Edward smith the captain of the titanic said. Captain of the Titanic John Edward Smith

Edward Smith

Katherine Hancock (Marsh)

Sara Elianore Pennington

Helen Melville Smith

Biography

On Tuesday 12 July 1887 he married Sarah Eleanor Pennington (17 June 1861 – 28 April 1931). On Saturday 2 April 1898 at Waterloo in Liverpool, their daughter Helen Melville Smith (2 April 1898 - August 1973) was born. In 1912, the Smith family lived in the imposing red-brick Woodhead house on Wynne Road in the Southampton suburb of Highfield.

In 1903 he was awarded the Transport Medal of Merit by Edward VII.

Captain's career

Smith commanded such ships as the Adriatic, Majestic, Coptic and Olympic. Although he was highly respected, incidents often occurred on ships under his command. So in 1889 "Republic" under his command ran aground, there was a fire on the steamer "Majestic", in 1906 another fire occurred on his steamer " Baltik", they were stranded "Adriatic", and in 1911 In the year there was a collision between the Olympic managed by him and the British military cruiser Hawke. However, despite such a track record, Smith enjoyed high popularity among crew members and passengers. Thanks to this, and not least because of his rich experience, he was assigned to command the passenger liner Titanic on her first voyage, after which the captain had to retire.

Titanic

On April 10, 1912, dressed in a bowler hat and long coat, Smith got into a taxi outside his house and set off for Southampton Harbour. At about 7 o'clock in the morning, he boarded the Titanic, and at 12 o'clock the liner set sail from the pier, while almost colliding with the American liner New York. On April 14 at 11:40 p.m., the Titanic hit an iceberg; the ship's hull received numerous holes, and the ship sank.

Smith is usually blamed for negligence, ignoring numerous warnings from other ships about difficult ice conditions along the route. They were not instructed to slow down or significantly change course to bypass the dangerous region. On the night of the collision with the iceberg, the captain slept in his cabin, and after the collision occurred, he did not actually evacuate passengers. There is also a point of view that the captain did not slow down, following the instructions of the shipowner's management.

It is not known exactly how Captain Smith died that night. There was a version that he shot himself. However, Robert Ballard in his book " The Discovery of the Titanic” suggested that at 2:10 in the morning, just 10 minutes before the final immersion of the ship under water, Smith returned to the captain's bridge, where he met death. Similarly, the steward Edward Browne last saw Smith when he left for the bridge, still holding a megaphone, however, after some time, the lamplighter Samuel Hemming entered the bridge and he did not see the captain there. Harold Bride claimed to have seen Smith climb off the bridge into the water a minute before the dive. After the Titanic sank, fireman Harry Senior saw a man who looked like Smith in the water with a child in his arms. Another stoker, Walter Hurst, who escaped on a collapsible boat, believed to the end of his days that the man who swam near the boat was Captain Smith, but since the boat was capsized and there were already 30 people on it, he did not make an attempt to get there, or he was not allowed to go there. And when Hirst nevertheless handed him the oar, he was already dead. Whatever actually happened to him, the fact remains that the body of Edward John Smith was never found.

This was Edward Smith's last flight before retiring.

A family

After the disaster, Sarah Smith lived in Southampton for some time, but then moved to London, where on April 28, 1931 she tragically died near her house - she was hit by a taxi. Their daughter Helen was originally married (although this fact has not been confirmed) to Captain John Gilberstone of Liverpool, who at the time was the youngest captain in the British Merchant Marine. He died of black water fever on his way home from India aboard his first Bibby Line ship, the Morazan. Then Helen, already officially, in 1922 married Sidney Russell-Cook (December 12, 1892 - July 30, 1930) at St. Mark in Mayfair, and on June 18, 1923, their twins were born - Simon (who never married and was killed in action in World War II on March 23, 1944) and Priscilla (who in 1946 married lawyer John Constantine Phipps and died from polio in Scotland on October 7, 1947). A year before the death of her mother, Sarah, Sidney died in a hunting accident.

However, despite the notoriety associated with her father, Helen Melville Smith led a very adventurous life, loved to drive sports cars and even became a pilot. In the winter at the end of 1957, she arrived on the set of the film " The sinking of the Titanic”, where she noted the striking similarity between Lawrence Naismith and her father, whom he played.

In 1934 she moved to Leafield in West Oxford where she died in August 1973 and was buried next to her mother and husband.

In cinema

• 1943: Titanic— Otto Wernicke
• 1953: Titanic— Brian Ayern
• 1958: The sinking of the Titanic— Lawrence Naismith
• 1979: Save the Titanic— Harry Andrews
• 1996: Titanic— George Scott
• 1997: Titanic— John Cunningham
• 1997: Titanic- Bernard Hill
• 2001: Titanic: The Legend Continues- Kenneth Belton (voice)
• 2003: Ghosts of the Abyss: Titanic— John Donovan
• 2005: Titanic: Birth of a Legend— Alan Rothwell
• 2008: Who sank the Titanic?- Malcolm Tierney
• 2012: Titanic— David Calder

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Literature

• Stephanie Barczewski.. - Hambledon & London, 2004. - 288 p. - ISBN 1852854340.
• Fitzgibbon, Sinead. Titanic: History in an hour = TITANIC History in an Hour / Managing editor A. Raiskaya. - M .: Hummingbird, 2014. - S. 36-37, 49, 57-59, 63, 66, 78, 87, 103-120, 121-126. - (History for hour). - 5000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-389-07-46-2, UDC 94(100), BBC 83.3(0)6, F66.

Links

• (English)

Excerpt characterizing Smith, Edward John

The Titanic is the largest and most luxurious liner of its time. He was not embarrassed to be called unsinkable, and he really seemed like that. She set out on her maiden voyage at noon on the tenth of April from the English port of Southampton. The final destination was to be the American city of New York. But the Titanic, as you know, did not reach the shores of the United States ...

Collision of the Titanic with an iceberg

On April 14, 1912, the liner at full steam (at a speed of 22.5 knots, it was almost the maximum speed) was rushing across the North Atlantic. Nothing foreshadowed the tragedy, there was complete calm. An orchestra was playing on the upper deck in a restaurant with a beautiful interior. Rich people from the first class drank champagne, walked in the open air and enjoyed the wonderful weather.

Late in the evening on April 14, at 23:39, two lookouts (as the sailors who observe the situation from a comfortable position during the voyage are officially called) noticed an iceberg right on the course and reported this by phone to the bridge. Officer William Murdoch immediately commanded "Left rudder." Thus he tried to prevent a collision.

But the multi-ton ship could not turn instantly, although in this case every second was worth its weight in gold - a block of ice was getting closer. And only after about half a minute the nose of the Titanic began to tilt to the left. Ultimately, the visible part of the iceberg "missed" the ship without hitting the starboard side.

The Titanic managed to turn two points, which was enough to prevent a head-on collision, but the liner still could not completely get away from the ice block - it ran into its hidden part, which was under water. This contact lasted approximately nine seconds. As a result, six holes were formed - all of them were below the waterline.

Contrary to popular misconception, the iceberg did not "cut" the bottom of the liner. Everything was a little different: from the strong pressure, the rivets on the skin burst, the steel sheets arched and gaps appeared between them. Through them, water began to penetrate into the compartments. And the penetration rate, of course, was huge - more than seven tons per second.

The iceberg bent the ship's hull, resulting in a leak

Further chronology of the tragedy

Most of the passengers on the upper deck did not feel any threat at first. The stewards, who served appetizers in the restaurant, noted only a slight clinking of spoons and forks on the tables. Some of the passengers felt a slight jolt and rattle, which ended quickly. Some people thought that the propeller blade just fell off the ship.

On the lower decks, the first consequences were more tangible: the local passengers heard an unpleasant rattle and rumble.

Exactly at midnight, Thomas Andrews, the man who designed the Titanic, came to the bridge. He had to assess the nature and severity of the resulting damage. After reporting on the incident and inspecting the ship, Andrews told everyone in the audience that the Titanic would definitely sink.

Soon the ship began to list noticeably. The 62-year-old captain of the ship, Edward Smith, gave the order to prepare the boats and start calling passengers for evacuation.

And the radio operators, in turn, were ordered to send SOS signals to all nearby ships. They did this for the next two hours, and only a few minutes before the complete sinking, Smith freed the telegraphers from work.

Distress signals were received by several ships, but almost all of them were too far from the Titanic. At 00:25 a message about the tragedy on the Titanic was received by the Carpathia ship. It was located at a distance of 93 kilometers from the crash site. Immediately, the captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, sent his ship to the area. The Carpathia, hurrying to help people, managed to reach a record speed of 17.5 knots that night - for this, all electrical appliances and heating were turned off on the ship.

There was another ship that was even closer to the Titanic than the Carpathia - only 10 nautical miles (this is equal to 18.5 kilometers). Theoretically, he could help. We are talking about the ship "Californian". The Californian was surrounded by ice, and therefore its captain decided to stop the ship - it was planned to start moving again only the next morning.

At 11:30 p.m., Titanic radio operator Phillips and Californian radio operator Evans were talking to each other. Moreover, Phillips at the very end of this dialogue rather rudely asked Evans not to clog the air, since at that moment he was transmitting a signal to Cape Race (this is a cape on the island of Newfoundland). After that, Evans simply turned off the power in the radio room and went to sleep. And 10 minutes later, the Titanic collided with an iceberg. Some time later, the Titanic sent the first distress call, but the Californian could no longer receive it.

