SinkingMain article: Timeline of the sinking of RMS Titanic
Further information: Ship floodability
Route and location of RMS TitanicOn the night of Sunday, 14 April 1912, the moon was not visible in the clear sky (being two days before new moon), the temperature had dropped to near freezing, and the ocean was flat calm. Captain Smith, in response to iceberg warnings received via wireless over the preceding few days, had drawn up a new course which took the ship slightly further southward. That Sunday at 1:45 pm,[note 3] a message from the steamer Amerika warned that large icebergs lay in Titanic's path, but because wireless radio operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were employed by Marconi,[52] and paid primarily to relay messages to and from the passengers,[53] they were not focused on relaying "non-essential" ice messages to the bridge.[54] Later that evening, another report of numerous large icebergs, this time from Mesaba, also failed to reach the bridge.
At 11:40 pm, while sailing about 400 miles (640 km) south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, lookouts Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship. Sounding the ship's bell three times, Fleet telephoned Sixth Officer James Moody on the bridge exclaiming, "Iceberg, right ahead!". First Officer Murdoch, hearing Moody repeat the message, gave the helmsman, Robert Hichens, the order "hard-a-starboard", using the traditional tiller order for an abrupt turn to port (left).[55] Moody, stationed behind the helmsman, confirmed to Murdoch that his order had been carried out correctly.[56][57][58] Murdoch adjusted the engines (ordering through the telegraph for either "full reverse" or "stop" of the engines; survivor testimony on this conflicts).[59][60]
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