Sunday, April 14, 1912
10:47 A.M.
The natural sunlight of the cool Atlantic morning bled through the wrought-iron glass dome over the Grand Staircase, the rays gleaming off of the brass trimming and immaculately varnished woodwork. But, as any strollers would observe, a faint sound drifted up from the D-Deck Dining Saloon. As one descended the stairs, they would recognize the beautiful sound of a saloon piano...
Accompanied by singing.
The first-class passengers were currently in the middle of Sunday Service, led by Captain Smith, standing at a pulpit, the Junior-Senior Officers to his right, all four with caps removed, as they led the passengers, including the latter three's families, in singing one of the hymns selected for the service, the melody drifting through the air.
Eternal Father Strong to Save,
Whose Arm Hath Bound The Restless Wave,
Who Bidst the Mighty Ocean Deep,
It's Own Appointed Limits Keep,
Oh, Hear Us When We Cry to Thee,
For Those in Peril on the Sea.
The Bridge
1:42 P.M.
The service had long since concluded, and unfortunately for Samuel, this meant he had to return to his watch on the bridge, as he was only allowed the time to attend service, as Smith knew how religiously observant his Junior-First Officer was.
But, all was not so bad.
While the temperature had dropped, due to Titanic about to enter the Labrador Current, the weather was clear and the sea was calm.
Almost picturesque, as Samuel observed.
"And here we are, Ladies and Gentlemen," a soft Irish tone sounded from the port side of the navigation deck, pulling Samuel from his thoughts. Turning to the source of the voice, Samuel smiled warmly at the sight of Mr. Andrews, escorting Lilly, whose arm was hooked in his, leading what appeared to be a tour party made up of the Mavericks, Tony, who was escorting Kate, and King escorting Princess, the pregnant wolf's eyes lighting up when she saw her husband approach the group.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Andrews," Samuel called as he approached the group, leaving a smiling Bill Murdoch behind to continue the watch. Turning to the new voice, Mr. Andrews smiled warmly at the young Irish-wolf.
"Afternoon, Mr. Davis," Mr. Andrews resounded with a laugh, clapping Samuel on the back, earning a grunt from the latter, resulting in a round of laughter from the group, who as Samuel noticed, were clad in warm clothing, from overcoats to shawls.
"So," Samuel continued after recovering from the hard pat, "out on tour I see."
"Yes," Mr. Andrews said, "I thought I might treat them to a 'well informed' romp around the ship."
The group let out a laugh at Mr. Andrews joke, only for the laughter to immediately die down when a new voice entered the fray.
"Excuse Me Sam," the Irish voice intruded, causing everyone to turn their attention to the ginger-furred wolf as he handed Samuel a slip of paper.
"Another ice warning. This one's from the Baltic."
"Thank You Mason," Samuel responded, taking the slip, "I'll be sure the Captain sees this."
Raising his gaze to meet the others', Samuel should see a look of concern cross their faces.
"Oh not to worry," Samuel reassured, a warm smile gracing his muzzle, "it's quite normal this time of year."
But, as his gaze passed over the group, Samuel couldn't help but noticed that Mason's attention was fixated on a certain white-furred beauty, whose muzzle sported a deep and timid smile when violet eyes met amber ones. Casting his friend a teasing smile, Samuel elbowed Mason, pulling him from his stupor. Realizing he had been caught staring, not just by Samuel, but the rest of the group as well, some sending him sly smiles, Mason uncomfortably cleared his throat before addressing Lilly.
"My apologies Miss," he said, slightly bowing his head as he did so, which only earned a small giggle from Lilly.
"Lillian Reynolds and company," Samuel began, placing a hand on Mason's back, "may I present Assistant Wireless Operator Mason Fenrrir...one of my oldest friends from Belfast."
"His father," Mr. Andrews added with a smile, "is also a member of my Guarantee Group. You'll meet him in the engine room."
Upon hearing this, the group sent Mason kind smiles, which seemed to relax him.
"So Mason," Samuel continued, "heard things were rough last night."
Mason, upon hearing this, let out a grown as he turned to the others.
"Yes," he whined, "lost power on the set last night. Was up all night trying to repair it. Now were are backed up to the stern with messages."
"I'm sure it doesn't help that your within range of Cape Race now, does it?" Mr. Andrews joked, earning a round of laughs as Mason moaned again.
"No it does not," Mason responded, letting out a small laugh as he did so, before deciding it was time to return to the wireless room. But not before bidding the group farewell.
"Oh, and Mrs. Reynolds," Mason said before leaving, a bashful smile on his face, "if I may be so bold...your husband's words on your beauty...they hardly do you justice."
With that, Mason quickly left, leaving Lilly with a deep blush showing through her fur once again. Luckily, Samuel was first to break the tension.
"Oh Lilly," Samuel sighed, "with the affect you have on men...one might assume you were a siren."
