Sinking of the RMS Titanic

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The Titanic's sinking as depicted by artist Willy Stöwer.

The sinking of the RMS Titanic was one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in history. On 14 April 1912, at 11:40 p.m., the ship struck an iceberg and sank in just under three hours with the loss of approximately 1,500 lives. There are many (sometimes conflicting) descriptions of the disaster by the surviving passengers and crew and the sinking has been the subject of numerous investigations from the time it sank up to the present day. (for a full description of the ship involved see: RMS Titanic)

[edit] 10:45 PM - Iceberg warnings

On the night of Sunday, 14 April 1912 the temperature had dropped to near freezing and the ocean was completely calm. There was no moon and the sky was clear. Second Officer Charles Lightoller later wrote, "the sea was like glass." Captain Edward Smith, perhaps in response to iceberg warnings received by wireless over the previous few days, had altered the Titanic's course around 10 miles (18 km) south of the normal shipping route. That Sunday at 1:45 p.m., a message from the steamer SS Amerika warned that large icebergs lay south of the Titanic's path but the warning was addressed to the USN Hydrographic office and was never relayed to the bridge. Iceberg warnings were received throughout the day but were quite normal for the time of year. Later that evening at 9:30 p.m., another report of numerous, large icebergs in the Titanic's path was received by Jack Phillips and Harold Bride in the radio room, this time from the Mesaba, but this report also failed to reach the bridge.^[1] Although there were warnings, there were no operational or safety reasons to slow down or alter course. The Titanic had three teams of two lookouts high up in the crow's nest who were rotated every two hours, and on any other night it is almost certain they would have seen the iceberg in time. However, a combination of factors came into play, and with no moon, no wind, no binoculars and the dark side of the berg facing the ship, the lookouts were powerless. As Lightoller stated at the British inquiry, "Everything was against us." ^[2]

[edit] 11:39 PM - "Iceberg, right ahead!"

One of several icebergs photographed in the vicinity of the Titanic's sinking. This picture was taken on 15 April 1912 by the chief steward of the liner Prinze Adelbert, at latitude 41-46N, longitude 50-14W, just south of where the Titanic went down. The steward had not yet heard about the Titanic sinking but noted that there was a smear of red paint along the base of the berg^[3].

[edit] Sighting of the Iceberg

At 11:39 p.m. while sailing south off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship. Fleet sounded the ship's bell three times and telephoned the bridge. Sixth Officer James Moody answered. "Is someone there?!" shouted Fleet. "Yes, what do you see?" replied Moody. "Iceberg, right ahead!" cried Fleet. "Thank you" was Moody's calm, polite reply before informing First Officer William Murdoch (the senior officer on duty on the bridge at the time) of the call; by now, Murdoch had seen the iceberg himself.

[edit] Murdoch's orders

There are varying accounts as to what orders First Officer Murdoch gave in order to avoid collision with the iceberg. It is generally agreed that he gave an order of "Hard a'starboard" (an order which, through rotation of the ships wheel, would work to move the ship's tiller all the way to the starboard (right) side of the ship) in an attempt turn the ship to port (left). Murdoch is reported to have set the ships telegraph to "Full Astern" by Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who saw them at that setting when he entered the bridge some time during the accident. Boxhall’s testimony was contradicted by Greaser Frederick Scott, who stated that the engine room telegraphs showed "Stop", and by Leading stoker Frederick Barrett who stated that the stoking indicators went from “Full” to “Stop”^[4]. During or right before the collision Murdoch may have also given an order (as heard by Quartermaster Alfred Olliver when he walked onto the bridge in the middle of the collision) of "Hard a'port" ^[5] (moving the tiller all the way to the port (left) side turning the ship to starboard (right)) in what may have been an attempt to swing the remainder (aft section) of the ship away from the berg in a common maneuver called a "port around"^[6] (this could explain Murdoch's comment to the captain "I intended to port around it"). The fact that such a maneuver was executed was supported by other crew members who testified that the stern of the ship never hit the berg.^[7] Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was at the helm, and Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall, who may or may not have been on the bridge during the collision^[8], both stated that the last command Murdoch gave Hichens was "Hard-a-starboard!" ^[9][10].

