Titanic Timeline

The Titanic was a huge luxury liner that sank on its maiden voyage. Its story has inspired many novels, films, and other works. It is also a popular subject for school children to learn about. On April 14, 1912, Titanic hits an iceberg and begins to sink. Lookout Frederick Fleet spotted the iceberg and reported it to the bridge.

Ship’s Construction

From its inception, Titanic was designed to be the most luxurious ocean liner of its day. Its builders, White Star Shipping, knew that they needed to build the biggest and best ship in order to capture the imaginations of passengers and attract them to their brand.

The construction of Titanic began in 1909 with the building of its keel at Harland and Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. It was then outfitted over the course of a year, which was an extensive process. Because the massive ship was so large, the outfitting took a lot of time. Every detail was meticulously attended to, even down to the smallest details of the interior.

On April 15, 1911, titanic timeline departed on its maiden voyage. An enormous crowd gathered to watch the Titanic enter the water, and it was an impressive sight. However, it was far from finished and required several more months of testing to complete its outfitting.

While the Titanic was making its way across the Atlantic, the crew received reports of ice. One of these reports was from a Cunard liner, the Caronia. It warned the Titanic of three large icebergs. The Captain of the Caronia was so concerned that he called the bridge of the Titanic to alert them to the threat.

The captain of the Titanic, Edward J Smith, ordered lifeboats to be readied. These boats had space for only 1,178 people, and the order was given that women and children would board first. Then the rest would follow. Captain Smith also ordered CQD distress signals to be sent out over the radio. Although SOS was the official distress signal, CQD was more common because it was quicker to send.

Passenger Boarding

April 15: At about 12:20 AM, Captain Smith orders the lifeboats to begin loading passengers. He instructs the crew to load women and children first, and he also orders eight emergency distress rockets to be fired. At the same time, numerous ships hear Titanic’s distress call and prepare to rescue her. The Carpathia, which is around 58 miles away, responds and begins to head towards the Titanic at full speed.

At this point, a number of the passenger lifeboats have been loaded and some are being lowered into the water. One of these is port-side boat No. 5, which has a capacity of 35 people, including passengers and crew members. Countess of Rothes is among the passengers in this boat. However, John Jacob Astor is refused entry by Lightoller and is forced to remain aboard the Titanic. The ship soon develops a noticeable list to the port side and the water level rises.

During this time, Captain Murdoch and Fourth Officer Boxhall walk out onto the starboard Bridge wing to see if they can spot the iceberg astern of Titanic. They discover that the iceberg has hit the ship’s lower sections and the stern is listing to starboard.

In the wake of the disaster, a public inquiry is held. The inquiry finds that the Titanic had sailed into a patch of ice that she did not expect and that the ship had been traveling at excessive speed for such a region of ice. It also found that the ship’s officers had not properly communicated with one another. As a result, many lives were lost. The tragedy also spawned many tributes and commemorations and the sinking of the Titanic has become an iconic moment in American history.

Distress Signal

c.02:20 The RMS Titanic’s stern breaks away from the rest of the ship, and it starts to sink. Several explosions can be heard deep inside the ship, and the last collapsible boats are lowered. Those who remained onboard the ship believed that they would stay afloat, but this was not to be. The water’s freezing temperatures made it very difficult to swim in, and many of those who jumped into the sea died from hypothermia.

Captain Smith orders the radio operators to broadcast a distress signal CQD over the ship’s wireless. He also changes the estimated position of Titanic to 41o 46’ N, 50o 14’ W. Lookout Frederick Fleet reports seeing a “very large” iceberg ahead. He tells Sixth Officer Moody that the iceberg is likely to be “along our starboard side.” Captain Lightoller decides to alter Titanic’s course and turns the ship “hard a-starboard.” First Officer Murdoch closes the watertight doors and asks Fourth Officer Boxhall to inspect the forward area of the ship.

Boxhall concludes that lifeboat No. 7 was flooded forward of the fourth watertight bulkhead and that Titanic will only remain afloat for about two hours. He also observes a vessel on the horizon and attempts to contact it with Morse lamps, but to no avail.

At 12:25 AM, the order to begin loading lifeboats is given. The first boat lowered is the starboard No. 7, which has a capacity of 65 people. Several other boats are lowered, but they are all well below capacity because of the crew’s belief that Titanic was unassailable. Then the first of eight distress rockets is fired. The Californian, the nearest ship, hears the distress call but turns off her radio.

Lifeboats

In 1912, the RMS Titanic was on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York when she struck an iceberg. The iceberg caused the ship to take on water, and the crew quickly began preparing for disaster. They sounded the ship’s alarm bells and ordered passengers to put on their lifeboats.

In addition to the usual warnings, captain Edward John Smith told his officers to broadcast a CQD and SOS on the ship’s radio. The ship’s lookout Frederick Fleet spotted the iceberg and signaled the first officer to turn hard starboard. The captain obeyed but the ship smashed into the iceberg’s stern section and began to list.

The first lifeboats were lowered. During this time the captain instructed his crew to give priority to women and children. Some boats were only half-full, and some had only 28 people aboard when they could hold 65. The ship also had more than the legally required number of lifeboats, but they were not uncovered because the crew believed that other ships would arrive soon to rescue them.

At around 2:15 AM the ship sank. A large crowd of second and third class passengers gathered on the aft end of Boat Deck to watch the ship sink. Father Thomas Byles heard confession and gave absolution to over a hundred passengers before the ship’s forward funnel collapsed, crushing many of them. A few minutes later, Port-side boat No 4 was lowered and left with only 25 people aboard. A woman in a soiled dress tried to enter the boat, but was pushed back by Lightoller. The last boat lowered was collapsible B, which was occupied by White Star chairman Bruce Ismay.

Sinking

The Titanic’s maiden voyage was to cross the Atlantic Ocean. On the way, it encountered an iceberg. This led to the sinking of the ship, which took hundreds of people with it. The tragedy was the most famous sea disaster in history, and it still fascinates people over a century after it happened. This timeline shows the key events of Titanic’s voyage, from its construction through to her final moments in the depths of the Atlantic.

At around 12:20 AM, lookout Fleet sees an iceberg in the ship’s path. He rings a bell three times, which alerts other crew members to the danger ahead. They order the engines to be reversed and close the doors of the supposedly watertight compartments. The starboard side of the ship scrapes along the iceberg and begins to list.

The captain, Edward Smith, orders the lifeboats to be lowered. He gives priority to women and children. He also warns passengers to stay near their cabins, as the ship’s stern will soon submerge. The first lifeboat, boat 7, is lowered with just 28 people aboard. Then the port-side lifeboat, number 8, is lowered with only 39 people aboard.

Titanic’s senior wireless operator, Harold Bride, starts to receive reports of icebergs from other ships. But the nearest ship, the Californian, turns off her wireless after receiving a curt reply from Phillips earlier in the evening. This was a crucial mistake, as the Californian would have been able to reach Titanic before she sank. The Californian would have saved many lives, including those on board the Titanic. The Californian’s sister ship, the Britannic, later becomes a hospital ship. Several other ships were sent to the Titanic’s location to recover bodies.