by Nic Compton
• Did Ismay leave the ship too soon? On his return to New York, Ismay was vilified for leaving the Titanic while there were still women and children on board and for not going down with the ship in true heroic fashion. He was dubbed ‘the coward of the Titanic’ and ‘J Brute Ismay’, a tradition which was continued in Cameron’s 1997 movie, where he is shown sneaking into a lifeboat. In fact, Ismay got away on Collapsible B, which was the 14th out of 19 lifeboats to be successfully launched. It was lowered into the water nearly an hour after the first lifeboat, and 40 minutes before the last. Not the bravest act, but not the most cowardly either.
Inevitably, the scope of both inquiries was limited by the types of witnesses available, as well as the prejudices of the times. While the US inquiry questioned 21 passengers, nearly all of those were from First Class, with just three Third Class passengers being called to give evidence. No Second Class passengers were questioned. The British inquiry fared even worse, seeing fit to question only three passengers out of 95 witnesses, all of them from First Class: Bruce Ismay, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and Lady Lucy Duff Gordon. Evidence of discrimination against Third Class passengers was unlikely to come from any of them.
The inquiries were flawed in other ways. The US Inquiry had the advantage of taking place when events were fresh in the witnesses’ minds, and the committee went out of its way to allow people to tell their stories in their own words. On the other hand, many survivors were still in shock, and their evidence may not have been completely reliable. By the time the British Inquiry took place, the witnesses had had time to separate fact from imagination, and several used the opportunity to correct statements they had made in the US. But the delay also meant they had had time to settle on their story and to fine-tune their version of events. And, while the British committee questioned the witnesses more rigorously than their American counterpart did, it was by no means the thorough cross-examination you would expect in a court of law.
There is also evidence that some of the witnesses may have been unduly influenced prior to the British Inquiry. At least two survivors from Lifeboat No 1 admitted to being visited by someone representing Sir Duff Gordon and being asked to sign statements about what had happened that night. One was even paid seven shillings for his troubles. Sir Duff Gordon may have simply been trying to protect his reputation by ensuring the truth was recorded, but to many it looked very much like he was interfering with the witnesses.
Whatever else, the varying accounts of all the people questioned, as well as the differences between the two inquiries themselves, suggested that absolute truth is an elusive thing indeed.
Flawed as they are, the witness testimonies nevertheless provide an extremely vivid account of one of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century. Not only are they unfiltered by any author, but they are absolutely contemporaneous and are imbued with the character of the times – good and bad. There are wonderful turns of phrase which were once the norm but now sound impossibly poetic – such as ‘I will take a sky’, meaning ‘I will take a look’. And there are casual racial biases – such as the repeated references to ‘Italians’ and ‘Japanese/Chinese’ for anyone of a Mediterranean or Asian appearance. There is also very real drama in the inquiry itself as new evidence is revealed – most notably when a previously unmentioned message from the Mesaba, warning of ice directly in the Titanic’s path, is discovered halfway through the British Inquiry.
For many years, the transcripts of these accounts were not available to the general public and were only available to researchers with some difficulty. But recently, both inquiries have been transcribed by a group of enthusiasts and made available on the web (www.titanicinquiry.org). It is these transcripts that this book is based on. Thousands of pages of eyewitness accounts have been sifted through, and the most relevant and interesting passages extracted. These have then been reassembled, more or less chronologically, to tell the story of the Titanic using entirely the first-hand accounts – the first time this has been done, as far as we know.
Most of the accounts come from the survivors themselves, but both inquiries also included testimonies from people involved in the ship in other ways – such as the wireless manufacturer Guglielmo Marconi, and representatives from the ship’s builders Harland & Wolff – as well as several expert witnesses. The most prominent among these was none other than the explorer Ernest Shackleton, then at the peak of his career, and brought in to advise on the nature of icebergs. Extracts from these non-survivor accounts have been included in this book, set in bold italic to differentiate them. Biographies of all the survivors quoted in this book, as well as several of the expert witnesses, can be found on page 297.
As well as the two official inquiries, a few excerpts have been extracted from the Limitation of Liability Hearings, which are transcripts of a lawsuit against the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, owners of the White Star Line. Like the evidence given during the official inquiries, these depositions were made under oath, and therefore carry more weight than eyewitness accounts published in other forms. The most dramatic of these are the statements given by Elizabeth Lines and Emily Ryerson, which explicitly challenge Ismay’s assertion that they were not trying to make a fast crossing.
Titanic experts will see that some of the accounts have been edited. Mostly, this has consisted of shuffling the order of sentences around to make narrative sense; occasionally it has meant ‘reconstructing’ sentences which have been broken up in the interviewing process. In all cases, this editing process has been kept to a minimum to ensure that these accounts are, as much as possible, told in the witnesses’ own words – grammatical errors and all. Some witnesses were, in any case, not native English speakers, such as Secretary to the Chef, Frenchman Paul Mauge, who came out with the immortal line: ‘But the chef was too fat I must say […] He could not jump.’
