Quotes
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Captain Edward J. Smith : She has taken damage along three hundred feet of her starboard side.
J. Bruce Ismay : Oh my God!
Captain Edward J. Smith : You have broken one of the cardinal rules of safety, never turn your broadside to danger. Had we struck the berg head-on, only one compartment would have been flooded.
First Officer William Murdoch : I thought I could avoid hitting the berg altogether, sir.
Captain Edward J. Smith : And not only did you stop your engines, you reversed them! She would have turned much more quickly the greater her forward motion!
First Officer William Murdoch : Yes, but the watertight doors where closed immediately after impact. The c-compartments behind them where sealed.
Captain Edward J. Smith : These watertight bulkheads go up only to E deck. The weight of the water in the bow will pull her down by the head.
J. Bruce Ismay : This ship can't sink!
Captain Edward J. Smith : The ship has about two hours.
J. Bruce Ismay : The lifeboats, we have lifeboats, we must launch them at once, get everyone off the ship.
Second Officer Charles Lightoller : That won't be entirely possible.
J. Bruce Ismay : Of course, it's possible! We must begin immediately.
Captain Edward J. Smith : You may recall that we have precisely the number of lifeboats required by the British Board of Trade: seats for twelve hundred people.
J. Bruce Ismay : There's over two thousand people aboard this ship.
Captain Edward J. Smith : Two thousand, two hundred and thirty souls.
J. Bruce Ismay : I... cannot allow this.
Captain Edward J. Smith : Mr. Ismay, it was under your directive that we were traveling through an ice field at the arrogant speed of twenty-one knots! I am the master of this vessel and I have been too complacent!
