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Table of Contents
About This Book Conventions Used in This Book What You’re Not to Read Foolish Assumptions How This Book Is Organized Part I: The Titanic: A Century of Legend Part II: Tragedy at Sea: The Titanic Sinks on Its Maiden Voyage Part III: Exploring Enduring Titanic Mysteries Part IV: The Quest to Recover the Titanic Part V: The Titanic in Popular Culture Part VI: The Part of Tens Icons Used in This Book Where to Go from Here
Part I: The Titanic: A Century of Legend Part II: Tragedy at Sea: The Titanic Sinks on Its Maiden Voyage Part III: Exploring Enduring Titanic Mysteries Part IV: The Quest to Recover the Titanic Part V: The Titanic in Popular Culture Part VI: The Part of Tens
Chapter 1: Why the Titanic Endures Examining Why We Still Care Everyone knows about it The story is irresistible The world took notice The disaster changed sea travel Tempting Fate with the Word “Unsinkable” Considering Social Arrogance and Class Structure Coming to America: The Immigrant Story Discovering the Titanic Wreck in 1985 Watching Titanic, the Movie Chapter 2: Building the Ship of Dreams Deciding to Build the Titanic Competing with the Cunard Line Accommodating wealthy passengers Making more room for steerage passengers Lining up funding for the construction of the ship Building the Ships at Harland and Wolff Taking a Titanic Tour Titanic Milestones: From Launch to Loading Taking a Look at the Olympic, the Titanic’s Sister Ship Refitting the Olympic Retiring the Olympic Building a New Titanic Introducing the SS Titan Getting Harland and Wolff onboard Chapter 3: From Royalty to Rats: Who Sailed on the Titanic Riding in Steerage with the Third-Class Passengers What does steerage mean? Looking at steerage accommodations Sharing steerage with rats Meeting the Famous Onboard the Titanic Colonel John Jacob Astor IV Madeleine Astor J. Bruce Ismay Francis Davis Millet Isidor and Ida Straus Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes Margaret Tobin (Molly) Brown Major Archibald W. Butt Dorothy Gibson Colonel Archibald Gracie IV Benjamin Guggenheim Getting to Know the Crew of the Ship of Dreams Edward J. Smith: Captain on the verge of retirement Harold Godfrey Lowe Frederick Fleet Charles H. Lightoller Joseph Boxhall Thomas Andrews Harold Bride Robert Hichens Wallace Hartley The 50 bell boys Chapter 4: Life Onboard: From Breakfast and Lunch to Steerage and Bunks Taking the Grand Tour of the Titanic Finding your way around the ship Visiting the suites and cabins Exploring decks and rooms on the Titanic Dining on the Titanic: Food, Glorious Food! Stocking a seagoing hotel Meeting the food preparers and servers Introducing the rest of the victualling crew Dining in first class Dining in second and third class
Examining Why We Still Care Everyone knows about it The story is irresistible The world took notice The disaster changed sea travel Tempting Fate with the Word “Unsinkable” Considering Social Arrogance and Class Structure Coming to America: The Immigrant Story Discovering the Titanic Wreck in 1985 Watching Titanic, the Movie
Everyone knows about it The story is irresistible The world took notice The disaster changed sea travel
Deciding to Build the Titanic Competing with the Cunard Line Accommodating wealthy passengers Making more room for steerage passengers Lining up funding for the construction of the ship Building the Ships at Harland and Wolff Taking a Titanic Tour Titanic Milestones: From Launch to Loading Taking a Look at the Olympic, the Titanic’s Sister Ship Refitting the Olympic Retiring the Olympic Building a New Titanic Introducing the SS Titan Getting Harland and Wolff onboard
Competing with the Cunard Line Accommodating wealthy passengers Making more room for steerage passengers Lining up funding for the construction of the ship
Refitting the Olympic Retiring the Olympic
Introducing the SS Titan Getting Harland and Wolff onboard
Riding in Steerage with the Third-Class Passengers What does steerage mean? Looking at steerage accommodations Sharing steerage with rats Meeting the Famous Onboard the Titanic Colonel John Jacob Astor IV Madeleine Astor J. Bruce Ismay Francis Davis Millet Isidor and Ida Straus Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes Margaret Tobin (Molly) Brown Major Archibald W. Butt Dorothy Gibson Colonel Archibald Gracie IV Benjamin Guggenheim Getting to Know the Crew of the Ship of Dreams Edward J. Smith: Captain on the verge of retirement Harold Godfrey Lowe Frederick Fleet Charles H. Lightoller Joseph Boxhall Thomas Andrews Harold Bride Robert Hichens Wallace Hartley The 50 bell boys
What does steerage mean? Looking at steerage accommodations Sharing steerage with rats
