The Aftermath
The aftermath of the titanic disaster began at 2:20 a.m. on
April 15, 1912. The survivors in the lifeboats and the hundreds slowly
freezing to death in the 28 degree water. Out of the 20 lifeboats most not
filled to capacity. Collapsible B was over turned and survivors like Second
Officer Charles Lightoller, wireless operator Harold Bride, chief baker Charles
Joughin and Archibald Gracie finally found their way onto its keel.
What the survivors remember most about the first hour after
the sinking is the sound of people drowning and slowly freezing to death. Mrs.
Stephenson in lifeboat number 4 stated, "She then gave her final plunge and the
air was filled with cries. We rowed back and pulled five more men from the
sea. Their suffering from the icy water was intense and two men who had been
pulled into the stern afterwards died, but we kept their bodies with us until
we reached the Carpathia, where they were taken aboard and Monday (April 15)
afternoon given a decent burial with three others." Another survivor would
remember the "People were screaming and screaming and then the silence was
terrible." "The sounds of people drowning is something that I can not describe
to you and neither can anyone else. It is the most dreadful sound and their is
a terrible silence that follows it.", described Eva Hart years later.
After the cries had died down there was nothing for the
survivors to do but wait for what ever was to come next. Keeping warm was the
major problem. There were many cases of frostbite and hypothermia. This was
especially for those who had been in the water like everyone on the bottom of
collapsible B. In collapsible A everyone was in water up to their ankles since
it was swept off of Titanic's deck as it sank. Many that were pulled from the
icy water died due to hypothermia.
On many survivors minds was the question, are we going to be
rescued? The only officer that knew that help was on the way was Second
Officer Charles Lightoller on collapsible B. Surviving wireless operator
Harold Bride knew since he and Jack Phillips were in tough with the Carpathia.
The Carpathia answered the Titanic's distress call at about 12:25 a.m. They
were 58 miles away and steaming at 17 knots and expected to reach the last known location of the Titanic by 3:30 or 4:00
a.m. At about 3:30 a.m. rockets from the Carpathia were spotted to the south.
Lifeboat number 2 was the first to be rescued at 4:10 a.m. It took the next 4
hours to rescue everyone from the lifeboats. Second Officer Lightoller was the
last to board the Carpathia. Some of the survivors had been drifting in the
lifeboats for almost 8 hours. The final count onboard the Carpathia was 705
survivors out of 2223 that had started the Southhampton to New York voyage.
At 8:30 a.m. the Californian arrives at the site of the
disaster along side the Carpathia. Hearing via their wireless that the Titanic
had sunk she made her way through the ice to assist. They were asked to search
for more survivors as the Carpathia started for New York. The Californian
found no further survivors and continued on to Boston. It would be three days
before the Carpathia would dock in New York with the 705 survivors. On April
18, 1912 at 9:25 p.m. in a pouring rain, Carpathia docked at the Cunard pier
after dropping off Titanic's lifeboats at the White Star pier.
In this three days the world would learn of the disaster in
sketchy detail. Initial information was relayed by ships that had heard
Titanic's distress calls. Cape Race, who Titanic was sending passenger message
to, relayed disaster information to the world as they heard it. Also hearing
and relaying information to the world was David Sarnoff at the wireless station
on the top floor of Wanamaker's Department store in New York.
The Carpathia's radio room was being manned by a very tired
Harold Cottam and Harold Bride, Titanic's surviving wireless operator joined
him after being treated for his frostbitten and smashed feet. They did not
answer requests from land based stations for contact. They even refused to
answer a request from President Taft as to the safety of his friend and
military advisor Archie Butt. Cottam and Bride's priority was to transmit the
list of survivors names and personal messages from survivors to relatives. One
of the messages that the New York White Star line did receive from the
Carpathia confirming the disaster is as follows:
Steamship Carpathia, April 17, 1912 (via
Halifax)
Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning, after collision
iceberg, resulting serious loss life. Further particulars later. Bruce
Ismay.
This was received by Mr. Franklin at the White Star office in
New York at 9 a.m. on April 17. Two days after the sinking. This gives you an
idea of how slow news was traveling.
