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Volume 28 Number 4, Winter 1985/86

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ISSN 0029-8182

Oceanus

The International Magazine of Marine Science and Policy

Volume 28, Number 4, Winter 1985/86

Paul R. Ryan, Editor
Frank L. Lowenstein, Assistant Editor
Eleanore Scavotto, Editorial Assistant
Carole Hyde, Eaii Intern

Editorial Advis<orY Board

1930

Henry Charnock, Professor of Physical Oceanography, University of Southampton, tngland

Edward D. Goldberg, Professor of Chemistry, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Gotthilf Hempel, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar Research, West Germany

Charles D. Hollister, Dean of Graduate Studies, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

John Imbrie, Henry L. Doherty Professor of Oceanography, Brown University

John A. Knauss, Provost for Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island

Arthur E. Maxwell, Director of the Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas

Timothy R. Parsons, Professor, Institute of Oceanography, University of British Columbia, Canada

Allan R. Robinson, Cordon McKay Professor of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Harvard University

David A. Ross, Chairman, Department of Geology and Geophysics, and Sea Grant Coordinator,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Published by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Guy W. Nichols, Chairman, Board of Trustees
Paul M. Fye, President of the Corporation
James S. Coles, President of the Associates

John H. Steele, Director of the Institution

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103 Robert Duane Ballard: Deep Wilderness Man

by Paul R. Ryan
109 Bibliography, addendum

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Cover: Anchor chains, winches, and capstans on the bow of the Titanic, 1985. Back
cover: The crow's nest. Photos courtesy of WHOI, Dr. Robert Ballard, and IFREMER.

Copyright® 1985 by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Oceanus (ISSN 0029-
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The Titanic: Lost & Found

Preface — An Ocean of Revelations

by Edward S. Kamuda

Introduction

by Robert D. Ballard

The Titanic: Lost & Found (1912-1985)

by Paul R. Ryan

The Discovery of the Titanic by the U.S. and French Expedition

by P.R.R. arid Anne Rabushka

The Titanic's Role in History

by Frank Lowenstein

The Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1985, the position of the U.S. State
Department, and Ballard's Congressional Testimony

Bride's Story

by Harold Bride

Wireless Revisited: The Radio Room of the R/V Knorr

by Ernest "Butch" Smith

'I Was Aboard the Titanic'

by Edith Russell

The Steamship Californian Controversy

from the British Inquiry
Lord of the Californian

by John C. Carrothers

Gill, the Donkeyman's Tale

by Eugene Seder

Personalities — 'E.J.' Smith, Astor, the Strauses, Ismay, Lightoller and Murdock,
Guggenheim, 'Molly' Brown, Widener

The Dead — 'A Strange Task Stranger'

by Carole Hyde
The Ravages of Time

by Holger W. jannasch

Who Owns the Titanic?

by Dean E. Cycon

Salvaging the Titanic: An Impossible Dream?

by Eleanore Scavotto

'Cap, They Got Her'

by Captain RJ. Bowen

Argo: Capabilities for Deep Ocean Exploration

by Stewart E. Harris and Katie Albers
Index

103 Robert Duane Ballard: Deep Wilderness Man

by Paul R. Ryan
109 Bibliography, addendum

Cover: Anchor chains, winches, and capstans on the bow of the Titanic, 1985. Back
cover: The crow's nest. Photos courtesy of WHOI, Dr. Robert Ballard, and IFREMER.

Copyright® 1985 by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Oceanus (ISSN 0029-
8182) is published for $20 per year in March, June, September, and December by the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 93 Water Street, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
02543. Second-class postage paid at Falmouth, Massachusetts; Windsor, Ontario; and
additional mailing points. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Oceanus Subscriber
Service Center, P.O. Box 6419, Syracuse, N.Y. 13217.

1

Preface:

An Ocean of Revelations

by Edward S. Kamuda

It had been more than 73 years since man cast his
eyes on the Royal Mail Steamer TiLmic, once the
pride of the White Star Line. The very last impression
ot the ship in the minds ot the 705 survivors on that
cold April night in 1912 was of the liner's stern, lifted
out of the water and pointing to the star-strewn
heavens. Internal lights grew pale, flickered out for a
brief few seconds, and came on again. Then
blackness ensued, followed by a horrendous rumble
as machinery, cargo, furniture, and people still on
board tumbled down into the sea. The stern sank
back slightly, and the great ship slid gracefully into
the ice-strewn ocean, leaving only a wisp of grey
smoke, and a calm sea littered with debris, lifeboats,
and more than 1 ,500 drowning souls.