[edit] The collision

The ship made its fatal collision at an estimated 37 seconds^[11] after Fleet sighted the berg. The ship's starboard (right) side brushed the iceberg, buckling the hull in several places and causing rivets to pop out below the waterline, opening the first five compartments (the forward peak tank, the three forward holds and Boiler Room 6) to the sea^[12]. Although pumps in the sixth compartment (Boiler Room 5) were able to pump the water out as fast as it came in, the first five were riddled with small holes amounting to an area of about 12 square feet (1.1 m²).^[13] As the forward compartments filled, the watertight doors closed. Titanic could stay afloat with four compartments flooded, but the ship was already taking on water in five compartments. Captain Smith, alerted by the jolt of the impact, ordered "all-stop" once he arrived on the bridge. Within ten minutes of the collision the five forward compartments were flooded to a depth of 14 feet (4.3 m). Following an inspection by the ship's senior officers, the ship's carpenter J. Hutchinson and Thomas Andrews, which included a survey of the half-flooded two-deck postal room, it was apparent that the Titanic would sink. Before the clock hit midnight the forward third class sections were beginning to flood. At 12:05 a.m., 25 minutes after the collision, Captain Smith ordered all the lifeboats uncovered; five minutes later, at 12:10 a.m., he ordered them to be swung out; then, at 12:25 a.m., he ordered them to be loaded with women and children and then lowered away. At 12:50, 4th Officer Joseph Boxhall fired the first white distress rocket.

[edit] 12:45 AM - First lifeboat lowered

The first lifeboat launched, Lifeboat #7, was lowered at 12:45 a.m., on the starboard side, with only 28 people on board out of a maximum capacity of 65. The Titanic carried 20 lifeboats with a total capacity of 1,178 for the ship's total complement of passengers and crew of 2,228. Sixteen lifeboats, indicated by number, were in the davits; and four canvas-sided collapsibles, indicated by letter, were stowed on the roof of the officers' quarters or on the forward Boat Deck to be launched in empty davits. With only enough space for a little more than half the passengers and crew, the Titanic carried more boats than required by the British. At the time, the number of lifeboats required was determined by a ship's gross tonnage, rather than its human capacity. The regulations concerning lifeboat capacity had last been updated in 1894, when the largest ships afloat measured approximately 10,000 tons, compared to the Titanic's 46,328 tons. First and second-class passengers had easy access to the lifeboats with staircases that led right up to the boat deck, but third-class passengers found it much harder. Many found the corridors leading from the lower sections of the ship difficult to navigate and had trouble making their way up to the lifeboats. Some gates separating the third-class section of the ship from the other areas, like the one leading from the aft well deck to the second-class section, are known to have been locked. While the majority of first and second-class women and children survived the sinking, more third-class women and children were lost than saved. The locked third-class gates were the result of miscommunication between the boat deck and F-G decks. Lifeboats were supposed to be lowered with women and children from the boat deck and then subsequently to pick up F-G Deck women and children from open gangways. Unfortunately, with no boat drill or training for the seamen, the boats were simply lowered into the water without stopping. As a result of the segregation of third class, only one of the 29 children travelling in first and second-class (Lorraine Allison, a four year-old Canadian girl) perished in the disaster, compared to 53 of the 76 travelling in third.

The turning point of the disaster came at 1:15 a.m., when the openings at the bow for the anchors went under the water. Before this point, the only area the ocean could enter the ship was the gash from the iceberg itself (given the temperature at the time, no portholes were open). Once the sea water gained entry via the anchor ports, the rate at which the ship sank increased dramatically.. At 1:10 a.m., five minutes prior, Lifeboat #8 departed the port side of the ship with only 28 occupants out of a capacity of 65. When Lifeboat #9 evacuated the ship at 1:20, a mere ten minutes later, it carried 56.

