Countdown to Disaster

The Last Days of the R.M.S. Titanic

Sunday, April 14, 1912

 Sunday, April 14th, 1912 was the fifth day of the maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic. Things were busy for the operators of the ship's wireless today, as now that the wireless was repaired the operators were hopelessly backlogged with messages, many warning of ice in Titanic's path. At 9 o'clock a.m., a message from the Caronia was received, reading:

     "Captain, Titanic- West bound steamers
    report bergs, growlers, and field ice in
    42 N. from 49 to 50 W."

 Other ships that reported ice that day were Canada, Lindenfels, Trautenfels, Montcalm, Corinthian, Memphian, and Campanello. At 11:40 a.m., a message was received from the Noordam:

     "Congratulations on new command Captain.
    Had moderate westerly winds, fine weather,
    no fog, much ice reported in 42 24' to 50 2'".

 And at 1:40, a message from the Baltic was received:

     "Captain Smith, Titanic. Have had moderate
    variable winds and clear fine weather since
    leaving. Greek Steamer Athinai reports passing
    icebergs and large quantity of ice today in
    latitude 41.51 N., longitude 49.52.W. Wish you
    and Titanic all success".  

 At 1 o'clock p.m., 2nd Officer C.H. Lightoller posted Caronia's message, after showing it to his senior officer, 1st Officer W.M. Murdoch, who simply replied, "All right". Captain Smith took Baltic's message and gave it to Bruce Ismay of the White Star Line. At the time, Ismay was speaking with the George Dunton Wideners (Mr. Widener's father was P.A.B. Widener of the I.M.M.). The Chairman of the White Star Line simply stuffed the message into his pocket, only reading it later that afternoon, and taking it lightly. In fact, Mrs. Arthur Ryerson remembers that he personally flashed it at her, saying that he was confident in his vessel.

 The weather was fine, and between noon Saturday and noon Sunday the Titanic covered 546 miles. It is suspected by some that Mr. Ismay himself was pushing Captain Smith to go at full speed in the icy water, so that the new ship could break the record set by her sister ship Olympic the year before. 24 of her 29 boilers had been fired up and she was travelling at about 22 knots, the fastest speed that she would ever achieve during the voyage. A message from the Amerika was received, warning of ice, and a second warning of ice, and then yet another, would be intercepted from the Californian to the Antillian.

 Amerika's warning, for one reason or another, never made it to the bridge. Just before 6 o'clock p.m., Captain Smith altered course slightly to south and west of his normal course. South 86 West was now the course of Titanic. At 6 o'clock, 2nd Officer Lightoller took over on the bridge as Officer of the Watch (OOW). At 7:15 p.m., he took a break to get a little dinner. Murdoch, whom had had his, took over for a short time. At this time, in the Second Class Dining Saloon, the Reverand Mr. Carter led a hymn singing service. Earlier in the day, Captain Smith himself had held a service for the First Class passengers. While Carter and 2nd Class sang, up a few decks, a party was being held in Mr. Gatti's a'la Carte' restaurant. 1st Class Passenger George D. Widener, in honor of Titanic's Captain, Edward J. Smith, hosted the party. This voyage was to be Smith's last, so he hoped. He was planning a retirement as soon as they returned to Southampton. At 9 o'clock p.m., Captain Smith excused himself, went up onto the bridge, and there told Lightoller (who had finished his dinner long before) to keep a sharp lookout. At 9:20 p.m., Smith retired to the Chart Room next to his cabin.

 Meanwhile, in the wireless cabin, Jack Phillips, the Senior Operator who had just turned twenty-five on April 11th, was at the key, Bride having a nap in his bunk. At 9:40, Phillips received a message from the Masaba, a message that would never be brought to the bridge. The message indicated a large rectangular icefield that the Titanic's crew was not aware of. The ship was already inside it.

 At 10 o'clock p.m., Officer Murdoch took over as Officer of the Watch, relieving Lightoller. Fifty-five minutes later, while Phillips was conversing with Cape Race over the wireless, a message came through from Californian's operator, Cyril Evans. Due to the close vicinity of the Leland Liner, the message boomed in loudly into the ears of the tired Phillips. While Evans typed out that the Californian was stopped and surrounded by ice, Phillips sent him the rebuking message, "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, I'M BUSY WITH CAPE RACE." Annoyed, Evans turned off the wireless set and retired to his bunk to get some sleep.

 At 11:30, while the ship was still travelling at the great speed of 22 knots, OOW Murdoch came out onto the port wing. However, things weren't going well for the watch. The night was growing pitch black, and there was no wind or moon. The water was entirely calm, "calm as glass", and black as the sky, blending sky and water, so that they became almost indistinguishable. No sailor could be pleased by these circumstances. If there was ice about, then, it would be black ice (a.k.a. blue ice), and so it would not be noticeable in this darkness, on this night. The area was long feared by sailors since it's discovery over a thousand years before by the Norsemen. Even in 1912, the area of the Grand Banks was called 'The Devil's Hole'. In the crow's nest, high above the bridge, lookouts Reginald Lee and Frederick Fleet stood shivering, without a pair of binoculars (no one knew where the pair of binoculars was even kept). At about five minutes before 11:40, Lee and Fleet noticed a slight haze in the distance. Fleet kept his eyes on it, knowing that if it was ice he would not be able to be totally sure of it until Titanic was practically on top of it.

 At 11:40 p.m., the bridge telephone began to ring. 6th Officer J.P. Moody, Junior Officer of the Watch, picked it up, saying, "What is it?"

 Fleet cried into the telephone, "Iceberg! Right ahead!"

 "Thank you," replied Moody, calmly hanging up the phone, shouting to Murdoch "Iceberg! Right ahead!" However, by now the First Officer had already seen the berg, and was going into quick action. "Hard' a' starboard!" he cried to the Quartermaster, Robert Hitchens. He then grasped the handle of the engine telegraph and thrust it to full speed astern. Deep inside the ship, Titanic's engineers went into quick action. Murdoch then closed the watertight doors. Engineers and Firemen below had to move quickly through the doors so as not to be caught in one of the watertight compartments. After a few minutes, there was a light grinding sound.

 Chunks of ice lay on the promenade and boat decks, catching the attention of several passengers and crew.

 Captain Smith ran up onto the bridge from the chart room, crying to Murdoch: "What have we struck?"

 "An iceberg, sir," responded the 1st Officer. He then explained his actions, all that an officer could do in the circumstances he had done.

 Thomas Andrews, the inspector, was quickly fetched from his cabin on A-Deck, and was taken down the decks to inspect the damage. Officers Wilde and Boxhall had already made inspections, none of which had shed any light on the thing. Andrews, though, looked over the damage, a series of holes in the ship's skin. It was not good, in fact Andrews believed it was critical. The ship, he thought, was doomed. Captain Smith soon asked him how long he expected the ship would float. The answer was very grave: "An hour, maybe two, not much longer."

Countdown to Disaster has been prepared for ACT I by Titanic Researcher Addison Hart of DeKalb, Illinois.

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