Moments Before the Crash
Harold Bride in the wireless room. Courtesy of titanic-whitestarships.com
Before the passengers aboard the Titanic knew that they were truly in danger, the hours before the Titanic sunk were very calm.
The wireless operators had been recieving tons of warnings about ice ahead of the Titanic. Most of these messages were delivered to the captain, but a good portion of them were never delivered. Some were never even written down.
The day before the titanic sunk (April 13) the wireless set had broken down and the Titanic passengers had given the wireless operators a ton of messages that they wanted to be sent out. Now the wireless set was fixed and Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, the Titanic's only wireless operators, were making up for loss time. The less ice warnings the better.
But, Phillips and Bride tried their hardest to deliver all of their messages. At one point, only an hour before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the Californian sent another warning; this time warning the Titanic that three icebergs were only a few hours ahead of them. Stressed by the number of messages needing to be sent out, Harold Bride sent back a message saying, "Shut up! Shut up! You are jamming my signal!" Half an hour after recieving this message, the Californian's wireless operator followed the typical drill by turning off his wireless set and going to bed. The ship that was closest to the Titanic now had no way of communication with the Titanic.
At exactly 11:40 p.m., the Titanic barely rubbed past an iceberg. Only a couple minutes before, the Titanic's lookout, Fredrick Fleet, saw the massive iceberg. He could not see it before because they could not find the key to the binocular cabinet, therefore, they had no binoculars. Now that they had seen the iceberg, they called the bridge as quick as possible; the iceberg was directly ahead.
The officer sailing the ship, First Officer William Murdoch, quickly called the engine room and told them to shut off the engine to slow the ship down. He then turned the wheel steering the ship as far as he could, trying to quickly veer away from the iceberg. Above water, the ship had not hit anything, so the crew instinctively celebrated, thinking that they had missed the iceberg. Captain Smith, one of the few people sleeping that had felt the hit, came up to the bridge. He was happy to hear that things were fine. Few other passengers gathered on the decks to see if anything was wrong. Everyone doubted this though. I mean, come on, this was the "Unsinkable Ship". Most people did not even feel the hit. One person that did feel it commented that it felt like "rolling over thousands of marbles."
But below water, things were quite opposite. The safety compartments and boiler rooms quickly began filling with water. One carpenter called up to the bridge and warned Captain Smith about the flooding. But the crew was still quite calm. How? Well, the Titanic had been designed to be able to take in water but still stay afloat. They had installed fifteen watertight doors to shut in case of water. They had also put in 15 bulkheads (tall, thick walls) at different hieghts to disperse the water, which formed 16 safety compartments . But they had not built the bulkheads to the ceiling. This could be a problem.
Although not very worried, Captain Smith went to go get Thomas Andrews, the man who designed the Titanic, to see if he could inspect the damage and see if anything was wrong. After him and Andrews went down into the work rooms such as the mail rooms, the boiler rooms, and the safety compartments (all of which were flooded), Andrews knew something was wrong. He noticed that six of the compartments were beginning to quickly flood. The Titanic was designed to be able to stay afloat only if four compartments were flooded, not six. But because of how (it spread from the front, so it dropped into six safety compartments that gradually got shorter) and where (the side of the front of the ship) the Titanic hit the iceberg, it was traveling quicker and in a different way than it should have been. If this was the rate that the water was gushing in, Andrews knew that the Titanic had no more than two hours.
The wireless operators had been recieving tons of warnings about ice ahead of the Titanic. Most of these messages were delivered to the captain, but a good portion of them were never delivered. Some were never even written down.
The day before the titanic sunk (April 13) the wireless set had broken down and the Titanic passengers had given the wireless operators a ton of messages that they wanted to be sent out. Now the wireless set was fixed and Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, the Titanic's only wireless operators, were making up for loss time. The less ice warnings the better.
But, Phillips and Bride tried their hardest to deliver all of their messages. At one point, only an hour before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the Californian sent another warning; this time warning the Titanic that three icebergs were only a few hours ahead of them. Stressed by the number of messages needing to be sent out, Harold Bride sent back a message saying, "Shut up! Shut up! You are jamming my signal!" Half an hour after recieving this message, the Californian's wireless operator followed the typical drill by turning off his wireless set and going to bed. The ship that was closest to the Titanic now had no way of communication with the Titanic.
At exactly 11:40 p.m., the Titanic barely rubbed past an iceberg. Only a couple minutes before, the Titanic's lookout, Fredrick Fleet, saw the massive iceberg. He could not see it before because they could not find the key to the binocular cabinet, therefore, they had no binoculars. Now that they had seen the iceberg, they called the bridge as quick as possible; the iceberg was directly ahead.
