This highly interesting work, almost certainly painted from a contemporary newspaper photograph, records a dramatic though little-known incident just after Titanic had left the dockside at Southampton. Having let go her mooring lines on the stroke of noon on Wednesday 10th April 1912, her tugs took up the slack on their hawsers and the great liner slowly began to pull away from the quay. Once the tugs had turned her into the sea channel, they cast off and Titanic's pilot rang up "Ahead Slow" on the engine room telegraph. The ship's engines burst into life and as her huge propellers started to turn, she began to gather momentum. Within minutes she was passing berth 38, where various ships including Oceanic and the American steamer New York were laid up due to the prevailing coal strike. Initially unseen from Titanic's decks, her increasing speed, combined with the fast incoming tide, was causing excessive water turbulence with the result that New York's mooring lines snapped abruptly and her stern began to swing out towards Titanic. A collision seemed inevitable but prompt action by Captain George Gale of the tug Vulcan coupled with the alert reactions of both Captain Smith and Pilot Bowyer aboard Titanic narrowly averted what might have been a serious accident and the liner was able to continue on her way. Titanic would certainly have survived such a collision but it is intriguing to speculate that the resulting delay for repairs would undoubtedly have reprieved her from her forthcoming appointment with destiny.