Sinking of the RMS Titanic believed that ice posed little risk; close calls were not uncommon, and even head-on collisions had not been disastrous. In 1907, , a German liner, had rammed an iceberg and suffered a crushed bow, but was still able to complete her voyage. That same year, "Titanic"s future captain, Edward Smith, declared in an interview that he could not "imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." As "Titanic" approached her fatal collision, most passengers had gone to bed and command of the bridge had passed from Second Officer Charles Lightoller to First
SMS Leopard (1912) SMS Leopard (1912) SMS "Leopard" was an auxiliary cruiser of the Imperial German Navy intended for use as a commerce raider. She was intercepted attempting to break out into the Atlantic and was sunk with all hands in a fierce gun battle with British warships. "Leopard" was built as the British freighter Yarrowdale by W Dobson&co Newcastle in 1912. She was operated by R MacKill&Co of Glasgow. On 11 December 1916 "Yarrowdale" was captured by the German commerce raider "Möwe" in the Atlantic. "Möwe's" captain, KK Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien was impressed by "Yarrowdale's" potential as a raider, and on 12