Sunday, April 14, 1912
Early morning 

Titanic continues on course into the heart of the North Atlantic. She covers another 546 miles on this day. 

Mid-morning 

Titanic receives a warning from Caronia of ice ahead. Later, another message from the Dutch liner Noordam also warns of "much ice". 

Early afternoon 

The Baltic reports "large quantities of field ice" 250 miles ahead of Titanic. Capt. Smith would later show this message to Bruce Ismay. One survivor would later account that Smith and Ismay talked at lunch about making New York a day early and grabbing headlines. Another message is received from Amerika warning of icebergs, but this message is not forwarded to Capt. Smith. 

6:00pm 

Capt. Smith alters course to South 86 West True, heading southwest of original course, but maintains full speed. 

 Captain Smith

7:30pm

The Californian sends a third message warning of ice 50 miles ahead of Titanic.

9:20pm 

After meeting with Second Officer Lightoller and discussing the unusually calm seas and clear air, Capt. Smith retires to his room. Officer Lightoller then cautions lookouts to be careful of ice until morning. Titanics' speed at this time is 22 knots. 

 Officer Lightoller

9:40pm 

A heavy ice pack and iceberg warning is received from the Masaba. Wireless Officers Phillips and Bride ignore the message and proceed with sending personal messages from the passengers. 

10:00pm 

Second Officer Lightoller is relieved by First Officer Murdoch. Titanic is running at 22 to 24 knots with 24 of her 29 boilers lit. 

Officer Murdoch

10:55pm

Californian reports they have been stopped by ice 10-20 miles north of Titanic, reported position 40.2N 50.7W. Wireless Officer Phillips tells them "Keep out! Shut up! You're jamming my signal! I'm working Cape Race", and the Californian shuts down their set for the night.

11:30pm

Lookouts Fleet and Lee note a slight haze appearing ahead. Titanic is moving at 24 knots, or 26 MPH, or 2200 feet per minute (1/2 mile).

11:40pm 

Lookout Fleet rings the bridge by telephone yelling "Iceberg right ahead!" and rings the crows nest bell 3 times. Sixth Officer Moody acknowledges and relays the message to Murdock, who orders "Hard-a-starboard" and telegraphs the engine room "Full Stop" followed by "Full Astern". 

 Fredrick Fleet

11:40:40pm 

Titanic begins to turn slowly to port but strikes an underwater spar jutting from the iceberg on the starboard side 12 feet back from the bow. The 1 inch thick plates of steel are scrapped for 300 feet along Titanics' side and 5 to 20 feet below the waterline, buckling or tearing a hole in compartment 1, 2 holes in compartment 2, another hole that crosses the bulkhead 3 between compartments 2 and 3, another across bulkhead 4, and another across bulkhead 5 between boilers 5 and 6 and stoke hold 9. Water pressure from outside is pumping water in at the rate of 7 tons per minute (almost 2000 gallons). 

11:40:50pm

First Officer Murdoch orders "Full to Port", trying to corner Titanic around the remainder of the iceberg. He also throws the electric switch closing the water-tight compartment doors. Passengers on the upper decks see the iceberg as Titanic passes by.

11:43pm 

Capt. Smith arrives on the bridge and orders Thomas Andrews, Chief Wilde, and Officer Boxhall to go below and inspect the damage. 

 Thomas Andrews

11:55pm 

The post office on G deck is flooded, trapping and drowning several workers. Thomas Andrews reports that 5 compartments are flooded to the waterline and advises Capt. Smith that Titanic can float with 4 compartments filled, but not 5. 

12:00am 

Officer Boxhall takes Titanics' last position (41.46' N, 50.14' W), which Capt. Smith takes to the wireless room and orders the distress call CQD. 

 Officer Boxhall

12:05am 

The squash court on D deck is now flooded. Titanics' bow is only 15 feet above the 28 degree water. The engine crew has started shutting down the boilers. Capt. Smith orders the lifeboats uncovered and life belts distributed. 25 minutes after the collision, 140 tons of freezing water now fill the forward compartments and begins to overflow bulkhead 6, which only goes up to E deck, and flood the adjoining compartments. 

