Sinking of the Titanic

The Titanic's sinking as depicted by artist Willy Stöwer.

The sinking of the RMS Titanic refers to the events prior to and during the Titanic's sinking, as detailed below.

10:45 PM - Iceberg warnings

On the night of Sunday, 14 April 1912 the temperature had dropped to near freezing and the ocean was completely calm. Surviving 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller later wrote "the sea was like glass". There was no moon and the sky was clear. Captain Edward Smith, perhaps in response to iceberg warnings received by wireless over the previous few days, had altered the Titanic's course around 10 miles (18 km) south of the normal shipping route. That Sunday at 1:45 p.m., a message from the steamer SS Amerika warned that large icebergs lay south of the Titanic's path but the warning was addressed to the USN Hydrographic office and was never relayed to the bridge. Iceberg warnings were received throughout the day and were quite normal for the time of year. Later that evening at 9:30 p.m., another report of numerous, large icebergs in the Titanic's path was received by Jack Phillips and Harold Bride in the radio room, this time from the Mesaba, but this report also did not reach the bridge. Although there were warnings, there were no operational or safety reasons to slow down or alter course. The Titanic had three teams of two lookouts high up in the crow's nest who were rotated every two hours, and on any other night it is almost certain they would have seen the iceberg in time. However, a combination of factors came together: with no moon, no wind, no binoculars, and the dark side of the berg facing the ship, the lookouts were powerless. As Lightoller stated at the British inquiry, "Everything was against us."

11:39 PM - "Iceberg, right ahead!"

One of several icebergs photographed in the vicinity of the Titanic's sinking. This picture was taken on April 15, 1912 by the chief steward of the liner Prinze Adelbert, at latitude 41-46N, longitude 50-14W, just south of where the Titanic went down. The steward had not yet heard about the Titanic sinking but noted that there was a smear of red paint along the base of the berg.

At 11:39 p.m. while sailing south off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge. Sixth Officer James Moody answered. "Are you there?!" shouted Fleet. "Yes, what do you see?" replied Moody. "Iceberg, right ahead!" cried Fleet. "Thank you" was Moody's calm, polite reply before informing 1st Officer William Murdoch of the call. Murdoch (who had now already seen the iceberg) gave an order of "Hard a'starboard" (an order to move the ship's tiller all the way to the starboard (right) side of the ship) in an attempt turn the ship to port (left), and full speed astern, which reversed the engines driving the outer propellers (the turbine driving the center propeller was not reversible). After the wreck, turning tests revealed that reversing engines made turning the ship more difficult.

At 11:40 p.m., the ship made its fatal collision, exactly 37 seconds after Fleet sighted the berg. The ship's starboard (right) side brushed the iceberg, buckling the hull in several places and popping out rivets below the waterline, opening the first six compartments to the sea. During or right before the collision Murdoch may have given an order (as heard by Quartermaster Alfred Olliver when he walked onto the bridge in the middle of the collision) of "Hard a'port" (moving the tiller all the way to the port (left) side turning the ship to starboard (right)) in what may have been an attempt to swing the remainder (aft section) of the ship away from the berg in a common maneuver called a "port around" (this could explain Murdoch's comment to the captain "I intended to port around it"). The fact that such a manuver was executed was supported by other crew members who testified that the stern of the ship never hit the berg. There are conflicting reports on the orders Murdoch gave from Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was at the helm, and 4th Officer Joseph Boxhall, who was nearby on the bridge, who both stated that the last command Murdoch gave Hichens was "Hard-a-starboard!" . Although pumps in the sixth compartment were able to pump the water out as fast as it came in, the first five were riddled with small holes amounting to an area of about 12 square feet (1.1 m²). The watertight doors were shut as water started filling the five compartments - one more than the Titanic could stay afloat with. Captain Smith, alerted by the jolt of the impact, ordered "all-stop" once he arrived on the bridge. Following an inspection by the ship's senior officers, the ship's carpenter J. Hutchinson and Thomas Andrews, which included a survey of the half-flooded two-deck postal room, it was apparent that the Titanic would sink. At 12:05 a.m., 25 minutes after the collision, Captain Smith ordered all the lifeboats uncovered; five minutes later, at 12:10 a.m., he ordered them to be swung out; then, at 12:25 a.m., he ordered them to be loaded with women and children and then lowered away. At 12:50, 4th Officer Joseph Boxhall fired the first white distress rocket.

