The Unsinkable Sank: Titanic Strikes Iceberg 105 Years Ago Today

At 11:40PM, Fredrick Fleet, the lookout in the crow’s nest of the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic rang the bridge with an urgent warning. The ship was headed directly toward a moderately sized iceberg. The watch on the bridge ordered the engines stopped and ordered a hard turn astarboard.

For 37 agonizing seconds, the crew on the bridge held their breath as the ship finally started to turn. But it was not soon enough. The iceberg tore a series of gashes in the hull of the ship.

Initial damage reports indicated that there was no damage, but within minutes, reports of water pouring into the boiler room and other quarters. Within minutes, 16,000 cubic feet of water poured into the Titanic through openings that totaled less than 12 square feet. Distress signals were transmitted from the doomed ship and two nearby liners responded, but the nearest was four hours away.

Captain Robert Smith knew that his ship would not last that long and that the 30 degree seawater would be deadly to his passengers. There were lifeboats for only half of the passengers on board the magnificent ship. 20 lifeboats were launched, but over 1500 passengers and crews were in the icy water when ship began sank at 2:20AM.

Within an hour, the desperate screams of the victims were quiet. Only 705 of the 2,200 passengers and crew aboard the liner were saved, making the sinking of the Titanic’s the world’s greatest maritime disaster.

Category: ALL POSTS, Met 101/Weather History