A Fight For Survival.

The Estonia leaves Tallinn bound for Stockholm, The Swedish Meteorological Society is predicting stormy seas and 17-to 19-foot waves.

An engineer notices via closed-circuit TV that water is flowing in through the inner bow cargo door. The crew turns on pumps in the hold.

The Estonia leans sharply to the left. Passengers report hearing crashes–prob-ably the sound of cars and trucks sliding in the cargo hold Pandemonium breaks out as people scramble for lifeboats.

“Mayday, Estonia. We are sinking. Blackout .” A coast guard station on an island in Finland receives the first–and only–emergency call.

Finnish rescuers, en route, lose radar contact with the ship.

The Estonia disappears into the icy waters of the Baltic. Some passengers jump, but most are trapped inside the ship, which sinks 200 feet to the ocean floor.

First survivors are rescued. Many others spend more than six hours in the frigid waters. An estimated 909 people are dead.