The joke itself succeeded in making everyone laugh. And, for the next few minutes, Mr. Andrews and Samuel showed the group the bridge, explaining how each instrument worked and demonstrating proper course navigation. This went on until the watch change came about, with Wilde and Garth taking over from Bill and Samuel, the latter of the two deciding to join the tour group, taking King's place in escorting Terra along the boat deck, past the wooden lifeboats that lined the open space.
"Mr. Andrews," Kate voiced from Tony's side, "forgive me, but I did this sum in my head...and with the number of lifeboats times the capacity you mentioned earlier...it seems there is not enough for everyone on board."
"About half actually," Samuel answered, stopping briefly to turn his attention Kate. "Kate you miss nothing do you?"
This earned a laugh from the group. Even Kate couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's observation.
"Actually Ms. Kate," Mr. Andrews added in, directing her attention to the cranes by each lifeboat, "I had the liberty of installing these new Welin Davits, which are designed to take in an extra row of boats inside this one."
To emphasis his point, Mr. Andrews gestured to the deck-space on which they were standing. However, his smile dropped a little when he had remembered the incident with the Board of Trade that resulted in the davits' true purpose to be nullified.
"But it was thought," he continued, "by some..."
"Namely Mr. Ismay," Samuel added with a scoff, earning a reassuring pat of the arm from Terra.
"Yes," Mr. Andrews confirmed with an eye roll as he pictured the pompous White Star President, "that the deck would look too cluttered. So, I was overruled."
"Waste of deck-space as it is for a ship that is practically 'unsinkable,'" Winston added with a laugh, kicking one of the boats for emphasis as he led his wife along the deck, soon followed by the others, with Mr. Andrews giving the girls some final assurance that the ship was perfectly safe.
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.
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Titanic Facts & Misconceptions:
A recent experiment conducted by James Cameron and a crew of historians had shown that not only would the decks have LOOKED too cluttered, they would have BEEN too cluttered. In the estimated time it took to prep, load, and launch a single lifeboat, a replica left over from the 1997 film, multiplied out by the number present on the ship, it would have taken two hours to launch all of them.
When the order was given to launch, Titanic had an hour and a half.
In the end only eighteen of the twenty boats were successfully launched, with the last two collapsibles being washed overboard.
The conclusion made;
More lifeboats wouldn't have made a difference...instead, they would have gotten in the way.
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The Bridge
8:37 P.M.
By the time dusk had rolled around, the weather had grow colder.
So cold in fact, that the officers on duty, being Lights and Humphrey, briefly returned to their cabins to grab their great-coats and gloves, depsarate to warm themselves as the brisk sea air blasting their faces forced them to seek shelter on the navigation deck. But one thing that was definitely noticeable about that night, was that everything was eerily calm.
No moon, no wind, and the sea appeared smooth as glass.
"Clear," a voice sounded from beside the two officers, who jumped a little only to relax when they laid eyes on Captain Smith, who was holding a cup and saucer of tea.
"Yes," Lights responded, his eyes mesmerized by the sight that lay before them, "I don't think I've ever seen such a flat calm...after 25 years at sea.
"Like a millpond," Smith laughed, earning a chuckle from the two officers, "not a breath of wind."
However, this small comment did cause a troubling thought to enter Humphrey's mind.
"It will make the bergs harder to see," he said, his voice laced with concern, "with no water breaking at the base."
Smith, taking this into consideration, let out a hum of agreement before deciding to turn in for the night.
"Well I'm off," he said, turning to Light and Humphrey.
"If we run into haze or ice, whichever comes first, we are to slow down. Until then, maintain speed and heading Mr. Lightoller."
"Yes Sir," Lights responded as the Captain left the bridge to retire for the evening.
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.
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Titanic Facts & Misconceptions:
It was common practice for a ship to travel at full speed in areas known to have icebergs until ice was visually spotted.
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The Wireless Room
9:40 P.M.
Phillips tapped away at the telegraph key, bags under his eyes at the lack of sleep he was experiencing. However, his ears perked up some when a message came through...
Another ice warning.
(From Mesaba to Titanic. In latitude 42* N, to 41*25* W, to longitude 52*30* W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear.)
Taking pencil in hand, Phillips began writing down the message, though not with great urgency as the message itself did not carry the Master Service Gram (MSG) prefix, meaning it would have been a priority message for the captain or bridge. He had just finished when he heard the sound of the door being opened, turning to see Mason returning from the pursers office on c-deck...carrying a bundle of more messages.
"You got to be bloody kidding me," Bride, who was just in the Silent Room, groaned as he stepped back into the main room.
"Afraid not," Mason responded, letting out a yawn soon afterward.
"Set 'em there," Phillips grumbled, briefly turning away to pick up more correspondence from passengers. Mason, doing as he was told, set the small stack on the table...
