For 37 seconds they waited. When it seemed as though they would strike the berg head-on, the ship finally started to turn to port (left), but it was too late. A spur of ice, hidden beneath the surface, bumped and scraped the starboard (right) side of the ship for a distance of 248 feet. This caused, not a continuous gash as once suspected, but a series of smaller holes and buckled hull plates that affected the first four compartments and two feet into the fifth. The total area now open to the sea was a mere twelve square feet.

Around midnight Captain Smith goes personally to the wireless room and orders First Wireless Operator John "Jack" Phillips to send a distress signal. Mr. Phillips dutifully sent the signal, "CQD" about half a dozen times followed by, "MGY" about half a dozen times. "CQD" was the distress signal used by the Marconi Company, by which Mr. Phillips and Second Wireless Operator Harold Bride were employed, and "MGY" was the wireless call-sign for Titanic.

At 12:05 the crew begins to uncover and swing out the lifeboats. At 12:25 the loading of the lifeboats begins with women and children loaded first. The loading and launching of the lifeboats is a slow and confused process as few of the crew and none of the passengers have had any formal lifeboat drills or been given lifeboat assignments.

By 1:15, the tilt on the deck growing steeper, passengers are now more willing to enter the small boats. Officers are now less cautious in loading the boats and they begin to leave more fully loaded. 1:40, with most of the forward lifeboats gone, passengers begin to move to the temporary safety of the stern.

At 2:05 the last lifeboat is launched. There actually remain two collapsible boats, "A" and "B", that are literally washed off the ship as she sinks and are not actually launched.

At 2:17 the last distress signal is sent by Titanic. In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912 Titanic became one of the first ships in history to send the new "SOS" distress call. About this time many passengers and crew are knocked or swept into the water as the bow quickly plunges under. The forward funnel collapses, crushing many of those struggling in the water.

At 2:20 the stern section, now filling with water, tilts into a position that is nearly perpendicular to the water's surface and steadily sinks. 1500 people now struggle in the icy water. Most of the lifeboats that had rowed away from the ship with empty seats for fear of suction pulling them under when Titanic sank now refuse to return to the aid of those in the water for fear of being swamped. There they sat, listening to the screams of the dying, hearing the final pleas for help, "I know you can hear me, please save one life!" Many survivors later said they coped with this by convincing themselves that the screams and pleas they heard were not from their loved ones.

Now those in the boats had nothing to do but wait...

Lifeboat Departures
Time Launched	Boat #	Side of Ship	Capacity	Occupants
12:45	7	Starboard	65	28
12:55	5	Starboard	65	41
12:55	6	Port	65	28
01:00	3	Starboard	65	50
01:00	1	Starboard	40	12
01:15	8	Port	65	39
01:20	10	Port	65	60-70
01:20	9	Starboard	65	56
01:25	12	Port	65	16-18
01:30	14	Port	65	63
01:30	13	Starboard	65	64
01:35	16	Port	65	?
01:35	15	Starboard	65	70
01:40	C	Starboard	47	39
01:45	2	Port	40	26
01:45	11	Starboard	65	70
01:55	4	Port	65	29
02:05	D	Port	47	44
02:20	A	Starboard	47	13*
02:20	B	Port	47	30*

© Joshua David Tripp