New York was to wake up to the shocking news of the disaster.
Information was so sketchy at first that reports ranged from everyone was safe
and the Titanic was being towed to Halifax to the Titanic sank with 1800
lost.
The White Star Line was so eager to believe the better news
stories that they dispatched a train to Halifax with relatives to meet the
Titanic. Of course when the true situation was realized the train was turned
around. The White Star office in New York was inundated with requests by
reporters and relatives for news. They had no better news than the press had
as indicated with the Halifax incident. Philip Franklin,
Vice President of the White Star New York office, was so
shocked at the news that he could not believe it and insisted the Titanic was
unsinkable.
The news of this disaster shocked the entire world. How could
an unsinkable ship sink with such a large loss of life. Southhampton, England,
where the Titanic had started her maiden voyage just 5 days before woke up to
the shocking news. Southhampton had lost 549 men in the disaster.
News of the Titanic caught the attention of Senator William
Alden Smith. He was able to get the senate to OK an investigation into the
sinking with a senate subcommittee headed by himself. In the process of
following the news reports about the sinking before the Carpathia had arrived
in New York he became aware of several messages from J. Bruce Ismay attempting
to hold over the Cedric, another White Star ship, in order for Ismay and the
surviving crew to return to England as soon as possible. One of the messages
is as follows:
Most desirable Titanic crew aboard Carpathia should be
returned home earliest moment possible. Suggest you hold Cedric, sailing
daylight Friday unless you see any reason contrary. Propose returning in her
myself. Please send outfit of clothes, including shoes, for me to Cedric.
Have nothing of my own. Please Reply. Yamsi.
Obviously Ismay was trying to be sneaky by spelling his name
backwards. Smith knew that if the surviving Titanic crew were allowed to
return to England that he would have a very difficult time in getting them to
return for a inquiry at a later date. Smith boarded a train in Washington,
D.C. and headed for New York. He arrived just as the Carpathia was docking
and made his way through the crowds and onto the ship. It was 9:30 p.m.,
Thursday, April 18. Smith talked with Ismay who was more than willing to
cooperate.
Smith convened the hearings on the morning at 10:30 a.m. at
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. J. Bruce Ismay would be the first witness called.
When it was all over there had been 17 days of testimony between April 19 to
May 25 and had been held in both New York and Washington, D.C. There had been
82 witnesses interviewed with over 1100 pages of testimony generated. A great
deal of issues were covered including being confusion among the crew as to the
weight capacity of the lifeboats, resulting in undefiled lifeboats and leading
to a larger loss of life. No boat drills for passengers. Lifeboat capacity
for only 1178 when the ship could hold three times that amount. This was a
direct result of the out dated British Board of Trade regulations. Ice
warnings not being heeded or atleast not all posted for officers to see. The
possibility of the Titanic trying to set a speed record and arrive early at the
insistence of J.Bruce Ismay. Captain E.J. Smith was blamed for traveling to
fast and not slowing down in the presence of ice. As a result of this inquiry
and a British inquiry that would take place when the Titanic's crew returned to
England would be the requirement for enough lifeboats for the capacity of the
ship. Wireless operators would man the radio around the clock. There was an
incident shortly after the sinking where the crew of the Olympic, Titanic's
sister ship, would refuse to sail because additional lifeboats had not been
added.
Even before the Carpathia arrived in New York the White Star
Line hired several ships including the Mackay-Bennet from Halifax, Nova Scotia,
to search the disaster for bodies. All together four ships searched the area
for six weeks recovering 328 bodies. Of those 119 were buried at see. The
remaining bodies were embalmed on board ship and packed in ice and 150 of them
were returned to Halifax for burial and 59 others were returned home to
relatives.
Historical sources for this
story:
Titanic: Death of a Dream
Documentary, A&E
The Titanic: Death of a Dream,
Wyn Wade
Titanic: An Illustrated History,
Don Lynch and Ken Marschall
The story of the TITANIC as told by its
survivors, Lawrence Beesley, Archibald Gracie, Commander
Lightoller, Harold Bride
The Internet, Multiple Sites for
Pictures and information
The Titanic Disaster Hearings: Official
Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation
The Titanic by Geoff
Tibballs
April 15, 1912. The survivors in the lifeboats and the hundreds slowly
freezing to death in the 28 degree water. Out of the 20 lifeboats most not
filled to capacity. Collapsible B was over turned and survivors like Second
Officer Charles Lightoller, wireless operator Harold Bride, chief baker Charles
Joughin and Archibald Gracie finally found their way onto its keel.