The officer sailing the ship, First Officer William Murdoch, quickly called the engine room and told them to shut off the engine to slow the ship down. He then turned the wheel steering the ship as far as he could, trying to quickly veer away from the iceberg. Above water, the ship had not hit anything, so the crew instinctively celebrated, thinking that they had missed the iceberg. Captain Smith, one of the few people sleeping that had felt the hit, came up to the bridge. He was happy to hear that things were fine. Few other passengers gathered on the decks to see if anything was wrong. Everyone doubted this though. I mean, come on, this was the "Unsinkable Ship". Most people did not even feel the hit. One person that did feel it commented that it felt like "rolling over thousands of marbles."
But below water, things were quite opposite. The safety compartments and boiler rooms quickly began filling with water. One carpenter called up to the bridge and warned Captain Smith about the flooding. But the crew was still quite calm. How? Well, the Titanic had been designed to be able to take in water but still stay afloat. They had installed fifteen watertight doors to shut in case of water. They had also put in 15 bulkheads (tall, thick walls) at different hieghts to disperse the water, which formed 16 safety compartments . But they had not built the bulkheads to the ceiling. This could be a problem.
Although not very worried, Captain Smith went to go get Thomas Andrews, the man who designed the Titanic, to see if he could inspect the damage and see if anything was wrong. After him and Andrews went down into the work rooms such as the mail rooms, the boiler rooms, and the safety compartments (all of which were flooded), Andrews knew something was wrong. He noticed that six of the compartments were beginning to quickly flood. The Titanic was designed to be able to stay afloat only if four compartments were flooded, not six. But because of how (it spread from the front, so it dropped into six safety compartments that gradually got shorter) and where (the side of the front of the ship) the Titanic hit the iceberg, it was traveling quicker and in a different way than it should have been. If this was the rate that the water was gushing in, Andrews knew that the Titanic had no more than two hours.
With this in mind, Captain Smith returned to the bridge and informed all crew memebrs to begin preparing the lifeboats. He also ordered all stewards and stewardesses to begin waking up passengers and handing out life belts, or life jackets. Slowly, passengers began wondering out on the deck. Everyone was calm and casual. Some were dressed in heavy jackets and pants, ready to wait in the cold for a long time, while others were simply dressed in thin PJs, assuming that this was simply a precaution or drill. Some people were not even wearing their life belts. There was even a group of boys playing soccer with a chunk of ice that had fallen off of an iceberg onto the deck of the Titanic.The band set up in the A-deck lounge to play dancing music for the passengers to keep it calm. Some people even refused to leave their rooms, remarking that "it would take more than an iceberg to get [them] out of bed". Other people believed that it was impossible for the Titanic to sink, such as one women who claimed that "the Titanic could roll of 1,000 icebergs and still stay afloat."
After Captain Smith gave the orders he headed to the wireless offices and asked Harold Bride and Jack Philips to send out distress messages to any ships near. Philips and Bride sent the messages and found about 10 ships willing to start sailing to the Titanic but not one ship could reach the Titanic in time. The only ship close enough to the Titanic to get there before it completely sunk was the Californian who had turned off their wireless sets and gone to bed before the Titanic hit the iceberg. The closest ship besides the Californian was the Carpathia who was 60 miles away, which meant it would take about three hours to reach the Titanic. That was not fast enough but they headed to the Titanic at top speed anyway. Captain Smith knew that they were doomed. As he was heading back to the bridge, Captain Smith, some passengers, and some crew claimed to have seen a ship's lights as close as ten miles to the Titanic. In an effort to get the attention of this unknown ship, they set off distress rockets. The ship never sent any morse codes back, and later sailed off. No one knows who the mystery ship was, but it may have been the Californian who sailed in the distance while the Titanic was sinking. The Californian saw the Titanic's distress rockets and tried to send morse lamp codes, but never woke up their wireless radio operator. When the Titanic did not respond to their morse lamp codes, they assumed the Titanic's distress rockets were fireworks or some other sort of entertainment onboard the Titanic. They then sailed away and never came back until after the damage was done. The Californian was later criticized for their choice of not waking up their wireless operator or going to see if anything was wrong with the Titanic.
About thirty minutes after Captain Smith ordered the crew to get the lifeboats ready, he orders the crew to begin allowing only women and children onto the lifeboats. When the crew begins allowing this, very few women or children begin to load into the lifeboats. Most women did not want to leave their husbands and children did not want to leave their fathers. They also felt safer in a ship as large as the Titanic. Being in a small boat in an ocean this large was frightening. So, because of the shortage of people wanting to board the lifeboats, the first four life boats were realeased with only about 30 people, when they could around 60-70 people. This wasn't the only reason they were not fully loaded. The crew of the Titanic had no idea how to release the boats. Most crew members were scared that if they loaded the lifeboats to their full capacity, they would be to heavy to lower or they would break the ropes.
