Titanic: The Story of the Unsinkable Ship by Henry Freeman

Author:Henry Freeman [Freeman, Henry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Non-Fiction, History, Maritime History, Maritime
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2017-09-04T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

The Iceberg and the Sinking

After the Titanic steamed out from Queenstown, the days of April 11, 12, 13, and 14 progressed normally. The Titanic made good time, traveling near top speed. The crew had few mishaps and did their jobs diligently, and the passengers of all classes enjoyed the various amenities available to them. The passengers and crew detailed above were only a few of the more than two thousand souls who would endure the tragedy on the night of April 14-15.

Perhaps you have heard the expression, “the tip of the iceberg.” This means that while icebergs do not always look formidable above the water, what you are seeing is only the tip; they are much larger underneath the water and pose a serious threat to oncoming vessels, and it would be the under-water portion of the iceberg that would rip into the Titanic. It is well known that the Titanic received several ice warnings from ships steaming ahead of her during the voyage. In fact, seven separate warnings were received on April 14. The warnings about the dangerous ice reached the captain and other ranking officers from the Marconi telegraph operators on board. While it is easy to assume that folly or pride led these warnings to be ignored, that is probably not the case. As was stated previously, it was standard practice for the ship to continue on at fast speed even through ice-infested waters. Collisions of large ships with icebergs over the preceding decades had not resulted in disaster, and most ships depended on their reliable lookouts in the crow’s nest to warn them about ice in their path.

The lookouts on the night of April 14 were Frederick Fleet and Reginald Robinson Lee, and they, along with the other lookouts on board, had all been informed about the danger of ice on the journey. Fleet and Lee were nearing the end of their two-hour shift at around 11:40 pm when Fleet spotted the iceberg that would fell the mighty ship. He followed protocol, immediately issuing a warning and phoning the bridge, where he warned First Officer Murdoch, as the captain had gone to bed for the night. Murdoch ordered the engines reversed and the ship to turn, hoping to avoid the berg completely. But his decision proved fatal, and the starboard (right) side of the ship scraped alongside the jagged ice underneath the water, ripping holes in five of the watertight compartments toward the bow of the ship. The impact was felt according to class: the crew members working in the bowels of the ship knew immediately that something was terribly wrong, and water reached them first. Third class passengers, especially those on the starboard side, were startled as they were awakened by the violent jolting, and some may have even heard the scraping of metal. Second class passengers felt a disturbance, but heavy sleepers likely slept right through it. First class passengers who were awake and attentive felt something, but probably attributed it to the sea.

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