Sinking of the RMS Atlantic

On March 31st captain Williams and third officer C. L. Brady were at the bridge till midnight, there was heavy seas and it was very dark. At 2 o'clock in the night on April 1st, the ship struck an underwater rock. Quartermaster Reynalds, had just prior to this logged a true speed of 12 knots. The officers and crew immediately rushed on deck, and tried to get the 10 lifeboats out by chopping the ropes with axes, but the lifeboats were washed away, as the ship was sinking and the seas washed over the deck. 20 persons were killed on the deck when the bow on the foremast came loose and turned.

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