RMS Titanic even head-on collisions had not been disastrous. In 1907 , a German liner, had rammed an iceberg but still had been able to complete her voyage, and Captain Smith himself had declared in 1907 that he "could not imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." At 11:40 p.m. (ship's time) on 14 April, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg immediately ahead of "Titanic" and alerted the bridge. First Officer William Murdoch ordered the ship to be steered around the obstacle and the engines to be stopped, but it was too late;
RMS Titanic Maritime Memorial Act RMS Titanic Maritime Memorial Act The R.M.S. "Titanic" Maritime Memorial Act of 1986 (, ) is a United States Act of Congress that was passed to designate the wreck of the RMS "Titanic" as an international maritime memorial and to regulate the research, exploration and salvage of the wreckage. The Act became law on October 21, 1986, when it was passed by the 99th United States Congress. According to a 1985 report, the United States Congress was concerned about potential damage caused to the "Titanic"'s wreck caused by salvagers. The report found that: Walter B. Jones, Sr. (the Democratic Congressman