What happened that fateful night is legendary, and shortly after the Titanic hit ice, and the impact was felt throughout the ship, Astor left his suite to investigate. He quickly returned and reported to his wife that the ship had struck ice. He reassured her that the damage "did not appear serious".

Later, when the first class passengers had begun to congregate on the boat deck, the Astors sat in the gymnasium on mechanical horses. They wore their lifebelts, but Colonel Astor wasn't very impressed by them, cutting open an extra one to show his wife what the insides were made of.

Even as the lifeboats were loaded Astor appeared calm, he scoffed at the idea of trading the solid decks of the Titanic for a small lifeboat. "We are safer here than in that little boat", he said. He had changed his mind by 1:45 when Second Officer Charles Lightoller arrived on 'A Deck' to finish loading Lifeboat 4. Astor helped his wife to climb through the windows of the enclosed promenade and then asked if he might join her, being as she was in a 'delicate manner'. Lightoller told him that no men could enter until all the women had been loaded. Astor stood back and just asked Lightoller which boat it was that she was in. After boat '4' was lowered at 1:55, Astor just stood there alone while others tried to free the remaining collapsible boats.

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