Iceberg. Right ahead.
14 April 1912 · North Atlantic, 41°46′N 50°14′W
Two hours forty minutes
Titanic sank at 02:20. Of ~2,224 aboard, 710 survived. Lifeboat capacity: 1,178.
The reforms
SOLAS (1914) mandated lifeboats for all souls, 24-hour wireless watch, and the International Ice Patrol — still funded by member nations today.
The Titanic was universally advertised as "unsinkable" before her maiden voyage.
The phrase came mostly from trade press and later retellings. White Star Line's own advertising called her "designed to be practically unsinkable" — a hedge that was largely dropped from public memory after she sank.
If Fleet had been given his binoculars, he would have seen the iceberg in time.
The crow's-nest binocular locker was missing its key — held by an officer reassigned in Southampton. At the 1912 inquiries Fleet himself testified that on a moonless, mirror-calm night, binoculars would probably not have given the bridge enough warning to steer clear.