The morning of Wednesday 10 April 1912 was bright and breezy. A sense of tremendous expectation hung in the cool spring air. The general crew reported to the dockyard at 6am and were directed to their quarters on board the ship. Half an hour later, Thomas Andrews, Harland and Wolff's official representative on the voyage, boarded the ship. He had spent the previous week examining every aspect of the ship in great detail, making copious notes on any minor improvements that could be incorporated into the design to make the Titanicmore magnificent. Captain Smith arrived by taxi at 7:30 am and at 8am the Blue Ensign was run up at the stern. While the crew reported on deck for muster, Captain Maurice Clarke of the Board of Trade carried out the final inspection of the ship. He paid close attention to the lifeboats, ensuring that they were in proper working order, but failed to spot the fire down in the bunker number 10. Satisfied that all was well and that with 5,892 tons of coal the Titanic was carrying enough fuel to reach New York, Clarke signed the ship's papers. Captain Smith then handed over the 'Master's Report to White Star's Marine superintendent, Benajmin Steele. It read, "I herewith report this ship loaded and ready for sea. The engines and boilers are in good order for the voyage, and all charts and sailing direction up-to-date. Your obedient servant, Edward J Smith."

The first passengers began to arrive at 9:30am when the boat train carrying second- and third class passengers completed its two hour journey from London Waterloo. Of the 497 third-class passengers leaving from Southampton, 180 (including 30 children) were Scandinavian, reward for White Star's extensive advertising campaign in Norway and Sweden. The majority were heading for a new life in the United States and had booked their passage aboard 'the first available ship.' It was to be their misfortune that the first available ship was the Titanic.

The second- and third-class entrances were both on C Deck, although naturally they were separate. In their rooms, passengers found maps to guide them around the maze of corridors. Many of the 202 first-class passengers embarking at Southampton arrived on the 11:30am boat train, which left Waterloo at 9:45am, and were shown to their sumptuous cabins. As noon drew nearer, pilot George Bowyer, who had been in charge of the Olympic when she was struck by the HMS Hawke, prepared for departure. On the stroke of noon, with crowds lining the quayside waving farewells to their loved ones, three loud blasts on the Titanic's mighty whistles announced that she was in motion. As she was cast off, eight crew members raced along the prier in a desperate attempt to scramble aboard. Two just reached the gangway before it was raised - the other six were left behind on the dock, cursing their luck.

Titanic began her maiden voyage from Southampton, bound for New York City on Wednesday, 10 April 1912, with Captain Edward J. Smith in command. After crossing the English Channel, the Titanic stopped at Cherbourg, France, to board additional passengers and stopped again the next day at Queenstown (known today as Cobh), Ireland. As harbor facilities at Queenstown were inadequate for a ship of her size, Titanic had to anchor off-shore, with small boats, known as tenders, ferrying the embarking passengers out to her. When she finally set out for New York, there were 2,240 people aboard.

Near Miss

Pulled by six tugs she was not yet under her own power, the Titanic crept out of the slip and into the channel of the River Test. There she was carefully maneuvered to port and released by the restraining tugs. Free at last and under her own power, she began to pick up speed, reaching around six knots. Negotiating the narrow channel constituted a delicate piece of navigation for any sizable ship, but with a liner as vast as the Titanic, it was fraught with potential problems. The space was further restricted by the presence of two liners,Oceanic and New York, tied up in tandem (with the later on the outside) at berths 38 and 39. Normally, only one ship would have been tethered there, but more vessels than usual were docked at Southampton that day, waiting for clearance to sail after the coal strike.

After passing two smaller liners, the Titanic was to make another turn to port into the River Itchen before heading out to sea. But first there was high dram, caused by the same problem that had resulted in the collision between the Olympic and HMS Hawke. As the Titanic approached the 517ft long New York, the turbulence caused by her forward movement washed innocuously into the River Test on her starboard side. But on her port side, where the New York was berthed the displaced water had nowhere to go. With the Titanic now alongside, the surge of water from her swept the New York up and down with such force that the new York's six mooring lines snapped. A series of sharp cracks, like pistol shots, rang out across the Test. The Titanic forged ahead, leaving in her wake further waves, which had the effect of drawing the unshackled New York inexorably towards her. As the stern of theNew York swung to within three or four feet of the Titanic's port side, a collision appeared inevitable.

The day was saved by Captain Gale of the Vulcan, one of the tugs escorting the Titanic. Alert to the danger, but not wishing to end up as meat in a sandwich between two liners, he manager to swing his tug behind the NewYork's stern and, at the second attempt, to get the line over her. This succeeded in slowing her drift towards the Titanic. At the same time, on the bridge of the Titanic, Captain Smith and Iolt Bowyer reacted quickly to the danger. Bowyer order 'Stop engines' the 'Full astern' and Smith had the starboard anchor lowered to just above the level of the water, ready for dropping in the even of a sudden turn. By these combined efforts, contract between the two liners was averted and the Titanic revered slowly back towards the White Star Dock. Further tugs raced to the aid of the Vulcan and succeeded in finally bringing the New York under control. It had been a near miss.

The near miss had delayed Titanic's for another hour, to allow for additional lines to be attached to the Oceanic so there was no repeat performance when Titanic steamed past again. Whatever else, it was an ominously bad start to a new ship's career at sea.

The second departure from Southampton was uneventful and after Pilot Boowyer had been dropped off, the Titanic was soon out in the English Channel, bound for her first port of call, Cherboug in Normandy. It was a journey of under 80 miles, but it took just over four hours.