Colonel John Jacob Astor IV Madeleine Astor J. Bruce Ismay Francis Davis Millet Isidor and Ida Straus Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes Margaret Tobin (Molly) Brown Major Archibald W. Butt Dorothy Gibson Colonel Archibald Gracie IV Benjamin Guggenheim
Edward J. Smith: Captain on the verge of retirement Harold Godfrey Lowe Frederick Fleet Charles H. Lightoller Joseph Boxhall Thomas Andrews Harold Bride Robert Hichens Wallace Hartley The 50 bell boys
Taking the Grand Tour of the Titanic Finding your way around the ship Visiting the suites and cabins Exploring decks and rooms on the Titanic Dining on the Titanic: Food, Glorious Food! Stocking a seagoing hotel Meeting the food preparers and servers Introducing the rest of the victualling crew Dining in first class Dining in second and third class
Finding your way around the ship Visiting the suites and cabins Exploring decks and rooms on the Titanic
Stocking a seagoing hotel Meeting the food preparers and servers Introducing the rest of the victualling crew Dining in first class Dining in second and third class
Chapter 5: Four Days of Smooth Sailing Getting an Overview of the Voyage Day 1: The Titanic’s Sailing Day Departing from Southampton, England Arriving in Cherbourg, France Day 2: The Titanic Visits Ireland Days 3 and 4: Smooth Sailing Day 5: An Icy Chill in the Air Chapter 6: The Collision and Sinking Heeding Iceberg Warnings Getting the wireless messages Taking precautions against icebergs Colliding with the Iceberg Assessing the Damage Sending Out Distress Signals Boarding and Launching the Lifeboats Looking at the lifeboat scandal Examining whether the deck crew was prepared Launching the lifeboats Sinking into the North Atlantic Waiting in the Lifeboats to Be Rescued Chapter 7: Surviving the Sinking of the Titanic Examining Survival Rates Passenger survival rates Nonpassenger survival rates Seeing Which Ships Aided in the Titanic Rescue and Recovery Efforts Going to the rescue with the Carpathia and her crew Reviewing the role of the Californian Meeting Some Titanic Survivors Hearing the stories of two notorious deck crewmen who survived Becoming famous for surviving Meeting some of the last survivors Considering Titanic survivor suicides Chapter 8: “I Was There”: Firsthand Accounts of the Sinking Watching the Ship’s Final Moments from a Lifeboat Emily Maria Borie Ryerson: “She seemed to break in half as if cut with a knife” Daisy Minahan: “The cries were horrible” Dorothy Gibson: “A sense of desolation never to be forgotten” Thrown into the Sea: The Barber’s Tale Signaling Distress: A Telegraph Operator’s Rescue Reading the Powerful Accounts of Dr. and Mrs. Dodge Chapter 9: How the World Learned about the Titanic’s Loss Breaking the Story in The New York Times Exploring How a Rush to Publish Led to Erroneous Stories The Evening Sun reports that all passengers are saved The Christian Science Monitor claims that passengers are safe Fleshing Out the Details of the Disaster Offering the First Scientific View of the Tragedy Chapter 10: Investigating the Titanic’s Demise The U.S. Senate Investigation: What Can Be Done Better? Reading the committee’s report Hearing the testimony of Guglielmo Marconi Weighing the words of Californian Captain Stanley Lord Reading J. Bruce Ismay’s statement to the media The British Commission of Inquiry: Who’s at Fault? Understanding the Board of Trade’s lifeboat laws Taking witness accounts Issuing the final report Hearing actual testimony from the British Commission Pulling No Punches and Laying Blame: Excerpts from a Joseph Conrad Essay
Getting an Overview of the Voyage Day 1: The Titanic’s Sailing Day Departing from Southampton, England Arriving in Cherbourg, France Day 2: The Titanic Visits Ireland Days 3 and 4: Smooth Sailing Day 5: An Icy Chill in the Air
Departing from Southampton, England Arriving in Cherbourg, France
Heeding Iceberg Warnings Getting the wireless messages Taking precautions against icebergs Colliding with the Iceberg Assessing the Damage Sending Out Distress Signals Boarding and Launching the Lifeboats Looking at the lifeboat scandal Examining whether the deck crew was prepared Launching the lifeboats Sinking into the North Atlantic Waiting in the Lifeboats to Be Rescued
Getting the wireless messages Taking precautions against icebergs
Looking at the lifeboat scandal Examining whether the deck crew was prepared Launching the lifeboats
Examining Survival Rates Passenger survival rates Nonpassenger survival rates Seeing Which Ships Aided in the Titanic Rescue and Recovery Efforts Going to the rescue with the Carpathia and her crew Reviewing the role of the Californian Meeting Some Titanic Survivors Hearing the stories of two notorious deck crewmen who survived Becoming famous for surviving Meeting some of the last survivors Considering Titanic survivor suicides
