{illust. caption = THE LOCATION OF THE DISASTER}


he made an effort by going full speed ahead on the starboard
propeller and reversing his port propeller, simultaneously
throwing his helm over, to make a rapid turn and clear the
berg. The maneuver was not successful. He succeeded in
saving his bows from crashing into the ice-cliff, but nearly
the entire length of the underbody of the great ship on the
starboard side was ripped. The speed of the Titanic, estimated
to be at least twenty-one knots, was so terrific that
the knife-like edge of the iceberg's spur protruding under
the sea cut through her like a can-opener.

The Titanic was in 41.46 north latitude and 50.14 west
longitude when she was struck, very near the spot on the
wide Atlantic where the Carmania encountered a field of ice,
studded with great bergs, on her voyage to New York which
ended on April 14th. It was really an ice pack, due to an
unusually severe winter in the north Atlantic. No less than
twenty-five bergs, some of great height, were counted.

The shock was almost imperceptible. The first officer did
not apparently realize that the great ship had received her
death wound, and none of the passengers had the slightest
suspicion that anything more than a usual minor sea accident
had happened. Hundreds who had gone to their berths and
were asleep were unawakened by the vibration.