Titanic (35 page)

Chapter One

“Mummy! . . .”: Goldsmith, Frank J. W.,
Titanic Eyewitness: My Story
Written by a Survivor in Third Class
(Indian Orchard, MA: Titanic Historical Society, 2007) 6.

J. Bruce Ismay: Eaton, John P., and Charles A. Haas,
Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy
, 2nd ed. (New York: Norton, 1995) 13.

Combining luxury with stability . . . : ibid.

Cost to build . . . : ibid. 21.

When the
Titanic
was registered . . . : Beveridge, Bruce et al.,
Titanic: the Ship Magnificent, Volume One: Design & Construction
(Stroud, UK: History Press, 2008) 46.

Starting work at 7:50 a.m. . . . : Eaton and Haas
18.

Ten months and millions of hours . . . : Lynch, Don, and Ken Marschall,
Titanic: An Illustrated History
(Edison, NJ: Wellfleet, 1992) 25.

Anchor . . . : ibid. 21.

The
Titanic
had left Belfast . . . : Eaton and Haas 44–46.

The Titanic sailed with five Sea Post Office clerks . . . :
National Postal Museum
, “Titanic’s Mail,”
www.postalmuseum.si.edu/resources/6a2a_titanic.html.

Crew members signed up . . . : Eaton and Haas 55.

Less than 50 . . . : David G. Brown, e-mail message to author, September 27, 2010.

Estimates based on the
Olympic
 . . . : Eaton and Haas 57.

Titanic cargo list:
Titanic-Titanic.com,
www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_cargo_list.shtml; see also Eaton and Haas 278.

Differences in Olympic-class liners:
Titanic-titanic.com
,
www .titanic-titanic.com/olympic_class_liners.shtml.

“a foul place . . .”: Jessop, Violet,
Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoires of Violet Jessop Who Survived Both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters,
John Maxtone-Graham, ed. (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Sheridan House, 1997) 117.

“His gentle face . . .”: ibid.

“Often during our rounds . . .”: ibid. 123.

“racks, tables, chairs . . .”: Eaton and Haas 57.

“The
Titanic
is now about complete . . .”: ibid.

“Life aboard . . .”: Jessop 117–118.

Joe Mulholland told this tale in an interview in the
Irish Sunday Independent
(April 15, 1962). Molony, Senan,
Titanic: A Primary Source History
(New York: Gareth Stevens, 2005) 12.

“I was thoroughly familiar . . .”: Winocour, Jack, ed.,
The Story of the Titanic As Told by Its Survivors
(Mineola, NY: Dover, 1960) 275.

“With the
Titanic
 . . .”: ibid. 277.

“It was clear . . .”: ibid.

A nest of bees . . . : ibid. 278.

“With a feeling akin . . .”: O’Donnell, E. E.,
The Last Days of the Titanic: Photographs and Mementos of the Tragic Maiden Voyage
(Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart, 1997) 93.

“A voice beside me . . .”: ibid. 94.

and break a sort of suction . . . : David G. Brown, e-mail message to author, February 12, 2011.

Near-collision with the
New York
: Eaton and Haas 76–77.

Three first class passengers: Lester Mitcham, e-mail message to author, February 18, 2011.

Passenger statistics: Lester Mitcham, e-mail message to author, February 18, 2011.

Befriended by a rich American couple . . . : O’Donnell 91. See also the Frank Browne website: www.titanicphotographs.com.

Chapter Two

“Titanic, April 11th . . .”: Hyslop, Donald, Alastair Forsyth, and Sheila Jemima,
Titanic Voices: Memories from the Fateful Voyage
(New York: St. Martin’s, 1994) 113.

“The
Titanic
was wonderful . . .”: ibid. 132.

Lunch menu: Archbold, Rick,
Last Dinner on the Titanic
(Madison Press: Toronto, 1997) 26.

Photos, diagrams, and descriptions of the gymnasium appear in Beveridge et al.,
2:204–206.

