They watched the hull move down the ways. A "way" is a shallow ramp which leads down to the water and is used after the workers finish the hull work on a ship. Once the hull is launched, they move it into deeper waters where they finish it. The Titanic traveled a length of 900 feet before coming to a rest in her fitting-out basin. A "fitting-out basin" is where the boat sits after being launched down the way, where the ship builders do their finishing …show more content…
The ships Carolina, Noordam, Baltic, and the Amerika all gave warnings to the Titanic telling them that they were sailing into an area of heavy icebergs. Most people on board were not afraid, they believed that the ship was unsinkable.
The last ice warning was received at 9:40 PM from the Mesaba. The nearest ship to the Titanic, the Californian tried to signal her, but the Titanic’s wireless officer named Phillips told the Californian to shut up because he was busy. Many people believe that it was those very words that sealed the fate of the Titanic. The Californian's wireless operator then turned off his radio and went to bed. Frederick Fleet and Lee were the watchers in the crows nest of the Titanic who first spotted the giant berg. They rang the bell three times and yelled, "Iceberg dead ahead!" The Titanic was on a collision course with the iceberg. First Officer William Murdoch ordered the ships’ engines stopped, reversed, and then the mighty ship tried to turn hard to port to miss the berg. In doing this, the ship missed hitting the ice berg head on, but would scrape along the side of the ice instead, which probably caused more damage than hitting it straight on would