The morning of April 10th, 1912 found the docks of Southampton buzzing with activity. Motor cars noisily zipped to and fro as massive cranes lifted cargo high into the air. Crates of supplies lined the wharf and dock workers scrambled about confirming orders and destinations as the early morning fog slowly lifted. The day of Titanic’s sailing had arrived. Docked at White Star’s berth 44, the enormous ship's black hull dwarfed everything around her. Titanic had been docked here for a week now and still throngs of people poured into the town from all over England to catch a glimpse of her before she departed for America.

     Captain E.J. Smith, Titanic’s new master, boarded early that morning. Smith was White Star’s finest captain. He was known as the "Millionaire’s Captain" because he was extremely popular with White Star’s wealthier passengers. He was also extremely well liked by the crews that served under him. A man of the sea for over twenty-five years, Smith had commanded White Star’s finest ships, including Olympic. His salary of $6,250 was twice that of other captains and Smith was White Star's "Commodore of the Line", meaning that he was the captain of all captains. Smith had decided it was time to retire, but at the request of Bruce Ismay, agreed to take one more journey across the Atlantic as the captain of White Star’s newest liner. Titanic’s maiden voyage was to be Smith’s last.

     At around 8:00 in the morning the crew was assembled on deck and an informal lifeboat drill was held. Two boats were loaded with crew members and swung out, lowered a few feet and then raised back up and stowed in their launch cradles. This was the only drill of it’s type conducted and I doubt that more than a handful of crew members even witnessed it, given the number of crew and the nature of the drill. Then it was off to their duties attending to the tons of cargo being loaded and the thousands of passengers that would soon be boarding. At about 10:00AM, the first of Titanic's passengers began to arrive. Third class passengers were subjected to medical inspection to check for infectious diseases, lice and any other contaminants that would pose a health hazard to other passengers. They were given directions to their cabins and shuffled onboard through gangplanks onto the lower decks. Single third class passengers were separated; the men berthed in the lower decks of the bow of the ship while ladies stayed in the stern. Families were allowed to berth together. Second class passengers boarded through raised gangways as did the first class passengers. First class passengers were assigned stewards who personally escorted them to their staterooms and saw to their every need.

     At noon, the gangways were withdrawn and tugboats slowly pulled Titanic away from her berth as crowds on her decks cheered and waved to the crowds on the docks. The order was given to start the engines and Titanic began to move under her own steam. She proceeded slowly down the waterway and turned to port into the River Test. Here, moored side by side were the liners New York and Oceanic. These ships were among the many in Southampton kept from service by a recent coal miner’s strike. In fact, White Star had canceled the sailing of several of its ships and transferred their coal (and passengers) to Titanic to ensure that the new liner would have enough fuel to reach America.

     As Titanic’s bow came even with the bow of New York, there came the sound of gunshots. The sound was, in fact, the mooring ropes that held New York to Oceanic as they snapped. The draw from Titanic’s massive propellers was pulling the smaller liner away from the dock. Soon all the mooring ropes snapped and New York’s stern swung out towards the side of Titanic. As the crowds on the dock and on Titanic watched helplessly, a collision seemed eminent. At the last minute, quick thinking on the part of a tug boat captain saved the day. He managed to get a line onto New York and pulled her out of the way as Titanic’s engines were reversed, giving a wash that helped push the small liner away. The two ships came within three or four feet of each other! This near catastrophe was eerily reminiscent of an incident that had occurred a few months earlier. Olympic, under the command of Captain Smith, was involved in a collision with a Royal Navy cruiser, Hawke. The two ships had been traveling on parallel courses when the smaller ship was suddenly pulled into the side of the White Star liner. Olympic’s hull was pierced above and below the waterline, breaching two of her watertight compartments while Hawke’s bow was crushed. No one was seriously injured, but the incident was blamed on Smith and serious questions were raised about the handling of these new, massive vessels in shallow coastal waters. The Olympic collision did, however, add fuel to the growing notion that the new ships were indeed unsinkable. Even with the extensive damage, Olympic was able to make port on her own and was in no danger of sinking.

     After nearly and hour’s delay, Titanic was on her way to the English channel where she crossed to Cherbourg, France. Arriving in the late evening, passengers boarding at Cherbourg had to be ferried out on tenders because the French harbour was too shallow for Titanic to enter. Several passengers disembarked at Cherbourg as well, having purchased only cross-channel passage. Most had bought tickets on much smaller (and cheaper) White Star ships and were subsequently thrilled to find themselves crossing the channel on Titanic. What a story they must have had to tell only five days later…

     Titanic raised anchor and head up the English coast late that evening. Her last point of embarkation was Queenstown, Ireland. She arrived in Queenstown Harbour around noon on April 11th. Again passengers and cargo were brought out by tender. Queenstown Harbour was deep enough but there was no dock capable of receiving the 882 ft. Titanic. That afternoon the ship sailed along the Irish coast before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean by nightfall. As she left Queeenstown the photo at bottom right was taken. This is believed to be the last photo ever taken of Titanic until her wreck was found in 1985. Many of the emigrants onboard took one last look at Europe and said good-bye, focusing on the western horizon and the hope and dreams that America promised to fulfill...