Unknowingly setting them right on top of the Mesaba's message.
Stretching his back, a few pops filling the room, Mason gave one final yawn before looking at the clock hanging over the desk.
"Well," he said, "if it's all the same to you lot, I'm gonna go grab some shuteye. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight Mason," Bride responded before deciding to turn in himself, leaving Phillips alone, the Mesaba message now long forgotten.
The Bridge
10:00 P.M.
"Did you ever find those binoculars for the lookouts?" Samuel called to Humphrey as he and Bill, along with Mr. Boxhall and Jim Moody, came to relieve Humphrey, Lights, Mr. Pitman and Mr. Lowe for the watch. Humphrey, with a shrug, responded.
"Haven't seen them since Southampton," he called, before turning on his heels, leaving Samuel and Bill on the starboard bridge wing, both with great-coat collars popped to fight against the cold.
"Anyway," Humphrey called again, "Lights and I are on our rounds. Night."
"Goodnight Humph," Samuel called before he and Bill turned their attention to the vast, dark sea ahead.
The Wireless Room
10:55 P.M.
Phillips was still hard at work, tapping away at the key.
That is until another message came in...and loud.
It was the Leyland Freighter Californian, who had sent Titanic an ice warning earlier in the day, one that had reached Captain Smith and was currently posted in the chart room. Unfortunately for Phillips, the freighter was so close that the frequency nearly deafened him.
And the message itself made him groan.
(Say old man, hear you've been having trouble with Cape Race. We are stopped by...)
Phillips, who noticed that there was no MSG Prefix, did not have time for what he thought was idle chatter, and angrily began keying...
(Shut up, shut up, Keep Out, you're jamming me.)
On the Californian, a good ten miles from Titanic's position, the blonde-furred Cyril Evans had to remove his headset to prevent himself from being deafened, before bringing the apparatus back to his ear, only to give an incredulous look to the brown-furred Second-Officer Stone.
"Arrogant Bastard," Evans says, quite annoyed, "I'm trying to warn him about the ice, and he tells me to shut up...and listen to that spark he must be right on top of us."
Leaning into the offered headset, Stone could definitely hear a strong signal. Bringing the headset back to his ears, Evans continued to listen.
"What's he sending now?" Stone inquire.
"More private stuff," Evans responded before letting out a short guffaw.
"Maverick and Reynolds want their private railcar to meet them in New York."
Stone also chuckled at the message, only to step out of the way as Evans stood from his seat.
"Well, that's it for me," he said, through the knife-switches on the wall.
"I'm shutting down."
With that, Californian's radio went silent.
The Bridge
11:35 P.M.
The air had grown even colder, made even worse by the constant flow of air over the prow of the massive vessel. With no moon or wind about, the sea was a flat calm, the night eerily still. And yet, as Samuel observed, something seemed off. Staring ahead into the distant, Samuel strained his hazel eyes into the distance, keeping an eye out for one thing and one thing in particular; icebergs. But, the sea spray was making it difficult, as he would have to constantly remove his round spectacles to clean off the water droplets that formed on them.
Upon replacing his spectacles upon his muzzle, Samuel turned upon hearing the sounds of approaching footsteps on the wooden deck. Samuel offered a smile to Bill. Returning the smile, the older wolf stepped up into the low perch on the wing of Titanic's bridge.
"Anything out of the ordinary, Mr. Davis?" he asked, his eyes glancing over to the young wolf beside him. Shaking his head, Samuel answered.
"Nothing as of yet, Mr. Murdoch," he said with a chuckle, his lite Irish accent adding to the levity of the current atmosphere, "but nothing gets by us ow, does it?"
Offering a hearty laugh in response, the Titanic's first officer clapped his junior offer on the back before they both resumed their watch. For another few minutes, the pair watched the calm ocean with great diligence. But soon, Bill noticed something strange ahead, which also seemed to be noticed by Samuel. Straining their eyes, they saw that a patch of the stars seemed to be blocked out, as if a shadow had been cast over the bright celestial objects. But as the great ship drew closer, the shadow grew, as did both officers' eyes at the realization of what the shadow was.
"Bugger me," Samuel rasped out. But before he could react, Bill already had. Running to the wheelhouse, Bill swung the door open just as three bells rang from the ship's crows nest.
"HARD TO STARBOARD!" He yelled to Quartermaster Hitchens, a stocky, black furred wolf who then began to quickly turn the ship's wheel, just as Jim Moody relayed the message from the crows nest.
"ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD!" In that time, Samuel had already jumped into action. Running to the engine order telegraphs on the bridge, Samuel quickly rang the brass instruments to "Stop." As he began to run back to join Will on the bridge wing, Samuel could hear the Cornish accent of Hitchens from the wheelhouse.
"HARD OVER!"