What the survivors remember most about the first hour after
the sinking is the sound of people drowning and slowly freezing to death. Mrs.
Stephenson in lifeboat number 4 stated, "She then gave her final plunge and the
air was filled with cries. We rowed back and pulled five more men from the
sea. Their suffering from the icy water was intense and two men who had been
pulled into the stern afterwards died, but we kept their bodies with us until
we reached the Carpathia, where they were taken aboard and Monday (April 15)
afternoon given a decent burial with three others." Another survivor would
remember the "People were screaming and screaming and then the silence was
terrible." "The sounds of people drowning is something that I can not describe
to you and neither can anyone else. It is the most dreadful sound and their is
a terrible silence that follows it.", described Eva Hart years later.
After the cries had died down there was nothing for the
survivors to do but wait for what ever was to come next. Keeping warm was the
major problem. There were many cases of frostbite and hypothermia. This was
especially for those who had been in the water like everyone on the bottom of
collapsible B. In collapsible A everyone was in water up to their ankles since
it was swept off of Titanic's deck as it sank. Many that were pulled from the
icy water died due to hypothermia.
On many survivors minds was the question, are we going to be
rescued? The only officer that knew that help was on the way was Second
Officer Charles Lightoller on collapsible B. Surviving wireless operator
Harold Bride knew since he and Jack Phillips were in tough with the Carpathia.
The Carpathia answered the Titanic's distress call at about 12:25 a.m. They
were 58 miles away and steaming at 17 knots and expected to reach the last known location of the Titanic by 3:30 or 4:00
a.m. At about 3:30 a.m. rockets from the Carpathia were spotted to the south.
Lifeboat number 2 was the first to be rescued at 4:10 a.m. It took the next 4
hours to rescue everyone from the lifeboats. Second Officer Lightoller was the
last to board the Carpathia. Some of the survivors had been drifting in the
lifeboats for almost 8 hours. The final count onboard the Carpathia was 705
survivors out of 2223 that had started the Southhampton to New York voyage.
At 8:30 a.m. the Californian arrives at the site of the
disaster along side the Carpathia. Hearing via their wireless that the Titanic
had sunk she made her way through the ice to assist. They were asked to search
for more survivors as the Carpathia started for New York. The Californian
found no further survivors and continued on to Boston. It would be three days
before the Carpathia would dock in New York with the 705 survivors. On April
18, 1912 at 9:25 p.m. in a pouring rain, Carpathia docked at the Cunard pier
after dropping off Titanic's lifeboats at the White Star pier.
In this three days the world would learn of the disaster in
sketchy detail. Initial information was relayed by ships that had heard
Titanic's distress calls. Cape Race, who Titanic was sending passenger message
to, relayed disaster information to the world as they heard it. Also hearing
and relaying information to the world was David Sarnoff at the wireless station
on the top floor of Wanamaker's Department store in New York.
The Carpathia's radio room was being manned by a very tired
Harold Cottam and Harold Bride, Titanic's surviving wireless operator joined
him after being treated for his frostbitten and smashed feet. They did not
answer requests from land based stations for contact. They even refused to
answer a request from President Taft as to the safety of his friend and
military advisor Archie Butt. Cottam and Bride's priority was to transmit the
list of survivors names and personal messages from survivors to relatives. One
of the messages that the New York White Star line did receive from the
Carpathia confirming the disaster is as follows:
Steamship Carpathia, April 17, 1912 (via
Halifax)
Deeply regret advise you Titanic sank this morning, after collision
iceberg, resulting serious loss life. Further particulars later. Bruce
Ismay.
This was received by Mr. Franklin at the White Star office in
New York at 9 a.m. on April 17. Two days after the sinking. This gives you an
idea of how slow news was traveling.
New York was to wake up to the shocking news of the disaster.