On top of that, there were no red emergency flares on the Titanic. Confidence in the unsinkability of the ship was so high that no one bothered to take the red rockets with them. Then it was decided to fire volleys with ordinary whites. The calculation was that the crew of a nearby ship would guess that the Titanic was in trouble. The Californian officers did see white rockets, but they thought it was just some kind of festive fireworks. A fantastic series of misunderstandings!

At half past one in the night, passengers began to be seated in boats. It immediately became clear that there were not enough places for everyone. In total, there were twenty boats on board and their total capacity was 1178 people.

By order of Captain Smith, his assistant Charles Lightoller, who supervised the evacuation process on the port side of the liner, only children and women were taken into the boats. Men, according to the captain, were obliged to be on the ship to the last. But William Murdoch, another assistant to Smith, who led the evacuation on the starboard side, gave places in the boats and men when there were no women and children in the line of those gathered.

At about 02:15, the nose of the liner suddenly dropped down and the rest of the ship moved forward. A large cold wave swept across the decks, many people were simply blown overboard.

Around 02:20, the Titanic completely disappeared under the ocean water. The liner was so huge that it took 160 minutes to sink.

After the stern was completely submerged, hundreds of people swam to the surface. They swam in icy water among all sorts of things from the ship: wooden beams, pieces of furniture, doors, etc. Many tried to use all this as a watercraft.

The temperature of the ocean water that night was −2°C ( sea ​​water does not freeze at this temperature due to the concentration of salt in it). A person here died from severe hypothermia on average within half an hour. And many of those moving away from the sunken ship on boats heard the heartbreaking cries of those who did not have enough space in the boats ...

At about 04:00, the Carpathia appeared in the area of ​​the sinking Titanic. This ship took 712 people on board, after which it headed for New York. Among the rescued, 394 people are women and children, 129 people are men, and another 189 people are members of the ship's crew.

The number of those who died in this shipwreck was, according to various sources, from 1400 to 1517 people (it is difficult to give an exact figure, because there were many stowaways on the Titanic). Thus, 60% of passengers from first class cabins managed to escape, 44% from second class cabins, 25% from those who bought third class tickets.

Characteristics of the Titanic

When commissioned, the Titanic was 269 meters long and about 30 meters wide. The height of the liner was also impressive: from the waterline to the uppermost boat deck, it was 18.5 meters here (and if you count from the keel to the top of the first tube , it would have turned out to be 53 meters in general). The draft of this liner was 10.5 meters, and the displacement was 52,310 tons.

"Titanic" in 1912 in the port of Belfast (this is where it was built)

The liner was driven by several four-cylinder steam engines and a steam turbine. At the same time, steam for them, as well as for all kinds of auxiliary mechanisms, was produced in 29 boilers. It is worth noting specifically that none of the ship's thirty mechanics survived. They remained in the engine room and supported the operation of the steam units to the last.

The role of movers on the Titanic was performed by three propellers. The diameter of the central screw was 5.2 meters, it had four blades. The screws located along the edges had a larger diameter - 7.2 meters, but they had three blades. Propellers with three blades could make up to 80 revolutions per minute, and the central one - up to 180 revolutions per minute.

Above the upper deck, there were also four pipes, each 19 meters high. The Titanic had a double bottom and had sixteen airtight compartments. They were separated by watertight bulkheads. According to calculations, the ship would have remained afloat even if any two compartments or four consecutive compartments at the bow or stern were flooded. But on the night of the tragedy, the iceberg damaged five compartments - one more than allowed.

Composition of the crew and passengers

It is known that in the tragic voyage in the ship's crew there were many people who did not undergo special training: stewards, stokers, stitchers (the so-called people whose task was to bring coal to the fireboxes and throw ash overboard), coca. There were very few qualified sailors - only 39 sailors and seven officers, assistants to the captain. Moreover, some of the sailors did not even have time to get to know the Titanic's device well, as they were accepted into the service just a few days before sailing.

It is worth talking a little about the passengers. The passenger composition was extremely diverse - from mendicant emigrants from Sweden, Italy, Ireland, sailing for a better life in the New World, to hereditary millionaires such as John Jacob Astor IV and Benjamin Guggenheim (both died).

Benjamin Guggenheim put on his best tailcoat and began to drink whiskey in the hall - so he spent last hours life

In accordance with the cost of the purchased ticket, there was a division into three classes. For those who swam in the first class, a swimming pool, a gym were provided physical education, a sauna, a squash court, an electric bath (a kind of "ancestor" of a solarium) and a special section for pets. There was also a restaurant, elegant dining rooms, and smoking rooms.

By the way, the service in the third class was also worthy, better than on some other transatlantic steamers of that time. The cabins were bright and comfortable, they were not cold and clean enough. The dining room served not too refined, but quite acceptable dishes, there were special decks for walking.

The premises and spaces of the ship were strictly divided according to classes. And passengers, say, third class were forbidden to be on the deck of the first class.

Titanic in books and films

The terrible events that happened on the Titanic in April 1912 served as the basis for many literary works, paintings, songs and films.

The first book about the Titanic was written, paradoxically, long before it sank. The little-known American writer Morgan Robertson published the story "Futility, or the Death of the Titan" back in 1898. It described the seemingly unsinkable ship "Titan", which crashed on an April night, colliding with an iceberg. There were not enough boats on the Titan, and so many of the passengers died.

The story did not sell well at first, but after the incident of 1912, interest in the book increased sharply - there were quite a few coincidences between the events described in the story and the real wreck of the Titanic. And the key technical characteristics of the fictional Titan were similar to those of the real Titanic - a truly amazing fact!

Morgan Robertson and his story, where the death of the Titanic was predicted to some extent

And the first feature film about the tragedy was released in May of the same 1912 - it was called "The Escaped from the Titanic". It was 10 minutes long, silent and black and white. The main role here was played by Dorothy Gibson, an actress who herself found herself on the Titanic that ill-fated night and found her salvation in boat number seven.

In 1953, director Jean Negulesco turned to the theme of the tragic journey of the Titanic. According to the plot, a husband, wife and their two children sort things out on the Titanic. And everything seems to be getting better, but then the liner stumbles upon an iceberg and begins to go to the bottom. The family has to endure separation, the wife and daughter sail away on the boat, the son and father remain on the sinking ship. The film, by the way, received one "Oscar" in the same 1953.

But the most famous film about the sinking of the liner is James Cameron's Titanic, which appeared in theaters (and then on DVD) in 1997. He won as many as eleven Oscars and for a long time was considered the highest grossing film in general in history.

Authoritative experts on the sinking of the Titanic (for example, historian Don Lynch and marine painter Ken Marshall) took part in preparing the script and creating the scenery for Cameron's film. Collaboration with respected experts made it possible to accurately convey some episodes of the crash. Cameron's "Titanic" caused a new wave of interest in the history of the liner. In particular, after the release of the film, the demand for books and exhibitions related to this topic increased.

Discovery of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic

The legendary ship lay at the bottom for 73 years before it was discovered. More specifically, it was found in 1985 by a group of divers led by oceanographer Robert Ballard. As a result, it turned out that under the enormous pressure of the water, the Titanic (the depth here was about 4000 meters) fell apart into three parts. The wreckage of the liner was scattered over an area with a radius of 1.6 kilometers. Ballard and his associates first of all found the bow of the vessel, which, apparently, due to its large mass, had sunk heavily into the ground. Food was found 800 meters away. Nearby were seen and the remains of the middle part.

Between the large elements of the liner at the bottom, one could also see small items testifying to that era: a set of copper cutlery, unopened wine bottles, coffee cups, door handles, candelabra and ceramic baby dolls...

Later, several expeditions to the remains of the Titanic were conducted by RMS Titanic, which legally had the rights to fragments of the liner and other related artifacts. During these expeditions, more than 6,000 items were raised from the bottom. They were subsequently valued at $110 million. These items were exhibited in thematic expositions or sold at auctions.

But why wasn't the Titanic fully lifted up? Alas, this is not possible. Experts have found that any attempt to raise the hull of the liner will lead to its destruction, and therefore it is likely to remain at the bottom forever.

Documentary "Titanic": the death of a dream"

Captain Edward John Smith is an extraordinary person, whose name is forever inscribed in history in connection with his involvement in the largest disaster on the water.

Childhood and family

Edward John Smith, whose biography begins from the moment of birth on January 27, 1850, is very famous.

The boy appeared in the family of Edward Smith and Katherine Hancock (Marsh) in the small town of Hanley, in Staffordshire, UK.

John Edward was the son of a potter. The father instilled love for his work, but his son was interested in traveling, the sea, distant countries. The boy's mother was a good banker, but she later preferred to open her own grocery store over clerical work.

Carier start

At the age of twelve, Titanic captain Edward John Smith lost his father, who died of tuberculosis. The boy had to leave school and get a job at a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, where a young but very hard worker was entrusted with the management of a steam hammer. But this work did not bring the desired pleasure to the young man. He dreamed of the sea and travel.

At the age of seventeen, fate brought him to Liverpool, where he forever connected his life with ships and the sea.

After two years of training, John Edward was able to find his first job on the Senator Weber sailing ship, with a company that specialized in shipping cargo. The stubborn young man did not shun any work. He quickly moved up the career ladder and after four years he received the right to hold the position of assistant captain.

In 1876, twenty-six-year-old John Edward headed his first ship, the Lizzie Fennell. Over the next three years, he covered hundreds of thousands of nautical miles, carrying cargo between the United States of America, Canada and the UK.

