In 1912 the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage Chapter 1 ABANDON SHIP The pitch black night of the northern Atlantic Ocean was lit by I a starry sky and the massive deck of the RMS Titanic swarmed with confused passengers and crew members Electric lamps shone out from row upon row of portholes that should have been dark It was nearly one o clock in the morning and the ship's passengers should have been in bed Charlotte Collyer stood at the ship's railing shivering as her gaze moved between the dark sea below and the milling crowd The sea was calm and still and the cold air was sharp Surely nothing serious could have gone wrong with the ship she thought It was so large
she felt just as safe as if she were standing on land So why were the officers calling women and children to the lifeboats How Did an Iceberg Sink the Titanic Only a fraction of an iceberg is visible above the waterline approximately 90 percent is underwater This hidden portion of the iceberg is what damaged the Titanic but not necessarily by ripping a hole in it as many people assume Instead one theory suggests it was pressure that caused the hull to break As the ship turned to avoid a head on collision with the iceberg its side was pushed so hard against the iceberg that a section of its hull crumpled causing the rivets that bound the hull together to pop off Without rivets the steel panels that made up the hull began to split apart Ocean water rushed into the ship through these gaps eventually sinking it On the Open Ocean The voyage from Southampton in England had been uneventful for Collyer and her husband Harvey Their young daughter Marjorie was seasick during the first three days on the ocean They kept to their cabin rather than exploring the palatial ship But this morning Marjorie had felt somewhat better able to eat the fancy Sunday dinner served in the second class dining room and listen to the musicians play after dinner Inside their cozy cabin that evening Collyer and her husband rested as the Titanic sped across the cold ocean Sometime just before midnight they felt the ship make a sudden jerk Collyer sat up in bed Her husband stumbled where he stood They both listened closely
The engines seemed to have stopped and the silence sounded strange After a moment the engines rumbled as if starting up again but then died back The massive ship lay still Out on the deck at around 12 45 a m Collyer and her husband were still unsure what had occurred No one they talked to appeared seriously worried not even the officers calling for the lifeboats to be loaded There's no danger they reassured the women passengers trying to coax them into the boats Collyer held onto Marjorie's hand and stayed close to her husband She didn't want to be separated from him and lowered down into the black ocean in a small boat She felt much safer on the deck As they watched distress flares shot up from the ship and burst in the sky like firecrackers Clearly there was some problem Collyer argued with herself but it couldn't be urgent No one seemed able to explain why the ship was signaling for help Suddenly a man covered in coal dust lurched out of a nearby passageway He was a stoker Collyer realized one of the workers from the boiler rooms at the very bottom of the ship who shoveled coal for the engines Something must have happened down there she thought an accident He stumbled to a stop as Collyer called Is there any danger Danger he cried It's hell down below This boat will sink like a stone in ten minutes Collyer grasped her husband's arm tightly in shock A sickening fear rose in her throat
