The Californian and the Titanic

The Leyland Line Californian which was sailing in ballast from London to Boston, Massachusetts, under the command of Captain Stanley Lord, reported ice in Latitude 42° 03' N Longitude 49° 09' W at 19:30 hours on April 14th 1912. 

At 22:30 she stopped as she was blocked by the ice. At 23:00 the Californian's wireless operator, Cyril Evans, tried to warn the Titanic of ice but was cut off by the Titanic;s radio operator. Californian's officer oof the watch, Third Officer, Charles Victor Groves, noted a large ship on  her starboard side, coming from the east at about 10 miles distant. At 23:40 he noted the other vessel had stopped and put out most of her lights and assumed she had also stopped for the ice.

Under Admiralty rules at that time, there waas no requirement for a 24 hour radio watch to be kept, so when Evans came off watch at 23:30, he switched off his set and went to bed.

The Titanic and the Californian attempted to contact each other during the night by Morse lamp but both thought it was just the mast lights flashing. Second Officer Herbert Stone saw the Titanic's rockets at 00:45 but did nothing about it. At 04:00 Chief Officer George Frederick Stewart took over the watch and was informed about the rockets. At 05:40 he awoke Wireless Officer Evans and told him to turn on the radio, when they learned of the Titanic's collision  and  the Californian went to her aid.

One of the Board of Trade's recommendations following the sinking was to have all ships maintain a 24 hour radio watch. The film 'A Night to Remember' made from Walter Lord's 1957 book of the same name, is very true to the facts.