For, above all, the sinking of the Titanic is a human story. It is a story about ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. How they cope with that experience – be it through bravery, cunning, cowardice or even, in a few cases, humour – is what defines them as human beings. In that sense, it’s a story that touches us all.
Part One
Sea Trials and the Maiden Voyage
2–14 April 1912
‘The position was taken up that the ship was looked upon as practically unsinkable’
Bruce Ismay – Managing Director, International Mercantile Marine
When we built the Titanic, we wanted the very best ship the builders could possibly produce. She was the latest thing in the art of shipbuilding; absolutely no money was spared in her construction.
The Titanic was built in Belfast by Messrs Harland & Wolff of Belfast. They built practically the whole fleet of the White Star Line – the Olympic and the Baltic and all those ships. Messrs Harland & Wolff have carte blanche to build the ship and put everything of the very best into her. After they have spent all the money they can on the ship, they add on their commission to the gross cost, which we pay them. We would naturally try to get the best ship we possibly could.
The ship cost $7,500,000. She was insured for $5,000,000.
When you build a ship, you have to start building her probably five or six years before you want her. Messrs Harland & Wolff prepare the plans. They are then submitted to us, to the directors of the White Star Line or to the manager of the White Star Line. They are carefully gone through with the representatives from the shipbuilders. They try to make suggestions to improve those plans. They are taken back and thoroughly thrashed out again, and they are submitted, I should be afraid to say how often.
We were very anxious indeed to have a ship which would float with her two largest watertight compartments full of water. What we wanted to guard against was any steamer running into the ship and hitting her on a bulkhead, because if the ship ran into her broadside on and happened to hit her right on a bulkhead, that would open up two big compartments, and we were anxious to guard against the possibility of that happening. The
Olympic and Titanic were so constructed that they would float with the two largest compartments full of water. I think I am right in saying that there are very few ships of which the same can be said.
The Titanic left Belfast, as far as I remember, on the first of April.b She underwent her trials, which were entirely satisfactory.
Harold Sanderson – Co-director, White Star Line
The Titanic was built with an unusual number of watertight bulkheads; 15 in all. Those bulkheads were of special construction, carried up as much as possible in one fair line, and they were built in excess of the requirements of Lloyd’s. The plating and connections were also of special strength, and in excess, I am told, of what Lloyd’s requirements would have been. She had a double bottom, which was carried nine-tenths of the way. That double bottom, instead of terminating at the bottom of the bilge, which is ordinarily the case, was carried up to the top of the bilge. The pumping arrangements were exceptional, each boiler compartment having its own equipment, which is quite an unusual thing of the kind.
Charles Lightoller – Second Officer
Sea trials were held on Belfast Lough. The ship was run a certain distance on a comparatively straight course and back again, over approximately four hours – two out and two back. For a ship of that size, she went at a fair speed.
When the ship was built, we only expected her to go 21 knots, therefore all over 21 we thought very good. I do not know what her speed was on the trial trip, but we understood she would eventually go faster when she was tuned up. I dare say we wanted her to go at her maximum speed at some time or other, and naturally we talked; we wondered what her maximum speed would eventually be.
I saw the watertight doors myself tested, and they were all in perfect working order.
Harold Lowe – Fifth Officer
We arrived in Belfast and went around everything, taking stock of everything on board the ship, and also noting the condition of these things. We went around the lifeboats. The odd numbers, Nos 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15, were on the starboard side of the ship, and the even numbers were on the port side.
Mr Moody and myself took the starboard boats, and Mr Pitman and Mr Boxhall took the port boats, and we overhauled them; that is to say, we counted the oars, the rowlocks, or thole pins, and saw there was a mast and sail, rigging, gear, and everything else that fitted in the boats, and also that the biscuit tin was all right, and that there were two water beakers in the boat, two bailers, two plugs and the steering rowlock. There is a compass, a light and oil to burn for eight hours. Everything was absolutely correct with the exception of one dipper. A dipper is a long thin can, an inch and a quarter diameter, which you dip into the water breaker and draw the water. That was the only thing that was short out of our boats.
These are the outside boats, the boats that hang on the ship’s side. Then there are two collapsibles on each side, two on port and two starboard, and we examined them.
Everything was absolutely correct; I will swear to that.
Harold Bride – Assistant Telegraphist
I went up to Belfast to join the Titanic and test the Marconi apparatus. We had a special sending apparatus which doubled our range; during the daytime, we reckoned to be able to do 400 miles. Coming around from Belfast to Southampton, there were messages transmitted for Mr Ismay regarding the speed of the ship. They were sent to the White Star offices at Liverpool and Southampton, saying generally that the trials of the speed of the ship were very favourable.
