Question At what point did they know that no ship would make it to them in time?

[Mike D726]

I've seen nothing in the record regarding "final" acknowledgment that no ships near enough were answering the wireless distress signals, or if the lack of potential rescue changed anything.
For example, I could envision the captain and senior officers checking at the wireless room every few minutes.
By 1:00 a.m., the rate of sinking was obvious and the calls had been going out for some time. They had only a little over an hour more.
One may wonder why the captain did not order every lifeboat to be filled to capacity as quickly as possible -- at least once it became obvious that no ship would reach them in time. Thoughts? Has anyone seen this topic mentioned in testimony at all?

 

[tsullivan0568]

Thank you 't' for your support. and for your balanced observation. (it is much needed )
My intention has never been to teach per se but to inform.
Members who wish to discover the thought processes of a seaman regarding the use of cordage can easily verify what you point out. They can do this by consulting any good seamanship manual. There, they will find the simple formulae concerning the use of all types of ropes used onboard a ship. In the old days, every Deck Officer was thoroughly examined on his knowledge of that subject. in fact lack of such knowledge resulted in examination failure.

I probably should have used my first name when I chose my username instead of just "t"...my name is Tim. I've been more of a lurker for the past few months...in fact, I just recently became an actual member. While reading your posts, and those of other experienced mariners, I've learned a lot and developed a much clearer understanding of the Titanic disaster as seen from the perspective and actions of both captain & crew. I appreciate those insights...endlessly fascinating!

 

[Steven Christian]

I probably should have used my first name when I chose my username instead of just "t"...my name is Tim. I've been more of a lurker for the past few months...in fact, I just recently became an actual member. While reading your posts, and those of other experienced mariners, I've learned a lot and developed a much clearer understanding of the Titanic disaster as seen from the perspective and actions of both captain & crew. I appreciate those insights...endlessly fascinating!

Welcome to the board. Not that I count myself among them but there are very knowledgeable people here and and vast amount of info on the various pages of this site. You can spend hours here and not scratch the surface. Sure you've found that out already. Cheers.

 

[Jim Currie]

Back to the question.

Only one Captain gave Captain Smith an arrival time, and that was Rostron on Carpathia. he said he would get there at 4-30am.
If Captain Smith knew Titanic was going to sink before 3am, then the time he knew that Carpathia would not arrive in time was the moment he knew his ship had "but between an hour and an hour and a half to live."