Passenger survival rates Nonpassenger survival rates
Going to the rescue with the Carpathia and her crew Reviewing the role of the Californian
Hearing the stories of two notorious deck crewmen who survived Becoming famous for surviving Meeting some of the last survivors Considering Titanic survivor suicides
Watching the Ship’s Final Moments from a Lifeboat Emily Maria Borie Ryerson: “She seemed to break in half as if cut with a knife” Daisy Minahan: “The cries were horrible” Dorothy Gibson: “A sense of desolation never to be forgotten” Thrown into the Sea: The Barber’s Tale Signaling Distress: A Telegraph Operator’s Rescue Reading the Powerful Accounts of Dr. and Mrs. Dodge
Emily Maria Borie Ryerson: “She seemed to break in half as if cut with a knife” Daisy Minahan: “The cries were horrible” Dorothy Gibson: “A sense of desolation never to be forgotten”
Breaking the Story in The New York Times Exploring How a Rush to Publish Led to Erroneous Stories The Evening Sun reports that all passengers are saved The Christian Science Monitor claims that passengers are safe Fleshing Out the Details of the Disaster Offering the First Scientific View of the Tragedy
The Evening Sun reports that all passengers are saved The Christian Science Monitor claims that passengers are safe
The U.S. Senate Investigation: What Can Be Done Better? Reading the committee’s report Hearing the testimony of Guglielmo Marconi Weighing the words of Californian Captain Stanley Lord Reading J. Bruce Ismay’s statement to the media The British Commission of Inquiry: Who’s at Fault? Understanding the Board of Trade’s lifeboat laws Taking witness accounts Issuing the final report Hearing actual testimony from the British Commission Pulling No Punches and Laying Blame: Excerpts from a Joseph Conrad Essay
Reading the committee’s report Hearing the testimony of Guglielmo Marconi Weighing the words of Californian Captain Stanley Lord Reading J. Bruce Ismay’s statement to the media
Understanding the Board of Trade’s lifeboat laws Taking witness accounts Issuing the final report Hearing actual testimony from the British Commission
Chapter 11: Doomed from the Start? Studying What Went Wrong Examining Whether the Watertight Doors Should Have Remained Open Setting up and performing the experiment Seeing the results of the experiment Investigating Whether the Titanic’s Rivets Were Fatally Flawed Considering whether rivets were to blame Understanding why the iron rivets popped Homing in on the slag content Weighing What’s Known about the Lack of Lifeboats Looking at conflicting reports Reviewing the solid facts Speculating about a Head-On Collision with the Iceberg Questioning Whether Binoculars Could Have Helped Chapter 12: Lingering Questions about the Titanic’s Final Hours Were Shots Fired on the Titanic? Confirming three instances of shots fired Hearing from the survivors Did Murdoch Commit Suicide? Reconstructing Murdoch’s final moments Living with the unknown The Riddle of Captain Smith’s Death and Last Words Piecing together details of Smith’s death Uttering six different “last words”? Debating the Band’s Final Song The band’s playlist “Autumn” or “Nearer, My God, To Thee”? Chapter 13: Foreshadowing the Tragedy? The 1898 Novella The Wreck of the Titan Meeting Morgan Robertson Did the Titanic’s Builders Know about the Novella? Foretelling Fact with Fiction The opening paragraph The “unsinkable” moniker A major difference A sad, tragic similarity The collision Comparing the Titan and Titanic Side by Side
Examining Whether the Watertight Doors Should Have Remained Open Setting up and performing the experiment Seeing the results of the experiment Investigating Whether the Titanic’s Rivets Were Fatally Flawed Considering whether rivets were to blame Understanding why the iron rivets popped Homing in on the slag content Weighing What’s Known about the Lack of Lifeboats Looking at conflicting reports Reviewing the solid facts Speculating about a Head-On Collision with the Iceberg Questioning Whether Binoculars Could Have Helped
Setting up and performing the experiment Seeing the results of the experiment
Considering whether rivets were to blame Understanding why the iron rivets popped Homing in on the slag content
Looking at conflicting reports Reviewing the solid facts
Were Shots Fired on the Titanic? Confirming three instances of shots fired Hearing from the survivors Did Murdoch Commit Suicide? Reconstructing Murdoch’s final moments Living with the unknown The Riddle of Captain Smith’s Death and Last Words Piecing together details of Smith’s death Uttering six different “last words”? Debating the Band’s Final Song The band’s playlist “Autumn” or “Nearer, My God, To Thee”?
