‘Iceberg Dead Ahead’: 113 years later, Titanic’s legacy endures

She was called many names: the Millionaire’s Special, the Floating Palace, the Last Word in Luxury, the Ship of Dreams – and, allegedly, the unsinkable ship.

Let’s take a deep dive into the events of April 10-18, 1912, and the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

The Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Ireland. This has confused some, as the ship’s stern bore the name of Liverpool, England, which was its port of registry.

It took 15,000 men three years to build the legendary ocean liner.

Growing up, I studied the Titanic extensively. It wasn’t until later that I learned Minnesota had a connection to the tragedy. In fact, seven people from Minnesota were aboard the ship.

Alexander Oskar Holverson of Alexandria was among them. He did not survive.

But John Pillsbury Snyder and his wife, Nelle Stevenson Snyder, were among the fortunate who made it into a lifeboat.

Snyder later gave an account to reporters from the Minneapolis Journal. He said:

“One of the stewards came along, and I asked him if the ship had hit anything. He replied that we had just grazed on iceberg. He tried to assure me there was no danger.”

Snyder continued: “When we got there, we found the crew swinging down the lifeboats. By now, it had been about 40 minutes since the ship had hit the iceberg. Next, we heard someone saying, ‘Get into the lifeboats as quick as you can.’”

The couple boarded Lifeboat 7. They later settled in Edina. Snyder, a businessman and politician, served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1927 to 1928. He died of a heart attack in 1959 at age 71 while golfing at Woodhill Country Club in Wayzata.

The Titanic would not be discovered until 26 years after Snyder’s death.

The voyage and collision

The Titanic began her fateful maiden voyage at noon on Wednesday, April 10, 1912, leaving Southampton, England. The voyage was almost delayed due to a near-collision with the SS New York.

It was considered unsinkable because it had 16 watertight compartments designed to keep it afloat after a head-on collision. But instead of hitting the iceberg head-on, the ship sideswiped it, tearing 6-inch slits along the starboard side of the bow. The collision occurred at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912.

The last dinner

The 10-course dinner served on April 14 included:

• Hors d’oeuvres – oysters à la Russe
• Consommé Olga
• Cream of barley
• Poached salmon with mousseline sauce and cucumber
• Filet mignons Lili
• Sauté of chicken, Lyonnaise
• Vegetable marrow farcie
• Lamb with mint sauce
• Roast duckling with apple sauce
• Sirloin of beef with château potatoes
• Green peas
• Creamed carrots
• Boiled rice
• Parmentier and boiled new potatoes
• Punch Romaine
• Roast squab and cress
• Cold asparagus vinaigrette
• Pâté de foie gras
• Celery
• Waldorf pudding
• Peaches in Chartreuse jelly
• Chocolate and vanilla éclairs
• French ice cream

Modern legacy

In 1996, Cyberflix, a Tennessee-based game developer, released “Titanic: Adventure Out of Time,” a CD-ROM game that remains playable today on platforms like GOG and Steam Deck.

But it was James Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic” that cemented the ship as a tragic love story. 

Final days

On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, her first port of call. From there, she traveled to Cherbourg, France, where she was moored overnight and took on more passengers. The next day, April 11, she sailed to Queenstown, Ireland—her final stop before crossing the Atlantic. There, some passengers disembarked, and others came aboard.

On April 12, she departed Queenstown. Next stop: New York.

By April 13, Titanic had passed multiple icebergs. It seemed she was in the clear – for now.

April 14 was a day of controversy. A lifeboat drill was scheduled but canceled by Capt. Edward John Smith in favor of a religious service for passengers. It was Titanic’s first and last Sunday afloat.

At 11:40 p.m., the ship struck an iceberg. Twenty-five minutes later, she began to sink. Two hours and 15 minutes after impact, the legendary ship slipped beneath the surface of the North Atlantic, killing more than 1,500 people and leaving 710 survivors.

The Cunard Line ship RMS Carpathia rescued the survivors on the morning of April 15. Titanic was gone. On April 18, Carpathia docked in New York, where the survivors were met with grief, press, and intense inquiries by the U.S. Senate and, later, Lord Mersey in the United Kingdom.

Enduring questions

It’s a story that has echoed through the ages – a story of triumph and tragedy, of survival and loss.

A common myth is that the ship was declared unsinkable. In truth, Shipbuilder magazine described it as “practically unsinkable.”

Many documentaries have explored the Titanic’s story, including “Children on the Titanic,” “Beyond Titanic” and others.