Countdown to Disaster

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

Thursday, April 4, 1912

 Thursday, April 4th, 1912, Maundy Thursday, was a very important day for the R.M.S. Titanic. Not only had she conquered, in a sense, the narrow confines of the River Lagan and completed successfully her trials, she was now entering the port of Southampton for the preparations for her first Trans-Atlantic voyage. At the exact start of April 4th, at 12:00 a.m. that morning, Titanic was headed straight for Southampton. The lights on her decks ablaze, few spectators watched as she emerged from the gloomy darkness into the dock of Southampton, guided by the green and red lights of the buoys before her.  

 At her sides chugged five Red Line tugs, the tugs Ajax, Hector, Hercules, Neptune, and Vulcan, each of the tiny vessels guided by Titanic's bo'sun, 'Big Neck' Nichols and his superb team of able bodied seamen. Berth No. 44 sat empty, awaiting the giant White Star liner. Guided by the tugs (and by the harbor pilot, George Bowyer), Titanic was warped into her berth. The dockyard workers had some trouble getting enough space for the ship's big bulk. Oceanic and New York were berthed ship-by-side in Berths 38 and 39, while across the water from Berth 44 the American Line ships Philadelphia, St. Louis, and White Star's Majestic all sat tied together.

 When the dawn came, a large group of people came down to the quay to see this new ship Titanic, and no one came away unimpressed. The ship appeared with the dawn, towed in during the night, and not at all visible until the morning hours. On this day, many of the officers took the opportunity to become familiar with Titanic. David Blair, the Second Officer who had to leave the ship's roster when Henry Wilde came in as Chief Officer, got a good look at the ship that he would not sail on as well. He voiced his praise of her in a letter to his sister-in-law. "This is a marvelous ship, and I feel very disappointed I am not to make the first voyage." Though he was disappointed by the absence of his friend Blair, James Moody, the Sixth Officer, was also impressed with the ship, saying that he was happy to have a room of his own, even despite the fact it was only the size of a cupboard. First Officer William Murdoch seems to have taken some time examining the ships lifeboats and their Wellin davits. He may have taken notice of the fact that the boats could only hold half of the Titanic's passengers (a fact pointed out by both White Star official Alexander Carlisle and Board of Trade member Ernest Shackleton). He was impressed by the davits. "I thought what a jolly fine idea they were, because with the old-fashioned davits it would require about a dozen men to life her [the lifeboat], a dozen men at each end." Not everyone was pleased with the ship, however. Fifth Officer Lowe complained that he was "a stranger to everyone aboard." Wilde had different problems, he didn't like the ship at all. It was simply too big.

 A large amount of silverware and china was taken aboard the ship this day. There would be, in all, some 2,000 salt shakers, 4,500 breakfast plates, 3,000 tea cups, 5,500 ice cream plates, 12,000 dinner plates, 1,000 finger bowls, and 1,500 mustard bowls aboard, as well as hordes of other assorted bunches of cutlery and plates and dishes. It seemed that the first items to be loaded aboard the doomed vessel were to be the crockery.  

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

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