As waves crashed over a rudder, there was an awful shudder.
People in the boats, not lending hands for others.
Some concerned for themselves, some concerned for others
People, who are rich, people who are poor.
Some to meet their creator, others to meet the shore.
Help for some, none for others.
That is the way of it in this kind of time,
For God is in control.
Christopher Brown 1997
The sinking of the Titanic is the most famous and most awful shipwreck of all time. Why the Titanic? Why the biggest ship in the world? Why the particular ship that was claimed unsinkable, and why on her maiden voyage? These are the questions that intrigue most people and continue to fascinate the world over. They are questions that can be answered by facts. Was it all man's fault or was it just fate? After reading this story you should be able to come up with your own conclusions. The Titanic was one of three ships that were to be built in Belfast, Ireland and operated by Britain's White Star Line. They would be named: Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic. Their goal was to have the Olympic and Titanic in service by 1910 or 1911 and the Gigantic to follow in a year or two. Although the Titanic’s sisters were for the most part forgotten you have to remember that the Titanic never would have existed without the other two sisters. White Star Line had to come up with two or three evenly matched ships to compete with the Cunard Line's big new ships, the Lusitania, and the Mauritania, also known as the Lucy and Mary. Cunard’s main concentration was on speed. The Lusitania could travel at 26-27 knots, and the Titanic was only able to go 22-23 knots, but when built, the Titanic was the most luxurious ship afloat. It was necessary to have three of these huge ships in order to have regular scheduled weekly service leaving every Wednesday, for example-between a British port and back again. The White Star Line could do this with three evenly matched ships, in five days. Harland and Wolff was the company that built the trio.The shipyard was confronted with the challenge of building the three largest ships in history, and that was a far cry for a company that began in 1853.Some 14,000 workers were employed at peak periods, and the slips existed for construction of no less than nine ships at a time. None of the slips in the world would hold a ship as big as were planned. The company had to combine three slips to make two giant slips and towering gantries were built to facilitate the construction. The result was the largest structure of its kind ever built. It is called the Great Gantry and it still stands today. The Olympic went into service in May of 1911 and the Titanic in April of 1912. The Gigantic was begun in the middle of 1911, and renamed the Britannic in the wake of the Titanic disaster. This is a trio the world will likely never see again, and this is their story.
The size of the new ships was and still is amazing. They were 882.75 feet in length (approximately the
size of three football fields, or four city blocks). They were 92.5 feet in breadth, and they weighed 45,000
tons. The Titanic was slightly heavier than the Olympic with the addition of more staterooms, an
enclosed promenade deck, and an Al a Carte restaurant. Enclosing a second class promenade on deck C
made room for the Staterooms. These additions made the Titanic 46,000 tons, slightly heavier than the
Olympic. In its time, it was the heaviest thing ever moved by man.
They featured: A gymnasium, where passengers could try all of the latest exercise equipment, a
Turkish bath which included the first ever sea-going masseuse, a squash court, which was more popular
with the Americans, and a salt water swimming pool which was also the first ever put on an ocean liner.
These special rooms were available for use only by the first and second class passengers.
White Star wanted to make these ships look as little like ships as possible, and they succeeded in the
first and second class portions. In third class however, the walls were painted with white enamel,and pipes and wires were showing. Even some of the lights were just
bare bulbs. Some of the third class rooms had berths for up to ten people, but most cabins had four beds and a wash stand in them. The third class had their own dining saloon, smoking room, and a small promenade space on the forward and aft well decks including the poop deck. White Star was selling transportation to third class passengers, which were mostly immigrants. They enjoyed much better accommodations than on any other vessel. White Star made most of their money from the third class passengers rather than first class. Most immigrants sold everything they owned just to pay for the
tickets to America.
Second Class Passengers enjoyed much better accommodations. Most second class staterooms had
four beds, a washstand, a heater, a couch, and a porthole and in some, even a toilet. Second class passengers had their own library, smoking room, dining saloon (Which had fixed swivel chairs unlike the
first class which had free standing chairs which was quite an innovation in 1912),a reading an writing room, and access to the gymnasium, swimming pool, squash court and boat deck. They were also provided with an elevator. White Star was selling transportation and luxury to teachers, professors, and most middle class people. They enjoyed the equivalent of first class aboard any other vessel.