Big changes

In 1880, the captain's old dream came true - he was able to join the ranks of the largest and most powerful shipping company of that time - the White Star Line.

The catch was that the corporation almost did not serve the transportation of goods. The main activity of the company was the movement of passengers.

Due to the fact that the passenger and differ in handling, the already held captain had to start his career anew from the very bottom.

Thanks to his diligence and perseverance, seven years later he again stood at the helm on the main bridge.

In subsequent years, John Edward managed such ships as the Republic, Baltik, Koptik, Adriatic, Germanik, Runik and others.

In 1892, the captain was entrusted with the management of the company's largest steamship, the Majestic. Since that time, Edward Smith could only be found on huge ships.

The public using the services of liners of this class was more than wealthy. John Edward was nicknamed "Captain of the Millionaires".

Military service

The situation in the world was heating up. In one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the captain was enrolled in the reserve of the naval forces of Great Britain.

He did not take part in active hostilities. However, Edward had to make several flights to transport troops to the shores of South Africa, where the Boer War was taking place.

In one thousand nine hundred and four, the captain was awarded the officer military rank of "commodore".

Family life

One thousand eight hundred and eighty-seventh year was marked for John Edward not only by success in the service field. On the twelfth of July he married Sarah Eleanor Pennington. Already the second of April next year their young family celebrated replenishment - they had a daughter, who was named Helen.

The captain's family life took place in a large, spacious red brick house in the suburbs of Southampton.

Last flight

On April 10, 1912, the most ambitious project of the early twentieth century, striking in its scale even after a hundred years, was launched from the port of Southamptor - an ultra-modern liner, which was called the Titanic. The ship was built over the course of three years at a shipyard in the city of Belfast.

The displacement of the Titanic was 52,310 tons, the speed was up to twenty-three knots, it was characterized by a steel hull, a power plant with a capacity of fifty-five thousand horsepower, and one thousand three hundred and seventeen passengers on board. And this colossus was appointed to manage the famous captain.

"Edward John Smith! He will lead the Titanic! ”, - these were the newspaper headlines dedicated to the legendary ship.

The liner was considered unsinkable. The design engineers were confident that the compartments they designed with impenetrable bulkheads would help the ship withstand any elements.

For John Smith, this was to be the last flight of his career, after which he was to go on a well-deserved retirement.

Catastrophe

According to the official version, on the night of April 14-15, 1912, the liner collided with an iceberg and received critical holes. The ship began to sink rapidly and after three hours it finally sank to the bottom.

The exact number of dead has been established - one thousand four hundred ninety-six people. The survivors are seven hundred and twelve.

Captain's last minutes

The most basic version is that the officer shot himself. The testimonies of the surviving members of the team differ. Some claim that they last saw John Smith on the bridge. Others are sure that he was among other people in the water. Someone even tried to help the captain get into the boat, but these attempts were unsuccessful.

John Smith's body was never found. His soul forever remained with the ocean.

Captain's family after the disaster

Sarah's wife lived another nineteen years after her husband's death. In 1931, she died in a car accident in London, where she later moved.

Daughter Helen lived an active and interesting life - she was an entrepreneur, a racing car pilot.

The girl followed with interest all the news related to the Titanic. It is noted that she repeatedly visited the film sets and very carefully looked at the actor who played her father.

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One of the most interesting observations made over the years of research in "Titanics" is the search by part of the researchers for answers to questions that were all answered back in 1912 during the investigation into the causes of the sinking of the Titanic by the British Commission of Inquiry. This applies to many of the sharpest and most discussed "theories" today, which here and there are called the main culprits in the death of the Titanic. But just look at what eyewitnesses and witnesses said at the two investigations of the disaster, and the questions become many times less.

Did the Titanic go under the water intact? Dozens of witnesses tell how they saw the rift with their own eyes. The smoldering coal that weakened the bulkhead and "sank" the Titanic? Fireman Frederick Barrett shows on his fingers that it was not the bulkhead that broke through, but the usual wall of the bunker. Question about binoculars? Sailors with many years of experience respond in chorus that they would not even think of giving binoculars to lookouts, whose main task is to watch the ocean with their own eyes.

And while some modern researchers, probably pursuing some own goals, "do not notice" the answers of those who were on the Titanic on the night of death, and offer their own "sensations", real story has been in front of the eyes of all mankind for 107 years.

The final report of the meeting of the British commission to investigate the catastrophe "Titanic"

This becomes especially noticeable when it comes to identifying the main culprit of the tragedy. Hundreds of years later, thanks to popular culture, films and unscrupulous researchers, most often the main "villain" of the night is a 62-year-old captain with almost 50 years of experience, of which 25 years are captains, the commodore of the White Star Line and the recognized sailor of the Transatlantic Edward John Smith. The list of "accusations" made against the captain is extensive, among which the main ones relate to the nature of Smith's navigation in the conditions of receiving ice warnings.

The accusations are as follows:

• Captain Smith did not slow down despite receiving numerous ice warnings;
• went the same course without changing it;
• did not strengthen the lookout watch;
• did not respond to a sharp decrease in air temperature, which indicated the approach to the ice;
• he himself was not present on the bridge at the time of the collision and did not give additional instructions regarding ice conditions;

…and many other things that usually come to mind after what happened. AT English language there is a great word for this - “hindsight”, which can be translated into Russian with a very familiar expression “think after”. However, the analysis of the testimony, which will be carried out in this material, shows that these accusations are unfounded, based on the experience and practice of navigation at the beginning of the 20th century. Moreover, not just from the prevailing "experience", but from the practice, which by 1912 proved to be the most efficient and safe in transporting thousands and millions of passengers across the Atlantic Ocean.

All this is revealed when you immerse yourself in the testimonies of the most competent specialists in this field - the captains of the Transatlantic from all kinds of transatlantic lines, who have behind them such experience that even modern navigators are sometimes unattainable.

So, May 2, 1912. John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mercy, or simply Lord Mercy, launches a massive British investigation to try to find out the reasons behind the deaths of 1,496 people on the wreck of the Titanic. He carefully examines the testimonies of eyewitnesses and experts in order to reach a final verdict. Finally, there comes a moment when one can no longer evade the question: “Did Captain Smith do the right thing that night by continuing at full speed?” To this end, the most experienced navigators of the transatlantic route will be gathered in the courtroom, and on the basis of their testimony, Lord Mercy will have the last word.

John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mercy - Chairman of the British Commission of Inquiry into the Causes of the Sinking of the Titanic (ET)

In this article, we are for the first time in the Russian-language "Titanics" most fully let us imagine the words of those captains who, based on their many years of experience, back in 1912 formed clear and precise answers to the accusations against Smith. Let's give them a word.

The first of a long list of experienced captains to testify at the British Inquiry was the captain of the White Star Line. Bartram Fox Hayes, who will command the Olympic throughout the First World War and until 1922, and then move on to the flagship Majestic, of which he will be the captain until 1924.

Bertram Fox Hayes, captain of the Olympic, in the 20s (Jonathat Smith Collection)

In 1912, Hayes was the captain of the Laurentic, and he already had a lot of experience:

21794. Have you been a certified extra-master (the highest rank of captain - author's note) since 1897? - Yes.
21795. You have been sailing since 1880, I believe? - Yes.

Attorney General of the investigation Rufus Daniel Isaacs starts with the main thing - with the receipt of ice warnings by the captains:

21806. I want to ask you the following. Since your ship has a Marconi transmitter, did you receive ice warnings via telegraph? - Countless.
21807. Which indicated the location of the ice? - Yes.

Hayes then makes clear how he himself handles a situation similar to that in which Captain Smith found himself:

21808. When you approach the ice region, more precisely, the place that was sent to you by telegraph, do you take any action? I take action according to the weather.
21809. Suppose in clear weather. – In clear weather, the schedule for the lookout remains standard.
21814. Are you continuing to walk at the same speed? - With the same speed.
21815. You don't change it? - I don't change at all.
21816. Is this the established practice in your Company? - This is a practice that has developed around the world and is followed by all ships that cross the Atlantic.
21817. Do not slow down regardless of whether you were warned about the presence of ice? - The presence of ice does not play any role in clear weather. You can always see him in time.

For the prosecutor, such words still sound rather illogical, if not defiant, because just a few weeks before this, the largest maritime disaster occurred:

21820. Doesn't the Titanic experience demonstrate that it doesn't always? - These were unusual weather conditions that no one has ever encountered before.
21819. But you can always see an iceberg? “In clear weather, I mean.

Sir Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, Attorney General at the meeting of the British Commission of Inquiry into the disaster of the Titanic (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Isaacs decides not to give up and invites Hayes to imagine himself in Smith's place:

21820. I want to ask you the following. Let's say you're walking a route at night and you're getting warnings that you're going straight into an ice field. In this situation, will you slow down? - Not until I see ice.
21821. Until you see ice? - Yes.
21822. But if you spot him too close, won't it be too late? - But you can always see it in advance in good weather and avoid.
21826. Is this the practice at any speed? - At any speed.
21827. Suppose there is an iceberg 60-80 feet high on the course, how far can you see it on a starry night? – 6 or 7 miles, I guess. I've seen these from 10 miles away.

The words of the first captain summoned to the hearings on the "question of speed" immediately succinctly and clearly characterized the whole practice that dominated the Atlantic for decades. Hayes is also the first to talk about the main factor why this practice continues to be followed even at night - according to his experience in clear weather, you can see an iceberg for 11-13 kilometers, sometimes for 18. However, as we know, the fatal iceberg on the Titanic in clear the weather was noticed in just 500-600 meters. Why so late? This is a question that will haunt the captains' testimony until the very end.

