View source for Sinking of the Titanic

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{short description|1912 maritime disaster}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Italic title |string=Titanic}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Sinking of the ''Titanic''
| image = Stöwer Titanic.jpg
| image_size = 300
| alt = Painting of a ship sinking by the bow, with people rowing a lifeboat in the foreground and other people in the water. Icebergs are visible in the background.
| caption = The sinking of the ''Titanic'' depicted in ''Untergang der Titanic'', a 1912 illustration by [[Willy Stöwer]]
| date = 14–{{end date and age|1912|04|15|df=y}}
| time = 23:40–02:20 (02:38–05:18 [[GMT]]){{efn|name=shiptime}}
| duration = {{time interval|14 April 1912 23:40|15 April 1912 02:20|show=hm}}
| place = [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]], {{convert|370|mi}} southeast of [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]
| coordinates = {{coord|41|43|32|N|49|56|49|W|scale:5000000|display=title,inline}}
| type = [[Maritime disaster]]
| cause = Collision with [[Iceberg that sank the Titanic|an iceberg]] on 14 April
| participants = [[Crew of the Titanic|''Titanic'' crew]] and [[Passengers of the Titanic|passengers]]
| outcome = [[Titanic safety changes|Maritime policy changes]]; [[SOLAS Convention|SOLAS]]
| reported deaths = 1,490–1,635
}}

[[Royal Mail Ship|RMS]] ''[[Titanic]]'' sank on 15 April 1912 in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]]. The largest [[ocean liner]] in service at the time, ''Titanic'' was four days into her maiden voyage from [[Southampton]] to [[New York City]], with an estimated 2,224 people on board [[Iceberg that sank the Titanic|when she struck an iceberg]] at 23:40 ([[ship's time]]){{efn|name=shiptime|At the time of the collision, ''Titanic''{{'}}s clocks were set to 2 hours 2 minutes ahead of the [[Eastern Time Zone]], and 2 hours 58 minutes behind [[Greenwich Mean Time]]. The ship's time had been set at midnight, 13–14 April 1912, and was based on the expected position of ''Titanic'' at local apparent noon on 14 April, which in turn was based on the [[Celestial navigation|star sights]] of the evening of 13 April, adjusted by [[dead reckoning]]. Due to the unfolding disaster, ''Titanic''{{'}}s clocks were not adjusted at midnight of 14–15 April.{{sfn|Halpern|2011|p=78}} }} on 14 April. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 ship's time (05:18 [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]) on 15 April resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, making it one of the [[List of maritime disasters in the 20th century#Peacetime|deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history]].

''Titanic'' received six warnings of sea ice on 14 April but was travelling at a speed of roughly {{convert|22|kn|km/h}} when her lookouts sighted the iceberg. Unable to turn quickly enough, the ship suffered a glancing blow that buckled her [[starboard]] side and opened six of her sixteen [[Compartment (ship)|compartments]] to the sea. ''Titanic'' had been designed to stay afloat with up to four of her forward compartments flooded, and the crew used distress [[flare]]s and radio ([[wireless telegraphy|wireless]]) messages to attract help as the passengers were put into [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]]. In accordance with existing practice, the ''Titanic''{{'s}} lifeboat system was designed to ferry passengers to nearby rescue vessels, not to hold everyone on board simultaneously; therefore, with the ship sinking rapidly and help still hours away, there was no safe refuge for many of the passengers and crew with only twenty lifeboats, including four collapsible lifeboats. Poor preparation for and management of the evacuation meant many boats were launched before they were completely full.

''Titanic'' sank with over a thousand passengers and crew still on board. Almost all of those who ended up in the water died within minutes due to the effects of [[cold shock]] and [[Cold incapacitation|incapacitation]]. {{RMS|Carpathia}} arrived about an hour and a half after the sinking and rescued all of the 710 survivors by 09:15 on 15 April. The disaster shocked the world and caused widespread outrage over the lack of lifeboats, lax regulations, and the unequal treatment of third-class passengers during the evacuation. Subsequent inquiries recommended sweeping changes to maritime regulations, leading to the establishment in 1914 of the [[SOLAS Convention|International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea]] (SOLAS) which still governs maritime safety today.

== Background ==
[[File:RMS Titanic sea trials April 2, 1912 (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Titanic'' on [[sea trial]]s on 2 April 1912]]
At the time of her entry into service on 2 April 1912, the ''Titanic'' was the second of three{{efn|The third was to be the RMS ''Britannic'' which never saw service as a liner; instead she was requisitioned directly into service as His Majesty's Hospital Ship [[HMHS Britannic|(HMHS) ''Britannic'']] (during WWI).}} {{Sclass|Olympic|ocean liners|1}}, and was the largest ship in the world. She and the earlier {{RMS|Olympic}} were almost one and a half times the [[gross register tonnage]] of Cunard's {{RMS|Lusitania}} and {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|6}}, the previous record holders, and were nearly {{convert|100|ft}} longer.{{sfn|Hutchings|de Kerbrech|2011|p=37}} The ''Titanic'' could carry 3,547 people in speed and comfort,{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=10}} and was built on an unprecedented scale. Her [[reciprocating engine]]s were the largest that had ever been built, standing {{convert|40|ft}} high and with cylinders {{convert|9|ft}} in diameter requiring the burning of {{convert|600|LT}} of coal per day.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=10}}

The passenger accommodation, especially the first class section, was said to be "of unrivalled extent and magnificence",{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=16–20}} indicated by the fares that [[First class facilities of the RMS Titanic|first class accommodation]] commanded. The Parlour Suites (the most expensive and most luxurious suites on the ship) with private [[promenade deck|promenade]] cost over $4,350 (equivalent to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|4350|1912|r=-3}}}} today){{Inflation-fn|US}} for a one-way transatlantic passage. Even third class, though considerably less luxurious than second and first classes, was unusually comfortable by contemporary standards and was supplied with plentiful quantities of good food, providing her passengers with better conditions than many of them had experienced at home.{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=16–20}}

[[File:Titanic-and-Newyork.JPG|thumb|[[SS City of New York (1888)|SS ''New York'']] in her near collision with the ''Titanic'' in April 1912]]
The ''Titanic''{{'s}} maiden voyage began shortly after noon on 10 April 1912 when she left Southampton on the first leg of her journey to New York.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=67}} An accident was narrowly averted only a few minutes later, as the ''Titanic'' passed the moored liners {{SS|City of New York}} of the [[American Line]] and ''Oceanic'' of the White Star Line, the latter of which would have been her running mate on the service from Southampton. Her huge [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] caused both of the smaller ships to be lifted by a bulge of water and then dropped into a trough. ''New York''{{-'}}s mooring cables could not take the sudden strain and snapped, swinging her around stern-first towards the ''Titanic''. A nearby tugboat, ''Vulcan'', came to the rescue by taking ''New York'' under tow, and ''Titanic''{{-'}}s 62-year-old Captain [[Edward Smith (sea captain)|Edward Smith]], the most senior of the [[White Star Line]]'s captains, ordered her engines to be put "full astern".{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=76}} The two ships avoided a collision by a distance of about {{convert|4|ft|m}}. The incident, as well as a subsequent stop to offload a few stragglers by tug, delayed the ''Titanic''{{-'}}s departure by at most three-quarters of an hour, while the drifting ''New York'' was brought under control.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=286-288}}

A few hours later, the ''Titanic'' called at [[Cherbourg Harbour]] in north-western France, a journey of {{convert|80|nmi|0}}, where she took on passengers.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=71}} Her next port of call was Queenstown (now [[Cobh]]) in Ireland, which she reached around midday on 11 April.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=76}} She left in the afternoon after taking on more passengers and stores.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=77}}

By the time the ''Titanic'' departed westwards across the Atlantic, she was carrying 892 crew members and 1,320 passengers. This was only about half of her full passenger capacity of 2,435,{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=238}} as it was the low season and shipping from the UK had been disrupted by a [[National coal strike of 1912|coal miners' strike]].{{sfn|Lord|1987|p=83}} Her passengers were a cross-section of [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] society, from millionaires such as [[John Jacob Astor IV|John Jacob Astor]] and [[Benjamin Guggenheim]],{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=27–28}} to poor emigrants from countries as disparate as Armenia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Syria and Russia seeking a new life in the United States.{{sfn|Howells|1999|p=95}}
[[File:1912 Titanic itinerary atlantic EN.svg|thumb|The ''Titanic''{{'s}} itinerary across the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic]] from [[Fastnet Lighthouse]] in southern [[Ireland]] to [[Ambrose Light]] in the [[Lower New York Bay]]]]
Captain Smith had four decades of seafaring experience and had served as captain of {{RMS|Olympic}}, from which he was transferred to command the ''Titanic''.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|pp=43–44}} The vast majority of the crew who served under him were not trained sailors, but were either engineers, firemen, or stokers, responsible for looking after the engines; or stewards and galley staff, responsible for the passengers. The six watch officers and 39 able seamen constituted only around five percent of the crew,{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=238}} with the majority having been taken on at Southampton, and as a result lacked the time to familiarise themselves with the ship.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=49}}

The ice conditions were attributed to a mild winter that caused large numbers of icebergs to shift off the west coast of Greenland.{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=8}}

A fire had begun in one of the ''Titanic''{{'s}} [[coal bin]]s approximately 10 days before the ship's departure and continued to burn for several days into the voyage, but it was extinguished on 13 April.<ref>[http://www.titanicology.com/Titanica/FireDownBelow.pdf Fire Down Below] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209234718/http://www.titanicology.com/Titanica/FireDownBelow.pdf |date=9 December 2019 |author=Samuel Halpern}}. Retrieved 7 January 2017.</ref>{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|pp=122–126}} The weather improved significantly during the day, from brisk winds and moderate seas in the morning to a crystal-clear calm by evening, as the ship's path took her beneath an arctic [[high-pressure area|high-pressure system]].{{sfn|Halpern|2011|p=80}}

== 14 April 1912 ==

=== Iceberg warnings ===
[[File:Titanic iceberg.jpg|thumb|The iceberg thought to have been hit by ''Titanic'', photographed the morning of 15 April 1912 by {{SS|Prinz Adalbert}}'s [[chief steward]].  The iceberg was reported to have a streak of red paint from a ship's hull along its waterline on one side.|alt=Black and white photograph of a large iceberg with three "peaks".]]

On 14 April 1912, ''Titanic''{{'s}} [[telegraphist|radio operators]]{{efn|name=wireless|Radio telegraphy was known as [[Wireless telegraphy|"wireless"]] in the British English of the period.}} received six messages from other ships warning of drifting ice, which passengers on ''Titanic'' had begun to notice during the afternoon.  The ice conditions in the North Atlantic were the worst for any April in the previous 50&nbsp;years (which was the reason why the lookouts were unaware that they were about to steam into a line of drifting ice several miles wide and many miles long).{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=199}}  The radio operators did not relay all of these messages; at the time, all wireless operators on ocean liners were employees of the [[Marconi Company|Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company]] and not members of their ship's crew. As such, their primary responsibility was to send messages for the passengers, with weather reports as a secondary concern.

The first warning came at 09:00 from {{RMS|Caronia|1905|6}} reporting "bergs, growlers{{efn|name=growler|{{Wiktionary-inline|growler}}: "A small iceberg or ice floe which is barely visible over the surface of the water."}} and field ice".{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=9}}  Captain Smith acknowledged receipt of the message.  At 13:42, {{RMS|Baltic|1903|6}} relayed a report from the Greek ship ''Athenia'' that she had been "passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice".{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=9}}  Smith also acknowledged this report, and showed it to White Star Line chairman [[J. Bruce Ismay]], aboard ''Titanic'' for her maiden voyage.{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=9}} Smith ordered a new course to be set, to take the ship farther south.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=191}}

At 13:45, the German ship {{SS|Amerika|1905|6}}, which was a short distance to the south, reported she had "passed two large icebergs".{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=10}}  This message never reached Captain Smith or the other officers on ''Titanic''{{'s}} [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]].  The reason is unclear, but it may have been forgotten because the radio operators had to fix faulty equipment.{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=10}}

{{SS|Californian}} reported "three large bergs" at 19:30, and at 21:40, the steamer ''Mesaba'' reported: "Saw much heavy [[Sea ice|pack ice]] and great number large icebergs. Also field ice."{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=11}} This message, too, never left the ''Titanic''{{'}}s radio room. The radio operator, [[Jack Phillips (wireless officer)|Jack Phillips]], may have failed to grasp its significance because he was preoccupied with transmitting messages for passengers via the relay station at [[Cape Race]], Newfoundland; the radio set had broken down the day before, resulting in a backlog of messages that the two operators were trying to clear.{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=10}}  A final warning was received at 22:30 from operator Cyril Evans of ''Californian'', which had halted for the night in an ice field some miles away, but Phillips cut it off and signalled back: "Shut up! Shut up! I'm working Cape Race."{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=11}}

Although the crew was aware of ice in the vicinity, they did not reduce the ship's speed, and continued to steam at {{convert|22|knots}}, only {{convert|2|knots}} short of her maximum speed.{{sfn|Ryan|1985|p=10}}{{efn|Despite later myth, featured for example in the [[Titanic (1997 film)|1997 film ''Titanic'']], the ship ''Titanic'' was not attempting to set a transatlantic speed record; the White Star Line had made a conscious decision not to compete with their rivals [[Cunard Line|Cunard]] on speed, but instead to focus on size and luxury.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=24}} }}  ''Titanic''{{'s}} high speed in waters where ice had been reported was later criticised as reckless, but it reflected standard maritime practice at the time.  According to Fifth Officer [[Harold Lowe]], the custom was "to go ahead and depend upon the lookouts in the [[crow's nest]] and the watch on the bridge to pick up the ice in time to avoid hitting it".{{sfn|Mowbray|1912|p=278}}

The North Atlantic liners prioritised time-keeping above all other considerations, sticking rigidly to a schedule that would guarantee their arrival at an advertised time.  They were frequently operated at close to their full speed, treating hazard warnings as advisories rather than calls to action.  It was widely believed that ice posed little risk; close calls were not uncommon, and even head-on collisions had not been disastrous.  In 1907, {{SS|Kronprinz Wilhelm}}, a German liner, had rammed an iceberg and suffered a crushed bow, but was still able to complete her voyage.  That same year, ''Titanic''{{'s}} future captain, Edward Smith, declared in an interview that he could not "imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=13}}