First class passengers had the best accommodations offered on the seven seas. The different styles of staterooms included: Louis 14th, Louis 15th, and Louis 16th, Empire, Renaissance, Georgian, Queen
Anne, Modern Dutch, Old Dutch, and Regency. Most staterooms had four beds, a washstand, portholes, a heater, and furniture such as tables and couches. The parlor suites had their own bathroom, a
private promenade deck, square windows instead of the round portholes, and of course, a parlor. These special staterooms had cost $4,350 for six days. First Class had their own smoking room, reading and writing room, reception room, an Al a Carte restaurant with authentic French waiters (Titanic only), a verandah, a Turkish bath, a dining saloon, and two promenade decks. Unlike second class, which only had 1 elevator, first class passengers had three elevators to meet their needs. To top it all off, they had the finest grand staircase of any other ship. White Star was selling luxury and transportation to these passengers. Most first class passengers were business owners, or people of other professions that brought them a lot of money. No such luxury had ever been seen before on a sea going vessel. They succeeded in making them look as little like ships as possible, for first and second class anyway. They were described as a cake. On the bottom you had the cake, in the middle was the filling, and on the top was the frosting. They could best be described as floating palaces.
The keel of the Olympic was laid on December 16, 1908. She was fully framed by April 16, 1910, and she was launched on October 19, 1910. As soon as she was launched into the harbor, tugboats then
gently nudged her into a special dock called the graving dock where the rest of the ship is assembled. In
this process the woodwork, furniture, light fixtures, plumbing, propellers, and even the funnels (which
were big enough to drive two locomotives through them one on top of another) were added and the ship
was completely finished. She was completely finished in the May of 1911. The keel of the Titanic was
laid on March 31, 1909, and was fully framed by April 6, 1910. She was launched on May 31, 1911,
(which was the day the Olympic left for Southampton completely finished to begin her service as a
passenger liner) and underwent the same process.
The Titanic took longer to complete then the Olympic, and this was because of a couple of mishaps
that befell the Olympic in her first few months of service. The Titanic had to make way for the wounded
Olympic so she could be repaired immediately so that she could remain in service. The Olympic took 7
months to finish and the Titanic took ten months. The Olympic and Titanic were fitted with a total of 20
lifeboats. Four of them were Elgelhart collapsible that had canvas sides that folded up when needed. These collapsible were stored on the roof of the officers quarters. There was enough room in the twenty lifeboats for 1,187 of the 2,227 aboard. The original plan was for 48 lifeboats, which still would not have held the ships complement), but that idea was dropped because they didn’t want to take up all of the beautiful decks space with lifeboats that wouldn’t be needed. Harland and Wolff could have insisted that all 48 lifeboats were added but they didn’t. The lifeboat davits that were supplied aboard the two ships were capable of holding 48 lifeboats. You may ask, well why did they bother with lifeboats in the first place since they didn’t think they’d be needed? Their plan was that the lifeboats were to be used for men overboard, or to provide assistance to another sinking vessel. In case worse came to worse and the vessel was fatally injured, they figured it would take a day or two sink and that was plenty of time to get assistance from other ships in the always crowded shipping lanes. They would then use the lifeboats to transport passengers to the rescue ship.
They also boasted sixteen watertight compartments with doors that could seal off a damaged portion of the ship with the flip of a button on the bridge. The ships could float with any of the four watertight
compartments flooded. However, these compartments only extended up to the E deck and stopped. So
if the ship was severely injured in more than four compartments the water would continue to rise in a
compartment until it overflowed into the next compartment aft. This flaw was completely overlooked
until after the Titanic disaster. If these watertight bulkheads had gone all the way up it would have not
allowed the water to flow over into the next compartment aft. But, for the meantime nobody thought a
ship could possibly be damaged enough to cause a ship to sink, so a newspaper reported " these
watertight compartments could seal off a damaged portion of the ship making it virtually
unsinkable".From then on most people thought these new ships were unsinkable. That is, until April the
14th 1912.
On April the 1, 1912, the Titanic left Belfast fully completed for her sea trials. The trial lasted only six
hours. They assumed she would respond just like her sister who had undergone much more extensive
trials. The captain for the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a man by the name of Edward John Smith.
White Star awarded him command of the Titanic in return for his many faithful years of service. After this maiden voyage, he planned on retiring to England. He had commanded the Olympic and since the two
ships were nearly identical he was familiar with the style of ship. In his years of service he had
commanded the White Star Liner Cedric on her maiden voyage. On the pier in New York after arriving
with the Cedric, Smith commented, "In all of my years at sea, I have never seen an accident worth
speaking of, nor have I seen an accident that threatened to end in disaster". In another interview he
commented, "I cannot imagine any situation that would cause a ship to founder, modern day ship building has gone beyond that".
Many famous people were to sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. One person was one of the
most well known Denver millionaires, Mrs. J. J. Brown, better known as the unsinkable Molly Brown.
Also along for the ride was the president of White Star Lines, Bruce J. Ismay, the president of Macy’s
department store in New York City, Isodor Straus and his wife Ida, and the richest man in the world John
Jacob Astor. Captain Smith himself was famous, being captain of the biggest ship in the world.
