RMS Titanic due to design changes requested by Ismay and a temporary pause in work occasioned by the need to repair "Olympic", which had been in a collision in September 1911. Had "Titanic" been finished earlier, she might well have missed her collision with an iceberg. "Titanic"s sea trials began at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, 2 April 1912, just two days after her fitting out was finished and eight days before she was due to leave Southampton on her maiden voyage. The trials were delayed for a day due to bad weather, but by Monday morning it was clear and fair. Aboard
Titanic Musicians' Memorial hit an iceberg and began to sink, Hartley and his fellow band members assembled in the first class lounge and started playing music to help keep the passengers calm. They later moved to the forward half of the boat deck, where they continued to play as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that the band continued to play until the very end. The inscription 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' has an association with the RMS "Titanic" as it was reported by one passenger that the ship's band played the hymn as the "Titanic" sank. However, the