Frosty morning on April 15th. The picture was taken from the board of the Carpathia. The ocean is strewn with ice, and on the horizon one can see an ice field interspersed with icebergs (National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)

And although Hayes gave clear answers to the questions posed, some might suggest that one should be rather cautious about the testimony of the captain, whose "boss" was the White Star Line. Lord Mercy was not embarrassed by this - almost all the other captains called, with the exception of the captain of the Baltika, represented completely different transatlantic lines, including the direct competitors of the White Star Line.

The next witness was Frederick Passow, captain of the SS St. Paul from American Inman Line:

21853. Do you have a British captain's certificate? Yes, since 1880.
21854. Have you been running ships for 28 years now? - Yes.

SS St. Paul (1895-1923), American-Inman Line (Library of Congress)

Captain Passow was perhaps one of the most experienced in terms of crossing the Atlantic, the number of crossings through it was a record. As was the extensive experience of meeting with ice:

21857. I understand you have crossed the Atlantic about 700 times. - About that. I did not count the exact number, but somewhere around 700 times.
21858. You are currently the captain of St. Paul"? - Yes.
21873. Do you have a lot of experience with ice? – Yes, I have a lot of experience with ice.
21875. Have you ever slowed down before an ice encounter if the weather was clear? — No, as long as the weather is clear – and until we see this ice. If this is an ice field, then we try not to get into it. Sometimes we get into it.
21876. Is this practice observed day and night? – Day and night, as long as the weather is absolutely clear.
21880. I want to understand one point. You said you never slow down because you'll always have enough time to dodge the ice, right? Yes, as long as the weather is clear.

Once again, the prosecutor tries to force the captain to rethink this approach to navigation, but many years of proven experience outweighs:

21881. Did the Titanic disaster somehow change your opinion about this approach? - I don't think. Of course, I wasn't there and I didn't see what they saw. But I have never seen such icebergs that cannot be seen in clear weather and which cannot be safely bypassed in time. I saw very small ice at a sufficient distance.

For the second captain in a row, he pronounces the main condition under which ice can be seen in advance - clear and clear weather. Obviously, the officers of the Titanic could afford to go at full speed, as they believed that it was in such weather conditions that they were, and therefore followed the usual routine that had developed in such a situation.

But were they right in their assessment of the weather conditions? Was the night of doom really pure and clear, at which the captains are accustomed to proceed at speed even in the presence of ice warnings?

One of the most vivid and poetic descriptions of that night comes from second-class passenger Lawrence Beasley:

“First of all, the weather conditions were unique. The night was extremely beautiful: in the cloudless sky, the stars shone unusually, collected in such dense clusters that it seemed that there were more dazzling points of light in the black sky than the celestial base itself. In a clear atmosphere, each star was seen quite clearly, which is why their brightness and brilliance increased tenfold, and in view of this brilliant scattering, the sky remained the role of a receptacle for a wonderful phenomenon.

The night of the sinking of the Titanic as depicted by artist Francis Thornton

The described picture seems to rise before our eyes, and it becomes clear that it would hardly be possible to describe the most clear and clear weather in which the Titanic found itself on the night of April 15, 1912 more colorfully. Not only passengers, but also crew members remembered the weather :

“From 18:00 until the collision, the weather was perfectly calm and clear. There was no moon, the stars were shining, there was not a cloud in the sky.
“We discussed (with Smith - ed.) the weather, that it was calm, clear. We discussed the current visibility - we could see far. Everything was clean. We even saw the stars set over the horizon.”

Second Officer Charles Lightoller recalled his conversation with Captain Smith.

Still from James Cameron's Titanic (1997, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox (c))

It was the same clear and clean weather, in which, as the officers on the Titanic believed and already knew from experience, an iceberg could be seen for kilometers. Although there was no moon, and there was complete calm, "it was visible far away", and there is no reason to doubt it - many survivors recalled the incredible and at the same time terrifying beauty and clarity of that night.

Meanwhile, under Lord Mercy's watchful eye, the captain of the SS Canada proceeded to testify. Richard Owen Jones from Dominion Line. His testimony is especially interesting because a few days before the sinking of the Titanic, his ship also collided in the middle of the night with an ice field. Curious are the circumstances, as well as the actions taken by Captain Jones in an almost similar situation:

23592. Have you been the captain of Canada for 9 years now? - Yes.
23593. Of course, you have a captain's certificate. What is your sailing experience? - 28 years.
23594. And I think that you began to go to sea much earlier. - Yes.
23609. Did you receive ice warnings before the collision? - Yes, several.
23610. Have you received more than one ice warning? - Several.
23611. Did you see ice? - Yes.
23616. Once you saw the ice, what did you do? - I immediately stopped. I came very close to the ice. Coming close, I saw that it was a small pack ice, after which I decided to overcome it at the slowest speed. By 6 am we left the field and continued on our way.
23617. Was it day or night? - Night, about 11 o'clock in the evening.

After Captain Jones entered what was apparently a field of fine pack ice, he decided to move slowly through it. By 6 am the field was behind, and "Canada" continued on her way.

SS Canada (1896-1923), Dominion Line

It is curious that the members of the commission decided to once again clarify exactly how John behaved after he received ice warnings. John answered unequivocally:

23623. After you received ice warnings, did you continue at full speed until the ice was reported by lookouts? - Oh sure.
23624. Do you think this is common practice? “Of course, it always has been.
23525. At what speed were you going? -15 knots.
23626. Is this your top speed? - Yes.
23627. What was the weather like? - Clear and dark.

Finally, the question of how far icebergs can be seen was raised again:

23629. At what distance were you able to distinguish the ice field? “I saw his glow. I saw somewhere for 3 miles (6 kilometers). And I saw the ice itself somewhere for 1.5 miles (3 kilometers)

The next captain to testify at the inquest not only confirmed what colleagues had said before him, but also shared experiences that also fully supported the actions of the Titanic command staff. This captain was Edwin Galton Cannons from Atlantic Transport Company:

23714. Have you been a captain for over 20 years? - Yes.
23715. Do you have a captain's certificate and have been sailing for 36 years? - Yes.
23718. Have you sailed across the North Atlantic all these years? — Yes, all the time.
23721. Have you met icebergs and ice fields over the years of your career? - Yes.

Meeting of the British commission to investigate the causes of the sinking of the Titanic in Scottish Drill Hall, London. Lord Mercy is at the head of the commission, advisers and lawyers sit nearby, in the hall are the prosecutor, lawyers and spectators who specially bought tickets for each meeting.

Further, prosecutor Isaacs, who apparently understood in advance what answer he would hear to the already familiar question about behavior when receiving ice warnings, decided to experiment - he asked what the captain's actions were at the moment the iceberg was discovered:

23733. I want to ask you this question. When you spot an iceberg, do you slow down or keep walking at full speed? - I keep walking at speed.
23734. What is the speed of your vessel? - 16 knots.
23735. Do you keep walking at speed during the day or at night? - Day and night.
23736. That is, what are your actions when you already did you spot an iceberg? - Yes.
23737. I assume that in this case you have time to dodge the iceberg at the speed at which the ship is going? “I've never had a problem dodging the ice that comes up ahead.
23738. Does this mean that you notice icebergs at a certain distance? - Yes. I usually spot them from 3 miles or less.
23740. Are you talking about nighttime or daytime? - About the night. In the daytime, icebergs can be seen at a greater distance.

These testimonies from Cannons are very valuable when we consider Murdoch's behavior after the discovery of the iceberg. He, unlike the extremely popular myth, did not give the order "Full back", only "Full stop" was given. But given that the engines were stopped after the collision, it turned out exactly like in the case of Cannons - Murdoch was bending around the iceberg with the engines running at full speed. Moreover, an experienced opinion was voiced at the court that such a practice is the most effective - after all, at speed and maneuverability is higher.

Diagram of the Titanic's maneuvers after the iceberg was sighted

Cannons continues:

23744. Suppose you receive ice warnings that you may encounter ice in the area where you find yourself in the middle of the night while crossing the ocean. Will you take any action regarding speed? “I will maintain my current speed and intensively monitor the surface of the ocean.
23745. What do you mean by "enhanced"? - To everyone who will be on watch at that moment, including lookouts, I will give instructions that a meeting with ice is possible, therefore it is necessary to monitor the ocean especially closely.

After these words, it is worth recalling the famous scene on the bridge of the Titanic, described by Lightoller. At about half past ten on the evening of April 14, 1912, Smith and Lightoller were on the bridge, discussing the weather conditions they were in, as well as speculating how far an iceberg could be seen on such a night. They came to the conclusion that it is possible to notice "far enough", considering that on such a starry night, the light should be well reflected even from the edges of the “blue” iceberg, which has recently turned over. After that, Smith uttered the phrase: “If anything raises the slightest doubt, call me right away. I'll be inside" and went to his cabin.

Captain Edward Smith on the boat deck of the Olympic near the first class lobby on the port side during the liner's first arrival in New York. Colorization of Alexander Fifth

Once Smith was out the door, Lightoller instructed sixth mate James Moody to call the Crow's Nest and order him to keep a close eye on the "little ice and growlers". Moody called, warned about the ice, but forgot to mention the growlers, and then Lightoller made Moody call back and say what he missed last time.