The Titanic steamed away from Southampton, England on April 10, 1912. She carried 2,227 human beings. Some were crewmembers who took the trip often, others were immigrants hopeful for a new life in America, and still others were rich travelers who were returning home, or visiting America. As she was leaving the harbor at Southampton, she passed the small ocean liner New York. As the Titanic slowly slid by, the forward motion of the Titanics’ hull caused a suction that ripped loose the moorings that tied the New York to the dock. The New York headed straight for the Titanic, and collision seemed imminent. It narrowly missed smashing into the Titanic thanks to Captain Smith and some nearby
tugboats. Smith had ordered the engines to stop, and the tugboats got hold of the New York, and towed
her out of the way. As fate has it, that ship should have hit the Titanic to delay her voyage and ultimately avoiding the worst sea disaster in maritime history.
The first four days of the voyage were uneventful. Everything went just as planned. Ship builder,
Thomas Andrews was making the trip to iron out little problems that needed to be fixed. He note that
the hat hooks in the staterooms had too many screws, and the tile on the floor of the private promenade
decks was a little too dark. He also made plans to cut down the size of the ladies reading and writing
room and add two more staterooms, sincehe noted the ladies reading and writing
room wasn’t used very much. Most of the passengers were completely satisfied. They marveled at the size and beauty of the ship.
There was a small fire in one of the coalbunkers that was finally extinguished on the 14th. The wireless broke down on the Friday the 12th, but it was fixed by noon. They came in range of Cape Race on Sunday, the nearest receiver antenna for the wireless. The wireless operators then had to catch up on all of the messages that were backed up. The wireless was a new feature on passenger liners and most passengers couldn’t resist the temptation to send a message. Most messages were to or from friends and family of passengers wishing them a happy voyage and directions where they will meet them upon arrival in New York. Later in the day the wireless operators began receiving messages about icebergs from various ships in the vicinity. Senior wireless operator Jack Phillips was catching up on the work when a signal blasted in his headphones from a ship very near. It was from the Leyland Liner Californian. The Californian was bound for Boston from England, and had stopped about ten miles away from the Titanic due to ice. The operator from the Californian was reporting ice in the vicinity. Phillips then told him, "shut up, I’m working at Cape Race.
Most of the messages about icebergs were brought to the bridge and posted on the bulletin board.
Some of the messages were even delivered directly to officers. One of his trips to deliver a message,
Harold Bride, (the junior wireless operator) spotted Captain Smith and gave the message to him. Smith
should have gone directly to the bridge and mapped out exactly where this iceberg was and steered out
of it’s way. Had he done this a few times with the little amount of warnings they received, he would have realized that they were running headlong in to a field of ice. But, instead Captain Smith was in a hurry.
He was on his way to meat with Bruce Ismay at a party that was given in his favor by the Widners. At the party he gave the note to Ismay, who read it then shoved it in his pocket. As the party went on, Captain
Smith talked about the ship. Everyone commented on how well the trip had been so far. Ismay wanted
to open her up the next day and see just how fast she could go and how long she could hold it, which was
customary on maiden voyages. At the end of the party Bruce Ismay waved that same iceberg message to
Mrs. Thayer and Mrs. Ryerson.
At about 9:00 Smith left the party and went to the bridge to see how things were coming. He
commented to Second Officer Lightoller how still and clear the water was. He had the fresh water tanks
taken care of so that they didn’t freeze. The lookouts were posted in their spots on the forward mast,
and they had the forward cargo hatch shut so the light from it wouldn’t interfere with their view.
Everything seemed perfect and just the way they should on a quiet Sunday night. Little did they know
that their perfect night would end in disaster.
Captain Smith never bothered to slow down at all. He did heed one iceberg warning and he altered his course to the south because of it, and he thought this would be enough to stay out of harms way. Most
ship captains never bothered to slow down until the iceberg was actually spotted so his practice wasn’t
unusual. However, Captain Smith was solely responsible for the operation of the vessel. He was the
only one who had the authority to slow it down or alter course.
Up in the crows nest, Fredrick Fleet, one of the lookouts supplied aboard the Titanic, was keeping a
close watch for ice. The binoculars for the lookout had been misplaced, so he had to rely on his
eyesight. At 11:39 that evening, he spotted something dead ahead. At first it looked small. To him it
looked like two tables put together. Then he suddenly realized it was a huge iceberg. He rang the
lookout bell three times, and at the same time he picked up the phone connected to the bridge.
"Iceberg right ahead sir". On the other end of the line came a calm "thank-you". First officer Murdoch,
who had relieved Lightoller for the night, yanked the telegraph to full speed astern, and ordered the
helmsman hard-to-starboard. This would produce and opposite reaction and cause the ship to turn to
port, (which was the way a ships wheel worked until the 1920s). He then went to the levers that shut the
watertight compartments deep down inside the ship. He flipped all of the switches and shut all of the
doors. He had not wanted to be touted as the one who damaged the Titanic on her maiden voyage, so he
decide to try to port around it,
or back away from it (which ever came first) hoping he would avoid it. This proved to be a deadly tactic.