“placing one passenger . . .”: Winocour 8.

“I enjoyed myself . . . ”: Gracie, Archibald,
Titanic: A Survivor’s Story
(Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1998) 5.

Amusements: Beveridge et al. 2: 27–33.

First class cabins: Green, Rod,
Building the Titanic
:
An Epic Tale of Modern Engineering and Human Endeavor
(London: Carlton, 2005) 68–69.

Parlor suites: Beveridge et al. 2: 264–266.

“fourteen trunks . . .”: Green 74.

“$30,000 in jewelry”:
New York Times
, “Mrs. J. W. Cardeza, Titanic Survivor,” obituary, August 2, 1939.

“In between . . .”: ibid.

Boat Deck: Beveridge et al. 2: 185. Also, David G. Brown, e-mail message to author, February 12, 2011.

Boat Deck: Green 78–79.

“sixty-four lifeboats . . .”: Eaton and Haas 32.

A Deck: Beveridge et al. 2:225–258.

Grand staircase and clock: ibid.
233–236.

Grand staircase: ibid. 233–237.

B Deck: ibid. 259–304.

C and D Decks: ibid. 305–386.

E, F, and G Decks: ibid. 387–446.

Tank Top. This is explained more fully in Beveridge et al. 1: 64:
“Titanic was constructed with a ‘double bottom’ in which the lowest part of the hull was formed not by a single layer of steel plating, but by a heavily reinforced structure with the vertical keel as its backbone. With the outer bottom plating forming the ‘skin’ of the ship, the inner bottom plating formed the ‘Tank Top,’ so named because the resultant structure, together with its longitudinal girders and transverse members, formed a series of tanks.”

First class dining: Beveridge et al. 2:157–178.

First class dining menu: Green 67.

Frankie hung on . . . : Goldsmith 10.

“one myth that persists . . .”: Beveridge et al. 2: 24.

“We young boys . . .”: Goldsmith 10.

“a little higher”: British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, Day 3, 1837.

“
Titanic
’s 159 furnaces . . .”: “Technical Facts about the Titanic,”
Titanic and Other White Star Line Ships.

The fourth funnel: Green 48.

Chapter Three

“
On board RMS
Titanic . . .”
:
Behe, George,
On Board RMS Titanic: Memories of the Maiden Voyage
(Raleigh: Lulu.com, 2010) 123.

“being seventeen . . .”: Thayer, John B.,
The Sinking of the S.S. Titanic
(Chicago: Academy Chicago, 1998) 333.

“It was planned. . . .”: ibid. 329.

“I remember . . .”: Winocour 334.

“I was sitting . . .”: Letter from Jack Thayer to Judge and Mrs. Charles L. Long of Springfield, MA, April 23, 1912. Posted on
Encyclopedia Titanica
, October 17, 2000. www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5811/1155.html.

“It had become . . .”: Winocour 334.

“I was up early . . .”: Gracie 5.

Photos and descriptions of the swimming bath: Beveridge et al. 2: 413–416.

“Look, Mrs. Goldsmith! . . .”: Goldsmith 10.

Singing hymns: Winocour 24.

“the first time . . .”:
Encyclopedia Titanica
, Reverend Ernest Courtenay Carter. Second class passenger Reverend Carter and his wife both died in the sinking. See www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/ernest-courtenay-carter.html.

“It was a brilliant crowd. . . .”: Tibballs, Geoff, ed.,
The Mammoth Book of the Titanic: Contemporary Accounts from Survivors and the World Press
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2002) 58–59. May Futrelle’s account originally appeared in the
Boston Sunday Post
, April 21, 1912.

First class dining saloon: Beveridge et al. 2:366.

“I remember . . .”: Tibballs 58–59.

“There was death chill . . .”: ibid. 59–60.

“It was all so quiet . . .”: Jessop 124.

Guglielmo Marconi’s . . . : Booth, John, and Sean Coughlan,
Titanic — Signals of Disaster
(Westbury, UK: White Star, 1993) 25.