These actions of the crew tell us a lot, and most importantly, that they perfectly understood what situation they were in and what could await them ahead. Smith assumed that ice might appear on the horizon after some time, so he deliberately discussed this situation with Lightoller. However, the night was clear and clear, the stars were shining, and, as other captains on the investigation confirmed, the potential iceberg should have been seen at a sufficient distance, because "light will bounce off the surface of the icebergs".

Finally, Smith gave final instructions and ordered him to be called in any doubtful situation. It was already familiar and even routine for such a "sea wolf" spring night in the North Atlantic, but all the preventive measures described, including by Captain Cannons, were taken. In this situation, he acted in the same way as not only he always acted, but also many of his fellow captains, marching across the April Atlantic.

Someone may argue that the measures were insufficient - for example, that Smith decided not to strengthen the lookout watch, did not put additional people on the forecastle. But Captain Cannons, and after him other navigators, also answer this very clearly:

23746. Where is the lookout located? - In the Crow's Nest. How many lookouts do you usually have? - One.
23749. Let's assume that you are approaching a possible ice field, conducting increased surveillance of the ocean. In such a situation, will you increase the number of lookouts? - No, not in clear weather.
23772. If you received warnings that there might be ice ahead, would you double the number of lookouts? – Not if the weather is clear.
23750. So you keep going at the same speed with the only lookout in the Crow's Nest, and that's it? - Yes exactly.
23751. And you put an extra person on the nose?“No, unless there is fog or the weather is no longer clear.

The members of the commission decided to find a "loophole" in this approach and refer to the absolute calm and the absence of the moon, which they wanted to bring under "extraordinary" weather conditions. Then they would have something to cling to, accusing the Titanic crew of misbehaving under such atypical conditions, but Cannons again thwarted their plans:

23767. If the sea is completely calm, and in general conditions that make it difficult to spot an iceberg, than as it happens on a normal clear night, will you double the lookout? Not in clear weather.
23768. If the water is calm, isn't it harder to spot an iceberg? From my experience, I don't think so.

Mercy's favorite move: "Imagine you're driving the Titanic":

23795. What is the speed of your vessel? - 16 knots. This is the maximum speed.
23797. Suppose you have a vessel under your command with a speed of 22 knots, will you slow down when approaching an ice region? Not in clear weather.

Finally, Cannons gives a "control shot" when asked if there are icebergs he wouldn't see:

23757. If an iceberg is 60-80 feet high, how far can it be seen at night? – In my experience, at least 2 miles away.
23832. Do you think there are icebergs that you cannot see? - No, my lord.

Edwin Cannons mentions quite often that all those feats of which he speaks must be performed in clear and clean weather. Eyewitnesses spoke about that “unforgettable” night in exactly this way. For example, a fascinating description is given by Jack Thayer in his 1940 memoirs:

“The night was magnificent and moonless, and the sky was strewn with stars. I have never seen such bright stars, they sparkled in the sky like cut diamonds. A barely perceptible light haze hung low over the water. I spent a lot of time in the ocean, but I never saw such a calm surface of the water as it was that night; the ocean was like a pond, and looked serene when a large liner calmly sailed through it.

Still from James Cameron's Titanic (1997, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox (c))

But Thomas Scanlan, a member of parliament and a representative of the unions of sailors and stokers in Great Britain, was not serene when he asked questions of another captain who worked at the White Star Line - Joseph Barlow Ranson, captain of "Baltika":

24976. What is the practice in your company, what are the instructions regarding the received ice warnings and the course the ship is on? Please repeat, I didn't hear you.
24977. I don't think this is necessary. Is your ship owned by the White Star Line? - Yes.
24978. Very well. We know the practice there.

One of the ice warnings was sent from the Baltika to the Titanic - the very one that Captain Smith would later hand over to Bruce Ismay, and then take away from him.

"Captain Smith. The wind is moderate, the weather is clear. The Greek steamship Athinai reports icebergs and a vast ice field at 41.51 N. and 49.52 W.D. Last night we contacted the German tanker "Deutschland" bound for Philadelphia, they are short of coal; their coordinates are 40.42 s.l. and 55.11 W.D. Report to New York and other steamships. I wish you success". An hour later, Captain Smith replied to the radiogram: “To the captain of the Baltika. Thank you for your message and wishes. Moderate weather since the start of the flight. Smith"

But even on the Baltika, the received ice warnings did not affect the captain's policy in any way:

What is your personal practice of behavior when receiving ice warnings? — In clear or foggy weather? At night?
24979. At night in clear weather. - We are going at full speed regardless of whether there were ice warnings or not.
24980. As far as you know, is this practice accepted on all ships on this route? - Yes.

We briefly discussed the strengthening of the lookout watch:

24981. Do you double the number of lookouts at night? Not in clear weather.

Ranson was also asked about the practice on other liners, whose speed was close to that of the Titanic. There were no surprises

24982. In terms of speed when walking in the Atlantic, if the weather is clear and there are ice warnings, do you maintain speed? — We maintain speed.
24983. And do you always do this? “I always do that.
25984. What is the speed of your vessel? - 16 knots.
25987. Have you been to other courts? Faster? - Yes: "Oceanic", "Majestic" and "Teutonic", their speed is from 20 to 21 knots.
25989. Do these ships follow the same practices as your ship, the Baltika? - Yes.
24991. Do all ship captains follow this practice? – Yes, for all 21 years of my experience.

“This practice” subsequently became the subject of active public discussion and even condemnation at times. It is understandable - in the logic of the layman it did not fit how you can go at full speed across the ocean when ice warnings are received. But when it comes to the Titanic, the captain, like the shipowners, understood that in their case, becoming the “fastest” would not work with all their desire. Moreover, there was no fight for the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic on the Titanic - the ship could not physically develop the speeds necessary for such races, and this was not the goal of the shipbuilders and the White Star Line.

First of all, maintaining speed and course was a manifestation of common sense and respect for the time of those who trusted the company - slowing down or stopping in the middle of a clear and clear night on the open ocean would be perceived as something abnormal and extraordinary in the current system. Moreover, and most importantly, this system fully justified itself in terms of passenger safety, which resulted in a record low number of deaths at sea in the history of passenger shipping.

Newspaper headline announcing that "all passengers of the Titanic have been rescued" and that "a huge liner is being towed to Halifax"

The statistics cited in the British investigation showed that the decades leading up to the sinking of the Titanic were among the most "non-fatal". So, in the period from 1892 to 1901, ships traveling at full speed across the Atlantic carried 3.2 million passengers. Of these, for one reason or another, including illness and accidents, died 73 people.

In the period from 1902 to 1911, already more than 6 million passengers. The number of deaths among them was nine people.

Finally, during the period 1901-1911, only the White Star Line was transported across the Atlantic by ships 2,179,594 passengers. perished two- those who were in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe collision on the Republic in 1909.

Damage to the Florida ship after a collision with the Republic in 1909. Republic sank, Florida repaired in 24 days (Martin & Ottaway)

Was such a practice justified with such a record low number of fatalities? In the opinion of navigators and shipowners, more than, and there was a reason in their logic.

For this reason, by the middle of the interrogation of the captains of the Transatlantic, the commission, headed by Lord Mercy, sank in order, realizing that no violations or negligence could be seen in the actions of Captain Smith. Then they decided to call a representative not just of another line, but of the main competitors of the White Star Line - Kunard. And not just a sailor of some medium-tonnage liner, but the captain of the company's flagship - the “borzoi” of the “Mauritania” John Pritchard. The Mauritania, like the Lusitania, were the fastest liners in the world. Moreover, the entire "Olympic" class was conceived as a response to the construction of two "greyhounds", one of which at the same time - just "Mauritania" - held the speed record for almost 20 years.

"Mauritania" is gaining full speed (TWAM - Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums)

It was especially interesting to hear the opinion of the captain, who crossed the Atlantic at record speeds, at a meeting to investigate the sinking of the Titanic:

25170. Was Mauritania your last ship? - Yes.
25172. I take it you've been operating the Cunards on the Liverpool-New York route for 18 years now? - Yes.
25173. Have you heard about the weather conditions in which the Titanic hit the iceberg? - Yes.
25174. Are you familiar with them? -Yes.
25175. What practice do you have regarding crossing at full speed in similar (as in the case of the Titanic) conditions, or if you have received information that there is a threat of encountering ice? As long as the weather is clear and clear, I always go at full speed.
25176. Have you always done this? — Yes, always.
25177. What is the speed of "Mauritania"? - 26 knots.

Probably, it was here that the last hope of “digging up” something from the commission collapsed. Pritchard continued: in his opinion, the captain should not only slow down, but also change course, which Smith is also often accused of:

25216. You said that you have been a captain's certificate for 37 years? - Yes
25217. About speed, did you tell us that the practice is that even when there are ice warnings, or if you are approaching an ice region, you still hold your course? Yes, if the weather is clear.
25218. If the weather is clear you maintain both course and speed? - Yes.
25219. Has this practice always been? - Yes.

Captain John Pritchard on the left wing of the bridge of the Mauretania, probably during sea trials of the liner (Eric Keith Longo Collection)

And for the third captain in a row, confirming that in clear and clear weather there is no need to increase surveillance:

25184. If at night you expect a possible encounter with ice, according to your practice, will you double the lookouts? – Not if the weather is clear.
25185. But what if the weather wasn't clear? – If it were foggy, then yes, I will immediately double the observation.
25187. If the weather is as calm as possible, it is completely calm, and you have been warned in advance that you may encounter ice along the course during the night, will you increase the lookouts? No, as long as the weather is clear.

