Titanic Maiden Voyage

 Titanic's maiden voyage officially began in Southampton, England,  although she had initially sailed from Belfast, Ireland, where she was  built at the Harland and Wolff shipyards. 

While she was being loaded with supplies a day after docking in Southampton on April 4, 2012, the ship was "dressed overall" with flags and pennants, and the paying public was invited onto the Titanic to explore the new ship.

The day began in the morning of the 10th during the dawn hours, and as early as 5am, 892 crew members, consisting of 871 male and 21 female members, were waiting to board the largest ship in the world.

699 members of the 892 crew were from Southhampton, and many had never been on a ship before, the majority having only been hired within a few days before.

Captain Edward J Smith boarded the Titanic at 7:30am, wished his wife and 12 year old daughter goodbye and headed to meet with Chief Officer Wilde to check on preparations for the voyage.

The crew boarded by 8:00am, located their sleeping quarters, stored their belongings, and were ready for duty in their respective locations on the ship.

The second and third class passengers began to board at 9:30am to ensure they would not be seen nor hamper the first class passengers when they arrived.

There were 497 Third Class passengers, and they were separated with the single men at the front (bow) of the ship, and single women and children to the rear (stern) to prevent mingling.

The front and stern of the ship were also the least comfortable riding positions, another reason the third class was situated in those locations.

At 11:30am, the 193 first class passengers boarded the ship, most of them coming by boat train from London.

For first class passengers, traveling on Titanic was more than transport, it was to be seen as rich and glamorous, not entirely different from influencer photos on today's social media platforms.

Titanic officially departed Southampton at noon to her first stop for passenger drop off and pickup in Cherbourg, France, arriving two hours late at 6:30pm.

When Titanic was leaving port at Southampton in the River Test, there was a near accident with nearby docked ship New York, whose anchoring ropes broke from the massive swells of Titanic.

The shallow 35 foot depth of the the River Test created larger than expected tidal waves resulting from Titanic's manoeuvring, and the close collision with the ship New York (within four feet) delayed departure by over an hour.

274 passengers were loaded onto Titanic in Cherbourg, and 24 first and second class disembarked, either arriving from boat trains or offloading to the ship Nomadic.

It was 8:10pm and under the dark of night when the Titanic left Cherbourg and set for Queenstown, Ireland, her second port of call before New York. 

Titanic was still two hours behind schedule, and was trying to make up time for her arrival at Queenstown the next afternoon.

On Thursday at 11:30am on April 11, 1912, Titanic arrived in Queenstown without any issues, albeit now three hours late.

Titanic anchored one mile out of Queenstown while seven first class passengers, including Father Browne, disembarked and seven second class passengers along with 113 Third Class passengers joined Titanic.

1385 sacks of mail destined for North America were also loaded onto Titanic because RMS Titanic was a Royal Mail Steamship.

Passenger outbound mail was taken to Queenstown and those fortunate enough to send one of the many Titanic postcards provided onboard would have their loved ones not receive their mail until after their demise.

Titanic departed from Queenstown at 1:30pm, now a full four hours behind schedule without incident.

New York City was the next and final destination, six days away over the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean.