To the memory of all those who sailed on the Titanic
INTRODUCTION ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD Lookout Frederick Fleet stared into the darkness from the tiny crow's nest high above the deck The Titanic was making good time slicing through the calm cold water of the North Atlantic Ocean But it could be hazardous to travel so rapidly at night Fleet and his fellow lookout Reginald Lee knew they were passing through ice infested waters The ship's safety depended on their vigilance in spotting icebergs Stars sparkled in the clear air but the moon was a tiny sliver on the evening of April 14 1912 and offered no light to aid the men in their observations Fleet detected a faint haze on the horizon Usually a pair of binoculars was kept in the crow's nest to help the lookouts see distant objects But the binoculars had been missing throughout the four days of the journey 6
At almost 1 40 PM Fleet noticed a mass that stood out in the darkness of the water It didn't seem large from his perch about the size of two tables shoved together he reckoned But it blocked the ship's pathway and grew rapidly bigger as the Titanic advanced A feeling of dread came over Fleet as he reached for the alarm bell There is ice ahead he informed Lee tersely He rang the bell three times as a sign of approaching danger Then Fleet put in an emergency telephone call to the bridge the area from which the captain charts the course of the ship What do you see asked a voice matter of factly Iceberg right ahead Thank you The phone disconnected Fleet had done everything he could with mounting anxiety he watched the iceberg loom closer and closer The two lookouts steeled themselves for impact With only seconds to spare the ship began to change its course Fleet and Lee watched the mountain of ice slip by off the starboard right side of the ship It seemed as if the Titanic might travel on safely Then a harsh scraping sound followed by an unusual silence alerted them that something was wrong after all Others heard the noise and felt a slight jolt Just a little vibration one passenger would later recall Iceberg Right Ahead 7 Another remembered a sensation Like rolling over a thousand marbles The Titanic's captain Edward Smith hurried to the bridge What have we struck he demanded
