Countdown to Disaster

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

Wednesday, April 3, 1912

 Wednesday, April 3rd, 1912 was mild and chilly. That morning, as the 882 ½ foot long White Star liner Titanic cut through the waves towards Southampton from the Irish Sea. She was making towards the city from Belfast after completing her sea-worthiness trials the past day. The trip from Belfast to Southampton was approximately 570 miles. The ship entered a dense fog at 2 o'clock a.m., and the fog would not disperse until 6 o'clock a.m. That morning, the ship's officers and the officials aboard her sat down to a pleasant breakfast. The menu read:

Fruit
Quaker Oats
Fillets of Whiting
Kippered Herrings
Calves' Liver & Bacon
Grilled Ham or Grilled Sausage
Minced Chicken
Poached & Fried Eggs
Plain & Tomato Omelettes
Mashed & Sauté Potatoes
Cold Meat
Rolls or Scones
Marmalade
Strawberry Conserve
Watercress

   At 10:30 a.m. she was 150 miles east of Fastnet. She would pass over the day Cornwall, Prawle Point, and St. Catherine's Port. At this time, the ship was moving at 23 ¼ knots, the fastest she would ever move. At about noon she passed the green cliffs of Land's End, where she made contact over wireless with Teneriffe (2,000m miles away) and Port Said (3,000 miles).

 That night she passed the Isle of Wight where she met with the Nab Light vessel, from which Southampton's old and celebrated harbour pilot, George Bowyer, came aboard. Bowyer had been present on the bridge of Olympic with Captain E.J. Smith during the Hawke incident. The ship entered the Spithead as darkness fell. At 12 o'clock midnight Titanic arrived at the aged British city of Southampton, and was taken forth to the White Star's dock. Along the way she passed her own sister ship, the Olympic, headed off on a voyage of her own.

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

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