The reverse of the engines caused a back flow from the propellers that limited the amount of distance
the rudder could turn. And then, when the engines were reversed, the low-pressure cylinder engine that
operated the middle screw wasn’t designed to run in reverse, so they would not have been able to stop
in time. When all of these
circumstances are put together, one realizes that these people did not know their ship as well as they
should have.
Had he not reversed the engines they would have swung to port and avoided the iceberg and avoided
the worst sea disaster in history. When the iceberg was spotted the Titanic was steaming at about 221/2
knots so she was moving fairly fast when she struck. From the lookout, it looked like a collision was
inevitable, and then miraculously (or maybe not miraculously) the bow began to swing to port. At 11:40
came a slight grinding noise that many of the survivors would never forget. Mrs. J.J. White was
sleeping in her bed when the jar came. Somebody later
commented, "It sounded like a finger being drawn along the side of the ship". Even more alarming, a
window was open in Mr. James B. McGough’s cabin and ice fell in to the room. Miss Shutes
remembered lying in her bed and she suddenly felt a weird quiver that ran underneath her. A few
minutes later a friend knocked on her door and said, "come quickly to my cabin; an iceberg has just
passed our window; I know we have just struck one".
Several tons of ice had fallen on the forward welldeck. One man in the smoking room asked for
someone to go out and get some ice for his whiskey. Some passengers who were already awake or
awaken, were joking around and some were planning ice fights for the next morning. Miss Shutes
remembered no confusion or noise of any kind. Her stewardess came and said she could not learn
anything. "I sat down again. My friend by this time was dressed; still her daughter and I talked on,
Margaret pretending to eat a sandwich. Her hand shook so that the bread kept parting company from
the chicken. I then saw she was frightened and for the first time I was too." Remembered Miss Shutes.
Other people were worried about the disturbance and they became even more so as the soft vibration
of the engines came to a stop. Some speculated that the ship had dropped a propeller, while others were
sure they had hit something. In the steward bunks, they were becoming excited because they thought
the ship had dropped a propeller and if that had happened it would have meant a trip to Belfast Harbor
for repairs, and everybody enjoyed the hospitality of the seafaring town of Belfast. Ismay on the other
hand was sure they had hit something. He promptly threw on an overcoat over his pajamas, and put
some carpets slippers on, and went to the bridge.
Down in the lower parts of the ship, the impact was completely different. It was enough to throw the
third class passengers berthed on the starboard side of the bow to the floor. The stokers in the boiler
rooms had been relaxing before the impact, because it being a brand new ship there was nothing to clean
or repair. First it was the slamming of the watertight compartments then the wall of water that caused
the men to either slip out the doors before they shut, or to climb the ladders to the relative safety of the
decks above.
The water had punctured little holes in each of the first 5 watertight compartments. The holes put
together equaled about 12 or 13 square feet. The forward cargo holds and the boiler room 6 was filling
up fast. Boiler room 5 had little damage and men started the pumps immediately to try to contain the
water. They had avoided a
head-on collision, which experts say would have crumpled the bow for the first thirty feet, and they still
would have the ability to float because it only would have punctured the first two, maybe three watertight
compartments. It would have killed about a hundred people, but it was a far cry to the amount of people
who did die. Instead she merle sideswiped an underwater portion of the iceberg (90% of icebergs are
underwater). This separated folds of steel and popped rivets out. It is a complete mystery as to why the
stern wasn’t torn open as the bow had been. Some say that the stern didn’t hit because the ship was
turning away from the iceberg, but if that was the case you would thing that the bow would be turning
away and the stern was coming around to hit it.
Captain Smith, who was awoken by the impact, appeared on the bridge and asked what had happened.
First officer Murdoch explained that the iceberg was directly in front of him and he had attempted to slow down and port around it. Smith looked at the commuter on the bridge and said, ‘My god, she’s already 5 degrees to the bow".
Captain Smith went below and took Thomas Andrews with him for a quick tour of the damage. They
tried to walk slow and take back routes so they didn’t worry people. They found that the water was
pouring into the forward cargo holds and first two boiler rooms. They found the damage less in the fifth
boiler room, but it was too late. The
damage had been done. No matter how hard they pumped, there was no way to keep her from sinking,
since the watertight bulkheads only extended as high as the E deck. The water would simply run over
the short bulkheads and proceed to sink the ship. Andrews did some quick math and estimated she was
doomed in an hour, two at the most.
