The Iceberg that Sank Titanic
- Description (Brief)
- Titanic struck a North Atlantic iceberg at 11:40 PM in the evening of 14 April 1912 at a speed of 20.5 knots (23.6 MPH). The berg scraped along the starboard or right side of the hull below the waterline, slicing open the hull between five of the adjacent watertight compartments. If only one or two of the compartments had been opened, Titanic might have stayed afloat, but when so many were sliced open, the watertight integrity of the entire forward section of the hull was fatally breached. Titanic slipped below the waves at 2:20 AM on 15 April. The Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene around two hours after Titanic sank, finding only a few lifeboats and no survivors in the 28F degree water. Bernice Palmer took this picture of the iceberg identified as the one which sank Titanic, almost certainly identified by the survivors who climbed aboard Carpathia. The large iceberg is surrounded by smaller ice floes, indicating how far north in the Atlantic Ocean the tragedy struck.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- photograph
- date made
- 1912
- Measurements
- overall: 6 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 16.51 cm x 21.59 cm
- ID Number
- 1986.0173.33
- catalog number
- 1986.0173.33
- accession number
- 1986.0173
- subject
- Photography
- Transportation
- Titanic
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Photographic History
- Titanic
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- Additional Media
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