First lifeboat lowered; first distress rocket fired
Lifeboat 7 went down the starboard side with about 28 people in a boat rated for 65. Around the same time the first of eight white rockets was fired. There had been no boat drill for passengers, the crew were unpractised, and few believed the ship was in danger — the pattern that left the boats carrying roughly 700 of a possible 1,178.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- RMS Titanic · vessel · not located
- Titanic's lifeboat complement · equipment configuration · not located
- SS Californian · vessel · not located
Evidence
Verified — Every field is supported by a cited authoritative source.
Report on the Loss of the S.S. Titanic — British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry
Found the loss due to collision with an iceberg brought about by the excessive speed at which the ship was navigated; recorded the ship's particulars, the voyage timings, the ice messages received and the lifeboat complement; held that Titanic exceeded the Board of Trade requirement; found the Californian could have reached her; concluded (incorrectly) that the hull sank intact.
Wreck Commissioner's Court / Board of Trade, London · 1912-07-30 · Verified
Lord Mersey presiding; 36 sitting days, 97 witnesses
Recorded on RMS Titanic
- Keel of yard number 401 laid at Harland and Wolff
- Titanic launched at Belfast
- Sea trials in Belfast Lough and delivery to White Star
- Maiden voyage departs Southampton
- Titanic anchors in Cherbourg roadstead
- Titanic sails from Cherbourg for Queenstown
- Titanic anchors off Roche's Point, Queenstown
- Titanic sails for New York — last sight of land
- Baltic's ice warning handed to Ismay and pocketed
- Mesaba reports heavy pack ice and bergs directly ahead
- Californian's ice message cut off — 'keep out, I am busy'
- Iceberg sighted and struck
- Andrews establishes the ship cannot float
- First distress call transmitted — CQD, later SOS
- First lifeboat lowered; first distress rocket fired
- Last boat launched from the davits
- Lights fail and the hull breaks in two
- Titanic founders
- Carpathia reaches the boats and begins the rescue
- Cable ship Mackay-Bennett sails from Halifax to recover the dead
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- Wreck located by the Argo camera sled · 1985-09-01
- International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London · 1914-01-20
- Mersey report published · 1912-07-30
- US Senate report submitted · 1912-05-28
- Cable ship Mackay-Bennett sails from Halifax to recover the dead · 1912-04-17
- Andrews establishes the ship cannot float · 1912-04-15 00:05
- First distress call transmitted — CQD, later SOS · 1912-04-15 00:15
- Last boat launched from the davits · 1912-04-15 02:05