The scene on the boat deck became more chaotic as the moments passed. At 1:25 a.m., Lifeboat #11 was lowered down the starboard side overloaded with 70 passengers and crew. It was almost swamped as it reached the sea as it was lowered next to a discharge pipe where pumps were desperately trying to expel water from the ship and buy more time. Crewmen were able to use the oars to push the boat out of the way only seconds before touching the ocean. Ten minutes later Lifeboats 13 and 15 were lowered one after another, each at capacity. The water being spat out of the discharge pipe pushed #13 aft, directly below the rapidly descending #15. Crewmen frantically severed the ropes that had lowered #13 and were able to manoeuvre it out of the way with only seconds to spare. Around this time, Lifeboat #14 was lowered on the port side, with Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in charge. As the boat began its descent Lowe was forced to fire his gun along the side of the ship to deter passengers on the boat deck from jumping in. By 1:35 a.m. as Lifeboats 15 and 16 abandoned the ship, all of the boats in the second-class portion of the boat deck were gone. Six lifeboats remained on the ship, all in first-class, with a combined capacity of 293 for the estimated 1,800 people who remained on the ship. Lifeboats 2 and 4 were the last ones to leave the ship. Lifeboat 2 left at around 1:45 a.m., closely followed by Lifeboat #4 ten minutes later. These boats were the closest to the ship as it foundered. Lifeboat #4 picked up those who were caught in the freezing ocean.^[14]

By 1:45 a.m. the ship's forecastle and forward well decks were underwater and the forward A Deck promenade was barely ten feet above the surface. Around this time, passengers on the deck were greeted with the strange sight of dogs running up and down the deck, including John Jacob Astor's beloved Airedale Terrier, Kitty. The Titanic was equipped with a kennel, and a crewman had unlocked it, figuring there was no point in leaving all the dogs the passengers had brought on board to die locked up.

The Titanic reported its position as 41°46′N, 50°14′W. The wreck was found at 41°44′N, 49°57′W.

Wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy sending out distress signals. The message was initially "CQD-MGY, sinking, need immediate assistance," later interspersed with the newer "SOS" at the suggestion of Bride (CQD was still a widely understood distress signal at the time, and MGY was the Titanic's call sign). Several ships responded, including the Mount Temple, Frankfurt, and the Titanic's sister ship, Olympic, but none was close enough to make it in time. The Olympic was over 500 nautical miles (930 km) away. The closest ship to respond was the Cunard Line's RMS Carpathia, and at 58 nautical miles (107 km) away it would arrive in about four hours, still too late to get to the Titanic in time. Two land–based locations received the distress call from the Titanic. One was the wireless station at Cape Race, Newfoundland, and the other was a Marconi telegraph station on top of the Wanamaker's department store in New York City. Shortly after the distress signal was sent, a radio drama ensued as the signals were transmitted from ship to ship, through Halifax to New York, throughout the country. People began to show up at White Star Line offices in New York almost immediately.

From the bridge, the lights of a ship could be seen off the starboard side approximately 10-15 miles away. Since it was not responding to wireless, nor to the distress rockets being launched every fifteen minutes or so, Fourth Officer Boxhall and Quartermaster George Rowe attempted signalling the ship with a Morse lamp, but the ship never appeared to respond. The SS Californian was nearby but had stopped for the night because of ice, and its wireless was turned off because the wireless operator had gone to bed for the night. The Titanic's wireless set had broken down earlier that day and Phillips and Bride had spent most of the day fixing it. As a result, they were extremely backlogged in their sending of messages. Finally, with the set fixed and a strong signal available from the Halifax station, Phillips was getting some work done. Just before he went to bed at around 11:00 p.m. the Californian's radio operator Cyril Evans attempted to warn the Titanic that there was a large field of ice ahead, but he was cut off by an exhausted Jack Phillips, who sent back, "Keep out! Shut up! I am busy! I am working Cape Race!" Two officers, Second Officer Stone and Apprentice Gibson on the Californian noticed a ship approaching at around 11:00 p.m., noticed her stop and then about an hour later noticed her beginning to send up rockets. They informed Captain Stanley Lord. The rockets the Titanic sent up had the colour of distress rockets for the White Star Line, but because of a lack of uniformity in Naval regulations at that time, Captain Lord was confused and did not know they were distress rockets. He said, "Keep watching it" and he went back to sleep. Even though there was much discussion about the mysterious ship, which the officers on duty thought to be moving away before disappearing, the crew of the Californian did not wake its wireless operator until morning.

