nationalgeographic.com
At 12:00 p.m. on April 10, 1912 the titanic set sail from Southhampton, England to New York.
On Sunday, April 14, just four days after setting out on its first voyage with passengers aboard, the R.M.S.TITANIC passenger ship struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland at 11:40 p.m., and subsequently sank at 2:20 a.m.
Of the 2,227 people aboard when the ship started its trans-Atlantic voyage, a total of 1,522 died in the disaster. 705 passengers were ultimately rescued by the CARPATHIA liner, several hours later.
At 9:20 p.m., Captain Smith retired for the evening, leaving Second Officer Lightoller in charge. Lightoller's watch was over at 10:00 and he then made his rounds of the ship before retiring to bed. Captain Smith was awoken at 11:40 p.m., by a grinding vibration, and proceeded to the bridge in his pajamas to investigate. He returned to his room, after a brief discussion with Third Officer Herbert Pitman about the noise. Ten minutes later, the severity of the situation was brought to Smith's attention by Fourth Officer Boxhall, who informed him that "the water was up to F-Deck in the Mail Room."
Upon receiving orders from Captain Smith, Second Officer Lightoller immediately began to load Lifeboats.
At dawn on April 15th, 1912, the CARPATHIA arrived on the scene, and helped to rescue the passengers.
