The Titanic: Struck an Iceberg, Shook The World

As it was becoming increasingly evident that the ship was about to sink stranded passengers began to throw themselves into the sea, but with the water temperature well below freezing life expectancy was less than 20 minutes. Second Officer Lightoller was still on the Titanic as she sank, as the waves lapped over her decks he simply swam away. He found an upturned collapsible and clambered aboard. Also clinging to the collapsible were Harold Bride and Jack Phillips. Phillips had continued to send distress calls until the very last moment and Bride said later that, “he learned to love that man,” in those final moments. Phillips did not survive. Fourth Officer Boxhall was put in charge of lifeboat No 2 that left the Titanic at 1.45 am just before she sank. It had only 18 people aboard out of a capacity of 40. First Officer Murdoch went down with the ship though it has long been rumoured that he committed suicide. 

By 2.05 am the Titanic’s entire bow was out of the water, by 2.20 am she had gone. It was said that the ship’s band were playing “Nearer Thy God To Thee” as she went down. None of the band members survived. Captain Edward Smith was last seen helping a young child into a boat before being washed of the deck. He was spotted in the sea near a collapsible but swam away from it. His body was never recovered. J Bruce Ismay, the Managing Director of the White Star Line, procured himself a place in a lifeboat and survived. He became overnight one of the most despised men in the world. It was said that he had even disguised himself as a woman. It was a scurrilous suggestion but his survival was seen as an act of cowardice, and flew in the face of Captain Smith’s demand, “to be British!” Ismay’s life remained good but his reputation was ruined. When in later years a horse he owned won the prestigious Derby Horse Race it was disqualified, for no other reason that it was owned by J Bruce Ismay.

Few of the lifeboats returned to pick up survivors afraid of being swamped. Those that did only did so when the screams and cries of those struggling in the water had died away. Only 7 survivors were plucked from the water, 2 of whom later died. The Carpathia arrived at 04.10 am and began to pick up the survivors in the lifeboats. 

Of the 2,240 passengers aboard, 1,517 drowned. Only a few hundred bodies were ever recovered. There was hardly an equitable class balance amongst the survivors: 60.5% of First Class passengers survived, 41.7% of Second Class, and only 24.5% of Steerage. Inquiries were held in both New York and London. The London Inquiry under the stewardship of Lord Mersey was a whitewash. The White Star Line were not held to be culpable and the sinking of the Titanic was designated a tragic accident. Even so, the rules on lifeboat capacity were changed to ensure that in future they would cater for all on board, and there were no longer to be class distinctions in any future evacuation.

The city of Southampton, the port from which the Titanic had set sail on her tragic maiden voyage, was devastated. More than 500 households had lost someone on the Titanic, more often than not the family breadwinner. As the White Star Line was not found culpable the families received no compensation. Indeed, the surviving crew members were billed for damaged uniforms and lost White Star Property.  

The loss of the Titanic shattered people’s confidence, some would say arrogance, that Man had at last conquered nature. It brought to an end what Mark Twain had confidently described as the gilded age.