Robert Walker - Titanic 2012

1:30 AM: Signs of panic begin to appear among some passengers on the ship. As port-side boat 14 is lowered with 60 people, including Fifth Officer Lowe, railing passengers appear ready to jump into the already full boat. Shouting warnings, Lowe fires shots into the air to fend off panicked men. Titanic 's distress calls now near desperation. "We are sinking fast" and "Women and children in boats. Cannot last much longer"

1:35 AM: Port-side No. 16 is lowered with over 50 people. Starboard boat No. 13 leaves with 64 people, mostly second and third-class women and children. Starboard boat No. 15 is lowered 30 seconds later with 70 aboard and barely avoids collision with boat 13 as it is lowered on top of No. 13. The latter pulls away in the water in the nick of time.

1:40 AM: Most of the forward boats are now away, and passengers who remain aboard Titanic begin to move to the stern area. Ismay leaves on collapsible C (39 aboard), the last starboard-side boat launched. The forward Well Deck is awash.

As with every time that David read this stark account of how quickly Titanic went down, he was left with questions—questions without answer, as in how could they have truly left port for New York without binoculars for the men in the crow’s nest and the bridge? Suppose someone intentionally opened that hatchway to obscure their view. Why hadn’t Captain Smith, an experienced sea captain with no mishaps on his record, heeded all the warnings? What if Murdoch hadn't attempted veering off but rather allowed Titanic to make a direct hit as experts now believed that a seasoned seaman would prefer damage to the bow to damage to her sides.

And what of that strange report given by Boxall at the inquest that he had seen a ship off in the distance and had sent a distress signal via Morse code using the SOS signal for the first time in maritime history? But then he reports it simply disappeared as if all lights had been shut down on this mystery ship. Had Boxall seen it at all? Or had he sent a message that said clear off, that all was well aboard Titanic ? As per Captain’s orders at the time?

David Then read on in Kilborn’s account taken from the records of two inquiries, one made in America via the Senate, one made in London via Parliament. Kilborn’s next entry sent a chill up David’s spine as it read:

1:45 AM: Last words heard from Titanic by the Carpathia on her way to the rescue - "… Engine room full up to boilers… " Port-side boat No. 3 is lowered and leaves with only 25 people. She can carry 40.

1:55 AM: John Jacob Astor, refused entry to port-side boat No. 4 by Lightoller, sees his wife off safely as boat is lowered with 40 women and children and some crew aboard. In the rush, 20 places in the boat are left empty.

2:00 AM: Water now only ten feet below Promenade Deck.

2:05 AM: There are now still over 1,500 people left on the sinking ship. Collapsible D is one of the last boats left. It has room for 47 people. To prevent a rush on the boat, Lightoller waves (and possibly fires) his pistol into the air and crew members form a circle around it, with arms locked together, allowing only women and children aboard. The boat is lowered with 44 aboard. Titanic 's forecastle head sinks under water, the tilt of her decks growing steeper.

2:10 AM: Captain Smith releases wireless operators from their duties.

2:17 AM: Wireless operator Phillips continues to send last radio message. Captain Smith tells crew members, "It's every man for himself," and is seen returning to the bridge, possibly to await the end. Thomas Andrews, the ship's builder, is seen alone in the first-class smoking room staring into space.

Titanic 's bow plunges under, enabling the ensnared collapsible B to float clear of the ship but she is upside down. Meanwhile, Father Thomas Byles hears confession and gives absolution to over one hundred second and third-class passengers gathered at the aft end of the Boat Deck. The ship's band stops playing. Many passengers and crew jump overboard moments before Titanic 's forward funnel collapses, crushing a number of swimming passengers.

Collapsible A now floats free and about two dozen people in the water grab hold of it. It clears right side up, but is swamped and dangerously overloaded. Much later, Lowe, in boat No. 14, saves them just before dawn. Probably as many as half, however, have died.

2:18 AM: A huge roar is heard as all moveable objects inside Titanic crash toward the submerged bow. The ship's lights blink once and then go out. Many survivors witness the ship rip itself apart, breaking in two. The bow half sinks.

2:20 AM: Titanic 's broken-off stern section settles back into the water, righting itself for a few moments. Slowly it fills with water and again tilts its stern high into the air before slowly sinking into the sea. Over 1,500 souls are lost in the greatest maritime disaster in history.

David had read this and all the accounts of Titanic ’s demise many times over, how it had taken less than two and a half hours from point of impact with the ice to her slipping below the calm sea that night. What had never troubled him before in his reading was Murdoch’s having “instinctively” called hard-a-starboard to his helmsman and his ordering the engine room to stop engines followed by full astern. David realized now that it would have made more sense to give these orders in reverse—full astern, kill engines, hard to starboard. Ingles could not help but wonder now if it was human error, wrongful instinct, or captain’s orders? He continued to search for inconsistencies and what might be construed as outright lies in the testimony that Kilborn cited in his pages which David, his Kindle reader reflected in his glasses, continued to read:

3:30 AM: With Titanic no longer of this earth, The Carpathia's flares rise over the scene and those aboard the rescue ship sight lifeboats in the water. Carpathia’s normal speed is 14½ knots, but she has raced to the rescue at a shuddering 17½ knots.

4:10 AM: First boat, No. 2, is picked up by the Carpathia. Ice floes all about the disaster area amid debris from Titanic .

5:30 AM: The Californian advised by the Frankfort of the loss of Titanic makes for the disaster area.

5:30 to 6:30 AM: Collapsible A survivors rescued by boat No. 14, and collapsible B by boats 4 and 12.

8:30 AM: Last boat, No. 12, picked up by the Carpathia. Lightoller is the last survivor to come on board. The Californian arrives at the disaster site, comes alongside Carpathia, and then she steams through the disaster area to make a final sweep for survivors or bodies in the water.

8:50 AM: The Carpathia leaves the disaster area bound for New York. She carries 705 survivors and one dog named Varmint. An estimated 1,522 souls have been lost. Ismay wires White Star New York offices: "Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning after collision with iceberg, resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later."

April 17: Three days later, hired by White Star Line, the Mackay-Bennett leaves Halifax to search for bodies at the disaster site. They find hundreds they pluck from the ocean and place on deck; from a distance, the cargo looks like cordwood. They fast run out of room on the boat for the corpses.

April 18, 9:00 PM: Carpathia arrives in New York Harbor. She outruns hordes of newspaper reporters in boats clamoring for news. As the Carpathia passes the Statue of Liberty, 10,000 people are on hand to watch. Titanic 's lifeboats hang at Carpathia’s sides like a somber catch. She passes the Cunard pier (no. 54) and steams onward up-river to the White Star piers. There the crew lowers Titanic 's boats. The Carpathia then returns to the Cunard pier to finally unload the survivors.