![]() ![]() ![]() In reality, the tear was quite modest - six slim lacerations measuring about 3.2 square feet (around 0.3 square meters).īut Murdoch's training to steer the ship around the iceberg rather than hit it straight on took meant the Titanic hit where it was most vulnerable, and even the smallest gash caused catastrophic results. Smith surveyed the resulting flood damage, they surmised that the hole must be nearly 300 feet (91.4 meters) wide. If the ship shuddered, it was subtle and went undetected by most passengers or excused as the heavy, groaning machinery. From the surface, though, the ship seemed to miss the iceberg, but beneath the waterline, a protruding fragment of ice ripped a hole in the Titanic's hull. The massive ship finally turned and appeared it might clear the iceberg. The iceberg loomed closely at only 900 feet (274 meters) from the ship.įor a few seconds, it seemed as though Murdoch's maneuver might've worked. Stopping the ship would've required a half mile (804.7 meters). Murdoch reacted as well as he could in the face of danger: Titanic didn't have enough time to make a complete stop or to turn away from the iceberg. Murdoch also quickly closed all the watertight doors. Murdoch just 37 seconds to order the engines to stop and go full speed astern, a common maneuver of the day, to attempt to miss the iceberg. They sounded the alarm and called down to the bridge. Fleet was nearing the end of his shift when he spied the foretold iceberg. ![]() Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were in the crow's nest. He told Second Officer Charles Lightoller, who was stationed on the Captain's Bridge, that if the night became too hazy, he should be alerted immediately and would slow down the ship's speed.īut the night was clear, and Titanic sped on. His concern was shattering speed records set by other steamers. After all, the Titanic was a steel behemoth. It wasn't just the operator who discounted the danger (the Californian's wireless operator later testified that he "put the phones down, took off my clothes, and turned in") - it was the illustrious captain, too. Whatever conversation the Titanic's operator was having with Cape Race (apparently he was sending messages on behalf of passengers), it couldn't have been as pressing as the Californian's warning. I am working Cape Race." Cape Race was a wireless relay station in Newfoundland. And just one hour before the Titanic's collision at 11:40 p.m., a vessel named the Californian messaged to the Titanic, "We are stopped and surrounded by ice." The response from operator? "Shut up. (EST) from a ship that reported three icebergs just 19 miles (30.5 kilometers) north of the Titanic's path. Around noon that day, the Titanic's Marconi wireless operators received the first of at least four cautionary messages about large ice floes just ahead. The night of April 14, 1912, the third day of the Titanic's maiden voyage, was numbingly cold - the water's temperature hovered at 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2.2 degrees Celsius). United States Coast Guard/Wikimedia Commons Note the dark spot just along the iceberg's waterline, which was described by onlookers as a smear of red paint, indicating a recent collision with a ship. The iceberg thought to have been hit by Titanic, photographed on the morning of April 15, 1912. ![]()
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