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15 Remarkable Titanic Sinking Photos Taken Just Before And After It Happened

“The bow of the Titanic plunges into the North Atlantic Ocean. On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean”

These poignant Titanic sinking photos capture the disaster that took 1,500 lives one April night in 1912.

titanic sinking photos
Wikimedia Commons

The Titanic sits near the dock at Belfast, Northern Ireland soon before starting its maiden voyage. Circa April 1912.

lifeboats on titanic
© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

The lifeboats sit in their davits on the Titanic soon before the ship set off. April 1912.

where the titanic sank
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The icy waters where the Titanic sinking occurred, as seen just days before the disaster. April 4, 1912.

sea trials
National Archives/Wikimedia Commons

The Titanic begins its sea trials at Belfast, Northern Ireland soon before setting off on its voyage. April 2, 1912.

titanic reading writing room
Wikimedia Commons

The reading and writing room on the first-class deck of the Titanic, as seen soon before the vessel took off. 1912.

titanic captain
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Captain Edward J. Smith (right) and Purser Hugh Walter McElroy stand aboard the Titanic as it travels between Southampton, England and Queenstown, Ireland, just one day into its voyage — and three days before it would sink. Circa April 10-11, 1912.

The man who took this photograph, Rev. F.M. Browne, got off at Queenstown. Both Smith and McElroy died in the Titanic sinking.

titanic inside
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The main dining room aboard the Titanic, as seen soon before the vessel took off. 1912.

iceberg that sunk titanic
Wikimedia Commons

The iceberg was suspected of having sunk the Titanic, as photographed by the “steward of a passing ship the morning after the Titanic sinking. “

The other ship had not yet received word about the Titanic sinking but the steward reportedly saw red paint smeared along the base of the iceberg, indicating that a ship had struck it within the last several hours. April 15, 1912.

iceberg titanic
National Archives

An iceberg, possibly the one that sunk the Titanic, floats in the North Atlantic near the site where the ship went down. 1912.

titanic survivors rescue boat
National Archives

Following the Titanic sinking, a lifeboat carries survivors to safety. April 15, 1912.

titanic survivor children
Bain News Service/Library of Congress

The “Titanic orphans,” French brothers Michel (left, age 4) and Edmond Navratil (right, age 2), who were left temporarily parent-less their father died on the ship.

“The brothers survived and made it to New York, where they stayed for a month before their mother, who was had stayed in France and not boarded the ship, finally recognized them from a newspaper photo and came to claim them. This photo was taken before they were identified. April 1912.”

crowd outside office
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Crowds wait outside the White Star Line office in order to hear the latest news on the disaster. New York. Circa April 15-18, 1912.

titanic sinking lifeboats
George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

“The lifeboats of the Titanic that had carried survivors from the sinking ship hang from the side of the Carpathia, the ship that made the rescue, as it reaches the pier in New York. April 18, 1912.”

titanic survivors waiting
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Survivors of the Titanic sinking sit at Millbay Docks in Plymouth, England upon their return home. May 1912.

survivors gathered together
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Survivors of the Titanic sinking are greeted by their relatives upon their safe return to Southampton, England. April 1912.

The winter of 1911-1912 had been a very mild one. The ever-high temperatures in the North Atlantic had caused more “icebergs to drift off the west coast of Greenland than at any point in the previous 50 years.”

And if not for that one anomalously warm winter, may be the Titanic might never have had any iceberg to hit.

“In fact, there may be no tragedy in history more suited to the “what if?” parlor game than the sinking of the Titanic.”

“What if one nearby ship’s radio warning of icebergs in the area had actually reached the Titanic instead of failing to transmit for reasons that still remain unclear?”

“What if the radio aboard the Titanic hadn’t temporarily broken down the day before the disaster, causing radio operators to work through such a backlog of outgoing messages that they had no time to listen to yet another nearby ship’s warning of ice in the area on the night of the wreck?”

“What if there’d been no mix-up back at port in England and the ship’s lookouts had actually been given the binoculars that they should have received?”

What if the Titanic had carried its full capacity of 64 lifeboats instead of the mere 20 that it was carrying?

Just days before the sinking of the Titanic, passengers were photographed on deck strolling by these very lifeboats, completely not knowing that they’d soon have to be put to use.

And beyond this one haunting photo, there exist dozens of deadly Titanic sinking photos that capture the “tragic ignorance of the crew and passengers who had no idea that the “unsinkable” ship was about to go down.”

Photos compiled on TADEXPROF from ATI (Ex. Link)

Tadese Faforiji

I am Tadese Faforiji, a history student of the prestigious Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State- 21st-century University, properly called. I am a blogger and an avid writer.