Sunday, April 14, 1912
11:41pm
Captain Smith was asleep in his cabin when Titanic hit the iceberg. After feeling the vibration and hearing all the commotion, he got dressed and heads to the bridge. First Officer Murdoch and the crew are entering all the information about the recent event into the ship's log. Once on the bridge, Smith asks Murdoch, "What have we struck?" Murdoch replies,
"An iceberg Sir. I hard-a-starboarded and reversed the engines, and I was going to hard-a-port around it, but she was too close. I could not do anymore. I have closed the watertight doors."
Smith and Murdoch briefly step out onto the starboard bridge wing to inspect the damage the side of the ship and to look for the iceberg. Smith gives the order to signal the engine room to "ALL STOP". Then he gives the order to find the carpenter so that the ship could be inspected. The captain notices broken pieces of ice on the forward well deck, but the iceberg has long vanished into the darkness.
 |
| Captain EJ Smith (left) and 1st Officer William Murdoch (right) |