With the completion in 1 91 2 of the U.S.
Senate and British inquiries into the cause of the
disaster, the story of the Titanic was over for most
people, except for those sizable numbers who
would relive the tragedy in films and books over the
years, and of course, for those who had lost loved
ones. However, the story was also not over for those
with an engineering bent.

An new argument began about what became
of the ship once she slid below the surface. There
were few answers, as little information was available
about the ocean at such depths. Engineers expressed
greatly different theories. Some thought the liner
leveled off at "approximately 1,000 feet below the
surface" and then turned on her side "as a leaf falls"
and hit the ocean floor at a moderate speed of "1 5
feet per second," "probably damaging her
superstructure," with masts and funnels snapping off
in the process.

Others surmised that the liner broke in two,
and slammed into the seabed at a speed of 100
miles per hour, causing enormous damage. Still
others believed that the ship nose-dived into the
thick mud of the North Atlantic seafloor, burying a
third of the ship, with the rest of the liner standing
up at a nearly perfect 90-degree angle. Only a few
guessed that the ship landed on the seabed on an
even keel, gently, and would be found in pristine
condition.

Now, 73 years later, thanks to the scientific
expedition mounted by Dr. Robert Ballard of the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the
French Government, the complex details of the
TiLmic's final moments as well as her present
condition, can be answered with more than an
"educated guess."

One of the first photographs to be released
revealed a ship's boiler resting in the gravel-like
seabed. It immediately answered one question
involving the destruction of the Titanic. Those who
argued that the ship's boilers rumbled through the
ship, possibly exiting from the liner's hull had been
scoffed at over the years. "The ship's hull and
interior were too well built to allow that to happen,"
was the argument. That sobering photograph gives
us a different answer.

But there were more surprises as each new
photograph was released — silent testimony to the
splendor of the Titanic: a silver serving tray beside
the ship; bottles of fine wine unbroken — labels still
affixed; luggage seen through a hole in the side of
the liner; and two funnels still standing on the ship's
boat deck.

Even more surprises emerged from the
discovery — the stern lies more than 200 feet from
the liner, twisted and bent, the deck cranes smashed
and strewn about. Further examination should reveal
how and why this occurred. The forward mast,
containing the crow's nest where lookouts Frederick
Fleet and Reginald Lee spotted the deadly iceberg,
now rests against the liner's bridge (see back cover).

Each new photograph produced, each new
fact revealed, gives one more of an appreciation not
only of the Titanic herself and the building
technology of the time, but also of the inventions of
this modern day — robot cameras and equipment
created for the exploration of the great oceans of the
world.

The Titanic died in 1912 as an instrument of
transportation, but today she continues to expand
man's knowledge of the ocean. Let us give thanks to
all who took part in this great scientific drama for
sharing with us this ocean of revelations.

Ldward 5. K^imucLi is Secretary and Co-founder of ttie Titanic
Historical Society.

Introduction

by Robert D. Ballard

iVly desire to search for the Titanic goes back
many years, to about 1973, when the decision
was made at Woods Hole to replace Alvin's
original steel hull with a new one made of a
titanium alloy. Such a conversion would
increase its diving range from 6,000 feet to its
present operational range of more than 13,000
feet, making it possible to reach the Titanic's
estimated depth.

Preparing for the search took many years
of hard work and involved several false starts.
As time went on, my interests turned away
from manned submersibles towards unmanned
vehicles. Ultimately those interests began to
focus on the Argo vehicle system, which I
became more and more convinced was a
necessary next step in exploration technology
for our continued research in the deep sea and,
more specifically, on the Mid-Ocean Ridge.
Initially, I had hoped the Titanic program might
help our laboratory to raise the funds to build
Argo. That proved unsuccessful, and, after
several attempts, the Titanic faded into the
background while all our energies went into
developing /Argo.

By 1980, we had convinced the U.S.
Navy to provide funds to develop Argo, not to
search for the Titanic, but to assist them in their
own search programs and to develop a
fundamentally new approach to scientific
exploration in the deep sea. The Argo program
stresses visual imaging instead of more
conventional acoustic imaging techniques.

