In accordance with Executive Orders 01912TG, published June 15th, 1912, (which superseded Executive Order 1863CWZ, as amended) the executive agencies of The United States, Newfoundland and Ireland have declassified this document.
Titanic of the Dead
A survivor and witness account
BY LAWRENCE BEESLEY (Scholar of Gonville and Caius College)
TITANIC SURVIVOR
BY STEPHEN A. DYMARCIK II (Scholar of Stern and Romero College)
AUTHOR, TITANIC HISTORIAN AND ARTIST
BY T.R. CONKLIN (Rhodes Scholar)
CO-AUTHOR
The great ship drifted about with her cargo of misery and death. No help had come:
Loss of appetite, furnace fever, eyes bloodshot then pale, nostrils and lips crimson, tongue swollen with thirst, black vomit, delirium, collapse, and death; all the usual accompaniments of a plague… yet these dead rise and feed.
PREFACE
The circumstances in which this book came to be written are as follows. Five weeks after the survivors of the Titanic landed in New York, I was the guest at luncheon of Samuel J. Elder and Charles T. Gallagher, both well-known lawyers in Boston. After the luncheon I was asked to relate to those present the experiences of the survivors in relation to the Titanic and our reaching the Carpathians.
When I had done so, Mr. Robert Lincoln O'Brien, the editor of the Boston Herald, was so shocked, he urged me to seek medical help. I assured him I was quite well. He asked once more for the account in full detail. The good man inquired if I had fallen ill with Dipsomania. I again assured him I hadn't any medical condition involving an uncontrollable craving for alcohol. The attendees could tell from my tone, I was serious. It was at this point I was urged, as a matter of public interest, to write the true history of the Titanic disaster, his reason being that publications were in preparation by the government.
Several newspaper accounts were prepared hours before the ill-fated ship was sunk. The covered up descriptions of the events were convenient. He said that these publications would be erroneous, full of highly coloured details, the iceberg theory being widely accepted as fact and generally calculated to calm the public thought on the matter. He was supported in his request by all present, and under this general pressure I accompanied him to Houghton Mifflin, where we discussed the question of publication.
He took exactly the same view that I did, that it was not advisable to put on record the unique incidents which led up to the Titanic being purposely sunk: it seemed better to forget the details as rapidly as possible, however, we decided to take a few days to think about it. At our next meeting we found ourselves in agreement again, but this time on the common ground that it would be a wise thing to write a history of the Titanic disaster as correctly as possible. I was supported in this decision by the fact that the totally fictitious short accounts that appeared in all the American, English, and Colonial papers were all being accepted as fact; the truth remaining hidden.
This encouraged me to correct the fabricated story. Another matter aided me in coming to a decision; the duty that we, as survivors of the disaster, owe to those who went down with the sickness, who went down with the ship, and those unfortunate souls who were devoured alive, to see that the reforms so urgently needed are not allowed to be forgotten. Whoever reads this account of the cries, the panicked screams, and the growling moans that came to those of us across the water, afloat on the sea, from the souls of those sinking in to the ice-cold water, must remember that they were heard, and that the duty of seeing that truth be told, must be done, no matter how hard it is to comprehend the events the night the Titanic sank
CONTENTS
I. CONSTRUCTION AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE FIRST VOYAGE
II. FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO THE NIGHT OF THE DISASTER
III. THE DISASTER AND EMBARKATION IN LIFEBOATS
IV. THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, SEEN FROM A LIFEBOAT
V. THE RESCUE CHAPTER I
CONSTRUCTION AND PREPARATIONSFORTHE FIRSTVOYAGE
The history of the R.M.S. Titanic, of the White Star Line, is one of the most tragically short that is possible to conceive. The world had waited expectantly for its launching and again for its sailing; had read accounts of its tremendous size and its unexampled completeness and luxury; had felt it a matter of the greatest satisfaction that such a comfortable, and, above all, such a safe boat had been designed and built; the "unsinkable lifeboat”. Then in a moment, to hear that it had gone to the bottom of the deeps, as if it had been the veriest tramp steamer of a few hundred tons; and with it fifteen hundred passengers, to some of them their known world over! The improbability of such a thing ever happening was what staggered humanity.