The next witness was a retired captain Hugh Young from Anchor Line, who sailed the transatlantic route for more than 37 years. His testimony about the captains' practice in the North Atlantic was as follows:

25222. Have you commanded Anchor Line ships for 37 years? - 37 years. For 35 years I have sailed the North Atlantic routes between Glasgow and New York.
25224. Are you familiar with ice fields? - Completely.
25225. Are you familiar with the weather conditions in which the Titanic hit the iceberg? - As I understand it, there was a complete calm.
25226. Complete calm and clear weather? - Yes.
25227. No unrest on the surface? - None.
25228. And no moon. Now, let's imagine that you are in the same conditions and receive information about a possible encounter with icebergs in the region you are heading to at night, will you slow down or not slow down? - I won't slow down.
25229. Captain Young, if you receive iceberg warnings, will you keep your course and current speed in clear weather? - I will hold my course and maintain my current speed.

25234. How long have you been sailing the North Atlantic route? - About 37 years old.
25235. Suppose you know that there is an ice field ahead. Will your actions be the same? - The same.
25236. Was that the practice all the time that you yourself were sailing across the North Atlantic? Yes, all this time.
25237. Is this practice accepted in all courts? – I think so.
25230. One more question. Assuming you're aware that there are icebergs ahead, do you change the lookout routine somehow? - The routine remains the same if the weather is clear: two people in a crow's nest.
25232. And you will not put anyone on the nose? Not in clear weather.

Here, in the interrogation of Captain Young, new interesting topics appeared: can a decrease in temperature be considered a sign of approaching the ice?

25238. Now the question is about temperature. Previously, it was said here that if the temperature gets lower, then this may signal an approach to the ice. What do you say about it? — I don't think it could be indicative of anything.. The decrease in temperature can only be associated with the entry into the cold current, nothing more. There may or may not be ice.

The question of whether to consider a drop in temperature as a sign of approaching the ice was asked, perhaps, by the chief ice specialist, Ernest Shackleton, a renowned Arctic and Antarctic explorer (his expedition to the Endurance and the legendary rescue operation was just ahead of him).

Ernest Shackleton in 1909 (National Library of Norway)

He also corroborated what had previously been said by other Atlantic captains that a drop in temperature could not be a sure sign of the presence of ice:

25112. In your opinion, a sharp drop in temperature does not mean the presence of ice? “No, it doesn’t by any means.

According to Shackleton, "there are no methods that can definitely indicate the approach to ice when using standard temperature measurement methods" such as lowering a bucket into water and measuring its temperature. It was this method that was used on all liners, including the Titanic:

On April 13, 1912, an interesting picture appeared before the eyes of the Douglas married couple on the Titanic: a sailor lowered a bucket from the open part of the A deck promenade. water, and puts a thermometer there to set the temperature of the sea water. This procedure was probably carried out by the helmsman of the watch, standing near the compass platform: his duties included taking air and water temperature readings every two hours and reporting them to the junior officer, who - to the senior officer of the watch.

Procedure for measuring the water temperature on board the Olympic, deck A (TRMA Archives)

Nevertheless, a decrease in temperature to complete calm would still alert the polar explorer:

“But if there is no wind and the temperature has dropped abnormally low for this time of year, I would imagine that I can approach a region where there may be ice.”. At the same time, the researcher clarifies that this is only if "he knew the average temperature of this area for a given month and if the changes in temperature were too strong". The captains of the Transatlantic, who crossed the ocean in winter as often as in summer, knew perfectly well that the drop in temperature in April was not something anomalous - they had talked about this before, they would say more about it.

Meanwhile, they also decided to ask Shackleton about the issue of speeds, but the researcher hastened to describe himself what experience he relies on: this is walking on a 40-year-old ship with a tonnage of 227 tons with a maximum speed of 6 knots in the South Pole region, where endless ice is all around, wherever look. Therefore, it is not surprising that, on the assumption of the prosecutor “let’s say you are going through the ice zone at a speed of 21-22 knots” Shackleton confidently replied that “You have no right to go at that speed in the area of ​​ice accumulation”.

Nimrod by Shackleton (Archive of Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research)

However, he did not have captain experience, not to mention transatlantic, so the researcher himself soon declared that he did not have the necessary qualifications to evaluate navigation on the Transatlantic. When asked specifically about the situation in which the Titanic found itself, this is what the researcher's answer was:

25121. We have no evidence that anyone was seen on the Titanic that night. shallow ice, pack ice or something similar. There were ice warnings that spoke of the possibility of the presence of such ice. But if icebergs can be seen at a sufficient distance to avoid them, does it make sense to slow down? “I don't think there is any need to slow down if all the icebergs can be seen at a sufficient distance to avoid collision, but I doubt that one can see them all when entering such a region.

Finally, Lord Mercy asked Robert Shackleton what he thought, while not being the captain of the Transatlantic, about the practice of navigation that had developed on the transatlantic routes, and this is what the famous polar explorer answered:

“We sailors always have our own opinion, just like other people. But here the main issue is the relationship between shipowners and skippers, and I am not competent enough to answer it. But I consider it absolutely normal if the captains, who testified one after another at the meeting that they act in this situation in the same way, continued this practice. But this is only if there is a telegraph, and then any catastrophe can be prevented.

Unfortunately, even the telegraph could not help the Titanic.

"Beaver Line" had a rather atypical lettering that attracted attention. This company owned the SS Mount Temple, which was actively involved in the events of April 15, 1912 (Norway Heritage)

Captain William Stewart from the Beaver Line, also retired by that time, walked across the waters of the Atlantic Ocean even a year more than Captain Young - 38 years old:

25244. Have you sailed the North Atlantic for 38 years? - Yes.
25245. And were the captain of the Beaver Line? — Yes, 35 years since the company was founded.
25246. On the route between Liverpool and Canada? - Yes.

And again, the witness was asked to imagine what his actions would be if he himself were the captain of the Titanic:

25252. Are you familiar with the conditions in which the Titanic hit the iceberg? “I read about them in the papers.
25253. Let's clarify so as not to confuse anything. It was a clear night, no moon, no waves, and bright stars, right? - Yes.
25254. Assuming that you are in the same conditions, and that you are operating a boat, and that you have received ice warnings that you may encounter ice along the route you are going to travel at night, will you slow down? No, as long as the weather is clear.
25256. That is, realizing that you can meet ice, you will not slow down? - Not.

25257. If you know that you can meet the ice field, will you still maintain speed? - Until I see him and decide what to do next.

Lookouts Stewart would not have doubled:

25258. As for the lookouts, if you know you might encounter ice, do you change anything in your watch routine at night? – In clear weather, we always keep the standard schedule.

And he confirmed that this practice has been dominating for decades:

25260. Will you maintain both course and speed if there are iceberg warnings? - Yes.
25261. And that was the consistent practice on the North Atlantic routes? - In my case, yes.
25262. And in the case of others? - As far as I know, and in the case of others.

Apparently, by this time, Lord Mercy was already quite tired of understanding that he did not hear anything new, because when they interrogated the next captain - a retired John Alexander Fairful- and he confirmed that he would follow the same practice, although he would still offer to send a man on the nose, Mercy could not stand it:

Mercy: Mr. Espinal (Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce - ed.), is the next witness going to say anything else?
Espinal: As far as I know, no, my lord.

Presidium of the British commission to investigate the catastrophe of the causes of the Titanic. In the most prominent place sits Lord Mercy (second from right), at the bottom of the tables, stenographers record for posterity the course of the meeting

For this reason, the interrogation of a retired captain Andrew Brae got down to just a couple of questions:

25285. Have you commanded the Allan Line ships for 17 years? - Yes.
25286. Did you hear what the four previous witnesses said? - Yes.
25287. Are your actions similar when receiving information about a possible encounter with icebergs? - Exactly the same. I never slow down if the weather is clear.
25288. And you keep the course? Yes, I'm keeping the course.
25290. In your experience, is this a common practice in the Atlantic? - Didn't know any other practice.

Interrogation of the superintendent of the Red Star Line Gerhard Christopher Affeld was interesting in that he knew perfectly well about the practice of navigation of the liners of his company. Moreover, he told how his captains “handled” the ice fields:

25575. Are you the superintendent of the Red Star Line? - Yes.
21580. Do you have naval command experience? - Yes. I have been at sea for 39 years and have now been a Marine Superintendent for 5 years.
25583. When you crossed an ice region, did you change your course or speed? - Never. I never slow down unless it's foggy or bad weather. In other cases, no.
25584. Even when you received ice warnings? - I'm not slowing down.

25586. What were these courts? “These are Lapland, Finland, Manitou and, I believe, Zeeland.
25589. Did they all go through the ice? - Yes.
25591. Did they change their course or speed? - Absolutely not. "Manitou" even entered the ice field. He entered the ice at full speed and held it until the ice was thick enough. Only after that did the captain have to slow down so as not to damage the propellers. This happened April 12th.

Per 2 days before the Titanic disaster.

SS Manitou (1897-1925), Red Star Line (GreatShips.net)

For the sake of one question, they even called the captain of the Manitou himself, Arthur Ernest Tride:

25622. You heard the testimony of the previous witness. Is your speed maintenance practice the same as other fleet captains? - Yes.
(The witness left).

Finally, Affeld reaffirmed that a decrease in temperature does not in any way mean an obligatory approach to the ice. Affeld was well aware of such situations:

25610. Can you tell that a drop in temperature could mean an approach to the ice? – Absolutely not. I have come across this very often. I walked near the banks (shoals and shelves), where the temperature dropped to almost zero in bright clear weather, and did not encounter ice at all. In other cases, ice could occur.

