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
RMS Titanic in popular culture May 1912 and subsequently shown internationally, it was a major success. However, it is now considered a lost film, as the only known prints were destroyed in a fire in March 1914. Gibson's film competed against the German film "In Nacht und Eis" ("In Night and Ice"), directed by the Romanian Mime Misu, who played the "Titanic"s Captain Smith. It was largely shot aboard the liner SS "Kaiserin Auguste Victoria". The fatal collision was depicted by ramming a model of "Titanic" into a block of floating ice. The impact knocks the passengers off their feet and causes pandemonium on board.