12:45 AM - First lifeboat lowered

The first lifeboat launched, Lifeboat #7, was lowered at 12:45 a.m., on the starboard side, with only 28 people on board out of a maximum capacity of 65. The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats with a total capacity of 1,178 for the ship's total complement of passengers and crew of 2,228. Sixteen lifeboats, indicated by number, were in the davits; and four canvas-sided collapsibles, indicated by letter, were stowed on the roof of the officers' quarters or on the forward Boat Deck to be launched in empty davits. With only enough space for a little more than half the passengers and crew, the Titanic carried more boats than required by the British Board of Trade. At the time, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship's gross tonnage, rather than its human capacity. The regulations concerning lifeboat capacity had last been updated in 1894, when the largest ships afloat measured approximately 10,000 gross tons, compared to the Titanic's 46,328 tons.

First and second-class passengers had easy access to the lifeboats with staircases that led right up to the boat deck, but third-class passengers found it much harder. Many found the corridors leading from the lower sections of the ship difficult to navigate and had trouble making their way up to the lifeboats. Some gates separating the third-class section of the ship from the other areas, like the one leading from the aft well deck to the second-class section, are known to have been locked. While the majority of first and second-class women and children survived the sinking, more third-class women and children were lost than saved. The locked third-class gates were the result of miscommunication between the boat deck and F-G decks. Lifeboats were supposed to be lowered with women and children from the boat deck and then subsequently to pick up F-G Deck women and children from open gangways. Unfortunately, with no boat drill or training for the seamen, the boats were simply lowered into the water without stopping.

The Titanic reported its position as 41°46′N 50°14′W. The wreck was found at 41°44′N 49°57′W.

Wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy sending out distress signals. The message was initially "CQD-MGY, sinking, need immediate assistance," later interspersed with the newer "SOS" at the suggestion of Bride (CQD was still a widely understood distress signal at the time, and MGY was the Titanic's call sign). Several ships responded, including the Mount Temple, Frankfurt, and the Titanic's sister ship, Olympic, but none was close enough to make it in time. The Olympic was over 500 nautical miles away. The closest ship to respond was the Cunard Line's RMS Carpathia, and at 58 nautical miles (107 km) away it would arrive in about four hours, still too late to get to the Titanic in time. Two land–based locations received the distress call from the Titanic. One was the wireless station at Cape Race, Newfoundland, and the other was a Marconi telegraph station on top of the Wanamaker's department store in New York City. Shortly after the distress signal was sent, a radio drama ensued as the signals were transmitted from ship to ship, through Halifax to New York, throughout the country. People began to show up at White Star Line offices in New York almost immediately.

