Titanic – An Enigma in Time

Does anyone really know what time it was on shore when Titanic struck a fatal iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York back in April of 1912? Did she really remain afloat for 2 hours and 40 minutes as is popularly believed? How long did it take to send the first wireless distress call after Titanic struck the iceberg? What time was it when the last rocket distress signal was fired from Titanic?

In the late afternoon of Monday, April 15, 1912, Captain Rostron of the rescue ship Carpathia sent a wireless message to Captain Haddock of Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship, to forward to White Star Line and Cunard Line offices. In that message Rostron told the world that Titanic sank at 2:20am ship’s time, 5:47am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in 41° 46’N, 50° 14’W.

In 1985 it was discovered that the position reported in 1912 was wrong, that Titanic actually sank about 13 nautical miles to the east of the position that was accepted for so long.

Was the time of foundering reported in that message also wrong? Was there really a 3 hour and 27 minute difference between Titanic time and GMT? Why was it that the British Wreck Commission settled on a different time difference, and were they right?

These and many more questions about that memorable night back in April of 1912 are looked at in depth. Eyewitness accounts from survivors, navigational evidence, and reported observations from a relatively nearby steamer, are explored and analyzed in putting all the pieces together. We now have a much more accurate understanding of when and in what order certain major events played out on that fateful night to remember.