The Maiden Voyage
Departure
The RMS Titanic was ready for departure on April 10,1912. Delays occurred as a result of the Olympic's collision with the HMS Hawke in the September of 1911 and in February the Olympic lost one of it's propellers. The owners wanted to see the Olympic operational before the Titanic. Also that year there was a coal strike, a severe problem for any transatlantic liner because ships like the Titanic would consume over 600 tons of coal a day. To solve the problem coal was taken from other ships.At noon the Titanic set sail from Southampton, England.Immediately there after, there was a potential disaster, there was a near collision with the steamer New York. The New York being much smaller was sucked in to her as the Titanic's giant triple screw propellers rotated.
Destinations
The Titanic then sailed to Cherbourg, France and later to Queenstown, Ireland to pick up additional passengers. There were 1,320 passengers and 907 crew. The first few days of the voyage were uneventful. Captain Smith steadily increased speed day by day. The ship covered 386 miles on the first day, 519 the second and 546 miles the third. It was reported that Captain Smith would have increased the mileage as the days went by. The passengers however, were unaware that one of the coal bunkers had been on fire since departure. This was very common because coal dust, which was very flammable, went everywhere and not just in the air but in the machinery as well. the fire on the Titanic took until Sunday night to be put out, but the ship sailed on.
Iceberg Right Ahead!
The Titanic, although a floating palace as some would call her, did not possess advanced warning systems.High up in his observation port, that cold night, Frederick Fleet gazed out across the glistening sea searching for icebergs and sheet ice. It was the 5th night of the voyage and all had been quite so far. The Titanic was cutting the waves at a steady speed of 22.5 knots. It was 11:40 p.m. April 1912. Suddenly Fleet observed an iceberg heading straight for the ship. He urgently rang the bell three times and phoned the bridge. He told them what he had seen."Iceberg right ahead!" It was only 37 seconds before the ship began to swing port side. At first it looked as if the ship had just missed the Iceberg but there was a noticeable sudden tell tale. How wrong could they be?