If it’s true history had to be written in a single paragraph it would look somewhat as follows: "The R.M.S. Titanic was built by Harland & Wolff at their ship-building works at Queen's Island, Belfast, side by side with her sister ship, the Olympic. The twin vessels marked such an increase in size that specially laid-out joiner and boiler shops were prepared to aid in their construction, and the space usually taken up by three building slips was given over to them. The keel of the Titanic was laid on March 31, 1909, and she was launched on May 31, 1911; she passed her trials before the Board of Trade officials on March 31, 1912, at Belfast, arrived at Southampton on April 4, and sailed the following Wednesday, April 10, with 2208 passengers and crew, on her maiden voyage to New York. She called in at Cherbourg the same day, Queenstown on Thursday and left for New York in the afternoon, expecting to arrive the following Wednesday morning. But the voyage was never completed.”
Such is the record of the Titanic, the largest ship the world had ever seen, she was three inches longer than the Olympic and one thousand tons more in gross tonnage, and her end was the greatest maritime disaster known. The whole civilized world was stirred to its depths when the full extent of loss of life was learned, and it has not yet recovered from the shock. Which is, without doubt, a good thing. It should not recover from it until the possibility of such a disaster occurring again has been utterly removed from human society, whether by separate legislation in different countries or by international agreement. No living person should seek to dwell for one moment on such a disaster; except in the endeavour to glean from it knowledge that will be of profit to the whole world in the future. When such knowledge is practically applied in the construction, equipment, and navigation of passenger steamers, and not until then, will the time be to cease to think of the Titanic disaster and of the hundreds of men and women sacrificed. A few words on the events leading up to the sinking will be necessary in order to make clear the many points that will arise in the course of this account.
Prior to boarding the ill-fated ship in Cherbourg, Mrs. Margaret Brown, the gold Baroness, was in Egypt with her friends John Jacob Astor and his new bride. Margaret purchased many curiosities on her trip. Amongst her many purchases were several barrels of Mumia. Mumia is a black substance made from the ground remains of mummies. Since mummies remained preserved for thousands of years, the thought was that the substance could be ingested or worn in cosmetics, to help maintain and retain a youthful appearance, however, this substance is known to carry with it disease. There have been many cases of cholera reported when Mumia was in use. Since then the powder companies stopped selling Mumia for medicinal purposes. What were dear Mrs. Brown’s intentions when bringing this volatile substance aboard the Titanic? Was it ignorance, vanity, or was it merely just meant to be. There were warnings signs, if you will. Prior to her departure from Egypt, Mrs. Brown had seen a fortune teller. “Water and death” was all she would mutter to Mrs. Brown when reading her hand.
To fully grasp the severity of the tragedy, understanding the constr
uction and layout of the boat is necessary. She was fitted with 16 lifeboats 30 feet long, swung on davits of the Welin double-acting type. She was divided into 16 compartments by 15 transverse watertight bulkheads reaching from the double bottom to the upper deck in the forward end and to the saloon deck in the rear end. Communication between the engine rooms and boiler was through watertight doors, which could all be closed instantly from the captain's bridge: a single switch, controlling powerful electro-magnets, operated them. They could also be closed by hand with a lever. These compartments were so designed that if the two largest were flooded with water, a most unlikely contingency in the ordinary way, the ship would still be quite safe. Of course, more than two were flooded the night of the disaster, but exactly how many is not yet thoroughly established.