12:07am

Cunard liner Carpathia responds to Titanics' distress calls. She is 58 miles southeast of Titanic and will take over 4 hours to arrive.

12:15am 

Wallace Hartley and his band begins playing ragtime music in the First Class Lounge on A deck. 

Wallace Hartley

12:25am 

Capt. Smith orders the life boats filled, women and children first. First Officer Lightoller commands the lowering crews, forward boats first and moving afterward. 

12:45am 

Lifeboat 7 is launched from the starboard side with 27 people. It can hold 65. Quartermaster George Rowe fires the first distress rocket under direction of Officer Boxhall. The rockets are fired from the bridge railing in the Boat Deck, near Emergency boat 1. Aboard the Californian, Chief Officer Stone reports seeing rockets 10 miles to starboard to Captain Lord, who then ordered him to try contacting the ship by Morse lamp, NOT wireless (this was later disputed by Captain Lord during the official investigations). 

12:50am 

Officer Boxhall sights a vessel (possibly the Californian) off in the distance, but all attempts to reach her with Morse lamps are futile and she disappears. 

12:55am 

Lifeboat 5 is launched from the starboard side with 40 people. Lifeboat 6 is launched from the port side with 25 people. 

1:00am

Lifeboat 3 is launched from the port side with 32 people (including 11 crew members).

1:10am

Lifeboat 8 is launched from the port side with 27 people. Emergency boat 1 is launched from the starboard side with 12 people. It can hold 40.

1:15am

Capt. Smith tries to recall the half full lifeboats, but none return. Titanics' name painted on the bow is now at the waterline and water is beginning to flow over the top of the bulkhead 8 at Deck E. Californian Officers Stone and Gibson see several rockets and report them to Captain Lord (who later denied this account) and try repeatedly to signal a distant ship with Morse lamps.

1:20am

Lifeboat 10 is launched from the port side with 47 people. About this time, Thomas Andrews is seen staring at a painting in the First Class Smoking Room. He does not reply when asked to leave.

1:25am 

Panic is setting in as Lifeboat 14 is launched from the starboard side with 54 people, including Officer Lowe, who fires 3 shots in the air from his pistol to keep passengers on the lower deck from jumping onto the boat. Lifeboat 16 is launched from the port side with 42 people. 

 Officer Harold Lowe

1:30am 

Lifeboat 12 is launched from the port side with 32 people and Lifeboat 9 is launched from the starboard side with 48 people. Titanic begins to list to starboard while her decks get continually steeper. 

1:35am 

Lifeboat 11 is launched from the starboard side with 56 people. Wireless operator Phillips sends his last message, then abandons the radio room and heads for the aft deck. 

1:40am 

Lifeboat 13 is launched from the starboard side with 54 people and Lifeboat 15 is launched with 57 people. Collapsible boat C is launched from the starboard side with 32 people (including White Star Chairman J. Bruce Ismay). It can hold 49 and is the last boat lowered to the water on this side of the ship. 

1:45am

Emergency boat 2 is launched from the port side with 20 people (it can hold 40).

1:50am

Lifeboat 4 is launched from the port side with 34 people.

2:00am 

The water has risen to just 10 feet below the Promenade Deck and the bow railings are now under water. About this time, Capt. Smith is last seen standing on the flooding bridge. Wallace Hartley's band begins their last song, "Nearer, My God, To Thee". 

2:05am 

Collapsible boat D is lowered from the port side with 44 people. This is the last boat to be lowered from the deck of Titanic.  Some survivors reported that an officer (possibly Murdoch) shot at rushing passengers, hitting at least one, then turned the gun on himself. There are still over 1500 people left aboard Titanic as water pours over the forward section of A deck. Remaining passengers climb to the aft section, which has now started to rise out of the water. 

from "Titanic"

2:10am 

Collapsible boats A and B are freed from their tie downs but the rising water sweeps them off the deck. Passengers are seen jumping from the aft Steerage Loading door to the freezing water 100 feet below. Titanics' propellers are now completely out of the water. 

2:15am 

Father Thomas Byles gives confession to passengers gathered on the aft end of the Boat Deck. Loud crashes are heard as objects in the interior of the ship slide toward the submerged bow. 