So, the extensive and probably the largest interrogation of transatlantic captains of the early 20th century has come to an end. During it, Lord Mercy, Attorney Isaacs and other members of the commission were able to get more than unambiguous answers to questions asked at the very beginning of the investigation. Captain Edward Smith, guided by the practice described above by dozens of serving and retired captains with decades of experience, in clear and clear weather, guided by common sense, continued to hold both course and speed until danger was detected ahead of the course . Smith knew that the ice might soon appear ahead, but he had seen it more than once, so he did, as the captains of the liners in the North Atlantic always did - he gave clear instructions regarding the ice, passed on to all officers of the watch and lookout. And then it was only a matter of time - any ice should have been noticed quite far away. It had always been like this, and the team had no reason to think that on April 14, 1912, the situation would be any different.

Edward Smith in 1911 aboard the Olympic (Olivier Mendez, Association Francaise du Titanic)

It is curious that sometimes, trying to find a "counterbalance" to the actions of the crew of the Titanic that night, some cite the example of the ship "Californian", which, in their words, "wisely" stopped for the night and drifted until morning, when it was already possible to safely leave from the ice region. And this single example allegedly immediately puts an end to the "recklessness" that guided all the captains of the Atlantic.

SS Californian (1901-1915), Leyland Line

However, in such statements, the most important thing is often missed: the Californian did not just stop among the ice, it itself crashed into the ice field at full speed! Captain Stanley Lord that night, exactly like all the other captains, went at full speed to the West and did not think to slow down, although he had already received several ice warnings before that:

7112. When you received the first ice warnings, did you slow down? - Not.
7113. Did you slow down? - Not.
7114. Isn't it necessary to slow down when in an ice area? - No, if the weather is clear.
7115. How fast were you walking? - 11 knots (almost maximum speed - author's note)

Captain Lord was so confident in the situation that he was taken by surprise when a vast pack ice field suddenly appeared right in front of him - so close that no actions could help evade him:

6701. Did you have to stop because of the ice? “I had to stop and reverse the engines.
6705. You told us you reversed the engines because of the ice. What kind of ice was it? — Ice field.
6706. Where was it? - Right in front of me.
6707. How big was it? - As far as I could see: to the southern and northern horizons.
6775. You stopped and the ice surrounded you? - I crashed (entered) into the ice field of small ice before I could stop and turn away.

As a result, with the engines reversed and a sharp turn to the right, the Californian entered this very ice field and remained in it until the morning.

Captain Stanley Lord during a meeting of the British Commission of Inquiry into the disaster of the Titanic (The Sketch (London), 22 May 1912)

It is worth noting the amazing parallels: the Californian, like the Titanic, was almost at full speed across the ocean. The ice on it, like on the Titanic, was noticed at the very last moment, although they should have been several miles away, and an attempt to dodge the ice was also unsuccessful. The only difference is that Captain Lord was lucky to crash into an ice field with a small pack of ice, while Murdoch had to dodge a huge ice mountain. It is interesting that the captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostron, found himself in exactly the same situation: heading to the wreck of the Titanic and organizing the most careful and careful observation of the ocean, Rostron himself almost almost collided with an iceberg, which "suddenly" appeared right on his ways.

The Carpathia stops in the middle of the ice on the morning of April 15, 1912. Painting by Carl Evers

According to him, the iceberg was seen from only a quarter of a mile - about 400 meters, which is even less than the distance at which the iceberg was supposedly spotted on the Titanic. This happened on a clear night, when icebergs are usually noticed from a couple of kilometers away, and when the ship, the Carpathia, had the maximum surveillance intensified. What was wrong with that night?

The question why the ice that night all the navigators noticed the ice so late has not yet received a final answer. Researchers have yet to study it in detail.

"Iceberg straight ahead!" Photomontage based on a photograph of the view from the roof of the Olympic bridge (collection of Joao Gonçalves)

Lord Mercy studied the issue of speed during the interrogation of dozens of captains in great detail and made a final conclusion, which he set out in the final report of the commission's work. His "closing word" was:

“The Commission of Inquiry found that indeed over the past years it has become a practice for ships sailing at night in clear weather along routes on which ice is expected to maintain course and speed and rely on the experience of forward lookouts. This practice was due to proven experience, expressed in the minimum number of victims on ships that followed this practice.

However, the death of the Titanic revealed the danger of this practice. Perhaps its roots stem from the pursuit of achievement and are caused by the desire of passengers to cross the ocean faster, and not by the experience and prudence of the navigator. Unfortunately, current practice favors this approach.

With that in mind, I can't place the blame on Captain Smith.<…>He did only what any experienced captain would do in his place. He made a mistake, a grave mistake, but which, given the prevailing practice and experience, is in no way a manifestation of negligence or neglect. In the absence of negligence, Captain Smith, in my opinion, cannot be held responsible for what happened.

However, it is hoped that the current practice will be reviewed and become more prudent and cautious in the future. What was a mistake in the case of the Titanic will certainly be negligence in any other similar case in the future.

The Titanic has become a lesson for the whole world. The world has adopted it.

Maxim Polishchuk

(When using the materials of the article, a link to the sourcerequired)

Titanic is a ship that challenged higher powers. A marvel of shipbuilding and the largest ship of its time. The builders and owners of this giant passenger fleet arrogantly declared: "The Lord God himself will not be able to sink this ship." However, the launched ship went on its maiden voyage and did not return. It was one of the largest disasters, forever included in the history of navigation. In this topic, I will talk about the most key points related to the Titanic. The topic consists of two parts, the first part is the history of the Titanic before the tragedy, where I will talk about how the ship was built and went on its fatal voyage. In the second part, we will visit the bottom of the ocean, where the remains of the drowned giant lie.

First, I will briefly talk about the history of the construction of the Titanic. There is a mass interesting photos ship, which captures the construction process, the mechanisms and units of the Titanic, and so on. And then the story will go about the tragic circumstances that were destined to happen on this fateful day for the Titanic. As always happens with major disasters, the tragedy of the Titanic was due to a series of errors that coincided on the same day. Each of these errors individually would not have entailed anything serious, but all together turned into death for the ship.

The Titanic was laid down on March 31, 1909 at the shipyards of the Harland and Wolf shipbuilding company in Belfast, Northern Ireland, launched on May 31, 1911, and passed sea trials on April 2, 1912. The unsinkability of the ship was ensured by 15 watertight bulkheads in the hold, creating 16 conditionally watertight compartments; the space between the bottom and the flooring of the second bottom was divided by transverse and longitudinal partitions into 46 watertight compartments. In the first photo - the slipway of the Titanic, construction is just beginning.


The photo shows the laying of the keel of the Titanic

In this photo, the Titanic is on the slipway next to Olympic, the twin brother

And these are the huge steam engines of the Titanic

giant crankshaft

This photo shows the turbine rotor of the Titanic. The huge dimensions of the rotor stand out against the background of working

Titanic propeller shaft

Solemn photo - the body of the Titanic is completely assembled

The launching process begins. The Titanic is slowly sinking its hull into the water.

The giant ship almost left the stocks

Titanic launch successful

And now the Titanic is ready, the morning before the first official launch in Belfast

The Titanic was officially launched and transported to England. In the photo, a ship in the port of Southampton before her fateful voyage. Few people know, but 8 workers died during the construction of the Titanic. This information is available in a selection of interesting facts about the Titanic.

And this is the last photo of the Titanic taken from the shore in Ireland

The first days of the journey were successful for the ship, nothing foreshadowed trouble, the ocean was completely calm. On the night of April 14, the sea remained calm, but icebergs were visible in some places in the navigation area. They did not embarrass Captain Smith ... At 11:40 pm, a cry was suddenly heard from the observation post on the mast: "Directly on the course of the iceberg!" ... Everyone knows about the further events that took place on the ship. The “unsinkable” Titanic failed to resist the water element and went to the bottom. As already mentioned, many factors turned against the Titanic that day. It was a fatal bad luck that destroyed the giant ship and more than 1500 people.

The official conclusion of the commission investigating the causes of the sinking of the Titanic read: the steel used to sheath the Titanic's hull was of poor quality, with a large admixture of sulfur, which made it very brittle at low temperatures. If the skin had been made of high quality, low sulfur, tough steel, it would have softened the force of impact to a great extent. The metal sheets would have simply bent inward and the damage to the hull would not have been so serious. Perhaps then the Titanic would have been saved, or at least kept afloat for a long time. However, for those times this steel was considered the best, there was simply no other. This was only the final conclusion, in fact, there were a number of other factors that did not allow avoiding a collision with an iceberg

In order, we list all the factors that influenced the death of the Titanic. The absence of any of these factors could have saved the ship...

First of all, it is worth noting the work of Titanic radio operators: the main task of telegraph operators was to serve especially wealthy passengers - it is known that in just 36 hours of work, radio operators transmitted more than 250 telegrams. Payment for telegraph services was made on the spot, in the radio room, and at that time it was not very small, and the tip flowed like a river. Radio operators were constantly busy sending telegrams, and although they received several reports of drifting ice, they were not paid attention to.

