S.O.S. by Karis Youngman
Ever since that fateful voyage in April 1912, the Titanic has caught the imagination of the world. It has achieved almost mythical status and become part of the English language. The images of a band playing on while the ship sank beneath the waves, the first SOS call, icebergs crashing into ships, lifeboats filled with women and children watching while their men died in the freezing water, as well as the countless tales of heroism are intensely memorable.
Given that there have been many other shipping disasters, the question arises – why has the Titanic had such a result?
The answer lies in the sheer scope and drama of the story. So many people – including rich and famous people – died that night. There was romance – husbands and wives preferring to die together rather than be split up. Then there were the claims made about the safety of the ship – and the way these were proved wrong. It is also a reminder that the sea can be dangerous, that it should not be taken for granted.
The images are unforgettable. In 1912, the Daily Mirror quoted survivors saying ‘her length and her great bulk was outlined in black against the starry sky. Every porthole and saloon was blazing with light. It was impossible to think that anything could be wrong with such a leviathan were it not for the continuous tilt downwards in the bow.’
Ironically, the Titanic might have avoided the risk of disaster altogether if it had not been for the collision between the Olympic and HMS Hawke. The need for the Olympic to undergo repairs meant that it had to take the Titanic’s place in the dry dock at Belfast, thus changing the date of the Titanic’s maiden voyage.
Dr Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Institute who discovered the Titanic’s remains in 1985 pointed out “The Titanic will always continue to fascinate, because it is a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare himself. She was the largest moving object of her time, some claimed she was unsinkable, but in one of the greatest acts of hubris, she sank on her maiden voyage. It is a morality tale which could have come directly from Hollywood.”
Many myths have sprung up about the tragedy – and often are based on reality.
Shipping operators and sea captains had become complacent. Ships had become so technologically advanced that it was felt that accidents could not occur. In 1907, Captain Smith of the White Star line (and later captain of the Titanic) told the Boston Post that “shipbuilding is such a perfect art nowadays that absolute disaster, involving the passengers is inconceivable. Whatsoever happens there will be time before the vessel sinks to save the life of every person on board. I will say that I cannot imagine any condition that would cause the vessel to founder.’
When the Titanic was launched, it was described as being ‘almost unsinkable’. Its owners, the White Star line, pointed to the fact that the ship possessed electrically operated watertight doors controlled from the bridge, which could be used to seal off flooded areas. Unfortunately these bulkheads did not extend through all the levels of the ship so if water came in at one end, it could flow over the top of the bulkheads.
The Titanic was involved in a near collision as it left Southampton harbour. The amount of water displaced as the boat moved away from the quay caused the SS New York to break free from her moorings and move towards the Titanic. Only rapid action from a tug prevented an accident.
Captain Smith had been in charge of a sister ship, the Olympic, when it collided with HMS Hawke just off Southampton. HMS Hawke had been on a parallel course when it got sucked into the side of the Olympic. In a further incident in New York harbour, a tug became trapped underneath the Olympic while he was in charge.
Iceberg at the Mystic Aquarium (Photo copyright Mystic Aquarium)
In 1912, Captain Smith was the highest paid seaman in the world. He was the senior captain of the White Star Line. The Titanic was his final vessel – he was about to retire. He was the master, and totally in charge of the ship. Officers did not oppose any instructions that he gave. Reports that he was drunk when he left the Wideners dinner party are difficult to prove. What is known is that he was not on the bridge when the Titanic hit the iceberg even though he knew the ship was entering a dangerous phase of the journey.
Another story was that there were insufficient lifeboats. Events showed that this was all too true. The British Board of Trade required shipping operators to provide lifeboat space for 825 passengers as long as the ship possessed watertight bulkheads. It believed that a ship with a watertight bulkhead would act as its own lifeboat. Sea routes were well travelled, and there was minimal risk of collision. It was not believed that a crew could load more than 16 boats in a disaster. Nor was it believed that lifeboats could be lowered fully loaded. Lifeboats were there mainly to rescue people from other ships.