2:18am 

The lights flicker once, then go out as the electric generators fail. Titanics' hull splits from the deck to the keel between the 3rd and 4th funnels. The stern section falls back to the water, then rises again as the bow breaks off and begins it's decent. 

from "Titanic"

2:20am 

The stern section floods and goes down "like an elevator", 2 hours and 30 minutes after the collision. Over 1500 remaining passengers plunge into the icy water. Aboard the Californian, Officers Stone and Gibson watch as a distant ship apparently travels beyond the horizon. 

2:21am 

About 20 people in the water climb into the partially submerged Collapsible A and another 30 climb atop the overturned Collapsible B. Anyone in the 28 degree water is now suffering from shock and the onset of hypothermia. The stern section implodes 200 feet down due to external pressure and nowhere for the trapped air to go. 

2:25am 

After 4 minutes in the freezing water, and assuming an average body weight of 140 pounds, most people in the water are experiencing numbing of the extremities, shortness of breath, tunnel vision, and absolute terror. These assumptions are based on medical reports of hypothermia victims. 

2:28am 

About this time, the bow crashes on the bottom 12,600 feet below. Titanic lands intact and upright, sinking 20-25 feet into the mud. Since it was flooded when it sank, the pressure equalized and it didn't suffer the implosion that the stern did. 

Current position: 41°43'57"N 49°56'49"W (13.5 miles from last reported position). 

2:30am 

After 10 minutes in the water, the average person is shivering uncontrollably, unable to speak coherently, and unable to process any information. They are running on pure instinct, trying to survive at any cost, and climbing atop one another to get out of the water. Children at this point have lost consciousness. 

2:31am 

The stern hits the bottom, 2000 feet (1/3 mile) away from the bow. 
Current position: 41°43'35"N 49°56'54"W

2:35am

Most adults have quit trying to swim, just staying afloat with their lifebelts. The screams have begun to subside as people begin to slip into unconsciousness.

2:50am 

Most people in the water are dead or unconscious by now, having succumbed to hypothermia after 30 minutes in the 28 degree water. Survivors in the lifeboats are huddled together for warmth, some rowing to keep warm. 

3:00am 

Officers and crew members begin to gather the boats together. Some survivors are transferred from Lifeboat 14 to the others, then Officer Lowe heads for the people in the water looking for other survivors. 6 people are pulled from the water, barely alive. 14 people are pulled from the partially submerged Collapsible A, then it's cast adrift with 3 dead bodies (I have not found a verifiable report that Collapsible A was ever found again). Lifeboats 4 and 12 rescue 28 survivors from overturned Collapsible B. 

3:30am

Carpathia's rockets are sighted.

4:10am

Lifeboat 2 arrives at the Carpathia.

4:45am

Lifeboat 13 arrives at the Carpathia.

5:10am

Lifeboat 5 arrives at the Carpathia.

5:30am 

Aboard the Californian, Captain Lord arrives on the bridge and asks about the ship from last night. Officer Stewart points out the ship, noting that there are no signals now (what they saw was the Carpathia). Captain Lord awakes Wireless Officer Evans and asks him to turn on the wireless and find out any information. After being advised of Titanics' sinking by the Frankfort, Californian heads for the site at full steam to assist with rescue operations. 

6:00am

Lifeboats 3 and 6 arrive at the Carpathia.

6:30am

Collapsible C arrives at the Carpathia with J. Bruce Ismay aboard.

7:00am 

Collapsible D arrives at the Carpathia. 

8:00am

Lifeboat 11 arrives at the Carpathia.

8:20am

Californian arrives.

8:30am 

Lifeboat 12 arrives at the Carpathia. Officer Lightoller is the last survivor to come aboard. 

8:50am 

Carpathia leaves for New York with 705 survivors aboard. Californian is asked to stay and search for bodies from the water. Both ships are flying their flags at half-mast. 

9:00am
approx. 

J. Bruce Ismay sends the following to the White Star Lines New York office: "Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning after collision with iceberg, resulting in serious loss of life. Full particulars later." Titanic Wireless Officer Bride volunteers to help in the transmitting of survivor lists and messages to families to the mainland. 

11:00am

Californian leaves the area bound for Boston.