[edit] 2:00 AM - Waterline reaches forward boat deck

At first, passengers were reluctant to leave the warm, well lit and ostensibly safe Titanic, which showed no outward signs of being in imminent danger, and board small, unlit, open lifeboats. This was one of the reasons most of the boats were launched partially empty: it was perhaps hoped that many people would jump into the water and swim to the boats. Also important was an uncertainty regarding the boats' structural integrity; it was also feared that the boats might collapse if they were fully loaded before being set in the water, despite being tested with a weight of 70 men. Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats be lowered half empty in the hope the boats would come back to save people in the water, and some boats were given orders to do just that. One boat, boat #1, meant to hold 40 people, left the Titanic with only 12 people on board. It was rumored that Lord and Lady Duff Gordon bribed the two able bodied seamen and five firemen to take them and their three companions off the ship. This rumor was later proven false. J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line, left on Lifeboat Collapsible C and was criticized by both the American and British Inquiries for not going down with the ship. Other passengers, including Father Thomas Byles and Margaret Brown, helped the women and children into lifeboats.^{[15] [16]} Brown was finally forced into a boat, and she would survive. Byles would not.

As the ship's tilt became more apparent, people started to become nervous, and some lifeboats began leaving with more passengers. "Women and children first" remained the imperative (see origin of phrase) for loading the boats. It is often mentioned with reference to this slogan that more first-class men survived than third-class women. This is untrue - the official figures show that the number of third-class women saved outnumbered the number of first-class men, and the proportion of third-class women saved was much greater than the proportion of first-class men saved.^[17]

At 2:05 a.m., the waterline reached the bottom of the bridge rail, all the lifeboats, save for the awkwardly located Collapsibles A, and B, had been lowered. Collapsible D, with 44 of its 47 seats filled, was the last lifeboat to be lowered from the davits. The total number of vacancies was 466.

[edit] 2:05 AM - Propellers exposed

The Titanic during her final moments as depicted in the 1997 film Titanic.

At this point, Titanic's propellers began to rise above the water line; water was slowly beginning to flood the forward boat deck by entering through the crew hatches on the bridge. At this time, Captain Smith released wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips from their duties. Bride went to their adjoining quarters to gather up their spare money, as Phillips continued working. When Bride returned, he found a fireman slowly unfastening Phillips' life belt, attempting to steal it without Phillips noticing him. Bride grabbed the fireman, and then the three of them wrestled around in the small room, for a few seconds. At one point, Bride grabbed the man by the waist, while Phillips punched him until he finally fell to the floor unconscious. Seeing water now entering the room, Phillips and Bride grabbed their caps and dashed out on deck, where Bride helped with Collapsible B and Phillips ran aft.

The last two lifeboats floated right off the deck as the icy ocean reached them: Collapsible B upside down and Collapsible A half-filled with water. Shortly afterwards, the first funnel fell forward, crushing part of the bridge plus many struggling in the water, including John Jacob Astor IV, Charles Williams, and Chief Purser Hugh McElroy. On deck, people scrambled towards the stern or jumped overboard in hopes of reaching a lifeboat. Inside, water crashed through windows and engulfed the elegant first class Grand staircase. Father Byles spent his final moments alive reciting the rosary and other prayers, hearing confessions, and giving absolutions to the dozens of people who huddled around him.^[18] The ship's stern rose to about 10 to 15 degrees, until 2:18 a.m. when the electrical system failed and the lights, which had burned brightly, flickered once and then went out for good. The Titanic's second funnel then broke off and fell into the water, crushing dozens more people in the water. Due to the unsupported weight (and possibly a crudely designed aft expansion joint), Titanic broke in two.

