4:17 in the afternoon
It was traveling at a speed of 13.43 knots under the thrust of its 1,000-horsepower engines . Its paddle wheels were churning the sea with perfect steadiness . It was then drawing 6.7 meters of water and displacing 6,624 cubic meters . At 4:17 in the afternoon , during a high tea for passengers gathered in the main lounge , a collision occurred , scarcely noticeable on the whole , affecting the Scotia 's hull in that quarter a little astern of its port paddle wheel . The Scotia had n't run afoul of something , it had been fouled , and by a cutting or perforating instrument rather than a blunt one . This encounter seemed so minor that nobody on board would have been disturbed by it , had it not been for the shouts of crewmen in the hold , who climbed on deck yelling : `` We 're sinking ! We 're sinking ! ''