Titanic: Journey to the bottom of the ocean Related Stories At 23:40 on Sunday 14 April 1912 - 100 years ago - the Titanic was just a few days into its maiden voyage when a lookout delivered the fateful message: "Iceberg, right ahead." Moments later, the passenger liner struck the iceberg, tearing a series of holes in its hull. Within three hours, the ship would be resting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, at a cost of 1,517 lives. Scroll to explore the wreck on the ocean floor 600m 2340 - Titanic hits iceberg Within minutes of the collision, the ship has taken on thousands of tonnes of seawater. The vessel's architect, Thomas Andrews, inspects the damage and determines that five of the ship's 16 watertight compartments are flooding and that it will sink. 0030 - Lifeboats are lowered Captain Edward J Smith issues instructions to launch the lifeboats. At 0040, the first is launched, with women and children boarding first. Although there are enough for more than 1,000 people, many are lowered into the water half full. 0210 - Ship's lights go out Titanic's bow becomes completely submerged and the stern begins to lift out of the water. Eighteen of the 20 lifeboats have so far been launched and the ship's lights finally go out. 0217 - Titanic breaks in two The stern steadily rises out of the sea, revealing the ship's three huge propellers. The hull is unable to withstand the enormous strain and snaps between the