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The History - The Maiden Voyage
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 As
the sailing date drew near, workmen were still putting the finishing
touches on the Titanic, painting, carpeting and furnishing
her luxurious cabins and public rooms. Finally, at 9:30 a.m. on April
10, the boat train from London’s Waterloo Station arrived, and
second-class and third-class passengers began to come aboard. Two
hours later, the special boat train from London pulled up, carrying
many of the ship’s first-class passengers. Before the ship’s
departure, passengers and guests explored the vast Titanic,
inspecting her electric elevators, kitchens, libraries and the gymnasium’s
mechanical camels and horses. |
Then, at noon, the Titanic’s huge, triple-toned whistles
blew, the visitors debarked, and the ship steamed into the River Test.
 As
passengers waved goodbye from her decks and windows the Titanic
narrowly missed colliding with the berthed liner New York,
which had broken her moorings and drifted perilously toward the Titanic.
After that close call, however, passengers enjoyed a relaxing Channel
crossing. That evening, the Titanic stopped in Cherbourg,
France, the second point of embarkation, to take on about two hundred
and fifty more passengers. Just after 8:00 p.m.,
the Titanic began her first night at sea, and continued toward
Queenstown, where she arrived the next morning to pick up more mail
and about half as many passengers as in Cherbourg. |
On the 11th of April, 1912, the Titanic
was finally ready to set sail for New York. At about 1:30 in
the afternoon, with just over 2,200 passengers and crew, she began
her departure from Queenstown Harbor.  As
the Titanic eased out of the harbor, the bagpipes of third
class passenger Eugene Daly could be heard at the stern offering the
somber tune of "Erin's Lament" as the Maiden Voyage began.
During the first few days of the ocean voyage, passengers enjoyed
an exceptionally calm crossing and a pampered routine. The crew, however,
was coping with a number of difficulties, including a smoldering fire
in one of the ship’s coal bunkers and a breakdown in the Titanic’s
wireless system. Meanwhile, as Captain Smith was steadily increasing
the Titanic’s speed, ice warnings were coming in from
La Touraine, the Rappahannock and other ships in
the North Atlantic lanes. utmost in security. |
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