Passengers of the RMS Titanic April 1912 at around 11:40 pm, while the RMS "Titanic" was sailing about south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the ship struck an iceberg and began to sink. Shortly before midnight, Captain Edward Smith ordered the ship's lifeboats to be readied and a distress call was sent out. The closest ship to respond was Cunard Line's away, which would arrive in an estimated four hours—too late to rescue all of "Titanic" passengers. Forty-five minutes after the ship hit the iceberg, Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats to be loaded and lowered under the orders women and children first. The first
Changes in safety practices after the sinking of the RMS Titanic it was agreed that rockets at sea would be interpreted as distress signals only, thus removing any possible misinterpretation from other ships. After the "Titanic" disaster, the U.S. Navy assigned the Scout Cruisers "Chester" and USS "Birmingham" (CL-2) to patrol the Grand Banks for the remainder of 1912. In 1913, the United States Navy could not spare ships for this purpose, so the Revenue Cutter Service (forerunner of the United States Coast Guard) assumed responsibility, assigning the Cutters "Seneca" and "Miami" to conduct the patrol. The "Titanic" disaster led to the convening of the first International Convention for the Safety