Capt. JG wrote:

Hmmm... my understanding was the the Titanic did not send up any distress
signal, although there were claims that they did.

Yep. All the surviving ships officers & passengers "claimed"
they did.


.... They fired rockets, but
not red ones I believe.


At the time, the standard for distress signals was that they
be white rockets. One of the Titanic's junior officers was
ordered to start firing rockets and he did so for a couple
hours, right up until he couldn't strike any more fuses
because they were getting wet.

Most of the dispute about the Titanic's distress signals
come from Captain Stanley Lord of the 'Californian' and his
sympathizers. The 'Californian' was the ship parked for the
night nearby (between 5 ~ 15 miles) which did not respond
and did not have her radio turned on.

This is a great reference for the Titanic and a lot of other
maritime history. It is very interesting to read thru the
U.S. Senate hearings and the British hearings right afterwards.
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/

DSK