Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic the ship. The boats were supposed to be stocked with emergency supplies, but "Titanic"s passengers later found that they had only been partially provisioned. No lifeboat or fire drills had been carried out since "Titanic" left Southampton. A lifeboat drill had been scheduled for the morning before the ship sank, but was cancelled, allegedly because the ship's captain, Edward Smith, wanted to deliver one last Sunday service before he went into full retirement. Lists had been posted on the ship allocating crew members to particular lifeboat stations, but few appeared to have read them or to have known what they
Sinking of the RMS Titanic not members of their ship's crew; their primary responsibility was to send messages for the passengers, with weather reports as a secondary concern. The first warning came at 09:00 from reporting "bergs, growlers and field ice". Captain Smith acknowledged receipt of the message. At 13:42, relayed a report from the Greek ship "Athenia" that she had been "passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice". This too was acknowledged by Smith, who showed the report to J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line, aboard "Titanic" for her maiden voyage. Smith ordered a new course to be set,