From the bridge, the lights of a ship could be seen off the starboard side approximately 10-15 miles away. Since it was not responding to wireless, nor to the distress rockets being launched every fifteen minutes or so, Fourth Officer Boxhall and Quartermaster George Rowe attempted signaling the ship with a Morse lamp, but the ship never appeared to respond. The SS Californian was nearby but had stopped for the night because of ice, and its wireless was turned off because the wireless operator had gone to bed for the night. The Titanic's wireless set had broken down earlier that day and Phillips and Bride had spent most of the day fixing it. As a result, they were extremely backlogged in their sending of messages. Finally, with the set fixed and a strong signal available from the Halifax station, Phillips was getting some work done. Just before he went to bed at around 11:00 p.m. the Californian's radio operator Cyril Evans attempted to warn the Titanic that there was a large field of ice ahead, but he was cut off by an exhausted Jack Phillips, who sent back, "Keep out! Shut up! I am busy! I am working Cape Race!" Two officers, 2nd Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson on the Californian noticed a ship approaching at around 11:00 p.m., noticed her stop and then about an hour later noticed her beginning to send up rockets. They informed Captain Stanley Lord. The rockets the Titanic sent up had the colour of distress rockets for the White Star Line, but because of a lack of uniformity in Naval regulations at that time, Captain Lord was confused and did not know they were distress rockets. He said "Keep watching it" and he went back to sleep. Even though there was much discussion about the mysterious ship, which the officers on duty thought to be moving away before disappearing, the crew of the Californian did not wake its wireless operator until morning.

2:00 AM - Waterline reaches forward boat deck

At first, passengers were reluctant to leave the warm, well lit and ostensibly safe Titanic, which showed no outward signs of being in imminent danger, and board small, unlit, open lifeboats. This was one of the reasons most of the boats were launched partially empty: it was perhaps hoped that many people would jump into the water and swim to the boats. Also important was an uncertainty regarding the boats' structural integrity; it was feared that the boats might break if they were fully loaded before being set in the water, despite being tested with the weight of 70 men. Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats be lowered half empty in the hope the boats would come back to save people in the water, and some boats were given orders to do just that. One boat, boat #1, meant to hold 40 people, left the Titanic with only 12 people on board. It was rumoured that Lord and Lady Duff Gorden bribed the two able bodied seamen and five firemen to take them and their 3 companions off the ship. This rumor was later proven false. J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line, left on Lifeboat Collapsible C and was criticized by both the American and British Inquiries for not going down with the ship. Other passengers, including Father Thomas Byles and Margaret Brown, helped the women and children into lifeboats. Brown was finally forced into a boat, and she would survive. Byles would not.

As the ship's tilt became more apparent, people started to become nervous, and some lifeboats began leaving with more passengers. "Women and children first" remained the imperative (see origin of phrase) for loading the boats. It is often mentioned with reference to this slogan that more first-class men survived than third-class women. This is untrue - the official figures show that the number of third-class women saved outnumbered the number of first-class men, and the proportion of third-class women saved was much greater than the proportion of first-class men saved.

At 2:05 a.m. the waterline reached the bottom of the bridge rail and all the lifeboats, save for the awkwardly located Collapsibles A and B, had been lowered. Collapsible D, with 44 of its 47 seats filled, was the last lifeboat to be lowered from the davits. The total number of vacancies was 466.

2:05 AM - Rudder and propellers exposed

The ship's rudder and propellers were beginning to rise out of the water; water was slowly beginning to flood the forward boat deck by entering through the crew hatches on the bridge. At this time, Captain Smith released wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips from their duties. Bride went to their adjoining quarters to gather up their spare money, as Phillips continued working. When Bride returned, he found a fireman slowly unfastening Phillips' life belt, attempting to steal it without Phillips noticing him. Bride grabbed the fireman, and then the three of them wrestled around in the small room, for a few seconds. At one point, Bride grabbed the man by the waist, while Phillips punched him until he finally fell to the floor unconscious. Seeing water now entering the room, Phillips and Bride grabbed their caps and dashed out on deck, where Bride helped with Collapsible B and Phillips ran aft.

The last two lifeboats floated right off the deck as the icy ocean reached them: Collapsible B upside down, and Collapsible A half-filled with water. Shortly afterwards, the first funnel fell forward, crushing part of the bridge plus many struggling in the water, including John Jacob Astor IV, Charles Williams, and Chief Purser Hugh McElroy. On deck, people scrambled towards the stern or jumped overboard in hopes of reaching a lifeboat. Father Byles spent his final moments alive reciting the rosary and other prayers, hearing confessions, and giving absolutions to the dozens of people who huddled around him. The ship's stern continued to slowly rise into the air, reaching 45 degrees to the sea line at its maximum. At 2:18 a.m., the electrical system failed, and the lights, which had burned brightly, flickered once, and then went out for good. The Titanic's second funnel then broke off and fell into the water, crushing dozens more people in the water. A few seconds later, the Titanic tore herself apart.

