Meanwhile in the wireless room, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were busy receiving ice warnings from other ships in the area. These messages were passed on to Captain Smith and the officers, who regarded them as normal warnings for this time of year, and no threat to the Titanic. When the Titanic came in contact with Cape Race, Newfoundland, around 9:30, the wireless room became very busy sending passenger's routine messages to friends, relatives and business contacts. It was during this time that the most important ice warnings were ignored. The steamer MESABA sent an urgent message reporting that a large ice field lay beyond in the direction the Titanic was steaming. Up in the crow's nest, Frederick Fleet was staring into the darkness. It was around 11:30 on a very odd calm moonless night when he noticed a black object immediately in their path, he knew it was ice! On the bridge, First Officer Murdoch ordered "full speed astern" and "hard a' starboard". Slowly the ship began to turn and it looked as if it was going to clear the ice. When they heard a strange scraping noise, Murdoch knew they had hit an iceberg, a seaman's worst nightmare. He then ordered the watertight doors shut. Shortly after the collision, Thomas Andrews met with Captain Smith. It was during this meeting that Andrews stated the ship was doomed. Over 200 feet of the ship was sliced open, and the first six watertight compartments were flooding. Knowing the ship was doomed, Captain Smith ordered evacuation of the Titanic. Their greatest problem was that the Titanic only carried enough lifeboats for about half of the 2,200 people on board. Outdated British Trade regulations required 16 lifeboats for any vessel over 10,000 tons. Meanwhile in the wireless room, the wireless operators were sending distress calls indicating the Titanic's position.