Yesterday Papers

The White Star Line mega-ship, Titanic, on her maiden voyage, struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM on Sunday, April 14, 1912. Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes later she sank, carrying with her the lives of 1517 passengers and crew.

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Leaving the British port of Southampton on April 10th, the Titanic was involved in a near miss with the liner New York. The moorings securing the New York broke as the Titanic passed by. The New York was pulled to safety but not before she came within 4 feet of striking the Titanic. The near miss was considered fortunate at the time. However, fate would prove otherwise. Had there been a collision, the delay would have probably have resulted in the Titanic and the deadly iceberg passing each other without incident.

After a port call in Cherbourg, France, the Titanic headed for New York. Although the boilers had not yet been lit, she made very good progress. It is alleged that J. Bruce Ismay, chairman and managing director of the White Star Line, wanted Captain Smith to light the boilers so that they would arrive at New York earlier than planned. As a result, it is alleged that Captain Smith then ordered all boilers lit and the Titanic picked up speed.

The ice fields in the North Atlantic are normally kept from moving south by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. However, that year the Gulf Stream had moved further south, allowing ice to drift in a more southerly direction.
The night of April 14, 1912 was a moonless night. During such dark conditions, lookouts normally would spot icebergs by the ripples caused when the wind would break at their bases. Since the night was not only dark, but also calm, the lookouts were virtually blind. At 11:40 PM the iceberg was finally spotted. Although First Officer Murdoch immediately ordered the ship to steer around it, the order came too late. The iceberg grazed the starboard side of the Titanic causing the rivets that held the hull together to snap.

As water began to enter the ship, Murdoch ordered watertight doors to be closed, thus trapping workers in those compartments. The Titanic was designed to stay afloat with four or fewer flooded compartments. However, on this fateful night, five compartments were breached. Titanic was sinking as the forward end of the ship was weighed down by the flooding.

Some lifeboats were launched but, because there was no immediate sign of danger, many were not at full capacity. Gradually the gravity of the situation was apparent as Titanic began to list. Frightened passengers fought for places on the remaining lifeboats, now filled to capacity. By 2 AM only two lifeboats remained and the entire bow of the ship was submerged causing the stern to rise out of the water.

The stern continued to rise at an alarming angle and passengers began leaping into the water, hoping to reach a lifeboat. As the bow sank even lower, the pressure on the ship’s hull caused the ship to break up. The bow, now free from the rest of the ship, plummeted to the ocean floor and the stern crashed back into the water.

By 2:20 AM what was left of the Titanic also sank to the depths of the Atlantic. With the loss of 1517 souls, the sinking of the Titanic was the worst peacetime maritime disaster on record.

First newspaper accounts of the disaster, on April 15th, were optimistic – going so far as to announce that all on board had been rescued. As the days went by, reports were much gloomier and eventually, blame for the disaster was tossed around rather haphazardly.

Presented here are the front pages of the Syracuse Herald from April 15th through April 20th, 1912. As you can see, first reports indicated that all were saved and that the great ship was “limping” along toward Halifax, Nova Scotia. The progression of the news articles tell quite a tale.

PLEASE CLICK ON ANY OF THE IMAGES BELOW TO VIEW THE .PDF VERSION OF THAT DAY’S FRONT PAGE. EACH CAN BE ENLARGED FOR EASY READING.