Confirming three instances of shots fired Hearing from the survivors
Reconstructing Murdoch’s final moments Living with the unknown
Piecing together details of Smith’s death Uttering six different “last words”?
The band’s playlist “Autumn” or “Nearer, My God, To Thee”?
Meeting Morgan Robertson Did the Titanic’s Builders Know about the Novella? Foretelling Fact with Fiction The opening paragraph The “unsinkable” moniker A major difference A sad, tragic similarity The collision Comparing the Titan and Titanic Side by Side
The opening paragraph The “unsinkable” moniker A major difference A sad, tragic similarity The collision
Chapter 14: Looking at Early Attempts to Raise the Titanic Realizing the Challenges of Raising the Titanic Surveying the First Efforts to Raise the Wreckage The Astor plan of 1912: Blowing up the ship The 1913 magnet plan: Using “monster leeches” Laying Claim to the Titanic Scouring the ocean floor with Jack Grimm Douglas John Faulkner-Woolley: Is he the real owner of the Titanic? Miscellaneous and Cockamamie Schemes for Raising the Titanic Scooping her up Filling her hull with ping-pong balls Packing her hull full of molten wax Turning the Titanic into an iceberg Filling her with foam Chapter 15: The Quest of the Century: The 1985 Discovery of the Wreck Looking Back on the Titanic Century Following Ballard from First Hopes to First Sighting Starting from the Thresher and Scorpion Homing in on the Titanic Dealing with the instant media frenzy Plundering artifacts from the debris field Digging up details about the discovery Finding What the Wreck Actually Revealed It did break in two A tear, a puncture, or a dent? The Titanic is disappearing: Rusticles (maybe) have sealed its fate Taking a 3D, High-Def Visit to the Titanic
Realizing the Challenges of Raising the Titanic Surveying the First Efforts to Raise the Wreckage The Astor plan of 1912: Blowing up the ship The 1913 magnet plan: Using “monster leeches” Laying Claim to the Titanic Scouring the ocean floor with Jack Grimm Douglas John Faulkner-Woolley: Is he the real owner of the Titanic? Miscellaneous and Cockamamie Schemes for Raising the Titanic Scooping her up Filling her hull with ping-pong balls Packing her hull full of molten wax Turning the Titanic into an iceberg Filling her with foam
The Astor plan of 1912: Blowing up the ship The 1913 magnet plan: Using “monster leeches”
Scouring the ocean floor with Jack Grimm Douglas John Faulkner-Woolley: Is he the real owner of the Titanic?
