The ship in the distance was the Californian, stopped dead in the water due to ice, and with her wireless shut down at midnight. Titanic’s first SOS went out around 12:20 a.m.
Californian reported seeing eight distress rockets being fired “from a large ship” but her captain did nothing.
Because of this incident, International Maritime regulations require commercial ships to have radios manned 24/7.
The Titanic disaster was not attributable to any one thing, but to a combination of many factors from the type of steel used in her construction to the poor command of her skipper. If any of those factors had not taken place, the disaster would not have happened.
The greatest lesson is that of overweening human pride and sense of self-importance that tells us we can build an “unsinkable” ship. It’s that same hubris that tells us we are so powerful that we can change the climate.
Was the Captain’s last name Clinton?