Lead: On the evening of April 14, 1912, in the crow's nest of the Titanic, the pride of the White Star Line and the largest ship afloat, radio operator Frederick Fleet was on watch.

Tag: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: By midnight most of the passengers had gone to their cabins. Some of them noted the vibrations of the engines, driving the ship at 22.5 knots per hour in pursuit of the Transatlantic record. At that speed, the Titanic, at 40,00 tons on her maiden voyage, could not be stopped or turned easily.

At 9:30 a message was received from the steamer Mesaba, "Ice Report. Saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs. Also Field Ice. Weather good. Clear." The radio operator had a very rough day sending personal messages, did not consider the message important, and never delivered it.

The temperature was 31 degrees. High in the crow's nest Fleet was straining to see into the darkness. At about 11:40 Fleet barely made out a black object immediately in their path. He knew exactly what it was. Iceberg - dead ahead. First Officer Murdoch ordered the wheel spun hard over. Fleet with the telephone in his hand breathlessly began to pray for the bow to swing to the left. The dark mass came closer and closer, a deadly fringe of white cresting its top. The lookout braced himself, but finally the nose of the ship began to turn. At first it looked as if it was going to clear, but as the iceberg moved along the right-hand side there came a strange distant scraping noise. Contrary to popular belief the iceberg did not cut into the metal of the ship, but so great was the size and speed of the Titanic that as it bounced along the side of the iceberg the force of the collision caused the rivets in the metal skin to explode. This opened up the side of the ship and sealed her fate.

Within a half an hour the ship had begun to settle. At 1:40 the front was almost completely submerged. At 1:50 she broke in two and the forward section sank. At 2 o'clock the rear of the Titanic, pivoted around, and at 2:20 slipped into the icy Atlantic carrying to their death 1500 passengers.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts

Copyright 1995 by Educational Broadcast, Inc. Resources

Ballard, Robert D. The Discovery of the Titanic. New York: Warner Books, 1987.

Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1955.

Lord, Walter. The Night Lives On. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1986.

Article, "Harold Bride and the Sinking of the Titanic, New York Times, April 19.1912.

Padfield, Peter. The Titanic and the Californian. New York: The John Day Company, 1965.

U.S Senate, "Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, U.S. Congress Hearing on the Titanic Disaster. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1912.