Titanic (12 page)

 

 

1898
A writer named Morgan Robertson publishes a story called “Futility”. It is a prophetic tale about a ship, named the
Titan,
that hits an iceberg and sinks on its very first voyage. The ship does not have enough lifeboats, and many of its passengers die.

1907
The International Mercantile Marine Company, known as IMM, is being run by J Bruce Ismay, who controls the White Star Line of ships. He and William J Pirrie, head of a construction company called Harland and Wolff, decide to build two new ships, the
Titanic
and the
Olympic.

1909
Construction begins on the
Titanic
at a Harland and Wolff site located in Belfast, Ireland.

May 31, 1911
The
Titanic
is launched for the first time.

January 1912
Sixteen lifeboats are installed on the
Titanic.
She has the capacity to handle many more, but the law in Britain does not require them. The
Titanic
is also provided with four collapsible lifeboats.

March 31, 1912
The
Titanic
is fully outfitted and ready to commence her maiden voyage as the largest and most luxurious ship ever built.

April 2, 1912
Tests (known as sea trials) are conducted on the
Titanic.
They are completed in about half a day. That evening, the ship departs for Southampton, England.

April 3, 1912
Cargo and supplies are loaded on to the ship in Southampton, and the first crew members are hired.

April 6, 1912
The rest of the crew is hired, many of them local residents of Southampton.

 

Wednesday, April 10, 1912

7.30 a.m.
Captain Edward J Smith, who will command the ship, boards the
Titanic.

8.00 a.m.
Two lifeboats are tested in a short drill.

9.30–11.00 a.m.
Second- and third-class (also known as steerage) passengers begin to board the ship.

11.30 a.m.
Boarding begins for first-class passengers.

Noon
The
Titanic
sets out on its maiden voyage, but is delayed by a near collision with a much smaller ship, the
New York.

6.30 p.m.
The
Titanic
arrives at her first stop, Cherbourg, France, and almost 300 more passengers are ferried to the ship. She is an hour late.

8.10 p.m.
The
Titanic
heads for its next stop – Queenstown, Ireland.

 

Thursday, April 11, 1912
The
Titanic
has travelled 386 uneventful miles in near-perfect weather.

Saturday, April 13, 1912
The superb weather continues, and the
Titanic
completes another 519 miles.

10.30 p.m.
Another ship, the
Rappahannock,
sends a warning of severe ice.

 

Sunday, April 14, 1912

9.00 a.m.
An ice warning is received from the
Caronia.

11.40 a.m.
Another ice warning comes from the
Noordam.

1.42 p.m.
Yet another ice warning is sent by the
Baltic.

1.45 p.m.
Still another ice warning arrives, from the
Amerika.

7.30 p.m.
Three iceberg warnings are sent by the
Californian.

9.20 p.m.
Captain Smith goes to bed, ordering Second Officer Lightoller to wake him if there are any problems.

9.40 p.m.
Another ice warning comes in, this time from the
Mesaba.

10.00 p.m.
First Officer William Murdoch relieves Lightoller on the bridge.

10.55 p.m.
The
Californian,
only a few miles away, tries to send another ice warning, but the overworked
Titanic
telegraph operator tells them to “Shut up!”

11.30 p.m.
The telegraph operator on the
Californian
signs off for the night.

11.40 p.m.
Titanic
lookouts Fleet and Lee spot a large iceberg in the calm ocean and call down to the bridge. Officer Moody tells them, “Thank you.” Officer Murdoch, who is currently in charge, is unable to steer out of the way, and the starboard side of the ship is torn open in the resulting crash.

11.50 p.m.
The first five compartments of the ship are filling with water, as is Boiler Room 6. (A stubborn coal fire that raged in the Boiler Room may have weakened its strength.)

 

Monday, April 15, 1912

Midnight
Captain Smith and Thomas Andrews, the builder of the ship, go on a quick tour to inspect the damage. Andrews estimates that the
Titanic
will sink within two hours. Captain Smith has distress calls sent to nearby ships with the message that the
Titanic
is going down and is in desperate need of help. Responses begin to come in from everyone except the nearby
Californian.
Initially, Operators Phillips and Bride use the traditional “CQD” signal. Later, they switch to the new “SOS”.