=== "Iceberg, right ahead!" ===
==== ''Titanic'' enters Iceberg Alley ====
As ''Titanic'' approached her fatal collision, most passengers had gone to bed, and command of the bridge had passed from Second Officer [[Charles Lightoller]] to First Officer [[William McMaster Murdoch|William Murdoch]]. Lookouts [[Frederick Fleet]] and [[Reginald Lee]] were in the crow's nest, {{convert|29|m}} above the deck. The air temperature had fallen to near freezing, and the ocean was completely calm. Colonel [[Archibald Gracie IV|Archibald Gracie]], one of the survivors of the disaster, later wrote that "the sea was like glass, so smooth that the stars were clearly reflected."{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=247}} It is now known that such exceptionally calm water is a sign of nearby [[pack ice]].{{sfn|Halpern|2011|p=85}}

Although the air was clear, there was [[new moon|no moon]], and with the sea so calm, there was nothing to give away the position of the nearby icebergs; had the sea been rougher, waves breaking against the icebergs would have made them more visible.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1987|p=19}} Because of a mix-up at Southampton, the lookouts had no binoculars; however, binoculars reportedly would not have been effective in the darkness, which was total except for starlight and the ship's own lights.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=47}} The lookouts were nonetheless well aware of the ice hazard, as Lightoller had ordered them and other crew members to "keep a sharp look-out for ice, particularly small ice and growlers".{{efn|name=growler}}{{sfn|Barratt|2010|p=122}}

At 23:30, Fleet and Lee noticed a slight haze on the horizon ahead of them, but did not make anything of it. Some experts now believe that this haze was actually a [[mirage]] caused by cold waters meeting warm air—similar to a mirage in the desert—when ''Titanic'' entered [[Atlantic Marine Ecozone (CEC)|Iceberg Alley]]. This would have resulted in a raised horizon, blinding the lookouts from spotting anything far away.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/science/a-new-look-at-natures-role-in-the-titanics-sinking.html |title=A New Look at Nature's Role in the Titanic's Sinking |first=William J. |last=Broad |date=9 April 2012 |work=The New York Times |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=15 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615163335/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/science/a-new-look-at-natures-role-in-the-titanics-sinking.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center">{{cite web |title=Where Is Iceberg Alley |website=U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center |url=https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=iipWhereIsIcebergAlley |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=15 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615190613/https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=iipWhereIsIcebergAlley |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Collision====
[[File:Titanic porting around English.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|''Titanic''{{'}}s course during her attempted "port around"{{legend-line|blue 2px solid|Course travelled by the [[bow (ship)|bow]]}}{{legend-line|red 2px solid|Course travelled by the [[stern]]}}]]
[[File:Walker - An Unsinkable Titanic (1912) page 125.jpg|thumb|Drawing of the iceberg collision]]
Nine minutes later, at 23:39, Fleet spotted an iceberg in ''Titanic''{{'}}s path. He rang the lookout bell three times and telephoned the bridge to inform Sixth Officer [[James Paul Moody|James Moody]]. Fleet asked, "Is there anyone there?" Moody replied, "Yes, what do you see?" Fleet replied, "Iceberg, right ahead!"{{sfn|Lord|2005|p=2}} After thanking Fleet, Moody relayed the message to Murdoch, who ordered Quartermaster [[Robert Hichens (sailor)|Robert Hichens]] to change the ship's course.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=137}} Murdoch is generally believed to have given the order "hard a-starboard", which would result in the ship's [[tiller]] being moved all the way to [[starboard]] in an attempt to turn the ship to [[port (nautical)|port]].{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=47}} This reversal of directions, when compared to modern practice, was common in British ships of the era. He also rang "full astern" on the [[Engine order telegraph|ship's telegraphs]].{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=191}}

According to Fourth Officer [[Joseph Boxhall]], Murdoch told Captain Smith that he was attempting to "hard-a-port around [the iceberg]", suggesting that he was attempting a "port around" manoeuvre—to first swing the bow around the obstacle, then swing the stern so that both ends of the ship would avoid a collision. There was a delay before either order went into effect; the steam-powered steering mechanism took up to 30&nbsp;seconds to turn the ship's tiller,{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=191}} and the complex task of setting the engines into reverse would also have taken some time to accomplish.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=67}} Because the centre turbine could not be reversed, both it and the centre propeller, positioned directly in front of the ship's rudder, were stopped. This reduced the rudder's effectiveness, therefore impairing the turning ability of the ship. Had Murdoch turned the ship while maintaining her forward speed, ''Titanic'' might have missed the iceberg with feet to spare.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=194}} There is evidence that Murdoch simply signalled the engine room to stop, not reverse. Lead Fireman Frederick Barrett testified that the stop light came on, but even that order was not executed before the collision.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-17|title=Were Titanic's engines put into reverse before the accident? > Tim Maltin|url=https://timmaltin.com/2019/03/17/titanics-engines-reverse/|access-date=2021-08-10|website={{Wikidata entity link|Q119846417}}|language=en-UK}}</ref>

In the event, ''Titanic''{{'}}s heading changed just in time to avoid a head-on collision, but the change in direction caused the ship to strike the iceberg with a glancing blow. An underwater spur of ice scraped along the starboard side of the ship for about seven seconds; chunks of ice dislodged from upper parts of the berg fell onto her forward decks.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=100}} About five minutes after the collision, all of ''Titanic''{{'}}s engines were stopped, leaving the bow facing north and the ship slowly drifting south in the [[Labrador Current]].{{sfn|Halpern|2011|p=94}}

==== Effects of the collision ====
[[File:Iceberg and titanic (en).svg|thumb|Side view of the iceberg buckling the plates, popping rivets, and damaging a sequence of compartments of the ''Titanic''|alt=Diagram showing how the iceberg buckled Titanic's hull, causing the riveted plates to come apart.]]
The impact with the iceberg was long thought to have produced a huge opening in ''Titanic''{{'s}} hull, "not less than {{convert|300|ft}} in length, {{convert|10|ft|0}} above the level of the keel", as one writer later put it.{{sfn|Hoffman|Grimm|1982|p=20}} At the British inquiry following the accident, Edward Wilding (chief naval architect for Harland and Wolff), calculating on the basis of the observed flooding of forward compartments forty minutes after the collision, testified that the area of the hull opened to the sea was "somewhere about {{convert|12|sqft}}".<ref name=wilding>{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq19Wilding03.php|title=Testimony of Edward Wilding|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=1 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401042715/https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq19Wilding03.php|url-status=live}}</ref> He also stated that "I believe it must have been in places, not a continuous rip", but that the different openings must have extended along an area of around 300 feet, to account for the flooding in several compartments.<ref name=wilding /> The findings of the inquiry state that the damage extended over a length of about 300 feet, and hence many subsequent writers followed this more vague statement. Modern [[ultrasound]] surveys of [[wreck of the Titanic|the wreck]] have found that the actual damage to the hull was very similar to Wilding's statement, consisting of six narrow openings covering a total area of only about {{convert|12|to|13|sqft}}. According to Paul K. Matthias, who made the measurements, the damage consisted of a "series of deformations in the starboard side that start and stop along the hull&nbsp;... about {{convert|10|ft|0}} above the bottom of the ship".{{sfn|Broad|1997}}

The gaps, the longest of which measures about {{convert|39|ft}} long, appear to have followed the line of the hull plates. This suggests that the iron rivets along the plate seams snapped off or popped open to create narrow gaps through which water flooded. Wilding suggested this scenario at [[British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic|the British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry]] following the disaster, but his view was discounted.{{sfn|Broad|1997}} ''Titanic''{{'s}} discoverer, [[Robert Ballard]], has commented that the assumption that the ship had suffered a major breach was "a by-product of the mystique of the ''Titanic''. No one could believe that the great ship was sunk by a little sliver."{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=25}} Faults in the ship's hull may have been a contributing factor. Recovered pieces of ''Titanic''{{'s}} hull plates appear to have shattered on impact with the iceberg without bending.{{sfn|Zumdahl|Zumdahl|2008|p=457}}

The plates in the central part of ''Titanic''{{'s}} hull (covering approximately 60&nbsp;per cent of the total) were held together with triple rows of [[mild steel]] rivets, but the plates in the bow and stern were held together with double rows of [[wrought iron]] rivets which may have been near their [[Stress (mechanics)|stress]] limits even before the collision.{{sfn|Foecke|2008}}{{sfn|McCarty|Foecke|2012|p=83}} These "Best" or No.&nbsp;3 iron rivets had a high level of slag inclusions, making them more brittle than the more usual "Best-Best" No.&nbsp;4 iron rivets, and more prone to snapping when put under stress, particularly in extreme cold.{{sfn|Broad|2008}}{{sfn|Verhoeven|2007|p=49}} Tom McCluskie, a retired archivist of Harland & Wolff, pointed out that {{RMS|Olympic||2}}, ''Titanic''{{'}}s sister ship, was riveted with the same iron and served without incident for nearly 25&nbsp;years, surviving several major collisions, including being rammed by a British [[cruiser]].{{sfn|Ewers|2008}} When ''Olympic'' rammed and sank the [[U-boat]] {{ship|SM|U-103||2}} with her bow, the stem was twisted and hull plates on the starboard side were buckled without impairing the hull's integrity.{{sfn|Ewers|2008}}{{sfn|Mills|1993|p=46}}

Above the waterline, there was little evidence of the collision. The stewards in the first class dining room noticed a shudder, which they thought might have been caused by the ship shedding a propeller blade. Many of the passengers felt a bump or shudder&nbsp;– "just as though we went over about a thousand marbles",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq12White01.php|title=Testimony of Mrs J Stuart White at the US Inquiry|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-date=24 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024133550/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq12White01.php|url-status=live}}</ref> as one survivor put it&nbsp;– but did not know what had happened.{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=67–69}} Those on the lowest decks, nearest the site of the collision, felt it much more directly. Engine Oiler Walter Hurst recalled being "awakened by a grinding crash along the starboard side. No one was very much alarmed but knew we had struck something."{{sfn|Barratt|2010|p=151}} [[Fireman (steam engine)|Fireman]] George Kemish heard a "heavy thud and grinding tearing sound" from the starboard hull.{{sfn|Barratt|2010|p=156}}

[[File:Titanic side plan annotated English.png|thumb|upright=4|center|Bulkhead arrangement with damaged areas shown in green|alt=Line diagram showing Titanic from the side]]
The ship began to flood immediately, with water pouring in at an estimated rate of {{convert|7|LT|t|lk=in}} per second, fifteen times faster than it could be pumped out.{{sfn|Aldridge|2008|p=86}} Second engineer J. H. Hesketh and leading stoker Frederick Barrett were both struck by a jet of icy water in No.&nbsp;6 boiler room and escaped just before the room's watertight door closed.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=71}} This was an extremely dangerous situation for the engineering staff; the boilers were still full of hot high-pressure steam and there was a substantial risk that they would explode if they came into contact with the cold seawater flooding the boiler rooms. The stokers and firemen were ordered to reduce the fires and vent the boilers, sending great quantities of steam up the funnel venting pipes. They were waist-deep in freezing water by the time they finished their work.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=18}}

''Titanic''{{'}}s lower decks were divided into sixteen [[Compartment (ship)|compartments]]. Each compartment was separated from its neighbour by a bulkhead running the width of the ship; there were fifteen bulkheads in all. Each bulkhead extended at least to the underside of E&nbsp;Deck, nominally one deck, or about {{convert|11|ft|m}}, above the waterline. The two nearest the bow and the six nearest the stern went one deck further up.{{sfn|Mersey|1912}}

Each bulkhead could be sealed by watertight doors. The engine rooms and boiler rooms on the tank top deck had vertically closing doors that could be controlled remotely from the bridge, lowered automatically by a float if water was present, or closed manually by the crew. These took about 30&nbsp;seconds to close; warning bells and alternative escape routes were provided so that the crew would not be trapped by the doors. Above the tank top level, on the Orlop Deck, F Deck and E Deck, the doors closed horizontally and were manually operated. They could be closed at the door itself or from the deck above.{{sfn|Mersey|1912}}

Although the watertight bulkheads extended well above the water line, they were not sealed at the top. If too many compartments were flooded, the ship's bow would settle deeper in the water, and water would spill from one compartment to the next in sequence, rather like water spilling across the top of an ice cube tray. This is what happened to ''Titanic'', which had suffered damage to the forepeak tank, the three forward holds, No.&nbsp;6 boiler room, and a small section of No.&nbsp;5 boiler room – a total of six compartments. ''Titanic'' was only designed to float with any two compartments flooded, but she could remain afloat with certain combinations of three or even four compartments{{snd}}the first four{{snd}}open to the ocean. With five or more compartments breached, however, the tops of the bulkheads would be submerged and the ship would continue to flood.{{sfn|Mersey|1912}}{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=22}}

[[File:Titanic sinking gif.gif|alt=|thumb|''Titanic'' sank in two hours and 40 minutes.]]
Captain Smith felt the collision in his cabin and immediately came to the bridge. Informed of the situation, he summoned [[Thomas Andrews (shipbuilder)|Thomas Andrews]], ''Titanic''{{'}}s builder, who was among a party of engineers from Harland and Wolff observing the ship's first passenger voyage.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=147}} The ship was listing five degrees to starboard and was two degrees down by the head within a few minutes of the collision.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=71}} Smith and Andrews went below and found that the forward cargo holds, the mail room and the squash court were flooded, while No.&nbsp;6 boiler room was already filled to a depth of {{convert|14|ft}}. Water was spilling over into No.&nbsp;5 boiler room,{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=71}} and crewmen there were battling to pump it out.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=72}}

Within 45 minutes of the collision, at least {{convert|13500|LT|t}} of water had entered the ship. This was far too much for ''Titanic''{{'}}s ballast and bilge pumps to handle; the total pumping capacity of all the pumps combined was only {{convert|1700|LT|t}} per hour.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=112}} Andrews informed the captain that the first five compartments were flooded, and therefore ''Titanic'' was doomed. Andrews accurately predicted that she could remain afloat for no longer than roughly two hours.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=148}}