The Titanic possessed 20 lifeboats which could provide space for 1,178 people. The boat designer had proposed a large number of lifeboats, but this was turned down because the company believed that first class passengers would prefer more deck space. No life boat drill was held. One had been scheduled for April 14, but this was cancelled to allow people to go to church.
The Titanic did carry enough cork lifejackets and life belts for every passenger – but these did not prove much use in the freezing conditions of the open sea.
Class distinctions certainly played an important part in the Titanic story. Events showed that third class passengers possessed a much lower rate of survival than first or second class passengers. All the lifeboats were located in first class – and third class passengers did not know where to go. There were gates separating the different areas. At the time the collision occurred, third class passengers were in their cabins far away from the location of the lifeboats. Stewards went around knocking on doors to wake passengers – there was no loudspeaker system. It would take much longer for third class passengers to reach the lifeboats.
Crewmen gave contradictory orders. Some told passengers that there was nothing to worry about, and to go back to their cabins. Others said go to the lifeboats. There were reports that gates between third and first class were locked.
Reports that the ship was speeding in an attempt to win the fastest crossing of the Atlantic are less clear. The Titanic did not have engines powerful enough to challenge the speed achieved by other ships on the route such as the Lusitania and Mauretania. What is certain is that the engineers and Captain Smith were keen to impress J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line who was on board with the ship’s capability. They wanted to see how fast the ship could go. Keeping to the timetable – and getting ahead of it – was important.
The route taken by the Titanic passed through Iceberg Alley – an area where icebergs were regularly seen. Icebergs could be massive – only a fraction seen on top of the sea compared to what was floating underneath. The officers of the Titanic received seven warnings that icebergs were in the area. The Titanic did not slow down. This was common practice at the time – the aim was to get through the area as quickly as possible. Ships did not slow down for ice or fog.
The look out had to rely on his own eyesight while watching for icebergs. There were no binoculars available. Just before the ship left harbour, an officer – second officer David Blair – was replaced at the last moment. He forgot to pass on the key to the crow’s nest binoculars cabin. At the inquiry following the disaster, the look out, Fred Fleet said they would have seen the iceberg sooner if binoculars had been available. When asked how much sooner, he replied ‘enough to get out of the way’.
Wireless telegraph systems were a recent innovation on board ships. Many ships had only one operator, and did not offer 24 hour operation. Some ships had no radio facilities at all. Wireless operators were not employed by the ship owners, but were the employees of the Marconi company. Reception and range were dependent on weather conditions.
Often, it was a service which was mainly used by passengers who could afford the cost of sending telegrams. This was the case on the night of April 14th 1912 – the wireless operators were sending messages almost non-stop for passengers reserving hotel rooms and notifying friends and relatives of the anticipated early arrival time. Interrupted by an iceberg warning from the California, Philips was in a hurry to return to his task. The iceberg warning was put to one side to be sent to the Bridge later.
On the night the Titanic foundered, wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Philips began sending emergency signals using CQD (Come Quick Distress); then decided to try the newly introduced SOS (Save Our Souls). The shipping industry had begun to change from CQD to SOS because of confusion with other radio signals. The simplicity of SOS – three dashes, three dots, three dashes – meant that there was no risk of mistakes.
Questions have been raised about the Titanic’s manoeuvrability. The sheer size of the ship meant that it was slow to respond to commands to change course. This situation was made worse by the speed at which the ship was moving.
One of the most enduring myths is that the band played Nearer My God to Thee while the ship sank beneath the waves. The Band certainly played while lifeboats were being launched. Some reports say that their last tune was Song of Autumn, others say that it was Nearer My God to Thee; or that they simply sang the hymn. One of the survivors, wireless operator Harold Bride said, “the ship was tilting gradually onto her nose, like a duck going for a dive. The band was still playing. I guess all of them went down”.
Some reports in the wake of the tragedy indicated that First Officer Murdoch was at the helm when the ship hit the iceberg. During the subsequent attempts to fill the lifeboats, he is reported to have shot into the air to frighten people away when they began to panic, and may have shot a man trying to get into a lifeboat. Another report suggests he shot himself.
Stories of huge gold shipments that remain within the wreck of the Titanic are regarded as being very speculative. The cargo manifests do not show any such shipments.
