B—A document number for primary sources reproduced in George Behe, On Board RMS Titanic: Memories of the Maiden Voyage (Stroud: History Press, 2017).
LMQ—From the Lord-Macquitty Collection at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
PRONI—The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
SHS—The archives of the Straus Historical Society.
TRNISM—Transcripts of letters, newspaper extracts, and reports regarding the Titanic from the collections of Thomas Henry Ismay and Joseph Bruce Ismay at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
Both inquiries into the Titanic disaster have been digitized and can be found at Titanicinquiry.org.
For the printed version of the American inquiry, see Report of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Pursuant to S. Res. 283, Directing the Committee on Commerce to Investigate the Causes Leading to the Wreck of the White Star Liner “Titanic,” Report No. 86 (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1912).
For the printed version of the British inquiry, see British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry: Report on the Loss of the “Titanic” (s.s.) (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1912).
How long wilt thou, O Russia! thy cruel burdens bear!
How long wilt thou meekly succumb to dull despair!
Rise up, throw off thy shackles, strike for the right to live!
For freedom, justice, tolerance, thy people’s wrongs retrieve!
And thou wilt surely triumph, for tyrants cowards are,
They shrink beneath the radiance of Liberty’s bright star.
For thee will dawn an era of brighter, happier days,
And all thy lamentations will change to songs of praise;
Thy present chaos, misrule, which now so hopeless seem,
Will then be but a memory, a nightmare in a dream,
Once more among the nations thou wilt take thy place,
And with their march towards progress and culture keep apace.
Thy people will be blessed o’er all thy broad domain,
When Law and Order shall prevail, and peace supreme shall reign!…
COMMANDER
EDWARD JOHN SMITH R.D. R.N.R.
BORN JANUARY 27 1850 DIED APRIL 15 1912
BEQUEATHING TO HIS COUNTRYMEN
THE MEMORY & EXAMPLE OF A GREAT HEART
A BRAVE LIFE AND A HEROIC DEATH
“BE BRITISH”