2:20 AM - Titanic sinks

Stress on the hull caused the Titanic to break apart into two large pieces, between the third and fourth funnels at the aft expansion joint, and the bow section went completely under. The stern section was pulled up vertically by the sinking bow, and by the time it reached vertical, the stern detached and surfaced from the water. Some reported cries from lifeboats that the ship had returned (shouting "Look! The men are saved!"). However, after a few moments, the stern section also sank into the ocean, exactly two hours and 40 minutes after the collision with the iceberg.

The White Star Line attempted to persuade surviving crewmen not to state that the hull broke in half. The company believed that this information would cast doubts upon the integrity of their vessels. In fact, the stresses inflicted on the hull when it was at 12 degrees to the sealine (bow down and stern in the air) were beyond the design limits of the structure, and 45 degrees proved to be the breaking point, and no legitimate engineer could have fairly criticised the work of the shipbuilders in that regard.

Of a total of 2,208 people, only 712 survived; 1,496 perished. If the lifeboats had been filled to capacity, 1,178 people could have been saved. Of the first-class, 201 were saved (60%) and 123 died. Of the second-class, 118 (44%) were saved and 167 were lost. Of the third-class, 181 were saved (25%) and 527 perished. Of the crew, 212 were saved (24%) and 679 perished (Captain Smith, as per naval tradition, went down with his ship). These figures, which suggest favoritism to the first-class, may have been the result of the "women and children first" policy. Since the proportion of women in first-class was 44%, much greater than the proportion of women in third-class, 23%, and the priority for the lifeboats went to the women and children, a larger proportion of first-class passengers survived as a result. Oddly enough, examination of the statistics show that third-class men were in fact twice as likely to survive compared to second-class men. Of particular note, the entire complement of the 35-member Engineering Staff (25 engineers, 6 electricians, two boilermakers, one plumber, and one writer/engineer's clerk) were lost. The entire ship's orchestra was also lost. Led by violinist Wallace Hartley, they played music on the boat deck of the Titanic that night to calm the passengers. It will probably forever remain unknown what this orchestra selected as their last piece. Based on evidence from various sources some argue it was "Nearer, My God, to Thee" while others say it was "Autumn." The majority of deaths were caused by victims succumbing to hypothermia in the 28 °F (−2 °C) water. It has been suggested that the fact that only 712 people survived when the lifeboats had a capacity of 1,178 people (54% of those on board) could largely be attributed to the "women and children first" policy, where the psychological effects and resulting loss of efficiency caused the number of people saved to be only 32% of those on board. It can be seen that, if filled to capacity, all 534 women and children could have been saved, with enough room left over for an additional 644 men.

As the ship sank into the depths, the two sections ended their final plunges very differently. The streamlined bow planed off approximately 2,000 feet (600 m) below the surface and slowed somewhat, landing relatively gently. The stern fell fairly straight down towards the ocean floor, possibly rotating as it sank, with the air trapped inside causing implosions. It was already half-crushed when it hit bottom at high speed; the shock caused everything still loose to fall off. The bow section however, having been opened up by the iceberg and having sunk slowly, had little air left in it as it sank and therefore remained relatively intact during its descent.