From the time of the collision to the moment of her sinking, at least {{convert|35000|LT|t}} of water flooded into ''Titanic'', causing her [[displacement (ship)|displacement]] <!-- This term has been established as correct. Please discuss on Talk Page before changing. -->to nearly double from {{convert|48300|LT|t}} to over {{convert|83000|LT|t}}.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=106}} The flooding did not proceed at a constant pace, nor was it distributed evenly throughout the ship, due to the configuration of the flooded compartments. Her initial list to starboard was caused by asymmetrical flooding of the starboard side as water poured down a passageway at the bottom of the ship.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=116}} When the passageway was fully flooded, the list corrected itself but the ship later began to list to port by up to ten degrees as that side also flooded asymmetrically.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=118}}

''Titanic''{{'}}s down angle altered fairly rapidly from zero degrees to about four and a half degrees during the first hour after the collision, but the rate at which the ship went down slowed greatly for the second hour, worsening only to about five degrees.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=109}} This gave many of those aboard a false sense of hope that the ship might stay afloat long enough for them to be rescued. By 01:30, the sinking rate of the front section increased until ''Titanic'' reached a down angle of about ten degrees.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=118}} At about 02:15, ''Titanic''{{'}}s angle in the water began to increase rapidly as water poured into previously unflooded parts of the ship through deck hatches, disappearing from view at 02:20.{{sfn|Barratt|2010|p=131}}

== 15 April 1912 ==
=== Preparing to abandon ship ===
[[File:EJ Smith2.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of a bearded man wearing a white captain's uniform with crossed arms|''Titanic'' Captain [[Edward Smith (sea captain)|Edward Smith]] in 1911]]
At 00:05 on 15 April, Captain Smith ordered the ship's lifeboats uncovered and the passengers [[Muster drill|mustered]]. By now, many passengers were awaking, having noticed the engines and their accompanying vibrations had suddenly stopped.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=22}} He also ordered the radio operators to begin sending distress calls, which wrongly placed the ship on the west side of the ice belt and directed rescuers to a position that turned out to be inaccurate by about {{convert|13.5|nmi|mi km}}.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=199}}{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=120}} Below decks, water was pouring into the lowest levels of the ship. As the mail room flooded, the mail sorters made an ultimately futile attempt to save the 400,000&nbsp;items of mail being carried aboard ''Titanic''. Elsewhere, air could be heard being forced out by inrushing water.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|pp=118–119}} Above them, stewards went door to door, rousing sleeping passengers and crew{{snd}}''Titanic'' did not have a public address system{{snd}}and told them to go to the boat deck.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=20}}

The thoroughness of the muster was heavily dependent on the class of the passengers; the first-class stewards were in charge of only a few cabins, while those responsible for the second- and third-class passengers had to manage large numbers of people. The first-class stewards provided hands-on assistance, helping their charges to get dressed and bringing them out onto the deck. With far more people to deal with, the second- and third-class stewards mostly confined their efforts to throwing open doors and telling passengers to put on lifebelts and come up top. In third class, passengers were largely left to their own devices after being informed of the need to come on deck.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=121}} Many passengers and crew were reluctant to comply, either refusing to believe that there was a problem or preferring the warmth of the ship's interior to the bitterly cold night air. The passengers were not told that the ship was sinking, though a few noticed that she was [[list (watercraft)|listing]].{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=20}}

Around 00:15, the stewards began ordering the passengers to put on their lifebelts,{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=126}} though again, many passengers took the order as a joke.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=20}} Some set about playing an impromptu game of [[association football]] with the ice chunks that were now strewn across the foredeck.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=116}} On the boat deck, as the crew began preparing the lifeboats, it was difficult to hear anything over the noise of high-pressure steam being vented from the boilers and escaping via the valves on the funnels above. [[Lawrence Beesley]] described the sound as "a harsh, deafening boom that made conversation difficult; if one imagines 20&nbsp;locomotives blowing off steam in a low key it would give some idea of the unpleasant sound that met us as we climbed out on the top deck."{{sfn|Beesley|1960|pp=32–33}} The noise was so loud that the crew had to use hand signals to communicate.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=124}}

''Titanic'' had a total of 20&nbsp;lifeboats, comprising 16&nbsp;wooden boats on [[davit]]s, eight on either side of the ship, and four collapsible boats with wooden bottoms and canvas sides.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=20}} The collapsibles were stored upside down with the sides folded in, and would have to be erected and moved to the davits for launching.{{sfn|Lord|1987|p=90}} Two were stored under the wooden boats and the other two were lashed atop the officers' quarters.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=21}} The position of the latter would make them extremely difficult to launch, as they weighed several tons each and had to be manhandled down to the boat deck.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=123}} On average, the lifeboats could take up to 68&nbsp;people each, and collectively they could accommodate 1,178&nbsp;– barely half the number of people on board and a third of the number the ship was licensed to carry. The shortage of lifeboats was not because of a lack of space nor because of cost. ''Titanic'' had been designed to accommodate up to 68&nbsp;lifeboats{{sfn|Hutchings|de Kerbrech|2011|p=112}}&nbsp;– enough for everyone on board&nbsp;– and the price of an extra 32&nbsp;lifeboats would only have been some {{US$|16,000|1912|round=-3}},{{Inflation-fn|US}} less than 1% of the $7.5&nbsp;million that the company had spent on ''Titanic''.

In an emergency at the time, lifeboats were intended to be used to transfer passengers off the distressed ship and onto a nearby vessel.{{sfn|Hutchings|de Kerbrech|2011|p=116}}{{efn|An incident confirmed this philosophy while ''Titanic'' was under construction: the White Star liner ''Republic'' was involved in a collision and sank. Even though she did not have enough lifeboats for all passengers, they were all saved because the ship was able to stay afloat long enough for them to be ferried to ships coming to assist.{{sfn|Chirnside|2004|p=29}}}} It was therefore commonplace for liners to have far fewer lifeboats than needed to accommodate all their passengers and crew, and of the 39&nbsp;British liners of the time of over {{convert|10000|LT|t}}, 33 had too few lifeboat places to accommodate everyone on board.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=30}} The White Star Line desired the ship to have a wide promenade deck with uninterrupted views of the sea, which would have been obstructed by a continuous row of lifeboats.{{sfn|Marshall|1912|p=141}}

Captain Smith was an experienced seaman who had served for 40&nbsp;years at sea, including 27&nbsp;years in command. This was the first crisis of his career, and he would have known that even if all the boats were fully occupied, more than a thousand people would remain on the ship as she sank with little or no chance of survival.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=22}} Several sources later contended that upon grasping the enormity of what was about to happen, Captain Smith became paralysed by indecision, had a mental breakdown or nervous collapse, and was lost in a trance-like daze, being ineffective and inactive in attempting to mitigate the loss of life.{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=250–252}}{{sfn|Cox|1999|pp=50–52}} However, according to survivors, Smith took charge and behaved coolly and calmly during the crisis. After the collision, Smith immediately began an investigation into the nature and extent of the damage, personally making two inspection trips below deck to look for damage, and preparing the wireless men for the possibility of having to call for help. He erred on the side of caution by ordering his crew to begin preparing the lifeboats for loading, and to get the passengers into their lifebelts before he was told by Andrews that the ship was sinking. Smith was observed all around the decks, personally overseeing and helping to load the lifeboats, interacting with passengers, and trying to instil urgency to follow evacuation orders while avoiding panic.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|pp=162–163}}

Fourth Officer Boxhall was told by Smith at around 00:25 that the ship would sink,{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=183}} while Quartermaster George Rowe was so unaware of the emergency that after the evacuation had started, he phoned the bridge from his watch station to ask why he had just seen a lifeboat go past.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=106}} The crew was unprepared for the emergency, as lifeboat training had been minimal. Only one [[Muster drill|lifeboat drill]] had been conducted while the ship was docked at Southampton. It was a cursory effort, consisting of two boats being lowered, each manned by one officer and four men who merely rowed around the dock for a few minutes before returning to the ship. The boats were supposed to be stocked with emergency supplies, but ''Titanic''{{'}}s passengers later found that they had only been partially provisioned despite the efforts of the ship's chief baker, [[Charles Joughin]], and his staff to do so.{{sfn|Mowbray|1912|p=279}} No lifeboat or fire drills had been conducted since ''Titanic'' left Southampton.{{sfn|Mowbray|1912|p=279}} A lifeboat drill had been scheduled for the Sunday morning before the ship sank, but was cancelled by Captain Smith for unknown reasons.{{sfn|Aldridge|2008|p=47}}

Lists had been posted on the ship assigning crew members to specific lifeboat stations, but few appeared to have read them or to have known what they were supposed to do. Most of the crew were not seamen, and some even had no prior experience of rowing a boat. They were now faced with the complex task of coordinating the lowering of 20&nbsp;boats carrying a possible total of 1,100&nbsp;people {{convert|70|ft|m}} down the sides of the ship.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=123}} Thomas E. Bonsall, a historian of the disaster, has commented that the evacuation was so badly organised that "even if they had the number [of] lifeboats they needed, it is impossible to see how they could have launched them" given the lack of time and poor leadership.{{sfn|Cox|1999|p=52}} Indeed, not all of the lifeboats on board ''Titanic'' were launched before the ship sank.

By about 00:20, 40&nbsp;minutes after the collision, the loading of the lifeboats was under way. Second Officer Lightoller recalled afterwards that he had to cup both hands over Smith's ears to communicate over the racket of escaping steam, and said, "I yelled at the top of my voice, 'Hadn't we better get the women and children into the boats, sir?' He heard me and nodded reply."{{sfn|Gleicher|2006|p=65}} Smith then ordered Lightoller and Murdoch to "put the women and children in and lower away".{{sfn|Lord|2005|p=37}} Lightoller took charge of the boats on the port side and Murdoch took charge of those on the starboard side. The two officers interpreted the "women and children" evacuation order differently; Murdoch took it to mean [[women and children first]], while Lightoller took it to mean women and children only. Lightoller lowered lifeboats with empty seats if there were no women and children waiting to board, while Murdoch allowed a limited number of men to board if all the nearby women and children had embarked.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=21}}

Neither officer knew how many people could safely be carried in the boats as they were lowered and they both erred on the side of caution by not filling them. They could have been lowered quite safely with their full complement of 68&nbsp;people, especially with the highly favourable weather and sea conditions.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=21}} Had this been done, an additional 500&nbsp;people could have been saved; instead, hundreds of people, predominantly men, were left on board as lifeboats were launched with many seats vacant.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=124}}{{sfn|Cox|1999|p=52}}

Few passengers at first were willing to board the lifeboats and the officers in charge of the evacuation found it difficult to persuade them. Millionaire [[John Jacob Astor IV|John Jacob Astor]] declared: "We are safer here than in that little boat."{{sfn|Lord|1976|pp=73–74}} Some passengers refused flatly to embark. J. Bruce Ismay, realising the urgency of the situation, roamed the starboard boat deck urging passengers and crew to board the boats. A trickle of women, couples and single men were persuaded to board starboard lifeboat No.&nbsp;7, which became the first lifeboat to be lowered.{{sfn|Lord|1976|pp=73–74}}

=== Departure of the lifeboats ===
{{further|Lifeboats of the Titanic|l1=Lifeboats of the ''Titanic''}}
[[File:Photograph of a Lifeboat Carrying Titanic Survivors - NARA - 278337.jpg|thumb|Lifeboat 6 under capacity]]
At 00:45, lifeboat No. 7 was rowed away from ''Titanic'' with an estimated 28 passengers on board, despite a capacity of 65. Lifeboat No. 6, on the port side, was the next to be lowered at 00:55. It also had 28 people on board, among them the "unsinkable" [[Margaret Brown|Margaret "Molly" Brown]]. Lightoller realised there was only one seaman on board (Quartermaster [[Robert Hichens (sailor)|Robert Hichens]]) and called for volunteers. Major [[Arthur Godfrey Peuchen]] of the [[Royal Canadian Yacht Club]] stepped forward and climbed down a rope into the lifeboat; he was the only adult male passenger whom Lightoller allowed to board during the port side evacuation.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=87}} Peuchen's role highlighted a key problem during the evacuation: there were hardly any seamen to man the boats. Some had been sent below to open gangway doors to allow more passengers to be evacuated, but they never returned. They were presumably trapped and drowned by the rising water below decks.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=150}}

[[File:The Sad Parting - no caption.jpg|thumb|''The Sad Parting'', a 1912 illustration|alt=Illustration of a weeping woman being comforted by a man on the sloping deck of a ship. In the background men are loading other women into a lifeboat.]]
Meanwhile, other crewmen fought to maintain vital services as water continued to pour into the ship below decks. The engineers and firemen worked to vent steam from the boilers to prevent them from exploding on contact with the cold water. They re-opened watertight doors in order to set up extra portable pumps in the forward compartments in a futile bid to reduce the torrent, and kept the electrical generators running to maintain lights and power throughout the ship. Steward [[Frederick Dent Ray]] narrowly avoided being swept away when a wooden wall between his quarters and the third-class accommodation on E deck collapsed, leaving him waist-deep in water.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=78}} Two engineers, Herbert Harvey and Jonathan Shepherd (who had just broken his left leg after falling into a manhole minutes earlier), died in boiler room No.&nbsp;5 when, at around 00:45, the bunker door separating it from the flooded No.&nbsp;6 boiler room collapsed and they were swept away by "a wave of green foam" according to leading fireman [[Frederick Barrett]], who barely escaped from the boiler room.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=126}}

