R.M.S. TITANIC - History
The Titanic then set sail due west rounding southern Ireland, following the outward bound track to the Nantucket light vessel off Massachusetts. It had come to light now, after reports of ice in the track from the radio operators, that theTitanic had no binoculars aboard for the lookouts whom were repeatedly complaining. It was around 10pm on Sunday 14th April when the Titanic's radio operators received a message from the Mesaba warning of heavy pack ice and a large number of icebergs in her path. Another ship, the Californian was at the time stuck in ice flow and was sending warning messages to the Titanic. These warnings were all received by the Titanic's radio operator who apparently disregarded regulations and failed to notify the bridge. The next and final warning came from a passing ship, the Rappahannoh, who had flashed a message directly to the bridge by way of signal lamp, announcing that they had just passed through a heavy ice field and a number of icebergs. The message was simply acknowledged and the Titanic continued on her way...
It was approximately 11.45pm on Sunday night, 14th April, off the coast of Nova Scotia, when the lookouts reported an iceberg right ahead. Further to employing avoidance manouvres by steering the ship to port and reversing the engines, the Titanic unfortunately struck the iceberg in passing on the starboard side. The contact with the iceberg had resulted in a large gash along the hull below the waterline, whereupon she started to take on water and began to list to the starboard side. After inspecting the damage, the Captain, E J Smith consulted with T H Andrews, the manager from Harland and Wolff, the ship's builders, who pronounced the great Titanic had only an hour or so to live. Half an hour after the impact, the Titanic began sending out calls for assistance, using the international distress signal CQD followed by the Titanic call sign, MGY and its approximate position details. Ten minutes later, the message was changed to include the SOS signal. next >>
