Stephanie Sammartino McPherson - Iceberg, Right Ahead!: The Tragedy of the Titanic

To the memory of all those who sailed on the Titanic

The author wishes to thank Jean Reynolds for her insightful comments and editing and Richard McPherson for reading the manuscript and for his unfailing support.

The cover illustration, also used on page 5, shows an artists rendering of the Titanic as it sank on April 15, 1912.

Text copyright 2012 by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McPherson, Stephanie Sammartino.

Iceberg, right ahead! the tragedy of the Titanic / by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978076136756-7 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978076138048-1 (eBook)

ISBN 978146775932-8 (Audisee ISBN)

1. Titanic (Steamship)Juvenile literature. 2. ShipwrecksNorth Atlantic OceanJuvenile literature. I. Title.

G530.T6M39 2012

910.9163'4dc22 2011002352

Manufactured in the United States of America

4 PC 9/1/13

TABLE of CONTENTS

THE BIGGEST MUSEUM IN THE
WORLD |

THE STORY THAT NEVER
GROWS OLD |

What Happened to Them? The Fates of Ships
Associated with the Titanic | 101

THE VIEW FROM THE CROWS NEST showed that all was quiet on the Titanic as it sped through the frigid but calm waters of the North Atlantic in the spring of 1912.

INTRODUCTION

ICEBERG,
RIGHT AHEAD!

L ookout Frederick Fleet stared into the darkness from the tiny crows nest high above the deck. The Titanic was making good time, slicing through the calm, cold water of the North Atlantic Ocean. But it could
be hazardous to travel so rapidly at night. Fleet and his fellow lookout, Reginald Lee, knew they were passing through ice-infested waters. The ships safety depended on their vigilance in spotting icebergs. Stars sparkled in the clear air, but the moon was a tiny sliver on the evening of April 14, 1912, and offered no light to aid the men in their observations. Fleet detected a faint haze on the horizon. Usually a pair of binoculars was kept in the crows nest to help the lookouts see distant objects. But the binoculars had been missing throughout the four days of the journey.

At almost 11:40 P.M. , Fleet noticed a mass that
stood out in the darkness of the water. It didnt seem large from his perch, about the size of two tables shoved together, he reckoned. But it blocked the ships pathway and grew rapidly bigger as the Titanic advanced. A feeling of dread came over Fleet as he reached for the alarm bell. There is ice ahead, he informed Lee tersely. He rang the bell three times as a sign of approaching danger.

Then Fleet put in an emergency telephone call to
the bridge, the area from which the captain charts the course of the ship. What do you see? asked a voice matter-of-factly.

Iceberg, right ahead!

Thank you. The phone disconnected.

Fleet had done everything he could. With mounting anxiety, he watched the iceberg loom closer and closer. The two lookouts steeled themselves for impact.