In boiler room No.&nbsp;4, at around 01:20 according to survivor trimmer George Cavell, water began flooding in from the metal floor plates below, possibly indicating that the bottom of the ship had also been holed by the iceberg. The flow of water soon overwhelmed the pumps and forced the firemen and trimmers to evacuate the boiler room.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=76}} Further [[aft]], Chief Engineer Bell, his engineering colleagues, and a handful of volunteer firemen and greasers stayed behind in the unflooded No.&nbsp;1, 2 and 3 boiler rooms and in the turbine and reciprocating engine rooms. They continued working on the boilers and the electrical generators in order to keep the ship's lights and pumps operable and to power the radio so that distress signals could be sent.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=25}} Several sources contend they remained at their posts until the very end, thus ensuring that ''Titanic''{{'}}s electrics functioned until the final minutes of the sinking, and died in the bowels of the ship. However, there is evidence to suggest when it became obvious that nothing more could be done, and the flooding in the forward compartments was too severe for the pumps to cope, some of the engineers and other crewmen abandoned their posts and came up onto ''Titanic''{{'}}s deck, but by this time all the lifeboats had left. Greaser Frederick Scott testified he saw eight of the ship's 35 engineers gathered at the aft end of the starboard boat deck.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq06Scott02.php |title=Day 6 – Testimony of Frederick Scott (Greaser, SS Titanic) |work=British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry |date=10 May 1912 |access-date=9 April 2020 |archive-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106101508/https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq06Scott02.php |url-status=live }}</ref> None of the ship's 35 engineers and electricians survived.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=226}} Neither did any of the ''Titanic''{{'}}s five postal clerks, who were last seen struggling to save the mail bags they had rescued from the flooded mail room. They were caught by the rising water somewhere on D deck.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=225}}

Many of the third-class passengers were also confronted with the sight of water pouring into their quarters on E, F and G decks. Carl Jansson, one of the relatively small number of third-class survivors, later recalled:

<blockquote>
Then I run down to my cabin to bring my other clothes, watch and bag but only had time to take the watch and coat when water with enormous force came into the cabin and I had to rush up to the deck again where I found my friends standing with lifebelts on and with terror painted on their faces. What should I do now, with no lifebelt and no shoes and no cap?{{sfn|Gleicher|2006|p=40}}
</blockquote>

The lifeboats were lowered every few minutes on each side, but most of the boats were greatly under-filled. No.&nbsp;5 left with 41 aboard, No.&nbsp;3 had 32 aboard, No.&nbsp;8 left with 39{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=24}} and No.&nbsp;1 left with just 12 out of a capacity of 40.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=24}} The evacuation did not go smoothly and passengers suffered accidents and injuries as it progressed. One woman fell between lifeboat No.&nbsp;10 and the side of the ship but someone caught her by the ankle and hauled her back onto the promenade deck, where she made a successful second attempt at boarding.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=90}} First-class passenger Annie Stengel had several ribs broken when a German-American doctor and his brother jumped into No.&nbsp;5, squashing her and knocking her unconscious.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=147}}{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=150}} The lifeboats' descent was likewise risky. No.&nbsp;6 was nearly flooded during the descent by water discharging out of the ship's side, but successfully made it away from the ship.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=24}}{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=145}} No.&nbsp;3 came close to disaster when, for a time, one of the davits jammed, threatening to pitch the passengers out of the lifeboat and into the sea.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=152}}

{{listen
| filename     = RMS Titanic distress signal simulated as morse code.wav
| title        = Distress signal
| description  = Simulated ''Titanic'' [[distress signal]], in [[Morse code]]:
"[[SOS|SOS SOS]] [[CQD|CQD CQD]] – [[Maritime call sign|MGY]] WE ARE SINKING FAST PASSENGERS BEING PUT INTO BOATS [[Maritime call sign|MGY]]"
}}
By 01:20, the seriousness of the situation was now apparent to the passengers above decks, who began saying their goodbyes, with husbands escorting their wives and children to the lifeboats. [[Distress rocket|Distress flares]] were fired every few minutes to attract the attention of any ships nearby and the radio operators repeatedly sent the [[distress signal]] [[CQD]]. Radio operator [[Harold Bride]] suggested to his colleague Jack Phillips that he should use the [[SOS]] signal, as it "may be your last chance to send it". Contrary to what Bride thought, SOS was not a new call, having been used many times before.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=205}} The two radio operators contacted other ships to ask for assistance. Several responded, of which {{RMS|Carpathia}} was the closest, at {{convert|58|mi}} away.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=98}} She was a much slower vessel than ''Titanic'' and, even driven at her maximum speed of {{convert|17|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}, would take four hours to reach the sinking ship.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=113}} Another to respond was [[SS Mount Temple|SS ''Mount Temple'']], which set a course and headed for ''Titanic''{{'s}} position but was stopped en route by pack ice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq09Moore01.php|title=Testimony of Henry James Moore at the US Inquiry|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621170144/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq09Moore01.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

Much nearer was {{SS|Californian}}, which had warned ''Titanic'' of ice a few hours earlier. Apprehensive at his ship being caught in a large field of drift ice, ''Californian''{{'}}s captain, [[Stanley Lord]], had decided at about 22:00 to halt for the night and wait for daylight to find a way through the ice field.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=159}} At 23:30, 10&nbsp;minutes before ''Titanic'' hit the iceberg, ''Californian''{{'}}s sole radio operator, [[Cyril Furmstone Evans|Cyril Evans]], shut his set down for the night and went to bed.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=161}} On the bridge her third officer, Charles Groves, saw a large vessel to starboard around {{convert|10|to|12|mi|abbr=on}} away. It made a sudden turn to port and stopped. If the radio operator of ''Californian'' had stayed at his post fifteen minutes longer, hundreds of lives might have been saved.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=160}} A little over an hour later, Second Officer Herbert Stone saw five white rockets exploding above the stopped ship. Unsure what the rockets meant, he called Captain Lord, who was resting in the chartroom, and reported the sighting.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=162}} Lord did not act on the report, but Stone was perturbed: "A ship is not going to fire rockets at sea for nothing," he told a colleague.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=163}}

[[File:Titanic signal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|left|Distress signal sent at about 01:40 by ''Titanic''{{'}}s radio operator, Jack Phillips, to the [[Russian American Line]] ship [[SS Birma|SS ''Birma'']]. This was one of ''Titanic''{{'}}s last intelligible radio messages.|alt=Image of a distress signal reading: "SOS SOS CQD CQD. MGY [Titanic]. We are sinking fast passengers being put into boats. MGY"]]

By this time, it was clear to those on ''Titanic'' that the ship was indeed sinking and there would not be enough lifeboat places for everyone. Some still clung to the hope that the worst would not happen: when [[Eloise Hughes Smith]] pleaded whether Lucian, her husband of two months, could go with her, Captain Smith ignored her, shouting again through his megaphone the message of women and children first. Lucian said, "Never mind, captain, about that; I will see that she gets in the boat", before telling Eloise, "I never expected to ask you to obey, but this is one time you must. It is only a matter of form to have women and children first. The ship is thoroughly equipped and everyone on her will be saved."{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=84}} Tillie Taussig had to be dragged away from her husband (Emil Taussig) and put into Lifeboat 8 with her daughter.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=38}} When Celiney Yasbeck saw Mr. Yasbeck would not be joining her in her boat, she tried in vain to return to him as it dropped to the sea.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=38}} Charlotte Collyer's husband Harvey called to his wife as two seamen hauled her into a lifeboat, "Go, Lottie! For God's sake, be brave and go! I'll get a seat in another boat!" Neither man survived.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=84}}

Other couples refused to be separated. [[Ida Straus]], the wife of [[Macy's]] [[department store]] co-owner and former member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] [[Isidor Straus]], told her husband: "We have been living together for many years. Where you go, I go."{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=84}} They sat down in a pair of deck chairs and awaited their end.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=85}} The industrialist [[Benjamin Guggenheim]] changed out of his life vest and sweater into top hat and evening dress and declared his wish to go down like a gentleman.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=25}}

At this point, the vast majority of passengers who had boarded lifeboats were from first- and second-class. Few third-class (steerage) passengers had made it up onto the deck, and most were still lost in the maze of corridors or trapped behind gates and partitions that segregated the accommodation for the steerage passengers from the first- and second-class areas.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=284}} This segregation was not simply for social reasons, but was a requirement of United States immigration laws, which mandated that third-class passengers be segregated to control immigration and to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. First- and second-class passengers on transatlantic liners disembarked at the main piers on [[Manhattan Island]], but steerage passengers had to go through health checks and processing at [[Ellis Island]].{{sfn|Howells|1999|p=96}} In at least some places, ''Titanic''{{'}}s crew appear to have actively hindered the steerage passengers' escape. Some of the gates were locked and guarded by crew members, apparently to prevent the steerage passengers from rushing the lifeboats.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=284}} Irish survivor Margaret Murphy wrote in May 1912:

<blockquote>
Before all the steerage passengers had even a chance of their lives, the ''Titanic''{{'}}s sailors fastened the doors and companionways leading up from the third-class section&nbsp;... A crowd of men was trying to get up to a higher deck and were fighting the sailors; all striking and scuffling and swearing. Women and some children were there praying and crying. Then the sailors fastened down the hatchways leading to the third-class section. They said they wanted to keep the air down there so the vessel could stay up longer. It meant all hope was gone for those still down there.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=284}}
</blockquote>

A long and winding route had to be taken to reach topside; the steerage-class accommodation, located on C through G decks, was at the extreme ends of the decks, and so was the farthest away from the lifeboats. By contrast, the first-class accommodation was located on the upper decks and so was nearest. Proximity to the lifeboats thus became a key factor in determining who got into them. To add to the difficulty, many of the steerage passengers did not understand or speak English. It was perhaps no coincidence that English-speaking Irish immigrants were disproportionately represented among the steerage passengers who survived.{{sfn|Howells|1999|p=95}} Many of those who did survive owed their lives to third-class steward John Edward Hart, who organised three trips into the ship's interior to escort groups of third-class passengers up to the boat deck. Others made their way through open gates or climbed emergency ladders.{{sfn|Lord|1976|pp=91–95}}

Some, perhaps overwhelmed by it all, made no attempt to escape and stayed in their cabins or congregated in prayer in the third-class dining room.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=97}} Leading Fireman Charles Hendrickson saw crowds of third-class passengers below decks with their trunks and possessions, as if waiting for someone to direct them.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=131}} Psychologist Wyn Craig Wade attributes this to "stoic passivity" produced by generations of being told what to do by social superiors.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=225}} August Wennerström, one of the male steerage passengers to survive, commented later that many of his companions had made no effort to save themselves. He wrote:

<blockquote>
Hundreds were in a circle [in the third-class dining saloon] with a preacher in the middle, praying, crying, asking God and Mary to help them. They lay there and yelled, never lifting a hand to help themselves. They had lost their own will power and expected God to do all the work for them.{{sfn|Gittins|Akers-Jordan|Behe|2011|p=167}}
</blockquote>

==== Launching of the last lifeboats ====
[[File:Leaving the sinking liner.jpg|thumb|Lifeboat No. 15 being nearly lowered onto lifeboat No. 13, depicted in an illustration by [[Charles Dixon (artist)|Charles Dixon]]|alt=Painting of lifeboats being lowered down the side of Titanic, with one lifeboat about to be lowered on top of another one in the water. A third lifeboat is visible in the background.]]
By 01:30, ''Titanic''{{'}}s downward angle was increasing, but not more than 5 degrees, with an increasing list to port. The deteriorating situation was reflected in the tone of the messages sent from the ship: "We are putting the women off in the boats" at 01:25, "Engine room getting flooded" at 01:35, and at 01:45, "Engine room full up to boilers."{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=26}} This was ''Titanic''{{'}}s last intelligible signal, sent as the ship's electrical system began to fail; subsequent messages were jumbled and unintelligible. The two radio operators nonetheless continued sending out distress messages almost to the very end.{{sfn|Regal|2005|p=34}}

The remaining boats were filled much closer to capacity and in an increasing rush. No.&nbsp;11 was filled with five people more than its rated capacity. As it was lowered, it was nearly flooded by water being pumped out of the ship. No.&nbsp;13 narrowly avoided the same problem but those aboard were unable to release the ropes from which the boat had been lowered. It drifted astern, directly under No.&nbsp;15 as it was being lowered. The ropes were cut in time and both boats got away safely.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=153}}

[[File:Reuterdahl - Sinking of the Titanic.jpg|thumb|''Sinking of the Titanic'', an April 1912 portrait by [[Henry Reuterdahl]]|alt=Painting of a sinking ship with a lifeboat being rowed away from it in the foreground.]]
The first signs of panic were seen when a group of male passengers attempted to rush port-side lifeboat No.&nbsp;14 as it was being lowered with 40&nbsp;people aboard. [[Harold Lowe|Fifth Officer Lowe]], who was in charge of the boat, fired three warning shots in the air to control the crowd without causing injuries.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=154}} No.&nbsp;16 was lowered five minutes later. Among those aboard was stewardess [[Violet Jessop]], who would also survive the sinking of one of ''Titanic''{{'}}s sister ships, {{HMHS|Britannic||2}}, four years later, in the First World War.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=155}} Collapsible boat C was launched at 01:40 from a now largely deserted starboard area of the deck, as most of those on deck had moved to the [[stern]] of the ship. It was aboard this boat that White Star chairman and managing director [[J. Bruce Ismay]], ''Titanic''{{'}}s most controversial survivor, made his escape from the ship, an act later condemned as cowardice.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=26}}

At 01:40, lifeboat No.&nbsp;2 was lowered.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=222}} While it was still at deck level, Lightoller had found the boat occupied by men who, he wrote later, "weren't British, nor of the English-speaking race&nbsp;... [but of] the broad category known to sailors as '[[Ethnic slur#D|dagoes]]'."{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=296}} After he evicted them by threatening them with his revolver (which was empty), he was unable to find enough women and children to fill the boat{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=296}} and lowered it with only 25 people on board out of a possible capacity of 40.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=222}} John Jacob Astor saw his wife off to safety in No.&nbsp;4 boat at 01:55 but was refused entry by Lightoller, even though 20 of the 60&nbsp;seats aboard were unoccupied.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=222}}

The last boat to be launched was collapsible D, which left at 02:05 with 25&nbsp;people aboard;<ref name="bright">{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq09Bright01.php|title=Testimony of Arthur Bright|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004101952/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq09Bright01.php|url-status=live}}</ref> two more men jumped on the boat as it was being lowered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq10Woolner01.php|title=Testimony of Hugh Woolner|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=30 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930134431/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq10Woolner01.php|url-status=live}}</ref> The water had reached the boat deck and the forecastle was deep underwater. First-class passenger Edith Evans gave up her place in the boat, and ultimately died in the disaster. She was one of only four women in first class to perish in the sinking. Several survivors, including Third Class Passenger Eugene Daly and First Class passenger George Rheims, claimed to have seen an officer shoot one or two men during a rush for a lifeboat, then shoot himself. It was rumoured that Murdoch was the officer.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|pp=305–308}} 