Until 1985, there had been suggestions that the Titanic did not break up. It was said that the ship had fallen to the bottom of the ocean in one piece and was still in good condition. Some experts even believed that the temperature at the bottom of the Atlantic was so cold that it would prevent fabrics, wood and bodies from decaying, suggesting that the ship would still be in the same condition as when it sank in April 1912. This was proved incorrect when the wreck was rediscovered. Inspections of the ship showed that it had broken in two, between the third and fourth funnels. This was the spot where the structure was weakest due to the number of open spaces such as the Grand staircase.
In the wake of the disaster, reports began to surface that another ship had been nearby but had made no attempt to go to the rescue. The ship was The Californian. Reports indicated that officers had seen the distress rockets, and tried using Morse lamps to contact her without success. The officers reported that they did not know if the rockets were a company signal or a distress signal. No wireless officers were on duty.
The ship continued sailing onwards. When radio communications were opened, the Californian took a complex route back through the ice to the disaster scene. The resultant Inquiries condemned the Californian for not going to help sooner. It is uncertain how close the Californian actually was. When the remains of the Titanic were discovered, it was found that the Titanic’s position was slightly different to that given at the Inquiry. The Titanic had drifted with the currents after the collision.
It is said that people predicted the disaster. There were many accounts that people had recurring visions of the event, and refused to travel on the ship.
One of the most well known predictions was that of Jessie, a young Scottish girl. As she lay dying on 14 April 1912, she had a vision of a ship sinking in the Atlantic and many people dying. She referred to a man called Wally playing the fiddle. Hours later the Titanic hit the iceberg, and Wally (Walter) Hartley and his band played music on the deck as the ship sank.
William T Stead wrote a novel From the Old World to the New in 1892 about a ship which struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. A ship captained by E J Smith came to the rescue of the survivors. Stead travelled on the Titanic – and did not survive.
Safety improvements were introduced after the Titanic disaster. Shipping routes across the Atlantic were moved further south. The major maritime nations created an International Ice Patrol to mark and track thousands of icebergs. No lives have been lost to icebergs in the monitored area.
The importance of radio systems was recognized. An international convention was agreed relating to the Safety of Life at Sea. This insisted on 24 hour radio watch on all ships and the standardised use of distress rockets.
Captains were to be regarded as negligent if caught speeding in dangerous conditions such as fog and ice. All ships had to be fitted with enough lifeboats to provide places for every passenger and crew member. Lifeboat drills were to be carried out within 24 hours of passengers joining a vessel.
Despite these improvements; shipping disasters continue to happen. In May 1914, the Empress of Ireland, owned by the Canadian Pacific Company, carrying 1,400 passengers collided with a collier in the St Lawrence River. The Empress sank within 14 minutes. Over 1,000 people died. Ships still have a habit of not carrying out sufficient lifeboat drills. The Costa Concordia hit a rock off the coast of Italy in January 2012. Many passengers had not taken part in a lifeboat drill.
After the Titanic disaster, the owners of the shipping line tried to minimise the impact by seeking to avoid publicity. Father Browne of the Society of Jesus, had taken lots of photographs of the ship during the first part of the voyage. In Spring 1913, he contacted White Star to seek permission to use the photographs in his lectures on the Titanic. They replied that they would ‘appreciate it if in any lectures you will deliver you will abstain from any reference to the Titanic as you will easily understand we do not wish the memory of this calamity to be perpetuated’.
Even as late as 1929, the White Star Line was still trying to avoid any reminders of the Titanic, forbidding the name to be used in a film about the sinking.
They were clearly not successful. The word Titanic has gone down in history. It has become part of everyday vocabulary. If something goes drastically wrong, it is often described as ‘titanic’. Companies trying to get out of financial difficulties often refer to their situation as ‘rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after she hit the iceberg’.
After the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, Congressman Christopher Sharpe asked “Did we almost design this building like the Titanic? You didn’t have enough lifeboats.’
When the Labour Party was experiencing problems in 2008, John Prescott commented that ‘Mr Brown’s promise to change was like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic’. Financial problems in Ireland led to a headline in the Sunday Independent “Captain of this Titanic is busy ignoring Icebergs’.