Both of
Titanic
’s wireless . . . : ibid. 24.

In the Marconi wireless room: ibid. 25.

Shore stations: ibid.

Wireless messages: Eaton and Haas 113–114.

“The
Titanic
herself . . .” Booth and Coughlan 25–26.

Titanic
’s call letters MGY . . . : Eaton and Haas 32.

“Captain,
Titanic
 . . .”: ibid. 114.

“In my fifteen years’ experience . . .”: Winocour 280.

“I said something . . .”: British Inquiry, Day 11, 13615.

“In the event of meeting ice . . .”: ibid. 13569.

“really the worst form of ice . . .”: ibid. 13560.

“when anyone asks . . .”: “Disaster at Last Befalls Capt. Smith,”
New York Times
, April 16, 1912.

“If it becomes at all doubtful . . .”: British Inquiry, Day 11, 13635.

Chapter Four

“In latitude . . .”: Booth and Coughlan 15.

“The wireless operator . . .”: Winocour 280–281.

“Above all . . .”: Lord, Walter,
The Night Lives On
(New York: Morrow, 1986) 63.

“All right . . .”: United States Senate Inquiry, Day 4, FRF046.

“a sort of slight haze.”: British Inquiry, Day 15, 17250.

“I reported . . .”: United States Senate Inquiry, Day 4, FRF067.

Each second . . . : Quinn, Paul,
Dusk to Dawn: Survivor Accounts of the Last Night on the Titanic
(Hollis, NH: Fantail, 1999) 64.

38 feet a second: Lord,
The Night Lives On
69.

“I heard the first Officer . . .”: British Inquiry, Day 13, 15346.

“Murdoch’s hard-a-port order . . .”: David G. Brown, e-mail message to author, February 12, 2011. There are several recent books that analyze both the likely sequence of events on the ship’s bridge and the traditional version of the crash including Brown’s
The Last Log of the Titanic
(Camden, ME: International Marine/McGraw Hill, 2001).

Chapter Five

“It was not a loud crash . . .”: Behe 314.

“long grinding sound”: Senate Inquiry, Day 7. ALO013.

“great, big mass”: British Inquiry, Day 15, 17314.

A dark mass coming through the haze . . . : ibid. Day 4, 2441–2442.

“Shut the dampers!”: ibid., Day 3, 665. According to Brown,
The Last Log
, “Closing the dampers on the furnaces was an ordinary precaution for reducing the fires to prevent generating excess steam pressure while the engineers stopped the engines” 76.

George Beauchamp: ibid. 662–677. Also, David G. Brown e-mail message to author, February 12, 2011.

“half ahead”: Brown, David G. “Chronology — Sinking of S.S. Titanic,” downloaded document 22. See also Senate Inquiry, Day 7.

“no damage whatever . . .”: British Inquiry, Day 13, 15367.

“I didn’t even feel . . .”: Winocour 314.

Bride remembered it . . . : ibid.

“absolutely out of breath”: Joseph Boxhall’s account of his actions after the sinking can be heard in a BBC interview recorded on October 22, 1962, at www.bbc.co.uk/archive/titanic/5049.shtml.

The ship was making water fast: British Inquiry, Day 13, 15370.

“Nothing more than that . . .”: Winocour 27–28.

he threw a dressing gown . . . : ibid. 28.

“‘I don’t suppose it is anything much . . .’”: ibid.

“‘I expect the iceberg . . .’”: ibid. 29.

“‘Just run along . . .’”: ibid. 30.

“moving very slowly . . .”: ibid.

“a curious sense . . .”: ibid.

“I cut in . . .”: ibid. 315.

“The sensation to me . . .”: Hyslop et al. 133.

“‘What do you think . . .’”: ibid.

“‘We had better go . . .’”: ibid.

“I heard some terrible noise . . .”: Senate Inquiry, Day 13.

“. . . just as I was going . . .”: ibid.

“I was enjoying . . .”: Gracie 14.