3:00 AM - Lifeboat rescues

Only one lifeboat came back to the scene of the sinking to attempt to rescue survivors. Another boat, Lifeboat #4, did not return to the site but was close by and picked up eight crewmen, two of whom later died. Nearly an hour after the whole of the ship went under, after tying four lifeboats together on the open sea (a difficult task), Lifeboat #14, under the command of 5th Officer Harold Lowe, went back looking for survivors and rescued four people, one of whom died afterwards. Collapsible B floated upsidedown all night and began with 30 people. By the time the Carpathia arrived the next morning, 27 remained. Included on this boat were the highest ranking officer to survive, Charles Lightoller, wireless operator Harold Bride and the chief baker, Charles Joughin. There were some arguments in some of the other lifeboats about going back, but many survivors were afraid of being swamped by people trying to climb into the lifeboat or being pulled down by the anticipated suction from the sinking ship, though this turned out not to be severe. Only 10 survivors were pulled from the water into lifeboats.

4:10 AM - Carpathia picks up first lifeboat

Survivors aboard Collapsible D, one of the Titanic's four collapsible lifeboats. Note the canvas sides.

RMS Carpathia after lifeboat rescue

Almost two hours after the Titanic sank, RMS Carpathia, commanded by Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, arrived on scene and picked up its first lifeboat at 4:10 AM. Over the next hours, the remainder of the survivors were rescued. On board the Carpathia, a short prayer service for the rescued and a memorial for the people who lost their lives was held, and at 8:50 a.m. Carpathia left for New York, arriving on April 18. Among the survivors were three dogs brought aboard in the hands of the first-class passengers.

Sarnoff and wireless reports

An often-quoted story that has been blurred between fact and fiction states that the first person to receive news of the sinking was David Sarnoff, who would later found media giant RCA. In modified versions of this legend, Sarnoff was not the first to hear the news (though Sarnoff willingly promoted this notion), but he and others did man the Marconi wireless station (telegraph) atop the Wanamaker Department Store in New York City, and for three days, relayed news of the disaster and names of survivors to people waiting outside. However, even this version lacks support in contemporary accounts. No newspapers of the time, for example, mention Sarnoff. Given the absence of primary evidence, the legend of Sarnoff must be properly regarded as that — a legend, created by Sarnoff, and abetted by lazy historians.

Arrival of Carpathia in New York

The Carpathia docked at Pier 54 at Little West 12th Street in New York with the survivors. It arrived at night and was greeted by thousands of people. The Titanic had been headed for Pier 59 at 20th Street. The Carpathia dropped off the empty Titanic lifeboats at Pier 59, as property of the White Star Line, before unloading the survivors at Pier 54.

Both piers were part of the Chelsea Piers built to handle luxury liners of the day.

Extract from United States Navy memorandum concerning Titanic.

As news of the disaster spread, many people were shocked that the Titanic could sink with such great loss of life despite all of her technological advances. Newspapers were filled with stories and descriptions of the disaster and were eager to get the latest information. Many charities were set up to help the victims and their families, many of whom lost their sole breadwinner, or, in the case of third-class survivors, lost everything they owned. The people of Southampton were deeply affected by the sinking. According to the Hampshire Chronicle on 20 April 1912, almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almost every street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than one resident and over 500 households lost a member.

Retrieval of the dead

Once the loss of life was verified, White Star Line chartered the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett from Halifax, Nova Scotia to retrieve bodies. Three other ships followed in the search, the cable ship Minia, the lighthouse supply ship Montmagny and the sealing vessel Algerine. A total of 333 bodies were eventually recovered, 328 by the Canadian ships and 5 more by passing North Atlantic steamships. Some were buried at sea. All of the 209 bodies not buried at sea were taken to Halifax. The Halifax coroner developed a detailed system to identify bodies and personal possessions. Relatives from across North America came to identify and claim bodies but most were buried in three Halifax cemeteries, the largest being Fairview. Much floating wreckage was also recovered with the bodies, many pieces of which can be seen today in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.

