Sunday, April 14th started out much as any other Sunday would have onboard Titanic. In the morning, various services were held; Captain Smith presided over a Church of England service in the First Class dining saloon. In the Second Class dining saloon, a similar service was held by the assistant purser, Reginald Barker. Father Thomas Byles conducted a Catholic Mass in the Second Class lounge which was followed by another for Steerage passengers. After services, most passengers indulged in the many frivolities the ship had to offer. It was quite a different story in the wireless shack. Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were working hard to send the pile of passenger telegrams that had piled up on them the night before when the wireless had broken down. They had labored for several hours to fix it and did not have the set working until 5:00 AM Sunday morning. Now that it was operational, they were nearly overwhelmed with the amount of passenger messages that needed to be sent out. First Class passengers, anticipating an early arrival in New York, were anxious to get word to their constituants on the mainland so that they would not have to wait at the dock for too long. As most members of the aristocracy could be rather rude to those of lesser means, most passengers did not want to hear about the problems with the Marconi set. They only wanted to hear that their messages had been sent. Both men had worked tirelessly through the night and were exhausted. But as the only wireless operators on the ship it was up to them to see to the backlog of passenger telegrams.

     At about 1:15 that afternoon, they received an incoming message from the White Star steamer Baltic. The message read, "Captain Smith, Titanic. Have had moderate weather since leaving. Greek steamer Athinia reports passing icebergs and large quantity of field ice today in latitude 41.51 North, longitude 49.52 West. Last night we spoke with German oil tanker Deutschland, Stettin to Philadelphia, not under control, short of coal; latitude 40.42 North, longitude 55.11. Wishes to be reported to New York and other steamers. Wish you and Titanic all success." The message was immediately given to Captain Smith. Normal procedure would have been to post the message in the chartroom so that the ice mentioned could be plotted on a map so as to ascertain it’s potential threat to Titanic. Smith did not do this. Instead, he placed the telegram in his pocket and walked aft along the promenade. There he encountered Bruce Ismay engaged in conversation with a couple of First Class passengers. According to Ismay’s later testimony, Smith handed him the telegram without comment. Ismay glanced at it and put it in his pocket. The actual facts of the event are unclear at this point. It is beyond me why the captain would give such an important message to Ismay when it was obvious that the ice needed to be charted. Several ice warnings had already been received since Friday. No doubt more would have been had the wireless not broken down the night before.

     It has been speculated that there was some tension between Smith and Ismay, the former wishing to avoid taxing the new engines on their first run out and the latter desiring an arrival in New York a day early, beating Olympic’s record for a crossing. Contention aside, I think that Smith, weary of Ismay and wishing that his last trip across the Atlantic would end as soon as possible, resigned himself to taking orders from the chairman and on Sunday he ordered the last two of Titanic’s twenty-nine massive boilers lit. Many people testified later that on that Sunday, Titanic’s engines were running harder than ever before. As the day drew into evening, most of the passengers remained inside, away from the brisk sea air. The Third Class general room had been alive all day, with singing and dancing. Located under the poop deck, the party had attracted several off-duty crewman although they were forbidden to drink. The joyous merriment filled the room as thickly as the smell of liquor and cigarette smoke. The happy revelers had no idea how drastically their world was to change in only a matter of hours.

     As Titanic sailed into her last sunset, the air temperature began to drop rapidly. Captain Smith had retrieved the telegram from Ismay to post in the chartroom and discussed the possibility of encountering ice with his officers. Normal procedure for traveling the North Atlantic was to travel a more southerly route than in summer months, steaming southwest until reaching latitude 42 North and latitude 47 West, a location known as the "the corner". After reaching this point, ships sailed due west on course for the Nantucket Lightship. Titanic reached the corner about 5:00 that evening, but Captain Smith waited until 5:45 to make his turn. This was most definitely to avoid the ice they had been warned about. In the 45 minutes Titanic continued southwest, the ship traveled an additional sixteen miles. When they made the turn, Titanic was about ten miles south of the normal shipping route. At approximately 7:15, First Officer Murdoch ordered the fore scuttle hatch closed. The glow emanating from it would interfere with the lookout’s ability to spot obstacles in the ship’s path. The lookouts were additionally burdened by the fact that they did not have any binoculars. The pair normally stored in the crow’s nest had not been seen since leaving Southampton. The only pair was the one on the bridge. Why no one thought to give this important tool for spotting anything that might pose a danger to the ship is beyond me.