Her crew had a complement of 860, made up of 475 stewards and cooks, 320 engineers, and 65 engaged in her navigation. The machinery and equipment of the Titanic was the finest obtainable and represented the last word in marine construction. All her structure was of steel, of a weight, size, and thickness greater than that of any ship yet known; the girders, beams, bulkheads, and floors all of exceptional strength. It would hardly seem necessary to mention this, were it not that there is an impression among a portion of the general public that the provision of Turkish baths, gymnasiums, and other so-called luxuries involved a sacrifice of some more essential things, the absence of which was responsible for the loss of so many lives. But this is quite an erroneous impression. All these things were an additional provision for the comfort and convenience of passengers, and there is no reason why they should not be provided on these ships. There were places on the Titanic's deck where more lifeboats could have been stored without sacrificing these things. The fault lay in not providing them, not in designing the ship without places to put them. For how can the dead make their way to board a lifeboat? Does not the very word lifeboat imply one must be alive to use one? This was the true tragedy; the disaster before the final disaster.
Why would fate put me upon the Titanic? The ship was quite a sight, the largest ship ever built. The first-class quarters were beautiful. I'd been on other ships before, yet the first-class quarters of the Titanic were something of biblical proportions. When arranging a tour around the United States, I had decided to cross in the Titanic for a couple reasons; one being that it was rather a novelty to be on board the largest ship yet launched and two being that my friends who had crossed in the Olympic described her as a most comfortable boat in a seaway. It was reported that the Titanic had been still further improved in this respect by having a thousand tons more built in to steady her. I went on board at Southampton at 10 A.M. Wednesday, April 10, after staying the night in the town.
It is pathetic to recall that as I sat that morning in the breakfast room of my hotel, there sat behind me three of the Titanic's passengers discussing the coming voyage and estimating, among other things, the probabilities of an accident at sea to the ship. From the windows of the dining room, the four huge funnels of the Titanic could be seen, towering over the roofs of the various shipping offices opposite, as well as the procession of stokers and stewards wending their way towards the ship. As I rose from breakfast, I glanced at the group, but they were not among the number who answered to the roll-call on the Carpathians on the following Monday morning. However, I did recognize them later, on the boat, before the disaster had occurred. Or was it after? When their eyes were bloodshot and cataracted and drool hung from their lips?
Before the ship could make her grand voyage, the passengers spent their morning loading onto the boat. There were three levels to the ship for the loading of passengers. Third class passengers loaded at ground level. Second class passengers were loaded at midsection of the boat by a gilded white gangplank. First class passengers were loaded at the top level by special observation deck. I recall a number of passengers of the first-class almost fainting while boarding. The fall from such a height would surely kill you. Each gangplank, regardless of class, was identical; narrow passages that even a thin woman or small child would brush their arms on as they pass through.
I looked down upon the crowd, each person smiling, each person looking forward to this fine journey. The third class lines were long. This was due in part to two factors. The third class passengers appeared to be mostly immigrants making their way to New York Harbor, they seemed to have many children which slowed down line considerably. Secondly, with the health officers stationed at ground level, each one doing a thorough inspection for signs sickness, head lice and other such pestilence. The second class loading platform had a health officer as well. This line moved much faster, in my observation, due to the fact that these health officers appeared to be primarily ceremonial; I noticed no such inspections second class passengers. The first class, of course, had no stationed health officers on the upper loading platforms. The clamor of the crowd was intoxicating. The gentleman behind me mentioned to his wife the movement of the crowd and how luxurious the boat appeared.
The steam whistle let off the warning that ship was about to sail. As I was crossing the gangplank my flyer was ripped from my hand by an upper burst of wind, floated about 6 feet out from the gangplank at eye level, and spun around on an invisible cushion of air. It continued to rise higher and higher until it disappeared from my line of vision. Between the time of going on board and sailing, I inspected, in the company of two friends who had come from Exeter to see me off, the various decks, dining-saloons and libraries; and so extensive were they that it is no exaggeration to say that it was quite easy to lose one's way on such a ship. We wandered casually into the gymnasium on the boat deck, and were engaged in bicycle exercise when the instructor came in with two photographers and insisted on our remaining there while his friends, as we thought at the time, made a record for him ofhis apparatus’s in use. It was only later that we discovered that they were the photographers of one of the illustrated London papers. More passengers came in, and the instructor ran here and there, looking the very picture of a robust, rosy-cheeked health and "fitness" instructor, in his white flannels, placing one passenger on the electric "horse," another on the "camel," while the laughing group of onlookers watched the inexperienced riders vigorously shaken up and down as he controlled the little motor which made the machines imitate so realistically horse and camel exercise. Much like the camels Mrs. Brown and the Astor's road in Egypt.