Thomas Andrews was reportedly last seen in the first-class smoking room after approximately 02:05, apparently making no attempt to escape.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=155}}{{sfn|Chirnside|2004|p=177}} However, other reports suggest that Andrews may have been in the smoking room before 01:40, and that he then continued assisting with the evacuation;<ref name="seaofglass">{{harvnb|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|pp=321–323}}</ref><ref name="Chap8" /> he was reportedly seen throwing deck chairs into the ocean for passengers to cling to in the water,<ref name="seaofglass" /> and heading to the bridge, perhaps to search for Captain Smith.<ref name="Chap8">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.libraryireland.com/Thomas-Andrews-Shipbuilder/Sinking-Titanic.php |chapter=VIII: The sinking of the Titanic|title=Thomas Andrews Shipbuilder|year=1912|first=Shan|last=Bullock|access-date=21 April 2011}}</ref> Captain Smith carried out a final tour of the deck, telling the radio operators and other crew members: "Now it's every man for himself",{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=130}} and told men attempting to launch Collapsible boat A, "Well boys, do your best for the women and children, and look out for yourselves," and returned to the bridge just before the ship began its final plunge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq09Brown01.php |title=Day 9 – Testimony of Edward Brown (First Class Steward, SS Titanic) |work=British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry |date=16 May 1912 |access-date=6 June 2015 |archive-date=30 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730095054/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq09Brown01.php |url-status=live }}</ref> It is thought that he may have chosen to [[the captain goes down with the ship|go down with his ship]] and died on the bridge when it submerged.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=224}}{{sfn|Ballard|1987|pp=40–41}} However, several survivors, including Harold Bride, saw Smith jump overboard from the bridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq14Bride01.php|title=Testimony of Harold Bride at the US Inquiry|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=9 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409124059/https://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq14Bride01.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Mess steward Cecil Fitzpatrick claimed to have seen Andrews jump overboard with Smith.<ref name="seaofglass" />

As most of the passengers and crew headed to the stern, where the priest [[Thomas Byles]], a second-class passenger, was hearing confessions and giving absolutions, ''Titanic''{{'}}s band played outside the gymnasium.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=135}} ''Titanic'' had two separate bands of musicians. One was a quintet led by [[Wallace Hartley]] that played after dinner and at religious services while the other was a trio who played in the reception area and outside the café and restaurant. The two bands had separate music libraries and arrangements and had not played together before the sinking. Around 30 minutes after colliding with the iceberg, the two bands were probably called by Chief Purser McElroy or Captain Smith and ordered to play in the first class lounge.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=177-179}} Passengers present remember them playing lively tunes such as "[[Alexander's Ragtime Band]]". It is unknown if the two piano players were with the band at this time. The exact time is unknown, but the musicians later moved to the boat deck level of the First Class Entrance. Contrary to belief, there is no evidence they moved onto the deck itself,<ref name="Steph">{{harvnb|Barczewski|2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/titanicnightreme0000barc/page/132 132–133]}}</ref> but remained inside as steward Edward Brown claimed to have seen them at the top of the staircase in the first-class entrance.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=178-179}}

[[File:Nearer My God To Thee Titanic - no caption.png|thumb|''Nearer, My God, To Thee'', a 1912 illustration|alt=Cartoon depicting a man standing with a woman, who is hiding her head on his shoulder, on the deck of a ship awash with water. A beam of light is shown coming down from heaven to illuminate the couple. Behind them is an empty davit.]]
Part of the enduring folklore of the ''Titanic'' sinking is that the musicians played the hymn "[[Nearer, My God, to Thee]]" as the ship sank, though some regard this as dubious.{{sfn|Howells|1999|p=128}} Nonetheless, the claim surfaced among the earliest reports of the sinking,{{sfn|Howells|1999|p=129}} and the hymn became so closely associated with the ''Titanic'' disaster that its opening bars were carved on the grave monument of ''Titanic''{{'}}s bandmaster, Wallace Hartley.{{sfn|Richards|2001|p=395}} Archibald Gracie emphatically denied it in his account, written soon after the sinking, and Harold Bride said that he had heard the band playing ragtime, then "Autumn",{{sfn|Richards|2001|p=396}} by which he may have meant [[Archibald Joyce]]'s then-popular waltz "Songe d'Automne" (Autumn Dream). George Orrell, the bandmaster of the rescue ship, ''Carpathia'', who spoke with survivors, said: "The ship's band in any emergency is expected to play to calm the passengers. After ''Titanic'' struck the iceberg the band began to play bright music, dance music, comic songs&nbsp;– anything that would prevent the passengers from becoming panic-stricken&nbsp;... various awe-stricken passengers began to think of the death that faced them and asked the bandmaster to play hymns. The one which appealed to all was 'Nearer My God to Thee'."{{sfn|Turner|2011|p=194}} 

According to Gracie, the tunes played by the band were "cheerful" but he did not recognise any of them, said that if they had played "Nearer, My God, to Thee" he "should have noticed it and regarded it as a tactless warning of immediate death to us all and one likely to create panic".{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=20}} Several survivors who were among the last to leave the ship, including Brown, said the band continued playing until the ship began her final plunge.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=177-179}} Gracie said that the band stopped playing at least 30 minutes before the vessel sank. A. H. Barkworth, a first-class passenger, said: "I do not wish to detract from the bravery of anybody, but I might mention that when I first came on deck the band was playing a waltz. The next time I passed where the band was stationed, the members had thrown down their instruments and were not to be seen."<ref name="Steph" /> The band could have temporarily stopped playing to retrieve their lifebelts, then resumed.{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|p=286-288}}

Bride heard the band playing as he left the radio cabin, which was by now awash, in the company of the other radio operator, Jack Phillips. He had fought a crewman who Bride thought was "a stoker, or someone from below decks", who had sneaked into the radio cabin and attempted to steal Phillips's lifebelt. Bride wrote later: "I did my duty. I hope I finished [the man]. I don't know. We left him on the cabin floor of the radio room, and he was not moving."{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=317}} The two radio operators went in opposite directions, Phillips aft and Bride forward towards collapsible lifeboat B. Phillips perished.{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=317}}

Gracie was also heading aft, but as he made his way towards the stern he found his path blocked by "a mass of humanity several lines deep, covering the boat deck, facing us"{{sfn|Winocour|1960|pp=138–139}}&nbsp;– hundreds of steerage passengers, who had finally made it to the deck just as the last lifeboats departed. He gave up on the idea of going aft and jumped into the water to get away from the crowd.{{sfn|Winocour|1960|pp=138–139}}

=== Last minutes of sinking ===
[[File:Titanic the sinking.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the sinking of the ''Titanic'']]
At about 02:15, ''Titanic''{{'}}s angle in the water began to increase rapidly as water poured into previously unflooded parts of the ship through deck hatches.{{sfn|Barratt|2010|p=131}} Her suddenly increasing angle caused what one survivor called a "giant wave" to wash along the ship from the forward end of the boat deck, engulfing many people.{{sfn|Lynch|1998|p=117}} The parties who were trying to launch collapsible boats A and B, including Sixth Officer Moody<ref>[http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq07Hemming01.php Testimony of Samuel Hemming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730110855/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq07Hemming01.php |date=30 July 2018 }} at Titanic inquiry.com</ref> and Gracie, were swept away along with the two boats (boat B floated away upside-down with Bride trapped underneath it, and boat A ended up partly flooded and with its canvas not raised). Bride and Gracie survived on boat B, but Moody perished.{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=61}}{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=316}}

Lightoller, who had attempted to launch Collapsible B, realised it would be futile to head aft, and dived overboard from the roof of the officers' quarters. He was sucked into the mouth of a ventilation shaft but was blown clear by "a terrific blast of hot air" and emerged next to the capsized lifeboat.{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=299}} The forward funnel collapsed under its own weight, crushing several people to death struggling in the water, including first class passenger [[Duane Williams|Charles Duane Williams]],{{sfn|Fitch|Layton|Wormstedt|2012|pp=232–233}} as it fell into the water and only narrowly missing the lifeboat.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=28}} It closely missed Lightoller and created a wave that washed the boat 50 yards clear of the sinking ship.{{sfn|Winocour|1960|p=299}} Those still on ''Titanic'' felt her structure shuddering as it underwent immense stresses. As first-class passenger Jack Thayer{{sfn|Lord|2005|p=166}} described it:

<blockquote>
Occasionally there had been a muffled thud or deadened explosion within the ship. Now, without warning she seemed to start forward, moving forward and into the water at an angle of about fifteen degrees. This movement with the water rushing up toward us was accompanied by a rumbling roar, mixed with more muffled explosions. It was like standing under a steel railway bridge while an express train passes overhead mingled with the noise of a pressed steel factory and wholesale breakage of china.{{sfn|Gleicher|2006|p=229}}
</blockquote>

Eyewitnesses saw ''Titanic''{{'}}s stern rising high into the air as the ship tilted down in the water. It was said to have reached an angle of 30–45&nbsp;degrees,{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=202}} "revolving apparently around a centre of gravity just astern of midships", as Lawrence Beesley later put it.{{sfn|Beesley|1960|p=47}} Many survivors described a great noise, which some attributed to the boilers exploding.{{sfn|Mowbray|1912|p=70}} Beesley described it as "partly a groan, partly a rattle, and partly a smash, and it was not a sudden roar as an explosion would be: it went on successively for some seconds, possibly fifteen to twenty". He attributed it to "the engines and machinery coming loose from their bolts and bearings, and falling through the compartments, smashing everything in their way".{{sfn|Beesley|1960|p=47}}

After another minute, the ship's lights flickered once and then permanently went out, plunging ''Titanic'' into darkness. Jack Thayer recalled seeing "groups of the fifteen hundred people still aboard, clinging in clusters or bunches, like swarming bees; only to fall in masses, pairs or singly as the great afterpart of the ship, two hundred fifty feet of it, rose into the sky."{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=28}}

==== ''Titanic''{{'}}s final moments ====
[[File:Titanic's sinking stern.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Imagined view of ''Titanic''{{'s}} final plunge]]
''Titanic'' was subjected to extreme opposing forces&nbsp;– the flooded bow pulling her down while the air in the stern kept her to the surface&nbsp;– which were concentrated at one of the weakest points in the structure, the area of the engine room hatch. Shortly after the lights went out, the ship split apart. The submerged bow may have remained attached to the stern by the keel for a short time, pulling the stern to a high angle before separating and leaving the stern to float for a few moments longer. The forward part of the stern will have flooded very rapidly, causing it to tilt and then settle briefly until sinking.{{sfn|Halpern|Weeks|2011|p=119}}{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=29}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://video.nationalgeographic.com/tv/00000144-2f3a-df5d-abd4-ff7f31f90000|title=Titanic Sinking CGI|publisher=National Geographic Channel|access-date=17 February 2016|archive-date=6 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106101448/https://video.nationalgeographic.com/tv/00000144-2f3a-df5d-abd4-ff7f31f90000|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ship disappeared from view at 02:20, 2 hours and 40 minutes after striking the iceberg. Thayer reported that it rotated on the surface, "gradually [turning] her deck away from us, as though to hide from our sight the awful spectacle&nbsp;... Then, with the deadened noise of the bursting of her last few gallant bulkheads, she slid quietly away from us into the sea."{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=29}}

''Titanic''{{'}}s surviving officers and some prominent survivors testified that the ship had sunk in one piece, a belief that was affirmed by the British and American inquiries into the disaster. Archibald Gracie, who was on the promenade deck with the band (by the second funnel), stated that "''Titanic''{{'}}s decks were intact at the time she sank, and when I sank with her, there was over seven-sixteenths of the ship already underwater, and there was no indication then of any impending break of the deck or ship".{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=58}} Ballard argued that many other survivors' accounts indicated that the ship had broken in two as she was sinking.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=201}} As the engines are now known to have stayed in place along with most of the boilers, the "great noise" heard by witnesses and the momentary settling of the stern were presumably caused by the break-up of the ship rather than the loosening of her fittings or boiler explosions.{{sfn|Kuntz|1998|p=xiii}}

[[File:Titanic breakup simple.png|upright=1.8|thumb|Simplistic visualization of the top-down and Mengot break-up models]]
There are two main theories on how the ship broke in two – the "top-down" theory and the Mengot theory, so named for its creator, Roy Mengot.<ref name="Gleicher">Gleicher, David. (2002). ''The Break-up of the Titanic: Viewpoints and Evidence.'' Encyclopedia Titanica.</ref> The more popular top-down theory states that the breakup was centralized on the structural weak-point at the entrance to the first boiler room, and that the breakup formed first at the upper decks before shooting down to the keel. The breakup totally separated the ship up to the double bottom, which acted as a hinge connecting bow and stern. From this point, the bow was able to pull down the stern, until the double bottom failed and both segments of the ship finally separated.<ref name=Gleicher /> The Mengot theory postulates that the ship broke from compression forces and not fracture tension, which resulted in a bottom-to-top break. In this model, the double-bottom failed first and was forced to buckle upwards into the lower decks, as the breakup shot up to the upper decks. The ship was held together by the B-Deck, which featured 6 large doubler plates – trapezoidal steel segments meant to prevent cracks from forming in the smokestack uptake while at sea – which acted as a buffer and pushed the fractures away. As the hull's contents spilled out of the ship, B-Deck failed and caused the aft tower and forward tower superstructures to detach from the stern as the bow was freed and sank.<ref name=Gleicher />
 
After they went under, the bow and stern took only about 5–6 minutes to sink {{convert|3795|m|ft}}, spilling a trail of heavy machinery, tons of coal and large quantities of debris from ''Titanic''{{'}}s interior. The two parts of the ship landed about {{convert|600|m|ft}} apart on a gently [[wikt:undulate|undulating]] area of the seabed.{{sfn|Uchupi|Ballard|Lange|1986}} The streamlined bow section continued to descend at about the angle it had taken on the surface, striking the seabed prow-first at a shallow angle{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=206}} at an estimated speed of {{convert|25|–|30|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. Its momentum caused it to dig a deep gouge into the seabed and buried the section up to {{convert|20|m|ft}} deep in sediment before it came to an abrupt halt. The sudden deceleration caused the bow's structure to buckle downwards by several degrees just forward of the bridge. The decks at the rear end of the bow section, which had already been weakened during the break-up, collapsed one atop another.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=205}}

