Soon the last lifeboat was lowered and the last collapsible slid into the sea which registered a temperature of 31 degrees Fahrenheit. The ship’s decks were largely male dominated. Some clung to the railing, looking in vain to identify loved ones to whom they had recently said their last, loving farewell. Others stood in the shadows, lost in thought, no doubt reviewing life and contemplating the one to come. Approximately 1,500 people were still on the doomed vessel and approximately 700 passengers and crew were in lifeboats designed to accommodate close to 1,200.
There were frightening moments for even those in the lifeboats. They still considered the Titanic a fine vessel, which commanded respect and admiration. But before their very eyes, the unbelievable was happening. She was at an awful angle and now rising upward at the stern. Gradually, she rose to an almost vertical position, then for close to thirty seconds she remained motionless. Her lights flickered off, then on and then finally off for good. One survivor recalled a frightening sound: “It was partly a roar, partly a groan and partly a rattle.” Dotting the motionless sea was wreckage from the world’s greatest ocean liner, the bodies of some who had sailed on her and chunks of floating ice. What a traumatic end to a journey that had only begun four days earlier. None aboard expected such an abrupt and tragic end to a voyage offering such pleasure.
On the journey of life, it seems the Bible anticipates the unexpected by saying, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:11Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)). If you had been on the ill-fated Titanic, where would your eternal soul be? Would it be in heaven because you had accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior? Or would it be in hell because you had rejected His Calvary-love and chosen your own plan for heaven.
At 2:10 a.m. on the morning of April 15, 1912, the Titanic’s wireless sent its last message. Ten minutes later, she would be seen no more above the surface, but would begin her long plunge of 13,000 feet to the dark bottom of the North Atlantic.
Earlier, Jack Phillips, at Captain Smith’s direction, had sent out a variety of urgent messages as he desperately attempted to attract the attention of ships in the area. Some had read: “We’re going down fast,” “Sinking head down,” “Engine room flooded.” The last message sent simply said, “Come at once old man. We’ve struck a berg. It’s a CQD old man. Position, 41.46 N, 50.14 W.” The wounded vessel’s plea for help had been heard and her position noted. Thank God that when individuals who have been wounded by sin send their sinner’s prayer heavenward, help and forgiveness are immediately dispatched from heaven. It reads: “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom” (Job 33:2424Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. (Job 33:24)).
The Carpathia, on her way from New York to the Mediterranean, was closest to hear the Titanic’s urgent call. She was under the command of Captain Arthur Rostron, who was wakened from his sleep at close to 1:00 a.m. with a message given him by his first officer and radio operator. Quickly, the Captain asked for details and then instructed a message be sent immediately to the Titanic 58 miles away, “We will come as fast as we can.” In no time, Rostron was on his feet and quickly giving orders to his crew, now on one of history’s greatest errands of mercy.
With the mind of a man ready to meet emergencies at sea, Rostron systematically gave orders to the men under his command. All off-duty seamen were ordered on deck immediately. The engineers were directed to bring their boilers to maximum efficiency. Gradually, the speed of the Carpathia began to increase from 14 to 14 ½, to 15 and eventually 17 knots as she cut her way through the ice-infested Atlantic. All available men were ordered to the bow of the ship and told to watch for ice. Then, without slackening speed, she wove her way through the iceberg-dotted sea. Inside the ship, other seamen were brewing coffee and preparing hot soup. Blankets were placed in the dining rooms which would serve as hospital-like receiving areas. Along the sides of the vessel, lifeboats were being uncovered and readied to be lowered when the Titanic’s position was finally reached.
The Titanic’s last location had been given and, in that area to which Captain Rostron was guiding his rescue vessel, passengers of the Titanic were in various emotional and physical states. Many were overcome with the grief they had just suffered and with which they would live a lifetime. Those in the lifeboats longed to return and hopefully pick up some of those destined to be drowned. It was feared this would mean the capsizing of some of the boats and further loss of life. Some of the men tried to sing in an effort to keep the women and children from hearing the cries of the drowning. Others rowed harder to get away from the wreckage scene and the debris strewn sea. Waiting sufferers kept an eye out for lights and several times it had been shouted that lights from a steamer had been sighted. But they turned out to be a light in another lifeboat or a star low on the horizon. It was hard to keep up hope.
The voice of one immigrant lady was heard above the rest as she kept shouting, “My God, my poor father! He put me in this boat and would not save himself. Oh, why didn’t I die. Why didn’t I die. Why can’t I die now!” Frequently she was restrained when she tried to jump into the sea.
Rostron and his crew were doing their utmost to get to the wreckage site as quickly as possible. Like those exposed to the peril of the frigid sea, men and women are exposed to the perils of sin and God’s wrath against it. As Rostron was traveling to the aid of the peril-stricken, so the Lord Jesus left heaven to come to our aid when we were lost sinners. His lengthy journey from the glory to the cross on Calvary terminated when He died to make possible our salvation. As Paul wrote in Romans 5 verse 6, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Jesus arrived on planet earth and died just in time to save us from our sins. Will you believe that He died for you and know the joy of being saved for all eternity?
One of the heroines of the Titanic tragedy was millionairess Molly Brown from Denver, Colorado. With 22 other women and 5 men, she was adrift. In the panic of the early morning, she took charge of her lifeboat and organized women into rowing groups and directed panic-stricken men to do as commanded. After the rescue of all in her boat, she became known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” To show her gratitude to the rescue crew, she had a medal struck for each member of the Carpathia’s crew.
At least 13 ships had heard the Titanic’s distress call, but the Carpathia was the first to arrive. At about 2:35 a.m., Captain Rostron spotted a green flare on the horizon. Ten minutes later, his vessel spotted her first iceberg. The numerous icebergs appeared to surround the Carpathia, and Rostron dodged them on every side. The large, free-flowing bergs remind us of the Satan-directed hindrances that appeared in our Savior’s path to the cross. But, “He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:5151And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, (Luke 9:51)). Will you respond to such love and devotion by accepting the Lord Jesus as your Savior?
Without slackening speed, Rostron dodged every iceberg sighted as he steered toward the green flares he spotted from time to time. Finally, at 4:00 a.m., the Carpathia arrived at the Titanic’s last radioed position, but there was no Titanic. The valiant efforts of Captain Rostron and the crew had failed to make the 58-mile journey before the monarch of the seas took her fatal plunge. The Titanic’s distress calls had been heard and responded to, but the Carpathia was too late. Thankfully, when a sinner sends his distress call to heaven for God’s salvation, the Savior always arrives on time. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:2121And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:21)).