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Ship’s time
A working log of the sinking, stepped through in the inquiry’s own times — and a timetable you can read without pressing anything.
Greenwich times the first wireless call for assistance, using the code CQD, at 00.45 on 15 April, and the last transmission at 02.10. The British inquiry instead times the first CQD at 12.15 a.m. and the last message at 2.17. Both wordings stay in view.1
The night of 14–15 April 1912
Ship’s time, 14–15 April 1912
11:40 p.m., 14 April
The log starts at the collision. Use Play or the step buttons, or just read the timetable below.
This is a sourced chronology, not a game, and it has no score. If you prefer less motion, the timetable stays put and Play jumps to the last entry.
| Ship’s time | What the official record says |
|---|---|
| 11:40 p.m., 14 April | At 11.40 p.m. on 14 April 1912, in the wording of the British inquiry, Titanic struck an iceberg, and at 2.20 a.m. the next day she foundered.2 The inquiry’s later times all come with a warning that witness clocks, after the collision, are unreliable. |
| About 12:05 a.m. | About midnight it was realized that the vessel could not live, and at about 12.05 the order was given to uncover the 14 boats under davits.2 Once it was realised that the ship could not live, the 14 boats under davits were ordered uncovered. |
| 12:15 a.m. | At 12.15 a.m., the inquiry says, the distress signal CQD was sent, and was heard by several steamships and by Cape Race.2 Royal Museums Greenwich instead times the first wireless call at 00.45; that disagreement is kept in view. |
| 12:20 a.m. | At 12.20 the order was given to swing out the boats.2 The order was given to swing the boats out. |
| 12:25 a.m. | By 12.25 Fourth Officer Boxhall had worked out the correct position, and another message was sent: “Come at once, we have struck a berg.” That message was heard by the Cunard steamer Carpathia, then 58 miles away and bound from New York to Liverpool.2 Carpathia, 58 miles away and bound from New York to Liverpool, answered that she was coming. |
| About 12:30 a.m. | At about 12.30 the order was given to place women and children in the boats.2 The order was given to place women and children in the boats. |
| About 12:45 a.m. | At about 12.45 First Officer Murdoch gave the order to lower No. 7 boat, on the starboard side, to the water. The inquiry’s own table of leaving times puts No. 7 at 12.46 a.m., and it immediately warns that all times after the collision, as given by witnesses, are unreliable.2 Boxhall began firing distress rockets at about the same time. |
| About 1:45 a.m. | Boxhall began firing ordinary distress rockets from about the time No. 7 boat was lowered (12.45 a.m.) until he left the ship at about 1.45, about eight rockets in all.2 Boxhall left the ship at about 1.45, after firing about eight rockets. Carpathia, by then on her way, heard “Engine-room full up to boilers” at 1.45. |
| 2:05 a.m. | The last boat lowered from the davits, on that same table, was collapsible D at 2.05 a.m. Collapsibles A and B, stowed on the roof of the officers’ house, were left until the last and seem to have floated from the deck as rafts.2 Collapsible D, the last boat lowered from the davits, left at 2.05 on the inquiry’s table. Collapsibles A and B were still on the roof of the officers’ house. |
| 2:17 a.m. | The last message sent out, the inquiry says, was “CQ”, faintly heard by the steamer Virginian, at 2.17 — within a few minutes of the foundering.2 Greenwich times the last transmission at 02.10. |
| 2:20 a.m., 15 April | Greenwich, like the inquiry and Britannica, dates the foundering to 02.20, and the first lifeboat picked up by Carpathia to 04.10.1 The inquiry and Britannica use the same 2.20 a.m. moment. |
| 4:10 a.m. | At 4 o’clock Rostron considered he was practically up to the position given; he stopped at 4.05 and picked up the first boat, No. 2, at 4.10. It was 8 a.m. before all the boats had been picked up.2 It was 8 a.m. before all the boats had been picked up. |
Ship’s time, 14–15 April 1912, from the British inquiry, with Greenwich kept in view where the clocks differ. The table stays on the page so the log can be read without JavaScript.
The British inquiry warns that all times after the collision, as given by witnesses, are unreliable. We still give the court’s own timetable, because it is the official record, and we keep that warning in view.
Greenwich, like the inquiry and Britannica, dates the foundering to 02.20, and the first lifeboat picked up by Carpathia to 04.10.1 Britannica dates the sinking to 15 April 1912, at 2:20 a.m., some 2 hours and 40 minutes after hitting an iceberg.3
The last message sent out, the inquiry says, was “CQ”, faintly heard by the steamer Virginian, at 2.17 — within a few minutes of the foundering.2
On receipt of the first distress message, Captain Arthur Henry Rostron turned Carpathia around and drove her at her highest speed, 17½ knots, toward Titanic.2 At 4 o’clock Rostron considered he was practically up to the position given; he stopped at 4.05 and picked up the first boat, No. 2, at 4.10. It was 8 a.m. before all the boats had been picked up.2
There is a longer account of the rescue, and of the 712 people taken on board Carpathia, on the rescue page.