The stern section seems to have descended almost vertically, probably rotating as it fell.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=206}} Empty tanks and [[cofferdam#Naval_architecture|cofferdam]]s imploded as it descended, tearing open the structure and folding back the steel ribbing of the [[poop deck]].{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=140}} The section landed with such force that it buried itself about {{convert|15|m}} deep at the rudder. The decks pancaked down on top of each other and the hull plating splayed out to the sides. Debris continued to rain down across the seabed for several hours after the sinking.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=205}}

=== Passengers and crew in the water ===
[[File:Titanic watch.jpg|thumb|A pocket watch retrieved from the wreck site, which stopped at 2:28|alt=Photograph of a brass pocket watch on a stand, with a silver chain curled around the base. The watch's hands read 2:28.]]
In the immediate aftermath of the sinking, hundreds of people were left struggling in the icy ocean, surrounded by debris from the ship. ''Titanic''{{'}}s disintegration during her descent to the seabed caused buoyant chunks of debris&nbsp;– timber beams, wooden doors, furniture, panelling and chunks of cork from the bulkheads&nbsp;– to rocket to the surface. These injured and possibly killed some of the swimmers; others used the debris to try to keep themselves afloat.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=139}}

With a temperature of {{convert|-2|°C||abbr=}}, the water was lethally cold; Lightoller described the feeling of "a thousand knives" being driven into his body.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=140}} Sudden immersion into freezing water typically causes death within minutes, either from [[cardiac arrest]], uncontrollable breathing of water, or [[cold shock]] (not, as commonly believed, from [[hypothermia]]);<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160103002218/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/findings-titanic-victims-in-cold-shock/169325.article Findings: Titanic victims in 'cold shock'], quoting Michael Tipton</ref> almost all of those in the water died of cardiac arrest or other bodily reactions to freezing water within 15–30 minutes.{{sfn|Aldridge|2008|p=56}} Only 13 of them were helped into the lifeboats, even though these had room for almost 500 more people.{{sfn|Lord|2005|p=103}}

Those in the lifeboats were horrified to hear the sound of what Lawrence Beesley called "every possible emotion of human fear, despair, agony, fierce resentment and blind anger mingled&nbsp;– I am certain of those&nbsp;– with notes of infinite surprise, as though each one were saying, 'How is it possible that this awful thing is happening to ''me''? That I should be caught in this death trap?{{'"}}{{sfn|Barratt|2010|pp=199–200}} [[Jack Thayer]] compared it to the sound of "locusts on a summer night", while George Rheims, who jumped moments before ''Titanic'' sank, described it as "a dismal moaning sound which I won't ever forget; it came from those poor people who were floating around, calling for help. It was horrifying, mysterious, supernatural."{{sfn|Barratt|2010|p=177}}

The noise of the people in the water screaming, yelling, and crying was a tremendous shock to the occupants of the lifeboats, many of whom had up to that moment believed that everyone had escaped before the ship sank. As Beesley later wrote, the cries "came as a thunderbolt, unexpected, inconceivable, incredible. No one in any of the boats standing off a few hundred yards away can have escaped the paralysing shock of knowing that so short a distance away a tragedy, unbelievable in its magnitude, was being enacted, which we, helpless, could in no way avert or diminish."{{sfn|Barratt|2010|pp=199–200}}

[[File:Archibald Gracie IV.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Archibald Gracie IV|Colonel Archibald Gracie]], one of the survivors on collapsible lifeboat B. He never recovered from his ordeal and died eight months after the sinking.|alt=Photograph of a moustached middle-aged man in a dark suit and waistcoat, sitting in a chair while looking at the camera]]
Only a few of those in the water survived. Among them were Gracie, Jack Thayer, and Lightoller, who made it to the capsized collapsible boat B. Around 12 crew members climbed on board Collapsible B, and they rescued those they could until some 35 men were clinging precariously to the upturned hull. Realising the risk to the boat of being swamped by the mass of swimmers around them, they paddled slowly away, ignoring the pleas of dozens of swimmers to be allowed on board. In his account, Gracie wrote of the admiration he had for those in the water; "In no instance, I am happy to say, did I hear any word of rebuke from a swimmer because of a refusal to grant assistance... [one refusal] was met with the manly voice of a powerful man... 'All right boys, good luck and God bless you'."{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=89}} Gracie said he heard men, including stoker Harry Senior and Entree cook Isaac Maynard, on Collapsible B say that Captain Smith was in the water near the boat.{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=95}} Fireman Walter Hurst said he thought the man who cried out, "All right boys. Good luck and God bless you", was Smith; Hurst said the man cheered the occupants on saying "Good boys! Good lads!" with "the voice of authority". Hurst, deeply moved by the swimmer's valor, reached out to him with an oar, but the man was dead.{{sfn|Lord|2005|p=98}} Several other swimmers reached Collapsible boat A, which was upright but partly flooded, as its sides had not been properly raised. Its occupants had to sit for hours in a foot of freezing water,{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=224}} and many died of hypothermia during the night.

Farther out, the other eighteen lifeboats&nbsp;– most of which had empty seats&nbsp;– drifted as the occupants debated what, if anything, they should do to rescue the swimmers. Boat No.&nbsp;4, having remained near the sinking ship, seems to have been closest to the site of the sinking at around {{convert|50|m}} away; this had enabled two people to drop into the boat and another to be picked up from the water before the ship sank.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq05Ranger01.php|title=Testimony of Thomas Ranger|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004093605/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq05Ranger01.php|url-status=live}}</ref> After the sinking, seven more men were pulled from the water, although two later died. Collapsible D rescued one male passenger who jumped in the water and swam over to the boat immediately after it had been lowered. In all the other boats, the occupants eventually decided against returning, probably out of fear that they would be capsized in the attempt. Some put their objections bluntly; Quartermaster Hichens, commanding lifeboat No.&nbsp;6, told the women aboard his boat that there was no point returning as there were "only a lot of stiffs there".{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|pp=226–267}}

After about twenty minutes, the cries began to fade as the swimmers lapsed into unconsciousness and death.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=228}} Fifth Officer Lowe, in charge of lifeboat No.&nbsp;14, "waited until the yells and shrieks had subsided for the people to thin out" before mounting an attempt to rescue those in the water.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=230}} He gathered together five of the lifeboats and transferred the occupants between them to free up space in No.&nbsp;14. Lowe then took a crew of seven crewmen and one male passenger who volunteered to help, and then rowed back to the site of the sinking. The whole operation took about three-quarters of an hour. By the time No.&nbsp;14 headed back to the site of the sinking, almost all of those in the water were dead and only a few voices could still be heard.{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=144–145}}

[[Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon]], recalled after the disaster that "the very last cry was that of a man who had been calling loudly: 'My God! My God!' He cried monotonously, in a dull, hopeless way. For an entire hour, there had been an awful chorus of shrieks, gradually dying into a hopeless moan, until this last cry that I speak of. Then all was silent."{{sfn|Everett|1912|p=167}} For some survivors, the dead silence that followed was worse even than the cries for help.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robbins |first1=William |title=SCREAMS, THEN SEA'S SILENCE, STILL HAUNT 5 SURVIVORS OF TITANIC |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/us/screams-then-sea-s-silence-still-haunt-5-survivors-of-titanic.html |access-date=25 August 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 18, 1982}}</ref> Lowe and his crew found four men still alive, one of whom died shortly afterwards. Otherwise, all they could see were "hundreds of bodies and lifebelts"; the dead "seemed as if they had perished with the cold as their limbs were all cramped up".{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=230}}

In the other boats, there was nothing the survivors could do but await the arrival of rescue ships. The air was bitterly cold and several of the boats had taken on water. The survivors could not find any [[Emergency rations|food or drinkable water]] in the boats, and most had no lights.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=232}} The situation was particularly bad aboard collapsible B, which was only kept afloat by a diminishing air pocket in the upturned hull. As dawn approached, the wind rose and the sea became increasingly choppy, forcing those on the collapsible boat to stand up to balance it. Some, exhausted by the ordeal, fell into the sea and drowned.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=231}} It became steadily more difficult for the rest to keep their balance on the hull, with waves washing across it.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=238}} Archibald Gracie later wrote of how he and the other survivors sitting on the upturned hull were struck by "the utter helplessness of our position".{{sfn|Gracie|1913|p=161}}

=== Rescue and departure ===
[[File:Titanic lifeboat.jpg|thumb|Collapsible lifeboat D photographed from the deck of ''Carpathia'' on the morning of 15 April 1912|alt=Photograph of a lifeboat, filled with people wearing life jackets, being rowed towards the camera.]]

''Titanic''{{'}}s survivors were rescued around 04:00 on 15 April by the {{RMS|Carpathia}}, which had steamed through the night at high speed and at considerable risk, as the ship had to dodge numerous icebergs en route.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=238}} ''Carpathia''{{'}}s lights were first spotted around 03:30,{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=238}} which greatly cheered the survivors, though it took several more hours for everyone to be brought aboard. The 30 or more men on collapsible B finally managed to board two other lifeboats, but one survivor died just before the transfer was made.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|pp=240–241}} Collapsible A was also in trouble and was now nearly awash; many of those aboard (maybe more than half) had died overnight.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=140}} The remaining survivors were transferred from A into another lifeboat, leaving behind three bodies in the boat, which was left to drift away. It was recovered a month later by the White Star liner {{RMS|Oceanic|1899|6}} with the bodies still aboard.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|pp=240–241}}

Those on ''Carpathia'' were startled by the scene that greeted them as the sun rose: "fields of ice on which, like points on the landscape, rested innumerable pyramids of ice."{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=242}} Captain [[Arthur Rostron]] of ''Carpathia'' saw ice all around, including 20&nbsp;large bergs measuring up to {{convert|200|ft|m}} high and numerous smaller bergs, as well as ice floes and debris from ''Titanic''.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=242}} It appeared to ''Carpathia''{{'}}s passengers that their ship was in the middle of a vast white plain of ice, studded with icebergs appearing like hills in the distance.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=245}}
[[File:Groups of TITANIC survivors aboard rescue ship CARPATHIA- unidentified group on deck LCCN2002721379.tif|thumb|299x299px|Group of survivors aboard ship]]
As the lifeboats were brought alongside ''Carpathia'', the survivors came aboard the ship by various means. Some were strong enough to climb up rope ladders; others were hoisted up in slings, and the children were hoisted in mail sacks.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=154}} The last lifeboat to reach the ship was Lightoller's boat No.&nbsp;12, with 74&nbsp;people aboard a boat designed to carry 65. They were all on ''Carpathia'' by 09:00.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=156}} There were some scenes of joy as families and friends were reunited, but in most cases hopes died as loved ones failed to reappear.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=155}}

At 09:15, two more ships arrived&nbsp;– {{SS|Mount Temple||2}} and {{SS|Californian||2}}, which had finally learned of the disaster when her radio operator returned to duty&nbsp;– but by then there were no more survivors to rescue. ''Carpathia'' had been bound for Fiume, [[Austria-Hungary]] (now [[Rijeka]], Croatia), but as she had neither the stores nor the medical facilities to cater for the survivors, Rostron ordered that a course be calculated to return to New York, where the survivors could be properly looked after.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=156}} ''Carpathia'' departed the area, leaving the other ships to carry out a final, fruitless two-hour search.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=157}}{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=255}}

== Aftermath ==
=== Grief and outrage ===
[[File:Arrival of the ship of sorrow.jpg|thumb|''Arrival of the ship of sorrow at New York'', a 1912 illustration by L.F. Grant|alt=A man wearing a bowler hat and a woman in a shawl embrace among a crowd of people standing in a wooden building]]
[[File:Titanic newspaper boy.jpg|thumb|London paperboy Ned Parfett outside the White Star Line offices]]
[[File:Hearses lined up on Halifax wharf to carry RMS Titanic victims to funeral parlours, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 6 May, 1912.jpg|thumb|alt=Horse-drawn hearses and caskets on the Halifax wharf|Preparations for the arrival of deceased victims in Halifax]]
When ''Carpathia'' arrived at [[Pier&nbsp;54]] in New York on the evening of 18 April after a difficult voyage through pack ice, fog, thunderstorms and rough seas,{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=266}}{{sfn|Lord|1976|pp=196–197}} some 40,000&nbsp;people were standing on the wharves, alerted to the disaster by newspaper stories relaying information gathered from radio telegraph messages sent by ''Carpathia'' and other ships. It was only after ''Carpathia'' docked&nbsp;– three days after ''Titanic''{{'}}s sinking&nbsp;– that the full scope of the disaster became public knowledge.{{sfn|Lord|1976|pp=196–197}}

Even before ''Carpathia'' arrived in New York, efforts were getting underway to retrieve the dead. Four ships chartered by the White Star Line succeeded in retrieving 328&nbsp;bodies; 119 were [[Burial at sea|buried at sea]], while the remaining 209 were brought ashore to the Canadian port of [[Halifax (former city)|Halifax, Nova Scotia]],{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=266}} where 150 of them were buried.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=235}} Memorials were raised in various places&nbsp;– New York, Washington, Southampton, Liverpool, [[Titanic Memorial, Belfast|Belfast]] and [[Lichfield]], among others{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|pp=296–300}}&nbsp;– and ceremonies were held on both sides of the Atlantic to commemorate the dead and raise funds to aid the survivors.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|pp=293–295}} The bodies of most of ''Titanic''{{'}}s victims were never recovered, and the only evidence of their deaths was found 73&nbsp;years later among the debris on the seabed: pairs of shoes lying side by side, where bodies had once lain before eventually decomposing.{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=25}}

The prevailing public reaction to the disaster was one of shock and outrage, directed against several issues and people: why were there so few lifeboats? Why had Ismay saved his own life when so many others died? Why did ''Titanic'' proceed into the ice field at full speed?{{sfn|Björkfors|2004|p=59}} The outrage was driven not least by the survivors themselves; even while they were aboard ''Carpathia'' on their way to New York, Beesley and other survivors determined to "awaken public opinion to safeguard ocean travel in the future" and wrote a public letter to ''[[The Times]]'' urging changes to maritime safety laws.{{sfn|Beesley|1960|p=81}}

