Edward J. Smith

Walter Lord | December 1955

The first and last trip of the “unsinkable” Titanic

RMS Titanic leaves Southampton harbor on April 10, 1912. Able Seaman William Lucas scampered up a ladder that dangled down the side of the new White Star liner Titanic. It was 11:50 A.M. — ten minutes before Southampton sailing time — on Wednesday, April 10, 1912. The gangplanks were already up, and Lucas was the last man aboard. A dozen stokers who appeared just after him were told they were too late. She could float with any two compartments flooded, and since no one could imagine anything worse than a collision at the juncture of two compartments, she was labeled “unsinkable."

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