The Titanic Timeline (1907-1912)

J Bruce Ismay and William James Pirrie of the White Star Line decided to build a class of three liners, Titanic, Olympic and Britannic, that would compete in both speed and luxury with the Cunard Line for transatlantic passengers.

The plans for the new ships were approved.

The keel of Titanic was laid down at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

The hull of Titanic was launched. Around 100,000 people came to see the event.

Titanic’s sister ship Olympic, which was the first of the three ships to be completed, suffered structural damage after colliding with a Royal Navy cruiser. Work on Titanic was delayed while Olympic was repaired.

It was announced that Titanic’s maiden voyage would be 10th April 1912.

Titanic sailed from Belfast to Southampton.

Captain Edward J Smith arrived in Southampton docks and boarded the ship.

The first of 922 passengers arrived and began boarding the ship.

The Titanic left Southampton on her maiden voyage. She was bound for New York via Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland.

The ship reached Cherbourg, France. 274 passengers boarded the ship and 24 disembarked.

Titanic left Cherbourg, France.

Titanic reached Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland. 120 passengers boarded the ship and 7 disembarked.

The ship left Queenstown bound for New York.

After leaving Queenstown Titanic covered 386 miles (621 km).

The Titanic steamed through 520 miles (837 km) of sea.

A warning of heavy pack ice was received from the ship Rappahannock.

An iceberg and field ice warning from the ship Carona was received.

A lifeboat drill was cancelled to enable passengers to attend the church service held in the first class dining room.

An ice warning was received from the ship Noordam.

Titanic received a report of large quantities of ice in an area 250 miles (402 km) ahead from the ship Baltic. The message was given to Captain Smith who passed it to Bruce Ismay.

A report of a large iceberg from the ship Amerika was received.

The temperature dropped by 10 degrees to 33 F (0 C).

Titanic’s course was altered to a path south of the original route.

Three iceberg warnings were received from the ship Californian that had decided to stop for the night rather than risk travelling through the ice in the dark.

Captain Smith retired for the night leaving Second Officer Charles Lightoller in charge with the instruction to wake him ‘if it becomes at all dubious’.

Lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee were advised to look carefully for ice.

A warning of icebergs and heavy pack ice was received from the ship Mesaba. The message never reached the bridge as the radio operators were too busy sending passengers’ messages.

First Officer William Murdoch took over from Second Officer Lightoller.

The ship Californian, which was about 12 miles north of Titanic, sent a message warning of pack ice and icebergs. The Californian’s radio operator was told by Titanic’s radio operators ‘shut up, I’m working Cape Race’ meaning they were busy sending out passenger messages.

The radio operator on the Californian turned off his radio and went to bed.

Titanic’s lookouts spotted an iceberg directly ahead and called the bridge. First Officer Murdoch ordered ‘hard-a-starboard’ but it was too late. Titanic hit the iceberg on the starboard side and ripped a gash in the keel.

Water poured into the ship’s keel and rose 14 feet (4.25 metres) in 10 minutes.

The order was given to uncover the lifeboats. Titanic’s lifeboats were able to hold a total of 1,178 people if they were all filled to capacity – not enough for the 2,227 people on board.

Captain Smith ordered the radio operators to broadcast the emergency signals CQD and SOS. The nearest ship, the Californian, had unfortunately turned off her radio. The Carpathia was the nearest ship that heard the message but was around 4 hours away.

Lifeboat no 7 was lowered. It contained just 28 people even though it had capacity for 65.

The first distress rocket was fired.

The crew tried to attract the attention of a ship seen on the horizon with a Morse lamp.

Lifeboat no 5 was lowered. It contained 37 people.

Lifeboat no 6 was lowered. It contained 28 people.

Lifeboat no 3 was lowered. It contained 49 people.

Lifeboat no 1 was lowered. It contained 12 people.

Lifeboat no 8 was lowered. It contained 30 people.

Lifeboat no 10 was lowered. It contained 28 people.

Lifeboat no 9 was lowered. It contained 41 people.

Lifeboat no 12 was lowered. It contained 22 people.

Lifeboat no 14 was lowered. It contained 43 people.

Lifeboat no 13 was lowered. It contained 63 people.

Lifeboat no 16 was lowered. It contained 33 people.

Lifeboat no 15 was lowered. It contained 59 people.

Lifeboat Collapsible C was lowered. It contained 45 people.

Lifeboat no 2 was lowered. It contained 18 people.

Lifeboat no 11 was lowered. It contained 50 people.

Lifeboat no 4 was lowered. It contained 50 people.

Lifeboat Collapsible D was lowered. It contained 44 people.

The last radio message was sent. The radio operators were dismissed from their post by Captain Edwards.

The lights aboard the ship began to flicker and the ship appeared to break in two.

The broken stern of the Titanic slowly sank below the water.

Lifeboat Collapsible A was cut free but was full of water. 12 people managed to survive in this boat.

Lifeboat Collapsible B floated away from the ship upside down. Attempts to right it failed and 30 people survived by standing on the upturned boat.

The survivors saw rockets fired by the Carpathia.

The Carpathia reached lifeboat No 2 and took the survivors aboard.

Survivors from the disaster were taken aboard Carpathia. Second Officer Charles Lightoller was the most senior crew man to have survived and was the last survivor to board the ship.

Having rescued 705 survivors Carpathia steamed towards New York. Bruce Ismay sent a telegram to the White Star Line Office in New York “Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning after collision with iceberg, resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later.”

The ship Mackay-Bennett was hired by the White Star Line and sent to the disaster area to search for bodies.

The Carpathia reached New York.

An inquiry into the disaster was opened in New York

After hearing evidence from more than 80 witnesses, the New York inquiry closed. Its main findings were:
The passengers and crew were not prepared to deal with a disaster
Safety equipment, including lifeboats, had not been properly tested and therefore was not trusted
Captain Smith had not shown due care given the circumstances
The British Board of Trade lifeboat regulations were questioned
The Captain of the Californian should have come to the rescue

An inquiry into the disaster was opened in London.

After hearing evidence from more than 100 witnesses the UK inquiry closed. Its main findings were:
That the ship had sank due to a collision with an iceberg
That the lookout procedure was insufficient for the circumstances
That there were insufficient lifeboats and that the crew were not trained in lifeboat drill
Captain Lord of the Californian was criticised for not going to the rescue