In places closely associated with ''Titanic'', the sense of grief was deep. The heaviest losses were in Southampton, home port to 699&nbsp;crew members and also home to many of the passengers.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=266}} Crowds of weeping women—wives, sisters, and mothers of crew members—gathered outside the White Star offices in Southampton for news of their loved ones.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=173}} Most of their missing loved ones were among the 549&nbsp;Southampton residents who perished.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=264}} In Belfast, churches were packed, and shipyard workers wept in the streets. The ship had been a symbol of Belfast's industrial achievements, and there was a sense not only of grief but also of guilt, as those who built ''Titanic'' came to feel that they were responsible in some way for her loss.{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|pp=221–222}}

In Liverpool, the home base of the White Star Line, representatives of the company were confronted with such public anger that they were forced to announce the list of casualties from the balcony of the company headquarters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-02-05 |title=1897 – White Star Line Building, Liverpool, Lancashire {{!}} Archiseek - Irish Architecture |url=https://www.archiseek.com/2014/1897-white-star-line-building-liverpool-lancashire/ |access-date=2023-07-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Public inquiries and legislation ===
{{Main|United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic|l1=United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the ''Titanic''|British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic|l2=British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking of the ''Titanic''|Changes in safety practices after the sinking of the Titanic|l3=Changes in safety practices after the sinking of the ''Titanic''}}
[[File:Time To Get Busy - no caption.png|thumb|''Time to get busy'' by [[Bud Fisher|Fisher]], 1912. Public outrage at the disaster led politicians to impose new regulations on the shipping industry.|alt=Cartoon of Uncle Sam taking hold of a ship's wheel marked "Navigation Laws" and saying, "By ginger, I'll take a firmer grip on this business hereafter." At his feet is a paper reading "Ragged marine regulations". A worried-looking man in a top hat marked "Steamship Magnate" looks on. In the distant background a ship can be seen sinking.]]
In the aftermath of the sinking, public inquiries were set up in the United Kingdom and United States. The [[United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic|US inquiry]] began on 19 April under the chairmanship of Senator [[William Alden Smith]],{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=181}} and the [[British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic|British inquiry]] commenced in London under [[John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey|Lord Mersey]] on 2 May 1912.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=192}} They reached broadly similar conclusions: the regulations on the number of lifeboats that ships had to carry were out of date and inadequate;{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=195}} Captain Smith had failed to take proper heed of ice warnings;{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=189}} the lifeboats had not been properly filled or crewed; and the collision was the direct result of steaming into a danger area at too high a speed.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=195}} Both inquiries strongly criticised Captain Lord of ''Californian'' for failing to render assistance to ''Titanic''.{{sfn|Butler|1998|pp=191, 196}}

Neither inquiry found negligence by the parent company, [[International Mercantile Marine Co.]], or the White Star Line (which owned ''Titanic''). The US inquiry concluded that those involved had followed standard practice and that the disaster could thus be categorised only as an "[[act of God]]".{{sfn|Barczewski|2006|p=67}} The British inquiry concluded that Smith had followed long-standing practice, which had not previously been shown to be unsafe,{{sfn|Lynch|1998|p=189}} noting that British ships alone had carried 3.5&nbsp;million passengers over the previous decade with the loss of just 73 lives,{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=265}} and concluded that he had done "only that which other skilled men would have done in the same position". The British inquiry also warned that "what was a mistake in the case of the ''Titanic'' would without doubt be negligence in any similar case in the future".{{sfn|Lynch|1998|p=189}}

The disaster led to major changes in maritime regulations to implement new safety measures, such as ensuring that more lifeboats were provided, that lifeboat drills were properly carried out and that radio equipment on passenger ships was manned around the clock.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1987|p=109}} Radio operators were to give priority to emergency and hazard messages over private messages and to use the [[Q code]] to minimize language problems. Shore stations of the rival international "wireless" networks, the British [[Marconi Company]] and [[Telefunken]] of Germany, were required to handle all radio calls including those of the other network. An [[International Ice Patrol]] was set up to monitor the presence of icebergs in the North Atlantic, and maritime safety regulations were harmonised internationally through the [[International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea]] (SOLAS).{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=310}}

=== Cultural impact and wreckage ===
{{further|Titanic in popular culture|l1=''Titanic'' in popular culture|Wreck of the Titanic|l2=Wreck of the ''Titanic''}}
[[File:Titanic wreck bow.jpg|Wreck of the ''Titanic'', 2004|thumb|alt=]]

''Titanic''{{'}}s sinking has become a cultural phenomenon, commemorated by artists, film-makers, writers, composers, musicians and dancers from the time immediately after the sinking to the present day.{{sfn|Foster|1997|p=14}} On 1 September 1985, a joint US-French expedition led by [[Robert Ballard]] found the [[wreck of the Titanic|wreck of ''Titanic'']],{{sfn|Ballard|1987|p=82}} and the ship's rediscovery led to an explosion of interest in ''Titanic''{{'}}s story.{{sfn|Bartlett|2011|p=332}} Numerous expeditions have been launched to film the wreck and, controversially, to salvage objects from the debris field.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=310}} The first major exhibition of recovered artefacts was held at London's [[National Maritime Museum]] in 1994–95.{{sfn|Portman 12 November 1994}} The disaster inspired [[List of films about the Titanic|numerous films]]; in 1997, [[James Cameron]]'s film [[Titanic (1997 film)|''Titanic'']] became the first film ever to take $1&nbsp;billion at the box office,{{efn|Upon its re-release in 3D on the weekend of 13–15 April 2012, 100 years after the sinking, the film became the second to pass the $2&nbsp;billion threshold in box office takes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Titanic becomes second ever film to take $2 billion|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/titanic-anniversary/9206367/Titanic-becomes-second-ever-film-to-take-2-billion.html|access-date=April 16, 2012|date=April 16, 2012|location=London|archive-date=16 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416223817/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/titanic-anniversary/9206367/Titanic-becomes-second-ever-film-to-take-2-billion.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} the second film to win 11 [[Academy Awards]], including Best Picture, after ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|Ben-Hur]]'' (1959), and the [[Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture|film's soundtrack]] became the best-selling soundtrack recording of all time.{{sfn|Parisi|1998|p=223}}

The wreck is steadily decaying, with an estimated 0.5–1 ton of metal turning to oxide per day (assuming one ten-thousandth of an inch per day on all surfaces).{{sfn|McCarty|Foecke|2012|p=202}} Eventually ''Titanic''{{'}}s structure will collapse, and she will be reduced to a patch of rust on the seabed, with any remaining scraps of the ship's hull mingled with her more durable fittings, like the propellers, bronze capstans, compasses and the telemotor.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=235}}

== Casualties and survivors ==
{{further|Passengers of the Titanic|Crew of the Titanic|l1=Passengers of the ''Titanic''|l2=Crew of the ''Titanic''}}

The number of casualties of the sinking is unclear due to several factors, including confusion over the passenger list, which included some names of people who cancelled their trip at the last minute, and the fact that several passengers travelled under aliases for various reasons and were double-counted on the casualty lists.{{sfn|Butler|1998|p=239}} The death toll has been put at between 1,490 and 1,635&nbsp;people.{{sfn|Lord|1976|p=197}} The figures below are from the British [[Board of Trade]] report on the disaster.{{sfn|Mersey|1912|pp=110–111}}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin: 1em auto; text-align: center;"
|-
! scope="col" | Passengers
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Number<br /> onboard
! scope="col" | Percentage by<br /> total onboard
! scope="col" | Number<br /> saved
! scope="col" | Number<br /> lost
! scope="col" | Percentage<br /> saved
! scope="col" | Percentage<br /> lost
! scope="col" | Percentage saved<br /> by total onboard
! scope="col" | Percentage lost<br /> by total onboard
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="4"| '''Children'''
| First Class
| 6
| 0.3%
| 5
| 1
| 83%
| 17%
| 0.2%
|< 0.1%
|-
| {{nobr|Second Class}}<!--<<nobr on widest value forces column to accommodating width-->
| 24
| 1.1%
| 24
| 0
| 100%
| 0%
| 1.1%
| 0%
|-
| Third Class
| 79
| 3.6%
| 27
| 52
| 34%
| 66%
| 1.2%
| 2.4%
|-
| '''Total'''
| '''109'''
| '''5%'''
| '''56'''
| '''53'''
| '''51%'''
| '''49%'''
| '''2.5%'''
| '''2.4%'''
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="5" | '''Women'''
| First Class
| 144
| 6.5%
| 140
| 4
| 97%
| 3%
| 6.3%
| 0.2%
|-
| Second Class
| 93
| 4.2%
| 80
| 13
| 86%
| 14%
| 3.6%
| 0.6%
|-
| Third Class
| 165
| 7.4%
| 76
| 89
| 46%
| 54%
| 3.4%
| 4.0%
|-
| Crew
| 23
| 1.0%
| 20
| 3
| 87%
| 13%
| 0.9%
| 0.1%
|-
| '''Total'''
| '''425'''
| '''19.1%'''
| '''316'''
| '''109'''
| '''74%'''
| '''26%'''
| '''14.2%'''
| '''4.9%'''
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="5" | '''Men'''
| First Class
| 175
| 7.9%
| 57
| 118
| 33%
| 67%
| 2.6%
| 5.3%
|-
| Second Class
| 168
| 7.6%
| 14
| 154
| 8%
| 92%
| 0.6%
| 6.9%
|-
| Third Class
| 462
| 20.8%
| 75
| 387
| 16%
| 84%
| 3.3%
| 17.4%
|-
| Crew
| 885
| 39.8%
| 192
| 693
| 22%
| 78%
| 8.6%
| 31.2%
|-
| '''Total'''
| '''1,690'''
| '''75.9%'''
| '''338'''
| '''1,352'''
| '''20%'''
| '''80%'''
| '''15.2%'''
| '''60.8%'''
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; border-top: medium solid silver;"
! scope="row" | '''Total'''
| All
| 2,224
| 100%
| 710
| 1,514
| 32%
| 68%
| 31.9%
| 68.1%
|}
[[File:Titanic passengers.png|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Treemap]] showing numbers of passengers and crew by class, and whether men, women or children, and whether saved or lost]]
Less than a third of those aboard ''Titanic'' survived the disaster. Some survivors died shortly afterwards; injuries and the effects of exposure caused the deaths of several of those brought aboard ''Carpathia''.{{sfn|Eaton|Haas|1994|p=179}} Of the groups shown in the table, 49 per cent of the children, 26 per cent of the female passengers, 82 per cent of the male passengers and 78 per cent of the crew died. The figures show stark differences in the survival rates between men and women, and of the different classes aboard ''Titanic'', especially among women and children. Although less than 10&nbsp;per cent of first- and second-class women (combined) were lost, 54 per cent of those in third class died. Similarly, five of six first-class and all second-class children survived, but 52 of the 79 in third class perished.{{sfn|Howells|1999|p=94}} The only first-class child to perish was [[Allison family|Loraine Allison]], aged two.<ref>{{cite news|last=Copping|first=Jasper|title=Lost child of the Titanic and the fraud that haunted her family|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10581757/Lost-child-of-the-Titanic-and-the-fraud-that-haunted-her-family.html|access-date=20 January 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=19 January 2014|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616120535/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10581757/Lost-child-of-the-Titanic-and-the-fraud-that-haunted-her-family.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Proportionately, the heaviest losses were suffered by the second-class men, of whom 92 per cent died. Of the [[Animals aboard the Titanic|pets brought aboard]], three survived the sinking.{{sfn|Georgiou|2000|p=18}}