Captain Smith, wanting to avoid panic told the stewards not to tell any passengers what had happened,
and to tell the passengers to put on their lifevests, some warm clothes and go to the boat deck. He then
went to the wireless room and told them to sent the standard call for help, which at the time was C.Q.D
(standing for come quick danger)
followed by the ships identification number.
Miss Shutes in the meantime had opened the door to the cabin and asked and officer passing by if
there was any danger of any kind, and he replied, "none so far as I know". The same officer entered a
cabin a little distance down the hall, and Miss Shutes listened out side the door and she distinctly heard,
" we can keep the water out for a
while". It was not until then did she realize the horror of an accident at sea. She decided it was too late
to dress, and put on a skirt, coat, and slippers, and the steward strapped on the lifevest.
Captain Smith came back to the bridge and ordered all hands on deck. He then ordered the lifeboats
uncovered. About 45 minutes after the collision, Smith ordered all lifeboats filled and lowered away. He then went back to the wireless room to see what they had found. Phillips had expected to contact the
ship that had recently blasted the
iceberg warning in his ears. Among the ships they contacted included the Frankfort, which was 150
miles away and coming in their direction, the Olympic which was 500 miles away and couldn’t do more
than lend her powerful wireless receiver to pass along the message. They also picked up a possible
rescue ship. It was the Cunard liner,
Carpathia that was 58 miles to the northwest. Phillips told them they were sinking by the head and they
needed immediately. Harold Cottam, the wireless operator on the Carpathia went and told his captain,
Arthur Rostron of the trouble. Rostron had to ask twice just to be sure. He then came back and told
Phillips the Rostron had turned his
bows around and they were "coming hard" to the Titanics’ position. Although Cunard and White Star
were rivals, they never failed to help each other in distress. The Carpathia had a top speed of 14 knots,
which meant they could be there in four hours.
Rostron knew he would arrive too late but he prepared his ship nevertheless. He first ordered more
lookouts to stand on the bow and watch for ice, to prevent another disaster that night. He ordered all of
the lifeboats uncovered and ready, and all the extra food, linen, and medical supplies, to be brought to
the dining saloons. He ordered all
unnecessary steam to be diverted to the engines. Burlap sacks were brought on deck to lift the injured,
and the forward crane was raised to receive any luggage. The Carpathias’ speed was push to 17 knots,
three knots faster than she was supposed to go. During this time Rostron did find time to lift his cap and
pray for the lives of everybody on the stricken liner.
Meanwhile, passengers on the Titanic were trying to figure out whether the situation was serious or
not. The men in the first class smoking room continued playing their bridge games or having a drink,
when a officer rushed in, "men, get your lifebelts, there’s trouble ahead". In her A deck stateroom,
Mrs. Washington Dodge lay in her bed waiting for her husband to come back and tell her what the trouble was. The door opened and he came in and said, "Ruth, the accident is rather serious; you had better come on deck at once".
The band was assembled at the foot of the grand staircase where a piano was.
They began playing ragtime tunes, both American and British. The ship band was
the best afloat. There was not only the regular band, but the Al a Carte restaurant
had it’s own special three man band. Most of the men in the band were taken from other ships. Two were taken from the Olympic and one was even taken from the Carpathia. Nobody is sure whether the two bands joined together that night but it is probable they did. They most likely played tunes that did not require music sheets.
Two decks down, Mrs. Lucian Smith had gone to sleep after the impact. Her husband had left to find out what had happened. When he came back he explained, "we are North and have struck and iceberg. It does not amount to anything but will probably delay us from reaching New York.
However, as a matter of form, the Captain has ordered all ladies on deck".
This was how the news was passed. There was no official word to abandon ship, and nobody
understands why Smith didn’t order one. Third class was the only class really deprived of news. Only
the third class passengers that were berthed in the bow (this space was reserved for men traveling
alone) knew the full extent of what happened.
In second class, chief steward John Hardy was passing the news a little less formally than the first class
stewards were. He went to every door and threw it open saying, "everybody on deck with lifebelts at
once"! He personally aroused 20-24 cabins in this manner. In first class, it was a polite knock on the
door. Some of the passengers
were difficult to deal with. At stateroom C-78, steward Etchen was politely knocking on the door when
he got no response. He tried the door handle and found it locked. A man suspiciously asked, "what is
it"? And his wife added, "tell us what the trouble is". Echins explained and tried to coax them out of
their cabin but to no avail. He then passed on to the next door. In another part of the ship, it was a
jammed door that was the problem. Several passengers got together and broke the door down and
provided escape for the man inside. A steward threatened to have them all arrested when they reach
New York for damaging the ship.
When 12:15 rolled around, nobody was sure whether to joke around or be serious. Some didn’t think a
thing could have possibly damaged the ship. Mrs. Ryerson on the other hand was sure something
serious had happened. She felt there wasn’t a moment to lose. She quickly got her family of six (three
children, her husband, the governess, and maid) ready to meet what ever the night had in store.