[edit] 2:20 AM - Titanic founders

The ship had broken into two large pieces^[19] between the third and fourth funnels near the aft expansion joint, and the bow section went completely under. The third funnel collapsed shortly after the breakup as the bow sank, and the fourth funnel fell soon after as the stern sank. The stern section was pulled up again by the sinking bow and flooding. The stern reached a high angle and surfaced from the water. The stern was reported to have tipped far on its port side as it began to sink, even turning around on the spot. Some also said the stern eventually reached an angle of nearly 90 degrees. Some reported cries from lifeboats that the ship had returned (shouting, "Look! The men are saved!"). However, after a few moments, the stern section also plunged into the sea, exactly two hours and 40 minutes after the collision with the iceberg.

The White Star Line attempted to persuade surviving crewmen not to state that the hull broke in half. The company believed that this information would cast doubts upon the integrity of their vessels. However, many believe the stresses inflicted on the hull when it was at 12 degrees to the sea line (bow down and stern in the air) were beyond the design limits of the structure, and 45 degrees proved to be the breaking point, and no legitimate engineer could have fairly criticised the work of the shipbuilders in that regard.^[20]

Of a total of 2,208 people, only 711 survived the initial sinking. At least one passenger, William F. Hoyt, died from exposure during the night in lifeboat 14 after being pulled from the water. Five others died aboard the Carpathia, leaving 705 total survivors; 1,496 passengers and crew perished.^[21][22] If the lifeboats had been filled to capacity, 1,178 people could have been saved. Of the first-class, 201 were saved (60%) and 123 died. Of the second-class, 118 (44%) were saved and 167 were lost. Of the third-class, 181 were saved (25%) and 527 perished. Of the crew, 212 were saved (24%) and 679 perished (Captain Smith, as per naval tradition, went down with his ship). First class men were four times as likely to survive as second class men, and twice as likely to survive as third class men. Nearly every first-class woman survived, compared to 86 percent of those in second class and less than half of those in third class.^[23] Of particular note, the entire complement of the 35-member Engineering Staff (25 engineers, 6 electricians, two boilermakers, one plumber, and one writer/engineer's clerk) were lost. The entire ship's orchestra was also lost. Led by violinist Wallace Hartley, they played music on the boat deck of the Titanic that night to calm the passengers. It will probably forever remain unknown what this orchestra selected as their last piece. Based on evidence from various sources some argue it was "Nearer, My God, to Thee" while others say it was "Autumn." The majority of deaths were caused by victims succumbing to hypothermia in the 28 °F (−2 °C) water. It has been suggested that the fact that only 712 people survived when the lifeboats had a capacity of 1,178 people (54% of those on board) could largely be attributed to the women and children first policy, where the psychological effects and resulting loss of efficiency caused the number of people saved to be only 32% of those on board. Had the lifeboats been filled to capacity, all 534 women and children could have been saved, with enough room left over for an additional 644 men.^[24]

As the ship sank into the depths, the two sections ended their final plunges very differently. The streamlined bow planed off approximately 2,000 feet (600 m) below the surface and slowed somewhat, landing relatively gently. The stern fell straight down towards the ocean floor, possibly rotating as it sank, with the air trapped inside causing implosions. It was already half-crushed when it hit bottom at high speed; the shock caused everything still loose to fall off. The bow section however, having been opened up by the iceberg and having sunk slowly, had little air left in it as it sank and therefore remained relatively intact during its descent.

[edit] 3:00 AM - Lifeboat rescues

Only one lifeboat came back to the scene of the sinking to attempt to rescue survivors. Another boat, Lifeboat #4, did not return to the site but was close by and picked up eight crewmen, two of whom later died aboard the Carpathia. Nearly an hour after the whole of the ship went under, after tying four lifeboats together on the open sea (a difficult task), Lifeboat #14, under the command of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, went back looking for survivors and rescued four people, one of whom, first-class passenger William Hoyt, died later. Collapsible B floated upside-down all night and began with 30 people. By the time the Carpathia arrived the next morning, 27 remained. Included on this boat were the highest-ranking officer to survive, Charles Lightoller, wireless operator Harold Bride and the chief baker, Charles Joughin. There were some arguments in some of the other lifeboats about going back, but many survivors were afraid of being swamped by people trying to climb into the lifeboat or being pulled down by the anticipated suction from the sinking ship, though this turned out not to be severe. Only 10 survivors were pulled from the water into lifeboats.