==Notes==
{{notes}}
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|30em}}

===Books===
* {{cite book
  | last = Aldridge
  | first = Rebecca
  | year = 2008
  | title = The Sinking of the ''Titanic''
  | publisher = Infobase Publishing
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-7910-9643-7
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Ballard
  | first = Robert D.
  | year = 1987
  | title = The Discovery of the ''Titanic''
  | publisher = Warner Books
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-446-51385-2
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Barczewski
  | first = Stephanie
  | year = 2006
  | title = ''Titanic'': A Night Remembered
  | publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-1-85285-500-0
  | url = https://archive.org/details/titanicnightreme0000barc
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Barratt
  | first = Nick
  | year = 2010
  | title = Lost Voices From the ''Titanic'': The Definitive Oral History
  | publisher = Random House
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-1-84809-151-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Bartlett
  | first = W.B.
  | year = 2011
  | title = ''Titanic'': 9 Hours to Hell, the Survivors' Story
  | publisher = Amberley Publishing
  | location = Stroud, Gloucestershire
  | isbn = 978-1-4456-0482-4
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/titanic9hourstoh0000bart
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Beesley
  | first = Lawrence
  | year = 1960
  | orig-year = 1912
  | chapter = The Loss of the SS ''Titanic''; its Story and its Lessons
  | title = The Story of the Titanic as told by its Survivors
  | publisher = Dover Publications
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-0-486-20610-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Björkfors
  | first = Peter
  | year = 2004
  | chapter = The Titanic Disaster and Images of National Identity in Scandinavian Literature
  | title = The Titanic in myth and memory: representations in visual and literary culture
  | editor1-last = Bergfelder
  | editor1-first = Tim
  | editor2-last = Street
  | editor2-first = Sarah
  | publisher = I.B. Tauris
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-1-85043-431-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Brown
  | first = David G.
  | year = 2000
  | title = The Last Log of the ''Titanic''
  | publisher = McGraw-Hill Professional
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-07-136447-8
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Butler
  | first = Daniel Allen
  | year = 1998
  | title = Unsinkable: The Full Story of RMS ''Titanic''
  | publisher = Stackpole Books
  | location = Mechanicsburg, PA
  | isbn = 978-0-8117-1814-1
  | url = https://archive.org/details/unsinkablefullst00butl
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Chirnside
  | first = Mark
  | year = 2004
  | title = The ''Olympic''-class ships : ''Olympic'', ''Titanic'', ''Britannic''
  | publisher = Tempus
  | location = Stroud, Gloucestershire
  | isbn = 978-0-7524-2868-0
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Cox
  | first = Stephen
  | year = 1999
  | title = The ''Titanic'' Story: Hard Choices, Dangerous Decisions
  | url = https://archive.org/details/titanicstoryhard0000coxs
  | url-access = registration
  | publisher = Open Court Publishing
  | location = Chicago
  | isbn = 978-0-8126-9396-6
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Eaton
  | first1 = John P.
  | last2 = Haas
  | first2 = Charles A.
  | year = 1987
  | title = ''Titanic'': Destination Disaster: The Legends and the Reality
  | publisher = Patrick Stephens
  | location = Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
  | isbn = 978-0-85059-868-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Eaton
  | first1 = John P.
  | last2 = Haas
  | first2 = Charles A.
  | year = 1994
  | title = ''Titanic'': Triumph and Tragedy
  | publisher = Patrick Stephens
  | location = Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
  | isbn = 978-1-85260-493-6
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Everett
  | first = Marshall
  | year = 1912
  | title = Wreck and Sinking of the ''Titanic''
  | publisher = Homewood Press
  | location = Chicago
  | oclc = 558974511
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Fitch
  | first1 = Tad
  | last2 = Layton
  | first2 = J. Kent
 | last3 =Wormstedt | first3 = Bill
  | year = 2012
  | title = On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the R.M.S. Titanic 
  | publisher = Amberley Books
  | isbn =  978-1848689275
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Foster
  | first = John Wilson
  | year = 1997
  | title = The ''Titanic'' Complex
  | publisher = Belcouver Press
  | location = Vancouver
  | isbn = 978-0-9699464-1-0
  }}
* {{cite journal
  | last = Georgiou
  | first = Ioannis
  | date = <!--2 November -->2000
  | journal = Atlantic Daily Bulletin
  | title = The Animals on board the ''Titanic''
  | publisher = British Titanic Society
  | location = Southampton
  | issn = 0965-6391
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Gittins
  | first1 = Dave
  | last2 = Akers-Jordan
  | first2 = Cathy
  | last3 = Behe
  | first3 = George
  | year = 2011
  | chapter = Too Few Boats, Too Many Hindrances
  | title = Report into the Loss of the SS ''Titanic'': A Centennial Reappraisal
  | editor-last = Halpern
  | editor-first = Samuel
  | publisher = The History Press
  | location = Stroud, Gloucestershire
  | isbn = 978-0-7524-6210-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Gleicher
  | first = David
  | year = 2006
  | title = The Rescue of the Third Class on the ''Titanic'': A Revisionist History
  | series = Research in Maritime History, No.&nbsp;31
  | publisher = International Maritime Economic History Association
  | location = St. John's, Newfoundland
  | isbn = 978-0-9738934-1-0
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Gracie
  | first = Archibald
  | year = 1913
  | title = The Truth about the ''Titanic''
  | publisher = M. Kennerley
  | location = New York
  | url = https://archive.org/details/truthabouttitani00grac
  }}
** Also published as: {{cite book
  | last = Gracie
  | first = Archibald
  | year = 2009
  | title = Titanic: A Survivor's Story
  | publisher = The History Press
  | isbn = 978-0-7509-4702-2
}}
* {{cite book
  | last = Halpern
  | first = Samuel
  | year = 2011
  | chapter = Account of the Ship's Journey Across the Atlantic
  | title = Report into the Loss of the SS ''Titanic'': A Centennial Reappraisal
  | editor-last = Halpern
  | editor-first = Samuel
  | publisher = The History Press
  | location = Stroud, Gloucestershire
  | isbn = 978-0-7524-6210-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Halpern
  | first1 = Samuel
  | last2 = Weeks
  | first2 = Charles
  | year = 2011
  | chapter = Description of the Damage to the Ship
  | title = Report into the Loss of the SS ''Titanic'': A Centennial Reappraisal
  | editor-last = Halpern
  | editor-first = Samuel
  | publisher = The History Press
  | location = Stroud, Gloucestershire
  | isbn = 978-0-7524-6210-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Hoffman
  | first1 = William
  | last2 = Grimm
  | first2 = Jack
  | year = 1982
  | title = Beyond Reach: The Search For The ''Titanic''
  | publisher = Beaufort Books
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-8253-0105-6
  | url = https://archive.org/details/beyondreachsearc00hoff
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Howells
  | first = Richard Parton
  | title = The Myth of the ''Titanic''
  | year = 1999
  | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-312-22148-5
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Hutchings
  | first1 = David F.
  | last2 = de Kerbrech
  | first2 = Richard P.
  | year = 2011
  | title = RMS ''Titanic'' 1909–12 (''Olympic'' Class): Owners' Workshop Manual
  | location = Sparkford, Somerset
  | publisher = Haynes
  | isbn = 978-1-84425-662-4
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Kuntz
  | first = Tom
  | year = 1998
  | title = The ''Titanic'' Disaster Hearings
  | url = https://archive.org/details/titanicdisasterh00kunt
  | url-access = registration
  | publisher = Pocket Book
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-1-56865-748-6
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Lord
  | first = Walter
  | title = A Night to Remember
  | year = 1976
  | publisher = Penguin Books
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-0-14-004757-8
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Lord
  | first = Walter
  | year = 2005
  | orig-year = 1955
  | title = A Night to Remember
  | publisher = St. Martin's Griffin
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-8050-7764-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Lord
  | first = Walter
  | year = 1987
  | title = The Night Lives On
  | publisher = Penguin Books
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-0-670-81452-7
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Lynch
  | first = Donald
  | year = 1998
  | title = ''Titanic'': An Illustrated History
  | publisher = Hyperion
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-786-86401-0
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Marcus
  | first = Geoffrey
  | year = 1969
  | title = The Maiden Voyage
  | publisher = Viking Press
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-670-45099-2
  | url = https://archive.org/details/maidenvoyage00marc
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Marshall
  | first = Logan
  | year = 1912
  | title = Sinking of the ''Titanic'' and Great Sea Disasters
  | publisher = The John C. Winston Co
  | location = Philadelphia
  | oclc = 1328882
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = McCarty
  | first1 = Jennifer Hooper
  | last2 = Foecke
  | first2 = Tim
  | year = 2012
  | orig-year = 2008
  | title = What Really Sank The Titanic&nbsp;– New Forensic Evidence
  | publisher = Citadel
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-8065-2895-3
  | url = https://archive.org/details/whatreallysankti0000mcca
  }}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Mills
| first1 = Simon
| year = 1993
| title = RMS Olympic&nbsp;– The Old Reliable
| publisher = Waterfront Publications
| location = Dorset
| isbn = 0-946184-79-8
}}
* {{cite book
  | last = Mowbray
  | first = Jay Henry
  | title = Sinking of the ''Titanic''
  | url = https://archive.org/details/sinkingoftitanic00mowb
  | year = 1912
  | publisher = The Minter Company
  | location = Harrisburg, PA
  | oclc = 9176732
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Parisi
  | first = Paula
  | year = 1998
  | title = ''Titanic'' and the Making of James Cameron
  | publisher = Newmarket Press
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-1-55704-364-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Regal
  | first = Brian
  | year = 2005
  | title = Radio: The Life Story of a Technology
  | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group
  | location = Westport, CT
  | isbn = 978-0-313-33167-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Richards
  | first = Jeffrey
  | year = 2001
  | title = Imperialism and Music: Britain, 1876–1953
  | publisher = Manchester University Press
  | location = Manchester
  | isbn = 978-0-7190-6143-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Turner
  | first = Steve
  | year = 2011
  | title = The Band that Played On
  | publisher = Thomas Nelson
  | location = Nashville, TN
  | isbn = 978-1-59555-219-8
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/bandthatplayedon0000turn
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Verhoeven
  | first = John D.
  | year = 2007
  | title = Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist
  | publisher = ASM International
  | location = Materials Park, OH
  | isbn = 978-0-87170-858-8
  }}
* {{cite book
  | editor-last = Winocour
  | editor-first = Jack
  | year = 1960
  | title = The Story of the ''Titanic'' as told by its Survivors
  | url = https://archive.org/details/truthabouttitan00gracgoog
  | publisher = Dover Publications
  | location = London
  | isbn = 978-0-486-20610-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Zumdahl
  | first1 = Steven S.
  | last2 = Zumdahl
  | first2 = Susan A.
  | year = 2008
  | title = Chemistry
  | publisher = Cengage Learning
  | location = Belmont, CA
  | isbn = 978-0-547-12532-9
  }}

===Journal articles===
* {{cite journal
  | title = What really sank the Titanic?
  | journal = Materials Today
  | volume = 11
  | issue = 10
  | pages = 48
  | date = 26 September 2008
  | publisher = [[Elsevier]]
  | url = http://www.materialstoday.com/view/1618/what-really-sank-the-titanic/
  | access-date = 4 March 2012
  | doi = 10.1016/s1369-7021(08)70224-4
  | last1 = Foecke
  | first1 = Tim
  | doi-access = free
  | archive-date = 31 August 2020
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200831010539/https://www.materialstoday.com/metals-alloys/news/what-really-sank-the-titanic//
  | url-status = live
  }}
* {{cite journal
  | last = Maltin
  | first = Tim
  | date = March 2012
  | title = Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion?
  | journal = [[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]
  | url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Did-the-Titanic-Sink-Because-of-an-Optical-Illusion.html
  | publisher = [[Smithsonian Institution]]
  | access-date = 15 April 2012
  | archive-date = 31 August 2020
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200831010546/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/did-the-titanic-sink-because-of-an-optical-illusion-102040309//
  | url-status = live
  }}
* {{cite journal
  | last = Ryan
  | first = Paul R.
  | date = Winter 1985–1986
  | title = The ''Titanic'' Tale
  | journal = Oceanus
  | volume = 4
  | issue = 28
  | publisher = Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  | location = Woods Hole, MA
  | url = https://archive.org/stream/oceanusv2804wood#page/n3/mode/2up
  | ref = {{sfnRef|Ryan|1985}}
  }}
* {{cite journal
  | last1 = Uchupi
  | first1 = Elazar
  | last2 = Ballard
  | first2 = Robert D.
  | last3 = Lange
  | first3 = William N.
  | date = Fall 1986
  | title = Resting in Pieces: New Evidence About ''Titanic{{'}}s'' Final Moments
  | journal = Oceanus
  | volume = 29
  | issue = 3
  | pages = 53–60
  | publisher = Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  | location = Woods Hole, MA
  }}

===News reports===
* {{cite news
  | last = Broad
  | first = William J.
  | date = 8 April 1997
  | title = Toppling Theories, Scientists Find 6 Slits, Not Big Gash, Sank ''Titanic''
  | newspaper = The New York Times
  | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/08/science/toppling-theories-scientists-find-6-slits-not-big-gash-sank-titanic.html?pagewanted=all
  | access-date = 5 November 2011
  | archive-date = 31 August 2020
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200831010549/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/08/science/toppling-theories-scientists-find-6-slits-not-big-gash-sank-titanic.html?pagewanted=all%2F
  | url-status = live
  }}
* {{cite news
  | last = Broad
  | first = William J.
  | date = 15 April 2008
  | title = In Weak Rivets, a Possible Key to Titanic's Doom
  | newspaper = The New York Times
  | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15titanic.html?pagewanted=all
  | access-date = 13 March 2012
  | archive-date = 31 August 2020
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200831010558/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15titanic.html?pagewanted=all%2F
  | url-status = live
  }}
* {{cite news
  | last = Ewers
  | first = Justin
  | date = 25 September 2008
  | title = The Secret of How the Titanic Sank
  | newspaper = U.S. News & World Report
  | url = https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/09/25/the-secret-of-how-the-titanic-sunk?
  | access-date = 11 April 2012
  | archive-date = 23 April 2020
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200423183105/https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/09/25/the-secret-of-how-the-titanic-sunk
  | url-status = live
  }}

===Investigations===
* {{cite web
  | title = Passenger List and Survivors of Steamship ''Titanic''
  | date = 30 July 1912
  | work = United States Senate Inquiry
  | url = http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/USReport/AmInqRep03.php#a7
  | access-date = 5 June 2011
  | archive-date = 26 April 2011
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110426031821/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/USReport/AmInqRep03.php#a7
  | url-status = live
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Mersey
  | first = Lord
  | author-link = John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
  | year = 1999
  | orig-year = 1912
  | title = The Loss of the Titanic, 1912
  | publisher = The Stationery Office
  | isbn = 978-0-11-702403-8
  | ref = {{sfnRef|Mersey|1912}}
  }}
* {{cite news
  | last = Portman
  | first = Jamie
  | title = U.K. Titanic exhibit an off-season draw
  | work = The Toronto Star
  | date = 12 November 1994
  | ref = {{sfnRef|Portman 12 November 1994}}
  }}
* {{cite web
 |title        = Report on the Loss of the "Titanic." (s.s.)
 |date         = 30 July 1912
 |work         = British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry
 |url          = http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRep01.php
 |access-date  = 12 February 2012
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140822142553/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRep01.php
 |archive-date = 22 August 2014
}}
* {{cite web
 |title        = Report on the Loss of the "Titanic." (s.s.)
 |date         = 30 July 1912
 |work         = British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry, Final Report (Watertight Compartments)
 |url          = http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepWC.php
 |access-date  = 14 April 2012
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140103014858/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepWC.php
 |archive-date = 3 January 2014
}}
* {{cite web
 |title        = Report on the Loss of the "Titanic." (s.s.)
 |date         = 30 July 1912
 |work         = British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry, Final Report (Description of Damage)
 |url          = http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepObserv.php
 |access-date  = 14 April 2012
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140103010506/http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepObserv.php
 |archive-date = 3 January 2014
}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Sinking of the RMS Titanic}}
{{Wikisource|Portal:RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic''}}
* [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ Encyclopedia Titanica: facts and research about the ship and her sinking]
* [http://www.titanicology.com/FloodingByCompartment.html Flooding by Compartment (Samuel W. Halpern)]
* [http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser/1912/04/16/ TimesMachine browser] – ''[[The New York Times]]'', Tuesday, 16 April 1912
* {{YouTube|id=rs9w5bgtJC8|title=Full-length animation of the ''Titanic'' sinking}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2023-01-31|En-Sinking of the Titanic-article.ogg}}

{{RMS Titanic}}
{{1912 shipwrecks}}
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Transport}}
{{authority control}}
{{Featured article}}

[[Category:1910s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1912 disasters in Canada]]
[[Category:1912 disasters in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1912 disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:1910s in Newfoundland]]
[[Category:Disasters in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:RMS Titanic|*]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by icebergs]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1912]]
[[Category:April 1912 events]]