Many more bodies would be discovered months later adrift in the sea. In fact, 2 years after the disaster, a Colombian freighter saw what they believed to be a yachtsman in the water. They sent out a retrieval raft. This is what one crew member described:

"The man, if one could call him that, was of terrible condition. The stench his corpse gave off was awful, and he was little more than a skeleton with small bits of flesh attached. He was still clothed, save for a shoe that had fallen off. Upon hoisting him aboard, I took into account the words on his lifebelt. They read, 'TITANIC'."

Investigation, safety rules and the Californian

Before the survivors even arrived in New York, investigations were being planned to discover what had happened, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. The United States Senate initiated an inquiry into the disaster on 19 April, a day after Carpathia arrived in New York.

Carpathia docked at Pier 54 in New York following the rescue

The chairman of the inquiry, Senator William Alden Smith, wanted to gather accounts from passengers and crew while the events were still fresh in their minds. Smith also needed to subpoena the British citizens while they were still on American soil. This prevented all surviving passengers and crew from returning to England prior to the American inquiry, which lasted until 25 May.

Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster. The British inquiry took place between 2 May and 3 July. Each inquiry took testimony from both passengers and crew of the Titanic, crew members of Leyland Line's The Californian, Captain Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia and other experts.

The investigations found that many British safety rules were simply out of date, and new laws were recommended. Numerous safety improvements for ocean-going vessels were implemented, including improved hull and bulkhead design, access throughout the ship for egress of passengers, lifeboat requirements, improved life-vest design, the holding of safety drills, better passenger notification, radio communications laws, etc. The investigators also learned that the Titanic had sufficient lifeboat space for all first-class passengers, but not for the lower classes. In fact, most third-class, or steerage, passengers had no idea where the lifeboats were, much less any way of getting up to the higher decks where the lifeboats were stowed. (According to the report published by Lloyd's of London, a higher proportion of first-class men survived than of third-class women or children.)

Both inquiries into the disaster found that the Californian and its captain, Stanley Lord, failed to give proper assistance to the Titanic. Testimony before the inquiry revealed that at 10:10 pm, the Californian observed the lights of a ship to the south; it was later agreed between Captain Lord and the third officer (who had relieved Lord of duty at 10:10) that this was a passenger liner. The Californian warned the ship by radio of the pack ice on account of which the Californian had stopped for the night. At 11:50pm, the officer had watched this ship's lights flash out, as if the ship had shut down or turned sharply, and that the port light was now observed. Morse light signals to the ship, upon Lord's order, occurred five times between 11:30pm and 1:00am, but were not acknowledged. (In testimony, it was stated that the Californian's Morse lamp had a range of about four miles, so could not have been seen from Titanic.)

Captain Lord had retired at 11:30; however, 2nd Officer C.V. Groves, now on duty, notified Lord at 1:15 am that the ship had fired a rocket, followed by four more. Lord wanted to know if they were "company signals," that is, coloured flares used for identification. Groves said that he "didn't know," that the rockets were all white. Captain Lord instructed the crew to continue to signal the other vessel with the Morse lamp, and went back to sleep. Three more rockets were observed at 1:50 and Groves noted that the ship looked strange in the water, as if she were listing. At 2:15 am, Lord was notified that the ship could no longer be seen. Lord asked again if the lights had had any colours in them, and he was informed that they were all white.

The Californian eventually responded. At 5:30 am, the 1st Officer awakened the wireless operator, informed him that rockets had been seen during the night, and asked that he try to communicate with any ships. The ‘‘Frankfurt’’ notified the operator of the Titanic's loss, Captain Lord was notified, and the ship set out for assistance.

The inquiries found that the Californian was much closer to the Titanic than the 19½ miles (36 km) that Captain Lord had believed and that Lord should have awakened the wireless operator after the rockets were first reported to him, and thus could have acted to prevent a loss of life. As a result of the Californian's off-duty wireless officer, 29 nations adopted the Radio Act of 1912, which streamlined radio communications, especially in the event of emergencies.

References

• Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember
• Ruffman, Alan. Titanic Remembered