To others it seemed as though there was all the time in the world. Mrs. Lucian Smith slowly got up
and dressed her self. Her husband was talking about reaching New York, and taking at train down
south. He became irritated when she wanted to go back and get her jewelry.
Everyone appeared on deck in a wide assortment of clothing. Jack Thayer, a sixteen-year-old first class
passenger who was traveling with his mother and father, had on a greenish tweed suit and vest, with
another vest underneath. Mr. Robert Daniel, a Pennsylvania banker, had on only pajamas. Mrs. Turrel
Cavendish wore a wrapper and
Mr. Cavendish’s coat. Mrs. John C. Hogeboom had on a fur coat over her nightgown, while Mrs. Ada
Clark had on just a nightgown. Mrs. J.J. Brown had on a black two piece velvet suit with black and
white silk lapels.
When the lifeboats were ready to be lowered forty-five minutes after the collision, most of the
passengers didn’t want to trade the relative safety of the monstrous ship for a few hours wallowing in the
waves. "The ship was like a rock in the middle of the ocean"; second class passenger Lawrence Beesley
later described. What did they think could be wrong? They thought they were on an unsinkable ship.
They thought they were on an unsinkable ship.
Other passengers were worried and got into lifeboats. The rule was woman and children first. Most
of the men escorted their wives and children to the boats. One man told his wife "it will be safe to come
back when she rights herself". Some of the women were told they would need passes to get back on the
ship in the morning.
While on deck Captain Smith’s attention was drawn to a light on the horizon. He ordered the
quartermaster to bring rockets up from below. At 12:45 the first rocket was fired off. They also tried to
contact the other ship with a powerful Morse lamp on the bridge.
Ten miles away, on the decks of the Californian, several crewmembers noticed rockets being fired off
in the distance. The officer in charge told Captain Stanley Lord, who was preparing to go to bed. Lord
asked what color the rockets were. The answer was that the rockets were white. Lord went to bed
informing them to tell him of any changes.
Back on the Titanic, people were becoming a little more concerned as the list of the decks became
more pronounced. The officers in charge of lowering the boats were no longer having a hard time finding
people to load into the boats. Mr. Andrews was urging the women to hurry. "Ladies, you must get in at
once. There is not a moment to lose." When it came time to load Mrs. Straus into lifeboat #8, she
refused when her husband said he wouldn’t leave the ship until all of the women and children were off.
She then told the officer, "I have lived with my husband most all of my life and I’m not going to leave him
now". Several first class men tried desperately to get her to board the lifeboat, but she had made up her
mind. The situation was different with Mrs. J.J. Brown. Someone came up behind her, picked her up,
and threw her right into the lifeboat she was helping to load. She protested profusely and tried to get out
but to no avail. Men who had offered their services of protection to a woman traveling alone (which was
common in those days), were now looking for that woman and were making sure she was safely off the
ship.
Benjamin Guggenhiem appeared from below with his manservant dressed in his finest evening clothes
saying, "I think there is a grave doubt that the men will get off. I am willing to remain and play the mans
game if there is not enough boats for more than the women and children. I won’t die here like a beast.
Tell my wife…I played the game out straight and to the end. No women shall be left aboard because Ben
Guggenhiem is a coward". To the opposite of this, a few men managed to sneak off with a shawls over
their heads The men had better luck getting off on the starboard side where they allowed men into the
lifeboats if there were no women in the area. On the port side, second Officer H. C. Lightoller was in
charge of the boats. He wouldn’t allow men into any of the lifeboats at all. When John J. Astor asked if
he could accompany his wife, citing her delicate condition (she was pregnant), Lightoller told him that no
men were allowed in these boats. Astor then asked the number of the boats and wandered away.
At about 1:30, the forecastle dipped under the sea. Then she leaned to port. Some thought she was
going to capsize right then. The officers ordered everyone to the starboard side to try to even out the
weight. Sluggishly she swung back to an even keel. Then she took a sickening plunge downward. The
officers knew there wasn’t much time left. Ismay had gotten dressed by now and was supervising the
lowering of the lifeboats. He was wildly going around and telling people to hurry up. He stood in front of
one lifeboats and he was wildly yelling to the officer to lower away. The officer told Ismay "get the hell
out of the way and maybe I can". All of the old-timers in the crew gasped when he said that. He then
resumed lowering the boat away. Ismay soon wandered away and came to another lifeboat and made a
decision that would ruin his credibility forever. As the boat was being lowered, Ismay quietly stepped
into the boat and was lowered away like everybody else. He would soon live to regret his quick actions.