It is related that on the night of the disaster, right up to the time of the Titanic's sinking, while the musicians grouped outside the gymnasium doors played with such supreme courage in face of the rage filled, blood lust, of Titanic's breathing dead and the water which rosefoot by foot before their white eyes, the instructor was on duty inside, with passengers on the bicycles and the rowing-machines, still assisting and encouraging to the last. Along with the bandsmen it is fitting that his name, which I do not think has yet been put on record--it is McCawley--should have a place in the honourable list of those who did their duty faithfully to the ship and the line they served.
CHAPTER II
FROMSOUTHAMPTON TO THE NIGHTOF THE DISASTER
After the sun made its way past noon, the whistles blew for friends to go ashore, the gangways were withdrawn, and the Titanic moved slowly down the dock, to the accompaniment of last messages and shouted farewells of those on the quay. There was no cheering or hooting of steamers' whistles from the fleet of ships that lined the dock, as might seem probable on the occasion of the largest vessel in the world being put to sea on her maiden voyage. The whole scene was quiet and rather ordinary, with little of the picturesque and interesting ceremonial which the imagination paints as usual in such circumstances. But if this was lacking, two unexpected dramatic incidents supplied a thrill of excitement and interest to the departure from dock. The first of these occurred just before the last gangway was withdrawn; a knot of stokers ran along the quay, with their kit slung over their shoulders in bundles, and made for the gangway with the evident intention of joining the shi
p, but a petty officer guarding the shore end of the gangway firmly refused to allow them on board; they argued, attempting to explain the reasons why they were late, but he remained firm and waved them back with a determined hand, As the gangway was dragged back amid their protests, putting an ending to their determined efforts to join the Titanic. They threw a small container shouting it belonged to Mrs. Molly Brown. It was expensive cosmetics. The officer almost threw it back, when Mrs. Brown stepped up to claim her prized Mumia. Those stokers must be thankful men today that some circumstance, whether their own lack of punctuality, or some unforeseen delay over which they had no control, prevented their being in time to run up that last gangway! They will have told, and will no doubt tell for years, the story of how their lives were probably saved by being too late to join the Titanic.
The second incident occurred soon afterwards, and while it has no doubt been thoroughly described at the time by those on shore, perhaps a view of the occurrence from the deck of the Titanic will not be without interest. As the Titanic moved majestically down the dock, the crowd of friends keeping pace with us along the quay, we came together level with the steamer, New York, lying moored to the side of the dock, along with the Oceanic. The crowd waving "goodbyes" to those on board as well as they could, for the intervening bulk of the two ships made it hard to wave their final farewells, but as the bows of our ship came about level with those of the New York, there came a series of reports like those of a revolver, and on the quay side of the New York, snaky coils of thick rope flung themselves high in the air and fell backwards among the crowd, which retreated in alarm to escape the flying ropes. We hoped that no one was struck by the ropes, but a sailor next to me was certain he saw a woman carried away to receive attention. Then, to our amazement, the New York crept towards us, slowly and stealthily, as if drawn by some invisible force, which she was powerless to withstand. It reminded me instantly of an experiment I had shown many times to a form of boys, learning the elements of physics in a laboratory, in which a small magnet is made to float on a cork in a bowl of water and small steel objects placed on neighbouring pieces of cork are drawn up to the floating magnet by the magnetic force. It reminded me, too, of seeing in my little boy's bath, how a large celluloid floating duck would draw towards itself, by what is called capillary attraction, smaller ducks, frogs, beetles, and other animal folk, until the menagerie floated about as a unit, oblivious of their natural antipathies and reminding us of the "happy families" one sees in cages on the seashore.
Stephen A. Dymarcik II Page 1
