.m. and 8.30 a.m., 315 women, 52 children and 126 men who were registered as passengers and 210 crew members were taken on board.
Whit love and regards, Citation: Discovery Channel
Leader of the world tourism
Reha Uzundere
Chairman
Webmaster: Reha Uzundere