A crewmember on the starboard side up towards the bow was having trouble finding people to load
into the lifeboat. He was having trouble because the crowd had moved aft. The Duff Gordons (well
known rich people from England) were standing nearby and walked up and asked if they could get into
the boat. The officer replied, "I
certainly wish you would". Soon a couple of American men came up and got in. Then several stokers
and a lamp trimmer came up from below and got in. Then, thinking there wasn’t a moment to lose, the
officer quickly lowered the boat with only 12 people in it. Its maximum capacity was 48.
Collapsibles C and D were really easy to get to and set up. After collapsible D was ready to be
lowered, two women rushed up. They were Mrs. Edith Evans, and Mrs. J. M. Brown. They stood on
deck arguing to each other about who should get in, for there was only space for one more person. Edith
said, "you go. You have a family and children to return to".Finally Mrs. Brown was convinced and she
got in. Collapsible D was lowered at 2:05 without Mrs. Evans. There was a priest on the stern hearing
confessions from people. There was circle of people that were holding hands and praying with another
pastor. Not one lifted a hand to help themselves as the icy waters of the Atlantic washed over their
heads.
Jack Thayer had become separated from his mother and father and was now with a shipboard friend,
William Long. At 2:05 there were debating on whether to jump or not. William wanted to wait until the
last possible second, but Jack really wanted to go, and nether one wanted to become separated. So they
just wandered among the people on the slanting deck. Suddenly they stopped in front of the rail and
decided to jump. William got on the side of the ship and asked Jack to hurry up. William slide down the
side of the ship, never to be seen again. Jack watched for him to come back up, but he never saw him
again. Jack decided that William had been drug down the side of the ship and sucked against it, unable
to break away. Jack straddled the rail and jumped away from the ship as far as he could. This proved to
be a successful tactic. He resurfaced a few yards from the ship.
Colonial Archibald Gracie was helping to get collapsible A and B off the roof of the officers quarters.
As the stern tipped even higher into the midnight black sky spotted with stars, the bow dipped even
further under the relentless sea. A big wave crashed over the roof of the officers quarters and with it
swept Archibald Gracie, Second Officer H.C. Lightoller, junior wireless operator, Harold Bride, J. J.
Astor and several other people who were helping to get the boats off. Lightoller was immediately
sucked against a ventilator shaft that led down the lower decks, and was starting to be drug down with
the ship. Suddenly there came a blast of hot air from below decks, and he was blown free from the vent.
He then swam toward the surface in the direction he thought was up. Gracie had a similar situation
happen to him. He was holding onto the rail as the ship went down. Then he realized that he should let
go. After what seemed an eternity he found himself on the surface grasping for air. He quickly started
to swim away from the ship.
When the forward funnel fell, it proved to be a deadly blow to John J. Astor. He was killed
immediately when it fell into the sea.
When Harold Bride resurfaced he found himself under collapsible B. He wormed his way out from
underneath it to witness the end. At 2:19 the stern rose out of the water, almost perpendicular to the
ocean. There was an wful roar as everything movable broke loose. The boilerplates cracked and the
boilers began falling through the bulkheads. There will never be such a mixture of noises again. 40,000
eggs, a ton of sausage, three tons of butter, 16 cases of rabbit hair, two cases of grandfather clocks, four
cases of opium, a Rubyet book with 1,000 dollars worth of jewels in the cover (1,000 dollars worth back
then), a brand new Renault automobile owned by the Widners, and thousands of other things fell towards
the bow. Bride could see masses of people on the stern, trying to stay away from the edges. They were
described as masses of bees swarming on a honeycomb. Some people could be seen jumping off the
stern.
Charles Loughton, a ship baker, was quite possibly the last man off. He had been helping women off
and had occasionally gone to his cabin for a drink of whiskey. At 2:19, when the stern was perpendicular
with the ocean, he got on the other side of the railing on the stern, and actually stood on the back of the
ship as she went under. At the last second he jumped off and swam to the nearest lifeboat, which
happened to becollapsible B. This shows the fact there was no suction at all.
At 2:20 the massive stern slid beneath the icy waters. Bride described the sinking as a duck going
down for a dive. Some people claim they saw her breakup as she went down. They say she split right
after the second funnel (where it is now split). After the stern sank, there came the most awful sound
you could imagine. Eva Hart remembers: "The sound of people drowning is something I cannot describe
to you, and neither can anyone else. It is the most dreadful sound. And then there is the dreadful
silence that follows it."
Harold Bride managed to get himself on top of collapsible B, and it soon began taking on passengers.
Bride remembered, "There was just room for me to roll on to the edge. I lay there not caring what
happened. Somebody sat on my legs. I had not the heart to ask the man to move. It was a terrible sight
all around-men swimming and sinking." "I lay where I was, letting the man wrench my feet out of shape.