[edit] 4:10 AM - Carpathia picks up first lifeboat

Survivors aboard Collapsible D, one of the Titanic's four collapsible lifeboats. Note the canvas sides.

RMS Carpathia after lifeboat rescue.

Almost two hours after the Titanic sank, RMS Carpathia, commanded by Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, arrived on scene and picked up its first lifeboat at 4:10 AM. Over the next few hours, the remainder of the survivors were rescued. On board the Carpathia, a short prayer service for the rescued and a memorial for the people who lost their lives were held, and at 8:50 a.m., Carpathia left for New York, arriving on April 18. Among the survivors were three dogs brought aboard in the hands of the first-class passengers.

[edit] Sarnoff and wireless reports

An often-quoted story that has been blurred between fact and fiction states that the first person to receive news of the sinking was David Sarnoff, who would later found media giant RCA. In modified versions of this legend, Sarnoff was not the first to hear the news (though Sarnoff willingly promoted this notion), but he and others did staff the Marconi wireless station (telegraph) atop the Wanamaker Department Store in New York City, and for three days, relayed news of the disaster and names of survivors to people waiting outside. However, even this version lacks support in contemporary accounts. No newspapers of the time, for example, mention Sarnoff. Given the absence of primary evidence, the story of Sarnoff should be properly regarded as a legend. ^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

[edit] Arrival of Carpathia in New York

The Carpathia docked at Pier 54 at Little West 12th Street in New York with the survivors. It arrived at night and was greeted by thousands of people. The Titanic had been headed for Pier 59 at 20th Street. The Carpathia dropped off the empty Titanic lifeboats at Pier 59, as property of the White Star Line, before unloading the survivors at Pier 54.

Both piers were part of the Chelsea Piers built to handle luxury liners of the day.

Extract from United States Navy memorandum concerning Titanic.

As news of the disaster spread, many people were shocked that the Titanic could sink with such great loss of life despite all of her technological advances. Newspapers were filled with stories and descriptions of the disaster and were eager to get the latest information. Many charities were set up to help the victims and their families, many of whom lost their sole breadwinner, or, in the case of third-class survivors, lost everything they owned. The people of Southampton were deeply affected by the sinking. According to the Hampshire Chronicle on April 20, 1912, almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almost every street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than one resident and over 500 households lost a member.

[edit] Retrieval and burial of the dead

Once the loss of life was verified, White Star Line chartered the cable ship CS Mackay-Bennett from Halifax, Nova Scotia to retrieve bodies. Three other ships followed in the search, the cable ship Minia, the lighthouse supply ship Montmagny and the sealing vessel Algerine. A total of 333 bodies were eventually recovered, 328 by the Canadian ships and five more by passing North Atlantic steamships. For some unknown reason, numbers 324 and 325 were unused, and the six passengers buried at sea by the Carpathia also went unnumbered.^[30] In mid-May 1912, over 200 miles from the site of the sinking the RMS Oceanic, recovered three bodies, numbers 331, 332 and 333, who were occupants of Collapsible A, which was swamped in the last moments of the sinking. Several people managed to reach the boat, although some died during the night. When Fifth Officer Harold Lowe rescued the survivors of Collapsible A, he left the three dead bodies in the boat: Thomas Beattie, a first-class passenger, and two crew members, a fireman and a seaman. The bodies were buried at sea.^[31]

Initially, the Mackay-Bennett preserved the bodies of mainly first-class passengers, preferring to bury the rest at sea. Outcry from family members let White Star officials to halt the sea burials and bring the remaining bodies, except those that were too badly decomposed to identify, back to shore. Bodies recovered were preserved to be taken to Halifax, the closest city to the sinking with direct rail and steamship connections. The Halifax coroner, John Henry Barnstead, developed a detailed system to identify bodies and safeguard personal possessions. Relatives from across North America came to identify and claim bodies. A large temporary morgue was set up in a curling rink and undertakers were called in from all across Eastern Canada to assist. Some bodies were shipped to be buried in their hometowns across North America and Europe. About two thirds of the bodies were identified. Unidentified victims were buried with simple numbers based on the order that the bodies were discovered. The majority of recovered victims, 150 bodies, were buried in three Halifax cemeteries, the largest being Fairview Lawn Cemetery followed by the nearby Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch cemeteries.^[32] Much floating wreckage was also recovered with the bodies, many pieces of which can be seen today in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.