Some criticize the lookout's lack of binoculars. The reason for this lies in the tiny key to the box with binoculars. A tiny key that opened the cabinet where the binoculars were stored could have saved the Titanic and the lives of 1,522 dead passengers. This should have happened if not for the fatal mistake of a certain David Blair. Blair, the key keeper, was transferred from his service on the "unsinkable" liner just a few days before the ill-fated voyage, but he forgot to hand over the key to the binoculars locker to the worker who replaced him. That is why the sailors on duty on the observation tower of the liner had to rely solely on their own eyes. They saw the iceberg too late. One of the crew members on duty that fateful night later said that if they had binoculars, they would have seen the ice block earlier (even if pitch darkness reigned) and the Titanic would have had time to change course.

Despite warnings about icebergs, the captain of the Titanic did not slow down or change the route, so confident was he in the unsinkability of the ship. The speed of the steamer was too high, due to which the impact of the iceberg on the hull was of maximum force. If the captain had ordered in advance, when entering the iceberg belt, to reduce the speed of the ship, then the force of impact on the iceberg would not have been enough to break through the hull of the Titanic. The captain also did not make sure that all the boats were filled with people. As a result, a much smaller number of people were saved.

The iceberg belonged to a rare type of so-called. "black icebergs" (turned over so that their dark underwater part hits the surface), because of which it was noticed too late. The night was windless and moonless, otherwise lookouts would have noticed the lambs around the iceberg. Pictured is the same iceberg that caused the sinking of the Titanic.

The ship did not have red rescue rockets signaling distress. Confidence in the power of the ship was so high that it never occurred to anyone to supply the Titanic with these missiles. And everything could have worked out differently. Less than half an hour after meeting with the iceberg, the assistant captain shouted:
Lights to port, sir! The ship is five or six miles from us! Boxhall saw clearly through his binoculars that it was a single-tube steamer. He tried to contact him with a signal lamp, but the unknown vessel did not answer. “Apparently, there is no radiotelegraph on the ship, they could not see us,” Captain Smith decided, and ordered the helmsman Rowe to signal with emergency rockets. When the signalman opened the box of rockets, both Boxhall and Roe were dumbfounded: the box contained ordinary white rockets, not emergency red ones. “Sir,” Boxhall exclaimed in disbelief, “there are only white rockets here!” - Can't be! said Captain Smith in astonishment. But, making sure that Boxhall was right, he ordered: - Shoot the whites. Maybe they'll guess we're in trouble. But no one guessed, everyone thought it was a fireworks display on the Titanic

The California cargo-and-passenger steamer, on a London-Boston flight, missed the Titanic on the evening of April 14, and an hour later it was covered with ice and lost speed. His radio operator Evans contacted the Titanic at about 11 p.m. and wanted to warn about the difficult ice conditions and that they were covered with ice, but the Titanic's radio operator Philippe, who had just barely established contact with Cape Race, rudely cut him off: - Leave me alone! I'm busy working with Cape Reis! And Evans "lagged behind": there was no second radio operator on the "California", the day was difficult and Evans officially closed the radio watch at 23:30, having previously reported this to the captain. As a result, all the blame for the biased investigation into the sinking of the Titanic fell on the captain of the California, Stanley Lord, who until his death proved his innocence. He was acquitted only posthumously, after Hendrik Ness, the captain of the ship Samson, testified ...


On the map is the place where the Titanic sank

So, the night of April 14-15, 1912. Atlantic. Board of the fishing vessel "Samson". "Samson" returns from a successful fishing trip, having avoided encounters with US ships. On board are several hundred slaughtered seals. The tired crew rested. The watch was carried by the captain himself and his first assistant. Captain Ness was in good standing with his masters. The voyages of his steamer were always successful and brought a good profit. Hendrik Ness was known as an experienced and risky captain, not too scrupulous in violating territorial waters or in exceeding the number of prey animals. The Samson often found itself in alien or forbidden waters, and was well known to the ships of the US Coast Guard, with which he successfully avoided close acquaintance. In a word, Hendrik Ness was an excellent navigator and a gambling, successful businessman. Here are the words of Nessus, from which the whole picture of what is happening becomes clear:

“The night was amazing, starry, clear, the ocean is calm and gentle,” said Ness. - My assistant and I chatted, smoked, sometimes I went out of the wheelhouse to the bridge, but I didn’t stay there for a long time - the air was right chilling. Suddenly, accidentally turning around, I saw two unusually bright stars in the southern part of the horizon. They surprised me with their brilliance and size. Shouting to the officer on duty to give a spyglass, I pointed it at these stars and immediately realized that these were the top lights of a large vessel. "Captain, I think it's a Coast Guard ship," the aide said. But I have thought about it myself. There was no time to estimate on the map, but we both decided that we had climbed into the territorial waters of the United States. Meeting with their ships did not bode well for us. A few minutes later, a white rocket took off over the horizon, and we realized that we had been discovered and were required to stop. I still hoped that everything would work out and we could escape. But soon another rocket took off, after some time a third ... Things turned out badly: if we had been searched, I would have lost not only all the booty, but also, possibly, lost the ship, and we would all have ended up in prison. I decided to leave.

He ordered to turn off all the lights and give full speed. For some reason they didn't follow us. After some time, the border ship disappeared altogether. (That is why the Titanic witnesses claimed to have clearly seen a large steamer in the distance that had left them. The ill-fated California was at that time jammed with ice and was not visible from the Titanic at all.) I ordered to change course to the north, we went at full speed and only in the morning slowed down. On the twenty-fifth of April we anchored off Reykjavik in Iceland, and only then, from the newspapers delivered by the Norwegian consul, did we learn of the tragedy of the Titanic.

During a conversation with the consul, it was as if they hit me on the head: I thought - weren't we then at the crash site? As soon as the consul left our board, I immediately rushed into the cabin and, looking through the newspapers and my notes, realized that the dying people did not see the California, but us. So, it was us who called for help with rockets. But they were white, not red, emergency. Who would have thought that people were dying right next to us, and we were leaving them at full speed on our reliable and large "Samson", which had both boats and boats on board! And the sea was like a pond, quiet, calm… We could have saved them all! Everyone! Hundreds of people died there, and we saved the smelly seal skins! But who could know about it? We didn't have a radiotelegraph. On the way to Norway, I explained to the crew what had happened to us, and warned that all of us had only one thing to do - keep quiet! If they find out the truth, we will become worse than lepers: everyone will shy away from us, we will be kicked out of the fleet, no one will want to serve with us on the same ship, no one will give us a hand or a crust of bread. And none of the team took any oath.

Hendrik Ness spoke about the incident only 50 years later, before his death. Nevertheless, no one can be directly blamed for the sinking of the Titanic. If the rockets were red, he would certainly rush to the rescue. In the end, no one was able to help. Only the steamer "Carpathia", developing an unprecedented speed for her of 17 knots, rushed to the aid of dying people. Captain Arthur X. Roston ordered the preparation of beds, spare clothing, food, accommodation for the rescued. At 2 hours 45 minutes of the Carpathia, icebergs and their fragments, large ice fields began to meet. Despite the danger of collision, the Carpathia did not slow down. At 3:50 a.m. on the Carpathia they saw the first lifeboat from the Titanic, at 4:10 a.m. they began to rescue people, and by 8:30 a.m. the last living person was picked up. In total, "Carpathia" saved 705 people. And the Carpathia delivered all the rescued to New York. Pictured is a boat from the Titanic

Now let's move on to the second part of the story. Here you will see the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean in the form in which it remained after the tragedy. For seventy-three years the ship lay in its deep underwater grave as one of the countless testimonies of human carelessness. The word "Titanic" has become synonymous with doomed adventures, heroism, cowardice, upheaval and adventure. Societies and associations of surviving passengers were formed. Entrepreneurs involved in the recovery of sunken ships dreamed of lifting a superliner with all its countless riches. In 1985, a team of divers led by American oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard found it, and the world learned that under the enormous pressure of the water column, the giant ship broke into three parts. The wreckage of the Titanic was scattered over an area with a radius of 1600 meters. Ballard found the bow of the ship, deeply embedded in the ground under its own weight. Eight hundred meters from her lay the stern. Nearby were the ruins of the middle part of the building. Among the wreckage of the ship, a variety of objects of material culture of that distant time were lying all over the bottom: a set of copper kitchen utensils, wine bottles with corks, coffee cups with the emblem of the White Star shipping line, toiletries, doorknobs, candelabra, stoves and ceramic heads dolls played with by little children... One of the most stunning underwater images captured by Dr. Ballard's movie camera was a broken davit hanging limply from the side of the ship - a silent witness to a tragic night that will forever remain on the list of world catastrophes. The photo shows the wreck of the Titanic, the picture was taken by the Mir submersible

Over the past 19 years, the hull of the Titanic has undergone serious destruction, the reason for which was not sea water at all, but souvenir hunters who are gradually stealing the remains of the liner. So, for example, the ship's bell or mast lighthouse disappeared from the ship. In addition to direct looting, damage to the ship is caused by time and the action of bacteria, leaving behind only rusty ruins.

In this photo we see the propeller of the Titanic

Huge ship anchor

One of the Titanic's piston engines

Preserved under water cup from the Titanic

Here is the same hole formed after the meeting with the iceberg. Perhaps, in addition to weak steel, the rivets between the sheets of metal could not stand it, and water poured into the 4 compartments of the Titanic, leaving no chance of salvation. There was no point in pumping water, it was equivalent to pumping water from ocean to ocean. The Titanic sank to the bottom, where it rests to this day. There is talk of bringing the Titanic to the surface to make it a museum, while various souvenir enthusiasts continue to tear the ship apart. How many more secrets does the Titanic hold? It is unlikely that anyone will give an answer to this question in the near future ..

July 9, 2011 | Categories: History , Other , Technology