Others came near. Nobody gave them a hand. The bottom up boat already had more men then it would
hold and it was sinking."
In the other boats, people were beginning to argue amongst themselves. In boat number 1, which was
the fourth boat to leave the starboard side; there were twelve passengers. The only women in the boat
were Lady Duff Gordon, and her maid, Miss Francatelli. The men were Lord Duff Gordon, Messrs.
Solomon and Stengal. Of the crew there were Seaman Symons, who took charge, seaman Horswell,
firemen Collins, Henrickson, Pusey, Shee, and Taylor. That made a total of twelve people in the boat
and that was barely a fraction of the amount it could have held. Firemen Taylor suggested that they go
back and help some of the people in the water, after the stern went under, but Lady Duff Gordon said
that the boat would be swamped if they went back so the idea was dropped. Imagine someone not
wanting to go back and rescue dying people! Imagine just sitting there listening to people dying and not
wanting to do anything about it! Mrs. Gordon and Miss Francatilli just sat there talking about Miss
Francatillis’ lost nightgown. How could they have thought about a thing like that at a time like that?
Boat number 2 was lowered from the portside at 1:45. It was the seventh boat to leave the port side.
Some of the notables aboard were Miss Allen, Mrs. Appleton, Mrs.Cornell, Mrs. Douglas, her maid
Miss Madill, Mrs. Robert, her maid Amelia Kenchen, an unknown old man, the Youssef family, and the
rest were second and third class passengers. There were also four members of the crew. The total was
twenty-five people. Fourth officer Boxhall found some green flares in the bottom of the boat and he lit
them at regular intervals during the night. These flares were mistaken by other boats as a ship. After
the Titanic went down, they returned to the place that they thought she sank, but they couldn’t find
anyone in the water. Maybe they did not go back to the same place where she actually sank, but maybe
they went a little North or maybe a little South. They may have become confused as to where the actual
sight was. At least they tried unlike boat number 1.
The third boat to leave the starboard side at 1:00 was number 3. Among the passengers there were
Mrs. Hays, Mrs. Spedden, and her son Douglas, Miss Elizabeth Shutes, Mrs. Cardeza, Mrs. Harper, Mr.
Cardeza, Mr. Harper, and Mr. Spedden. 10 or 11 members of the crew accompanied them, but there
was no officer among them. There were 32 people in the boat. Mrs. Fredrick Spedden was a bit
confused as to what boat she was in because it was marked with both a 3 and a 5. It does turn out that it
was boat number 3. While the boat was being lowered, the ropes on one side quit working. Apparently
the other side didn’t know this because they continued to lower away until the angle of the boat was so
steep it was about to collapse. Finally the other side began working and they were lowered the rest of
the way down. As soon as they touched the water, they began looking for food, water, and a lantern,
none of which was ever found. After the ship sank they just drifted aimlessly. They lost two oars, but
they didn’t return to pick them up because the stokers were terrified of suction. Everytime they came
near other lifeboats, two women would call out for their husbands, and ask if they were there. Each time
the answer was no, but these brave women never lost hope. Two men in the boat kept striking matches
and lighting cigars. Somebody asked them to stop because the matches may be needed, but they ignored
the plea and continued. All night people were saying " A light" as stars became confused with lights. At
one point they tied up with another boat but the ropes soon separated and they drifted apart. At dawn
when the Carpathia was spotted they burned some paper, and later a hat to attract some attention. As the
night became morning many surrounding icebergs became noticeable. Mrs. Fredrick Speddens’ little
son Douglas remarked: "Oh Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it." A few
of the women smiled at this in spite of the disaster. Miss Shutes began to wish for a warm velvet suit
she left hanging in her cabin. She had chosen a lighter one because she thought a heavy one would make
the life preserver useless.
Fifth officer Lowe left the ship in boat #14. He eventually rounded up boats 10, 12, 4, and collapsible
D. They were all tied together about 150 yards away from the wreck. He organized his 55 passengers
among the other boats and gathered himself a crew to man boat 14. It was a terrible experience
switching boats in the middle of the Atlantic, but it had to be done in order to try to save others lives.
Lowe shouted iratly at Miss Daisy Minahan, who was frightened. He yelled “Jump, God damn you,
jump!” In the proccess of transfering the passengers he discovered a young man who had covered
himself up with a shawl. There was nothing he could say or do so he threw the man into boat #10 and
continued about his work. During the transfer the screams of the dying had faded considerably. Boat 14
began looking for survivors at 3:00. There wasn’t many people left alive. They pulled Steward John
Steward into the boat, First Class passenger W.F. Hoyt, a japanese steerage passenger who had
happened to lash himself to a door. Mr. Hoyt died in about an hour. Although they didn’t rescue many,
at least they went back which was more than could be said about others.
Third officer Pitman..............To Be Continued...............