"HELM IS HARD OVER, SIR!" Moody confirmed as the threatening mass of ice seemed to loom closer to the mighty ship.
Meanwhile, down int he engine room, Archie was just having a cup of Tea with Chief Engineer Bell, the drink having been heated on the hot steam pipes, when the bell from the responder telegraphs rang. Looking to the instruments, and Bell and Archie had to do a double take when they saw the indicator arrows pointing to STOP.
With the sudden order finally sinking in, Archie gave the order.
"ALL STOP!"
In an instant, the engineers scrambled around, rushing to close of the the steam pipes that lead to the engines.
In the boiler rooms, a loud bell sounded, alerting Scar to an illuminated indicator panel, each with a speed setting. When he noticed that the light behind stop lit and the red light beside the panel started flashing, he sprang into action.
"SHUT ALL THE DAMPERS!" he called to the other stokers who quickly moved to shut the furnaces and seal the dampers, reducing the flow of air over the burning coals, which aided in bringing the engines to a stop.
As all this was happening, back on the bridge, everyone held their breath. For a few seconds it seemed as if nothing was happening, which made Samuel even more nervous.
"IS IT HARD OVER?!" Samuel screamed in panic to Moody.
"IT IS, YES SIR, HARD OVER!" Looking ahead once again, Samuel and Will held their breath as they loomed closer to danger by the second, the familiar and welcome thrum of the engines ceasing as they were stopped.
"Come on," Samuel heard Will whisper, "come on, come on, tuuuurn."
"Turn your big arse for us, girl," Samuel whispered as of the ship could hear him, a nervous sweat forming on his brow. Soon, the nervousness began to subside as, slowly but surely, inch by inch, the great vessel began to turn to the left. "That's it girl, that's it." And, after thirty-five seconds of waiting, just as it seemed they were about to clear the berg, everything fell apart. Within seconds, the ship began to shutter and shake as the sound of breaking ice could be heard on her starboard side. Samuel's eyes widened in terror as the iceberg began to glide past, larges pieces breaking off and falling onto the ship's forward well deck.
"HARD TO PORT!" Will ordered, although Samuel was in such a state of shock he couldn't register what was said. But, luckily, he managed to come out of the shock as something came to mind.
"I'LL CLOSE THE DOORS!" he yelled to Will, running back to the wheels. Upon entering the wheelhouse, Samuel threw the switch that would seal the Titanic's many watertight doors.
Down in Boiler Room 6, Scar was knocked off of his feet by a rush of water spraying in from newly formed gashes in the ship's hull, the cold sea water coming into contact with the heated metal of the boilers and the burning coals of open furnaces, a deafening hissing sound filling the room with billows of blinding steam.
But then, Scar heard a sound that made his heart fill with dread...
An alarm, followed by tumbling gears.
"GET OUT LADS!" he called,
"THEY'RE CLOSING THE DOORS!"
Luckily, Scar was able to get out of the flooding boiler room before it was sealed, finding himself in the dry Boiler Room 5, only to find to his horror, that water was spraying out from the coal bunker.
"COME ON, UP TOP BOYS!" he called to the stokers, many not needing to be told twice to climb up the ladders leading up and out of the boiler room.
On the bridge, after about half a minute, all lights on the indication panel lit up, showing that every door in the ship had been closed, trapping any water that may have entered the ship in the damaged compartments. By this point, the iceberg had glided past, the collision a distant memory. But, their was still procedure to follow. Bill, who had entered the wheelhouse a few seconds earlier, turned to Mr. Moody.
"Note the time, enter it into the log," he ordered. By this point Boxhall, who had been making tea at the time, had joined the group. A few seconds later, Captain Smith, walked onto the bridge, a calm, but nonetheless, alert expression on his face.
"What was that, Mr. Murdoch?" He inquired of his most trusted First Officer.
"An iceberg, Sir," Bill answered nervously. "I put her hard to starboard, Mr. Davis rang the engines all stop but she was too close. I tried to port 'round it, but she hit it." Unnerved by this news, Smith turned toward Samuel.
"Have you closed the watertight doors?" he inquired of the young wolf, who nodded in response.
"The doors are close sir," he confirmed. Nodding solemnly, Smith knew that they needed a full status report of the vessel before he could make a definitive answer on how to proceed with the voyage.
"Mr. Davis, find the carpenter. You two will go below decks and sound the ship," he ordered.
"Yes, sir," Samuel responded with a crisp salute before leaving the wheel house. Once Samuel was off, Smith addressed the rest of the crew that was present.
"Rouse the rest of the officers," he ordered, "Mr. Moody, fetch Mr. Andrews and tell him what's happened. For the time being, we will proceed with caution. Ahead slow Mr. Murdoch," Smith finished after looking to said officer, who offered a quick salute before making his way to the telegraphs.
One thing was certain, however, this was surely to be a night to remember.