Wednesday, April 11, 2012

April 11, 1912






After leaving Cherbourg on April 10th, the Titanic sailed overnight to Queenstown, Ireland, now Cobh, for her last port of call.  The ship arrived in Queenstown at 11:30 a.m. the morning of April 11, 1912, on a partly cloudy, but relatively warm day with a brisk wind.  Just like Cherbourg, the port of Queenstown was too small to allow Titanic to dock, so tenders had to be used to ferry passengers, supplies, and such to the large liner.  In Queenstown the two tenders were the America and the Ireland who made the two mile journey back and forth to the ocean liner.

The stop in Queenstown brought aboard mostly third class passengers, with 123 new arrivals coming on board.  There were also seven second class passengers who arrived.  The Titanic received 1,385 bags of mail as she was the R.M.S. Titanic, meaning Royal Mail Steamer.  As in Cherbourg, there were passengers who disembarked (7 total).  The most noteworthy passenger was a gentleman named Francis Browne, a teacher and Jesuit student who brought along his camera to photograph the ship while on board.  His photograph's of the ship itself are some of the only ones in existence, including what is believed to be the last photograph of Captain Smith.

 
At approximately 1:30 p.m. the Titanic set off from Queenstown towards the Atlantic.


The last photograph believed taken of the Titanic as she leaves Queenstown


She followed the Irish Coast to Fastnet Rock, a distance of 63 miles before turning out into the Atlantic Ocean.  As the Irish coast became distant, third class passenger Eugene Daly played "Erin's Lament," an Irish folksong to those assembled on the deck. 

After leaving the Irish coast behind, the ship followed the Outward Southern Track, typical of this time of year.  This route was followed by ships in the summer months, which constituted January 15 through August 15. The purpose of this route is to sail south enough to miss the ice burgs that sailing further north would encounter.  Unfortunately for the Titanic, this route wasn't south enough.

On this first day, the ship sailed at 21.5 knots, allowing it to cover 386 miles from noon on the 11th through noon of the 12th. 

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