     At around 7:30, another ice warning was received. This one was from the steamer Californian. It told of three large bergs at latitude 42.3 North by longitude 49.9 West. Harold Bride acknowledged the message and delivered it to the bridge. Around this same time, Second Officer Lightoller ordered Quartermaster Robert Hichens to go to the ship’s carpenter and tell him to look after the ship’s fresh water supply. The air temperature had dropped to 39 degrees and Lightoller was concerned about the water freezing. The growing darkness was laced with a moonless, cloudless sky and an extremely calm ocean. Lightoller later recalled that in all his years at sea he had never seen such a still ocean. It was like glass as Titanic raced into the night. At 8:55, Captain Smith arrived on the bridge. By now the temperature had plummeted to 33 degrees. Smith discussed the cold with Lightoller. The two agreed that given the calm sea and lack of a moon, it would be difficult to spot icebergs. Smith indicated that if the weather became even the slightest bit hazy, they would have to slow down. He left the bridge at about 9:20, instructing Lightoller to contact him if "…things become at all doubtful." Continuing to work the wireless, Jack Phillips received another incoming message about 9:30. The steamer Mesaba signaled, "Ice report. Latitude 42 to 41.25 North, longitude 49 West to 50.3 West. Saw much heavy pack ice and great number large bergs, also field ice. Weather good, clear." Phillips, exhausted from a long day with little rest, simply acknowledged receipt of the message and continued to work the wireless key. Titanic had come within range of Cape Race, Newfoundland and Phillips now had direct communication with the North American continent. His placement of passenger traffic over important messages relating to the safe navigation of the ship not only violated protocol, but may have doomed Titanic.

     The message from Mesaba told of a large rectangular ice field directly ahead of Titanic. This message never made it to the bridge. At 10:00, First Officer Murdoch took over watch from Second Officer Lightoller. Lightoller informed him that the lookouts had been instructed to keep a close lookout for bergs, especially growlers; low lying icebergs. The two discussed the cold; the air temperature was now 31 degrees, with the ocean two degrees below that. By the postings in the chartroom, it was anticipated that they would be in the vicinity of the ice about 11:00. About this same time, Jack Phillips was interrupted by another message from Californian. The Leyland liner reported that they were stopped by ice. Phillips, overworked and very irritable, replied, "Shut up! Shut up! I am busy. I am working Cape Race." Californian’s wireless operator listened to Phillips work the Cape for some time, but never attempted to contact him again. He turned his wireless set off about 11:35 and retired for the night. On the open bridge, First Officer Murdoch stood staring into the cold, clear night. Inside the wheelhouse was Sixth Officer James Moody and Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who was manning the ship’s wheel. In the wireless room, Jack Phillips had finally finished his Cape Race transmissions.

     Up in the crow’s nest, high above the forward well deck, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee stared into the bitter cold wind that blasted at them. A slight haze had developed on the horizon about 11:30 and despite the fact that this was a clear indication of ice ahead, neither had reported it to the bridge. Then Fleet noticed a dark shape ahead. Straining his eyes for a moment, he made out a mountainous jagged mass directly ahead of the ship. It could only be one thing. He reached past Lee and rang the crow’s nest bell three time, grabbed the telephone and rang up the bridge. Sixth Officer Moody picked up, "Yes, what do you see?" Fleet replied, "Iceberg, right ahead!". Moody called out the report to Murdoch, who by this time had seen the berg himself. He yelled to Hichens, "Hard a’ starboard!" (which actually meant hard to port). Hichens put the wheel hard over and Murdoch signaled "full speed astern" on the engine room telegraph. For thirty agonizing seconds, those on the bridge and in the crow’s nest could only watch as the dark berg grew larger and larger. Slowly, the bow began to move to the left. It seemed as though the berg would be avoided, but as it passed along the starboard bow, it crashed into Titanic’s side. Chunks of ice fell onto the forecastle and well deck. The Iceberg slid along the hull and vanished into the night. The time was 11:40PM.
Click on image to enlarge



Father Thomas Byles


Jack Phillips


Harold Bride


Titanic's Wireless Room


A figure believed to be Capt. Smith on the promenade deck


Third Class General Room


Frederick Fleet


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