Information was so sketchy at first that reports ranged from everyone was safe
and the Titanic was being towed to Halifax to the Titanic sank with 1800
lost.
The White Star Line was so eager to believe the better news
stories that they dispatched a train to Halifax with relatives to meet the
Titanic. Of course when the true situation was realized the train was turned
around. The White Star office in New York was inundated with requests by
reporters and relatives for news. They had no better news than the press had
as indicated with the Halifax incident. Philip Franklin,
Vice President of the White Star New York office, was so
shocked at the news that he could not believe it and insisted the Titanic was
unsinkable.
The news of this disaster shocked the entire world. How could
an unsinkable ship sink with such a large loss of life. Southhampton, England,
where the Titanic had started her maiden voyage just 5 days before woke up to
the shocking news. Southhampton had lost 549 men in the disaster.
News of the Titanic caught the attention of Senator William
Alden Smith. He was able to get the senate to OK an investigation into the
sinking with a senate subcommittee headed by himself. In the process of
following the news reports about the sinking before the Carpathia had arrived
in New York he became aware of several messages from J. Bruce Ismay attempting
to hold over the Cedric, another White Star ship, in order for Ismay and the
surviving crew to return to England as soon as possible. One of the messages
is as follows:
Most desirable Titanic crew aboard Carpathia should be
returned home earliest moment possible. Suggest you hold Cedric, sailing
daylight Friday unless you see any reason contrary. Propose returning in her
myself. Please send outfit of clothes, including shoes, for me to Cedric.
Have nothing of my own. Please Reply. Yamsi.
Obviously Ismay was trying to be sneaky by spelling his name
backwards. Smith knew that if the surviving Titanic crew were allowed to
return to England that he would have a very difficult time in getting them to
return for a inquiry at a later date. Smith boarded a train in Washington,
D.C. and headed for New York. He arrived just as the Carpathia was docking
and made his way through the crowds and onto the ship. It was 9:30 p.m.,
Thursday, April 18. Smith talked with Ismay who was more than willing to
cooperate.
Smith convened the hearings on the morning at 10:30 a.m. at
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. J. Bruce Ismay would be the first witness called.
When it was all over there had been 17 days of testimony between April 19 to
May 25 and had been held in both New York and Washington, D.C. There had been
82 witnesses interviewed with over 1100 pages of testimony generated. A great
deal of issues were covered including being confusion among the crew as to the
weight capacity of the lifeboats, resulting in undefiled lifeboats and leading
to a larger loss of life. No boat drills for passengers. Lifeboat capacity
for only 1178 when the ship could hold three times that amount. This was a
direct result of the out dated British Board of Trade regulations. Ice
warnings not being heeded or atleast not all posted for officers to see. The
possibility of the Titanic trying to set a speed record and arrive early at the
insistence of J.Bruce Ismay. Captain E.J. Smith was blamed for traveling to
fast and not slowing down in the presence of ice. As a result of this inquiry
and a British inquiry that would take place when the Titanic's crew returned to
England would be the requirement for enough lifeboats for the capacity of the
ship. Wireless operators would man the radio around the clock. There was an
incident shortly after the sinking where the crew of the Olympic, Titanic's
sister ship, would refuse to sail because additional lifeboats had not been
added.
Even before the Carpathia arrived in New York the White Star
Line hired several ships including the Mackay-Bennet from Halifax, Nova Scotia,
to search the disaster for bodies. All together four ships searched the area
for six weeks recovering 328 bodies. Of those 119 were buried at see. The
remaining bodies were embalmed on board ship and packed in ice and 150 of them
were returned to Halifax for burial and 59 others were returned home to
relatives.
Historical sources for this
story:
Titanic: Death of a Dream
Documentary, A&E
The Titanic: Death of a Dream,
Wyn Wade
Titanic: An Illustrated History,
Don Lynch and Ken Marschall
The story of the TITANIC as told by its
survivors, Lawrence Beesley, Archibald Gracie, Commander
Lightoller, Harold Bride
The Internet, Multiple Sites for
Pictures and information
The Titanic Disaster Hearings: Official
Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation
The Titanic by Geoff
Tibballs