Guglielmo Marconi – Chairman, Marconi International
The Titanic was equipped by my company. The wireless equipment on board was a fairly powerful set, capable, I should say, of communicating 400 or 500 hundred miles during the daytime and much further during the night-time. At night it would very often be capable of communicating 1,000 miles, with accuracy. It was the latest apparatus for that purpose.
The wireless apparatus was in duplicate, and it had a spare battery by means of which it could be operated in case of the current being cut off from the dynamos of the ship, consequent upon the flooding of the engine room. This was done in consultation with the White Star Line.
Charles Lightoller – Second Officer
Almost immediately after taking on board a few things that had been left behind – requisites down in the galley, cooking apparatus, a few chairs, and such things as that – we proceeded toward Southampton. From Belfast round to Southampton, we averaged about 18 knots. Her greatest speed was perhaps 18½ knots; I do not think she got much higher than that.
There, the ship was heeled for stability. The builders knowing the exact weights on board, additional weights are placed on each side of the ship. A pendulum is suspended in the most convenient place in the ship with a plumb on the end of it, and a method of registering the difference with the plumb line. A number of men then transfer the weights from one side of the ship to the other, bringing all the weight on one side and transferring the whole of it back again; and with this, I believe, the builders are able to draw up a stability scale.
The Southampton Board of Trade officer, Captain Maurice Clarke, carried out the requisite tests. We call him a nuisance because he is so strict, because he makes us fork out every detail. He would insist upon everything that contributes to the ship’s life-saving equipment being absolutely brought out on deck every time. Life-preservers throughout the ship, all the boats turned out, uncovered, all the tanks examined, all the breakers examined, oars counted, rudders tried, all the davits tried. The boats lowered, put in the water, and pulled out, and brought back again, and if he was not satisfied, sent back again. Lifebelts in every room, in every compartment, where, as we say, there was habitation, where a man could live – including steerage and the crew’s quarters. There was innumerable detail work.
Harold Lowe – Fifth Officer
After the general muster at 8.30, Mr Moody, the sixth officer, and myself manned two boats. We were lowered down on the starboard side with a boat’s crew. The boats were manned, and we rowed around a couple of turns, and then came back and were hoisted up and had breakfast, and then we went about our duties. I should say it would take 20 minutes to half an hour. There is not only practice in the rowing of the boats, but there is also practice in the lowering away and clearing. It would take about half an hour, hoisting and lowering.
No boat drill took place from the time of departure. A fire drill did take place, and it always does take place. There are so many hoses on each deck, and the water service is on, and the hoses are manned by the men, and the commander sends word along, ‘That will do for fire exercise’, and then we switch off the water.
Alexander Carlisle – Former Managing Director, Harland & Wolff
Personally I consider there were not enough boats. I have said so over and over again. I have said it in the works. I said it at the Merchant Shipping Advisory committee, before either of the ships went to sea. I said it to the entire meeting; whoever was present heard me say it. I said I thought there ought to be a very much larger number. I thought there ought to be three on each set of davits. 48 boats, instead of 16.
When working out the designs of the Olympic and the Titanic I put my ideas before the davit constructors, and got them to design me davits which would allow me to place, if necessary, four lifeboats on each pair of davits. They all will carry four. I see no difficulty. One would be hanging outboard by the spars, the same as the P&O Company generally carry their boats.
When I pointed out that I expected the Board of Trade and the Government would require much larger boat accommodation on these large ships, I was authorised then to go ahead and get out full plans and designs, so that if the Board of Trade did call upon us to fit anything more, we would have no extra trouble or extra expense.
I came over from Belfast in October 1909, with these plans that were worked out, and also the decorations, and Mr Ismay and Mr Sanderson and Lord Pirrie and myself spent about four hours together. That was over the whole of the decorations; the lifeboat part I supp
ose took five or ten minutes. I showed them the advantage, and that it would put them to no expense or trouble in case the Board of Trade called upon them to do something at the last minute.
Mr Ismay quite agreed that it would be a good thing to make preparations for supplying the larger number of boats. How many boats would ultimately be fitted in the ship before she left Liverpool, Belfast, or Southampton was not settled when I was present, nor did I hear it. I merely ordered the davits after that. I would say they were entirely waiting to see what the Board of Trade would require.
I showed them the plans of my proposals; I could not do any more.
The White Star and other friends give us a great deal of liberty, but at the same time we cannot build a ship any bigger than they order, or put anything in her more than they are prepared to pay for. We have a very free hand, and always have had; but I do not think that we could possibly have supplied any more boats to the ship without getting the sanction and the order of the White Star Line.
Bruce Ismay – Managing Director, IMM
The Titanic conformed to the Board of Trade requirements; in fact she was largely in excess of the requirements. If she had not been fully equipped, she could not have sailed. The ship receives a Board of Trade passenger certificate; otherwise she would not be allowed to carry passengers. You could not sail your ship without it.