The Titanic now started to show signs of really sinking. The deck was starting to flood and the deck tilted more and more every minute. Now more people were becoming desperate to get in the lifeboats and away from the sinking ship. The passengers became more scared and the deck was now getting hectic. Men tried to sneak into lifeboats before all the women and children were boarded. Children were thrown down to the lifeboats being lowered so they would leave the parents and save themselves. People pushed away other people with a desperate want to save themselves. One group of people even tried to jump in a fully-filled lifeboat that was being lowered down. In a quick attempt to stop them, the officer in charge of the lifeboat shot his gun into the air to scare them away. This may sound scary, but it was nothing compared to what was coming soon. The next ten lifeboats were loaded to their full capacity. The "lifeboat-loading process" was now slow, but organized. But now that they were slowing down, they were running out of time.
Now the Titanic's bow (front end) was almost fully submerged in water. Their was still about 1,800 people on baord waiting to be loaded onto lifeboats. However, some people were voluntarily staying on board and going down with the ship. Captain Smith was seen in the Titanic's bridge and never seen again. Thomas Andrews, the Titanic's designer, was seen in the first class smoking lounge staring blankly into space. He was a hardworking man, and was most likely still thinking of what he could have done to improve the now sinking ship. In fact, some people believe that he blamed himself for the sinking of the Titanic. Ida Straus began to load a lifeboat but then stepped out, refusing to leave without her husband, Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's Department Store (a famous, rich passenger). She spoke a memorable line to her husband saying " As we live, so will we died together". When she left the lifeboat, the officer told Isidor Straus that he and his wife could both board the lifeboat. Isidor refused to unless every man younger than him boarded a lifeboat before him (which was not able to happen). Instead, the Straus's allowed their maid to load the boat in their place. However, before she loaded, Ida Straus gave her maid her thick fur coat, say, "you are going to need this more than me." With this, Isidor and Ida were last seen sitting on the Titanic's deck chairs holding hands before a large wave swept over them and swallowed them whole. But unlike these people, not everyone was willing to stay on the boat. They still had four collapsible lifeboats that fit about 50 people and two more regular lifeboats needing to be loaded. There was just not enough time. In a rush, almost all of the boats were loaded half full and dropped as soon as possible. One boat was half-filled so quickly that it was almost dropped on top of another lifeboat that had just been dropped down. Two collapsible boats were said to half been flipped over by the water that was creeping up the deck. Many people tried to get on top of it, but only about half the people lived, the others dying off from the cold water.
After Captain Smith gave the orders he headed to the wireless offices and asked Harold Bride and Jack Philips to send out distress messages to any ships near. Philips and Bride sent the messages and found about 10 ships willing to start sailing to the Titanic but not one ship could reach the Titanic in time. The only ship close enough to the Titanic to get there before it completely sunk was the Californian who had turned off their wireless sets and gone to bed before the Titanic hit the iceberg. The closest ship besides the Californian was the Carpathia who was 60 miles away, which meant it would take about three hours to reach the Titanic. That was not fast enough but they headed to the Titanic at top speed anyway. Captain Smith knew that they were doomed. As he was heading back to the bridge, Captain Smith, some passengers, and some crew claimed to have seen a ship's lights as close as ten miles to the Titanic. In an effort to get the attention of this unknown ship, they set off distress rockets. The ship never sent any morse codes back, and later sailed off. No one knows who the mystery ship was, but it may have been the Californian who sailed in the distance while the Titanic was sinking. The Californian saw the Titanic's distress rockets and tried to send morse lamp codes, but never woke up their wireless radio operator. When the Titanic did not respond to their morse lamp codes, they assumed the Titanic's distress rockets were fireworks or some other sort of entertainment onboard the Titanic. They then sailed away and never came back until after the damage was done. The Californian was later criticized for their choice of not waking up their wireless operator or going to see if anything was wrong with the Titanic.
About thirty minutes after Captain Smith ordered the crew to get the lifeboats ready, he orders the crew to begin allowing only women and children onto the lifeboats. When the crew begins allowing this, very few women or children begin to load into the lifeboats. Most women did not want to leave their husbands and children did not want to leave their fathers. They also felt safer in a ship as large as the Titanic. Being in a small boat in an ocean this large was frightening. So, because of the shortage of people wanting to board the lifeboats, the first four life boats were realeased with only about 30 people, when they could around 60-70 people. This wasn't the only reason they were not fully loaded. The crew of the Titanic had no idea how to release the boats. Most crew members were scared that if they loaded the lifeboats to their full capacity, they would be to heavy to lower or they would break the ropes.
