Collecting passengers

On Wednesday 10 April 1912 Titanic's maiden voyage began. Following the embarkation of the crew the passengers began arriving from 9:30 a.m., when the London and South Western Railway's boat train from London Waterloo station reached Southampton Terminus railway station on the quayside, alongside Titanic's berth.^[112] In all, 923 passengers boarded Titanic at Southampton, 179 First Class, 247 Second Class and 494 Third Class. The large number of Third Class passengers meant they were the first to board, with First and Second Class passengers following up to an hour before departure. Stewards showed them to their cabins, and First Class passengers were personally greeted by Captain Smith on boarding.^[113] Third Class passengers were inspected for ailments and physical impairments that might lead to their being refused entry to the United States - a prospect the White Star Line wished to avoid, as it would have to carry anyone who failed the examination back across the Atlantic.^[110] 922 passengers were recorded as having embarked Titanic at Southampton. Additional passengers were to be picked up at Cherbourg and Queenstown.^[83]
The maiden voyage began on time, at noon. An accident was narrowly averted only a few minutes later as Titanic passed the moored liners SS City of New York of the American Line and what would have been her running mate on the service from Southampton, White Star's Oceanic. Her huge displacement caused both of the smaller ships to be lifted by a bulge of water and then drop into a trough. New York's mooring cables could not take the sudden strain and snapped, swinging her around stern-first towards Titanic. A nearby tugboat, Vulcan, came to the rescue by taking New York under tow, and Captain Smith ordered Titanic's engines to be put "full astern".^[114] The two ships avoided a collision by a matter of about 4 feet (1.2 m). The incident delayed Titanic's departure for about an hour, while the drifting New York was brought under control.^[115]
After making it safely through the complex tides and channels of Southampton Water and the Solent, Titanic headed out into the English Channel. She headed for the French port of Cherbourg, a journey of 77 nautical miles (89 mi; 143 km).^[116] The weather was windy, very fine but cold and overcast.^[117] Because Cherbourg lacked docking facilities for a ship the size of Titanic, tenders had to be used to transfer passengers from shore to ship. The White Star Line operated two at Cherbourg, the SS Traffic and the SS Nomadic. Both had been designed specifically as tenders for the Olympic-class liners and were launched shortly after Titanic.^[118] (Nomadic is today the only White Star Line ship still afloat.) Four hours after Titanic left Southampton, she arrived at Cherbourg and was met by the tenders. 274 additional passengers were taken aboard, 142 First Class, 30 Second Class, and 102 Third Class. Twenty-Four passengers who had booked passage only cross-channel from Southampton left aboard the tenders to be conveyed to shore. The process was completed within only 90 minutes and at 8 p.m. Titanic weighed anchor and left for Queenstown^[119] with the weather continuing cold and windy.^[117]
At 11:30 a.m. on Thursday 11 April, Titanic arrived at Cork Harbour on the south coast of Ireland. It was a partly cloudy but relatively warm day, with a brisk wind.^[117] Again, the dock facilities were not suitable for a ship of Titanic's size, and tenders were used to bring passengers aboard. In all, 123 passengers boarded Titanic at Queenstown, 3 First Class, 7 Second Class and 113 Third Class. In addition to the 24 cross channel passengers who had disembarked at Cherbourg, another seven passengers had booked an overnight passage from Southampton to Queenstown. Among the departures was Father Francis Browne, a Jesuit trainee, who was a keen photographer and took many photographs aboard Titanic, including the last-ever known photograph of the ship. A decidedly unofficial departure was that of a crew member, stoker John Coffey, a Queenstown native who sneaked off the ship by hiding under mail bags being transported to shore.^[120] Titanic weighed anchor for the last time at 1:30 p.m. and departed on her westward journey across the Atlantic.^[120]

Titanic (right) after the near-collision with New York (left, together with Oceanic at the far left)