Ports of Call

 

Titanic left Southampton around noon on April 10, 1912

Titanic was berthed at Southampton from April 3 to 10, 1912, making the final preparations for her maiden voyage to New York.

Titanic was certified to carry a maximum of 3,547 passengers which broke down as 905 First Class, 564 Second Class, 1,134 Third Class, and 944 Officers and Crew.  Passengers boarded Titanic starting at 9:30am and boarding was completed at 11:30am.  

There were 1,864 people on the ship (921 passengers, 944 crew) as she left Southampton at 12 noon on April 10, 1912 under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith.

near miss collision - RMS Titanic and SS New York

 

It took five tugs to move Titanic to open water. As the Titanic passed by, the sheer size of Titanic created huge swells of water toward the docked RMS Oceanic and the SS New York causing the New York to  break free of her moorings and swung around to face Titanic causing a near miss collision.  

As soon as the New York broke loose, the Titanic reversed her engines and began to back up. Then two tugs raced at the New York, used ropes to catch her by the bows, and tried to tug her back to her place.

Tugs release the ship to open waters

 

Since Titanic had no damage, she continued her voyage but was about one hour behind schedule.  The same suction issue was responsible for a collision in the Solent in September 1911 between the HMS Hawke and the RMS Olympic. Both ships sustained serious damage putting them out of commission for up to six weeks.

Titanic was due to arrive at Cherbourg around 5pm, about 70 miles and five hours away. Because Titanic was so huge, she couldn't enter the port, so the White Star Line had two tenders specially made to bring passengers out to the Titanic.  At 5pm, the two tenders, the SS Nomadic and SS Traffic, were at the harbour, waiting to ferry 274 passengers but so far there had been no sign of Titanic.   

The Nomadic ferried passengers to Titanic

 It was another hour before Titanic's funnels were seen, finally arriving at 6:35pm.  The order was given for the tenders to start their 30 minute journey to the outer harbor.  The SS Nomadic transported 1st and 2nd Class passengers, the SS Traffic ferried the 3rd Class passengers.

A gangway was erected between Nomadic’s flying bridge deck and Titanic’s E Deck to allow passengers to transfer. There were 15 First Class and 9 Second Class passengers who got off at Cherbourg but not without incident - one woman fell and twisted he ankle, causing several crew members to hold down the swaying gangway for new passengers to board the ship.  

 

Tenders at Cherbourg France

Titanic picked up 142 First Class, 30 Second Class and 102 Third Class passengers, plus dozens of cases of champagne, cheeses, 75,000 pounds of meat, 15,000 bottles of beer, 10,000 bottles of wine and 12,000 bottles of mineral water.  

When Titanic left Cherbourg at 8:10pm, most of the crew attended to the guests but some  were assigned to continue putting the finishing touches like fitting carpets, painting woodwork, positioning furniture and hanging curtains.

 

At 8.10pm, Titanic departed for Queenstown.

 

 

Bon Voyage at Queenstown Ireland

At 11:30am the next morning, April 11, 1912, the Titanic dropped anchor about two miles offshore from Queenstown in County Cork Ireland.  Two tenders, the America and the Ireland, carried 123 new passengers and their luggage out to the ship and 7 people got off the ship. One crew member, John Coffey, abandoned his job by hiding under m ail bags that were being transported to shore.  His name was still on the crew list and when Titanic went down, he was reported as dead until he made it known he had jumped ship at Queenstown. 

The above two photographs were taken by Father Frank Browne who boarded the Titanic at Southampton, England and departed at his destination in Queenstown, Ireland. 

An American offered to pay his fare to New York, but when Father Browne asked his superiors for permission to extend his trip, his request was denied, which saved his life.  He took several pictures of Titanic and some of the passengers, pictures which have survived over 100 years.

At 1:40pm on April 11, 1912 Titanic set sail for New York.