15. Hundreds of tonnes of water started flooding the Titanic – 45 minutes after the initial impact, it was clear the ship was doomed.
With its exterior breached, the Titanic started taking on water at a rate of around 400 tonnes per minute. This was 15 times faster than it could be pumped out. The ship began to flood right away. While it was fitted with bulkheads – essentially compartments sealed with watertight doors – these were not sealed at the top. Within 45 minutes of the collision, around 13,700 tonnes of water had been taken on and five compartments were flooded. Captain Smith was informed in no uncertain terms that the Titanic was doomed.