Scooping her up Filling her hull with ping-pong balls Packing her hull full of molten wax Turning the Titanic into an iceberg Filling her with foam
Looking Back on the Titanic Century Following Ballard from First Hopes to First Sighting Starting from the Thresher and Scorpion Homing in on the Titanic Dealing with the instant media frenzy Plundering artifacts from the debris field Digging up details about the discovery Finding What the Wreck Actually Revealed It did break in two A tear, a puncture, or a dent? The Titanic is disappearing: Rusticles (maybe) have sealed its fate Taking a 3D, High-Def Visit to the Titanic
Starting from the Thresher and Scorpion Homing in on the Titanic Dealing with the instant media frenzy Plundering artifacts from the debris field Digging up details about the discovery
It did break in two A tear, a puncture, or a dent? The Titanic is disappearing: Rusticles (maybe) have sealed its fate
Chapter 16: Salvaging the Titanic and Its Artifacts Mementos from the Sea: Seeing Which Artifacts Have Been Salvaged Hearing What the Courts Said about the Artifacts Salvaging the Titanic: Serving History or Robbing a Grave? Listening to Titanic survivors and commentators Robert Ballard versus George Tulloch: A difference of opinion The Big Piece: Salvaging a Part of the Titanic Raising the necessary capital Following Tulloch’s best-laid plan Glimpsing Artifacts from the Ship Seeking out Titanic exhibitions Taking a stroll through Titanic museums Visiting Titanic memorials Joining Titanic societies Chapter 17: Presenting the Titanic Story on Screen and on Stage Sailing on the Titanic to Hollywood Saved from the Titanic (1912) A Night to Remember (1958) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) Cameron’s epic: Titanic (1997) Bringing the Greatest Ocean Liner to Broadway with Titanic: A New Musical
Mementos from the Sea: Seeing Which Artifacts Have Been Salvaged Hearing What the Courts Said about the Artifacts Salvaging the Titanic: Serving History or Robbing a Grave? Listening to Titanic survivors and commentators Robert Ballard versus George Tulloch: A difference of opinion The Big Piece: Salvaging a Part of the Titanic Raising the necessary capital Following Tulloch’s best-laid plan Glimpsing Artifacts from the Ship Seeking out Titanic exhibitions Taking a stroll through Titanic museums Visiting Titanic memorials Joining Titanic societies
Listening to Titanic survivors and commentators Robert Ballard versus George Tulloch: A difference of opinion
Raising the necessary capital Following Tulloch’s best-laid plan
Seeking out Titanic exhibitions Taking a stroll through Titanic museums Visiting Titanic memorials Joining Titanic societies
Sailing on the Titanic to Hollywood Saved from the Titanic (1912) A Night to Remember (1958) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) Cameron’s epic: Titanic (1997) Bringing the Greatest Ocean Liner to Broadway with Titanic: A New Musical
Saved from the Titanic (1912) A Night to Remember (1958) The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) Cameron’s epic: Titanic (1997)
Chapter 18: Ten Fascinating Titanic Artifacts The Big Piece Coal A Piece of the Grand Staircase The Deck Chair That Stayed Home Carl Asplund’s “2:19 A.M.” Pocket Watch The Doll’s Head Leather Objects Menus Perfume That Still Has a Scent Handwritten Sheet Music Chapter 19: Ten Titanic Myths Debunked The Titanic Carried a Cryptic, Anti-Catholic Message Is That You, Mummy? A Worker Was Trapped in the Titanic’s Hull Frank Tower Was the Luckiest Man on Earth The Hope Diamond Went Down with the Titanic The “Priceless” Rubaiyat Was Lost The Purser’s Safe Was Loaded with Valuables The Titanic Sank Because of the Champagne Curse The Titanic Vied for the Blue Riband White Star Advertised the Titanic as “Unsinkable” Chapter 20: Ten Terrific Titanic Documentaries Secrets of the Titanic (1986) Titanic: The Complete Story (1994) Titanic: The Investigation Begins (1996) Titanic: Anatomy of a Disaster (1997) Titanic: 90 Years Below (2002) Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) Titanic Tech (2003) Last Mysteries of the Titanic (2005) Titanic’s Achilles Heel (2007) Rebuilding the Titanic (2011) Other Documentaries Worth Watching Appendix: A Titanic Timeline Cheat Sheet
The Big Piece Coal A Piece of the Grand Staircase The Deck Chair That Stayed Home Carl Asplund’s “2:19 A.M.” Pocket Watch The Doll’s Head Leather Objects Menus Perfume That Still Has a Scent Handwritten Sheet Music
The Titanic Carried a Cryptic, Anti-Catholic Message Is That You, Mummy? A Worker Was Trapped in the Titanic’s Hull Frank Tower Was the Luckiest Man on Earth The Hope Diamond Went Down with the Titanic The “Priceless” Rubaiyat Was Lost The Purser’s Safe Was Loaded with Valuables The Titanic Sank Because of the Champagne Curse The Titanic Vied for the Blue Riband White Star Advertised the Titanic as “Unsinkable”
Secrets of the Titanic (1986) Titanic: The Complete Story (1994) Titanic: The Investigation Begins (1996) Titanic: Anatomy of a Disaster (1997) Titanic: 90 Years Below (2002) Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) Titanic Tech (2003) Last Mysteries of the Titanic (2005) Titanic’s Achilles Heel (2007) Rebuilding the Titanic (2011) Other Documentaries Worth Watching