The Titanic now started to show signs of really sinking. The deck was starting to flood and the deck tilted more and more every minute. Now more people were becoming desperate to get in the lifeboats and away from the sinking ship. The passengers became more scared and the deck was now getting hectic. Men tried to sneak into lifeboats before all the women and children were boarded. Children were thrown down to the lifeboats being lowered so they would leave the parents and save themselves. People pushed away other people with a desperate want to save themselves. One group of people even tried to jump in a fully-filled lifeboat that was being lowered down. In a quick attempt to stop them, the officer in charge of the lifeboat shot his gun into the air to scare them away. This may sound scary, but it was nothing compared to what was coming soon. The next ten lifeboats were loaded to their full capacity. The "lifeboat-loading process" was now slow, but organized. But now that they were slowing down, they were running out of time.
Now the Titanic's bow (front end) was almost fully submerged in water. Their was still about 1,800 people on baord waiting to be loaded onto lifeboats. However, some people were voluntarily staying on board and going down with the ship. Captain Smith was seen in the Titanic's bridge and never seen again. Thomas Andrews, the Titanic's designer, was seen in the first class smoking lounge staring blankly into space. He was a hardworking man, and was most likely still thinking of what he could have done to improve the now sinking ship. In fact, some people believe that he blamed himself for the sinking of the Titanic. Ida Straus began to load a lifeboat but then stepped out, refusing to leave without her husband, Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's Department Store (a famous, rich passenger). She spoke a memorable line to her husband saying " As we live, so will we died together". When she left the lifeboat, the officer told Isidor Straus that he and his wife could both board the lifeboat. Isidor refused to unless every man younger than him boarded a lifeboat before him (which was not able to happen). Instead, the Straus's allowed their maid to load the boat in their place. However, before she loaded, Ida Straus gave her maid her thick fur coat, say, "you are going to need this more than me." With this, Isidor and Ida were last seen sitting on the Titanic's deck chairs holding hands before a large wave swept over them and swallowed them whole. But unlike these people, not everyone was willing to stay on the boat. They still had four collapsible lifeboats that fit about 50 people and two more regular lifeboats needing to be loaded. There was just not enough time. In a rush, almost all of the boats were loaded half full and dropped as soon as possible. One boat was half-filled so quickly that it was almost dropped on top of another lifeboat that had just been dropped down. Two collapsible boats were said to half been flipped over by the water that was creeping up the deck. Many people tried to get on top of it, but only about half the people lived, the others dying off from the cold water.
Now all the lifeboats were in the water. They rowed away quickly, most lifeboats ignoring any people in the freezing water, scared that they would capsize the lifeboat. All the lifeboats seemed to row away in one similar direction, waiting for what would come next. One thousand five hundred (1,500) people were still aboard the Titanic, fighting for their lives as the Titanic sunk deeper into the ocean. The Titanic's stern (back end) was high in the water and its bow was sinking lower and lower every minute. The only funnel left above water was the fourth one. Suddenly, there was a loud crash of everything in the Titanic spilling forward. Dishes, furniture, luggage, and people crashed forward into the freezing water. Then the lights flickered on and off. Within a second, the lights were out. The Titanic had no power. It was pitch black now. Nobody could see anyone elses faces. The passengers waited in the darkness and silence for what was to come next. Suddenly there was a huge crash, the stern lifted high in the air, and the bow of the Titanic quickly plunged into the ocean. The bow was still attached to the stern and was pulling the stern directly down into the water. The stern was now exactly vertical. A huge cluster of people climbed up the stern and held onto the railing for their life. Then there was a great suction of water as the bow finally broke away from the stern between the third and fourth smoke tunnel and torpedoed into the ocean. The stern bounced up and then began to settle and grow more horizontal to the ocean. Then, it quickly torpedoed two and a half miles to the bottom of the ocean, taking 1,500 people with it.
As each tunnel hit the water while the Titanic was slowly sinking, it ripped off and plummeted to the bottom of the ocean. As the remainings of the two parts of the ship torpedoed to the bottom of the ocean at 30-40 miles per hours, their exteriors were ripped away. Now if you see a picture of the Titanic underwater, you can see that it looks smalled. This is because most of the top of the ship is no there anymore, but instead on the ocean floor surrounding the Titanic. All that is mainly remaining if the ships keel (metal frame).