12.05 a.m.
Captain Smith orders that the lifeboats be readied and that all passengers put on their life belts. If fully loaded, the lifeboats can carry only 1,178 people. There are approximately 2,200 people on board the
Titanic.

12.15 a.m.
The
Titanic
's band begins to play “lively” music to help prevent a panic.

12.25 a.m.
The lifeboats begin to be loaded with women and children.

12.45 a.m.
The first lifeboat – Lifeboat 7 – is lowered away, holding only 28 passengers. It has room for 65. Simultaneously, the first distress rocket is fired, as the
Titanic
's officers try to get the attention of a ship (thought to be the
Californian)
that they can see in the distance.

12.55 a.m.
Lifeboat 7 leaves, with Lifeboat 5 soon to follow. The boats are still not fully loaded.

1.00 a.m.
Lifeboat 3 leaves.

1.10 a.m.
Lifeboat 1 leaves. It has only 12 passengers aboard. It can hold 40.

1.15 a.m.
The
Titanic
is visibly sinking.

1.20 a.m.
Lifeboat 9 leaves, more fully loaded than any boat so far, but still not filled to capacity.

1:25 a.m.
Lifeboat 12 leaves.

1:30 a.m.
Lifeboat 14 leaves.

1.35 a.m.
Lifeboat 13 leaves.

1.40 a.m.
Collapsible Boat C leaves, with
J
Bruce Ismay boarding at the last minute. He is later heavily criticized for this.

1.45 a.m.
The
Titanic
sends out its final message to the
Carpathia.
Lifeboat 2 leaves.

1.55 a.m.
Lifeboat 4 leaves.

2.05 a.m.
Almost all of the lifeboats have gone. Collapsible Boat D is being loaded with women and children.

2.17 a.m.
Captain Smith releases the crew from their duties and tells them to try to save themselves, since nothing more can be done. Collapsibles A and B are washed overboard by the rushing water. Later on, survivors will cling to them.

2.20 a.m.
The
Titanic
sinks. Approximately 1,500 people – passengers and crew – die in the disaster.

3.30 a.m.
Lifeboats spot rockets being fired by the
Carpathia,
which is speeding to the rescue.

4.10 a.m.
The
Carpathia
picks up passengers from the first lifeboat it encounters, Lifeboat 2.

8.30 a.m.
After several hours of rescue work, the final lifeboat, Lifeboat 12, is picked up. At the same time – hours too late to help – the
Californian
appears.

8.50 a.m.
The
Carpathia
sets out for New York City with an estimated 705 survivors aboard.

 

April 18, 1912
The
Carpathia
arrives in New York.

April 19–April 25, 1912
Under the committee leadership of Senator William Smith, the United States Senate conducts hearings to investigate the sinking.

May 2–July 3, 1912
A similar inquiry, run by British authorities, takes place in England, attempting without much success to assess blame for the disaster.

April 1913
The International Ice Patrol is formed in the hope of preventing another tragedy like the
Titanic.
It is administered by the United States Coast Guard.

November 1955
A Night to Remember,
by Walter Lord, is published. Almost 50 years later, it is still considered the best book ever written about the
Titanic.

September 1, 1985
American scientist Dr Robert Ballard and his crew, along with French scientist Jean-Louis Michel, discover the wreck, lying more than three kilometres below the ocean's surface.

July 1986
Dr Ballard explores the wreck and takes underwater photographs of it.

 

There have been a number of dives since Dr Ballard's discovery. Crews have recovered everything from dishes to clothing to furniture.

 

December 1997
James Cameron releases his $200 million epic film version of
Titanic.
It scoops eleven Oscars and captures the world's imagination, reawakening interest in the disaster.

July 1998
The big piece – a twenty tonne section of the hull is the largest artifact to ever be raised from the wreck.

May 2009
Millvina Dean, the last of the 700 survivors, dies at the age of 97.

April 2012
The centenary of the sinking of the
Titanic
will be marked by many new publications, exhibitions, and two major television dramas.

For Holly.

While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, Margaret Anne Brady is a fictional character, created by the author, and her diary and its epilogue are works of fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Published in the US by Scholastic Inc, 1998

First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2001

This electronic edition published 2012

 

Text © Ellen Emerson White, 2001

Cover illustration © Richard Jones, 2008

 

All rights reserved

 

eISBN 978 1407 13338 6

 

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