[edit] Investigation, safety rules and the Californian

Before the survivors even arrived in New York, investigations were being planned to discover what had happened, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. The United States Senate initiated an inquiry into the disaster on 19 April a day after Carpathia arrived in New York.

Carpathia docked at Pier 54 in New York following the rescue.

The chairman of the inquiry, Senator William Alden Smith, wanted to gather accounts from passengers and crew while the events were still fresh in their minds. Smith also needed to subpoena the British citizens while they were still on American soil. This prevented all surviving passengers and crew from returning to England before the American inquiry, which lasted until 25 May.

Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster. The British inquiry took place between 2 May and 3 July. Each inquiry took testimony from both passengers and crew of the Titanic, crew members of Leyland Line's Californian, Captain Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia and other experts.

The investigations found that many safety rules were simply out of date, and new laws were recommended. Numerous safety improvements for ocean-going vessels were implemented, including improved hull and bulkhead design, access throughout the ship for egress of passengers, lifeboat requirements, improved life-vest design, the holding of safety drills, better passenger notification, radio communications laws, etc. The investigators also learned that the Titanic had sufficient lifeboat space for all first-class passengers, but not for the lower classes. In fact, most third-class, or steerage, passengers had no idea where the lifeboats were, much less any way of getting up to the higher decks where the lifeboats were stowed.

Both inquiries into the disaster found that the Californian and its captain, Stanley Lord, failed to give proper assistance to the Titanic. Testimony before the inquiry revealed that at 10:10 pm, the Californian observed the lights of a ship to the south; it was later agreed between Captain Lord and the third officer (who had relieved Lord of duty at 10:10) that this was a passenger liner. The Californian warned the ship by radio of the pack ice because of which the Californian had stopped for the night, but was violently rebuked by Titanic senior wireless operator, Jack Phillips. At 11:50 pm, the officer had watched this ship's lights flash out, as if the ship had shut down or turned sharply, and that the port light was now observed. Morse light signals to the ship, upon Lord's order, occurred five times between 11:30 pm and 1:00 am, but were not acknowledged. (In testimony, it was stated that the Californian's Morse lamp had a range of about four miles (6 km), so could not have been seen from Titanic.)

Captain Lord had retired at 11:30; however, Second Officer C.V. Groves, now on duty, notified Lord at 1:15 am that the ship had fired a rocket, followed by four more. Lord wanted to know if they were company signals, that is, coloured flares used for identification. Groves said that he didn't know, that the rockets were all white. Captain Lord instructed the crew to continue to signal the other vessel with the Morse lamp, and went back to sleep. Three more rockets were observed at 1:50 and Groves noted that the ship looked strange in the water, as if she were listing. At 2:15 am, Lord was notified that the ship could no longer be seen. Lord asked again if the lights had had any colours in them, and he was informed that they were all white.

The Californian eventually responded. At 5:30 am, the First Officer awakened the wireless operator, informed him that rockets had been seen during the night, and asked that he try to communicate with any ships. The ‘‘Frankfurt’’ notified the operator of the Titanic's loss, Captain Lord was notified, and the ship set out for assistance.

The inquiries found that the Californian was much closer to the Titanic than the 19½ miles (roughly 31 km) that Captain Lord had believed and that Lord should have awakened the wireless operator after the rockets were first reported to him, and thus could have acted to prevent a loss of life. Because of the Californian's off-duty wireless officer, 29 nations adopted the Radio Act of 1912, which streamlined radio communications, especially in the event of emergencies.

[edit] Last living survivor

There is one survivor of the Titanic disaster still living; Millvina Dean, 96, of Southampton, England. Only two months old at the time, Ms. Dean has no memory of the disaster, but has remained active in Titanic-related activities.

[edit] References

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

RMS Titanic

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sinking of the RMS Titanic

• Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember
• Ruffman, Alan. Titanic Remembered