From 1980 to 1983, it was difficult to sit
on the sidelines and watch as other attempts
were mounted to search for the Titanic. The
failure of those efforts clearly illustrated that
finding the Titanic was a more difficult
undertaking than anyone had suspected.
Distinguished researchers from the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography and the Lamont-
Doherty Geological Observatory had used
excellent search equipment and had not
succeeded. Watching their efforts convinced

me that the key to discovering the Titantic lay
in having sufficient time on target to conduct a
thorough search of an area of 1 00 to 1 50
square miles.

By 1985 we would have the technology
necessary to search for the Titanic and approval
from the Navy and the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution to test Argo in the
area where the Titanic sank. But that limited
test period was not enough to insure success.
For that reason, I turned in 1983 to an old
friend, France, and more specifically Claude
Riffaud, Jean Jarry, and Jean-Louis Michel —
long time friends from the days of Project
FAMOUS (French-American Mid-Ocean
Undersea Study). These men I knew and
deeply respected. We had worked together in
1973 and 1974 on man's first investigation of
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge using manned
submersibles. These were men of the deep
who would find the Titanic an exciting
technological challenge and at the same time, a
human adventure. I went to Paris and arranged
to have dinner at Claude Riffaud's apartment.
Claude invited Jean Jarry and the new head of
IFREMER {Institut Frangais de Reclierches pour
I'Exploitation des Mers), Yves Sillard who
accepted the Titanic challenge. The rest is now
history (see page 16).

Now that the Titanic has been found and
photographed, my greatest desire is to take
Argo back to sea off the coast of Mexico and
conduct our first scientific program, looking at
recent volcanic activity and hydrothermal vent
fields on the East Pacific Rise. If all goes as
planned, we should be at sea doing that work
as this issue of Oceanus is being read.

Robert D. Ballard is a Senior Scientist in the Ocean
Engineering Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, and head of the Deep Submergence Laboratory' in
the same department. He and jean-Louis Michel of IFREMER
were co-chief scientists aboard the R/V Knorr's cruise that
discovered the Titanic.

The Titanic:
Lost & Found
(1912-1985)

We have fed our sea for a thousand years

And she calls us, still unfed.
Though never a wave of all her waves

But marks our English dead;
We have strawed our best to the weeds unrest,

To the shark and the sheering gull.
If blood be the price of admiralty.

Lord Cod, we ha' paid in full.

— Rudyard Kipling

by Paul R. Ryan

I he foundering of the "unsinkable" Titanic on her
maiden voyage in 1912 served notice that man's
technology — then as now — is not invulnerable to
the forces of nature, be they in the form of ice, wind,
or fire. The steel-plated, four-stack vessel was
enormous and extravagant, some would say too big
and too lavish — four city blocks long and eleven
stories high. Men standing beneath her giant
propellers in the Belfast yard where she was built
appeared hardly bigger than barnacles. And her
appointments— a Cuilded Age facade even down
into steerage class.* Gourmet cheeses and vintage
wines. She was a ship catering to those who could
afford an Atlantic crossing in a ragtime, black-tie
style — the Astors, Wideners, and Guggenheims of
the world who in that highly social-conscious time
substituted in the public's consciousness for today's
glamorous movie stars.

Although a symbol of the limits of technology
in her day, the discovery of the Titanic by a team of
French and American scientists on September 1,
1985, paradoxically served to usher in a new era in
marine science. The vehicle that discovered the
largely intact hull of the doomed liner is called Argo.
It is an unmanned sonar and TV-imaging system that
will allow vast areas of the world's seafloor to be
observed for the first time. The French vehicle used
in the search is called SAR. It is described on page
19.

* Steerage is a term left over from the 1860s when it had
been legal to transport people to one shore and then carry
cattle in the same quarters on the trip back. The term gave
way eventually to third-class.

Argo, named after the mythical vessel that
carried Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece,
was on its maiden voyage when it discovered the
Titanic. Plans call for the Argo vehicle — which is
about the size of a small airplane fuselage — to
eventually house a smaller robot named lason,
which will be used for close-up viewing of features
on the bottom, jason will be a tethered vehicle with
sophisticated TV cameras for eyes and manipulator
arms capable of retreiving small objects.

Argo and jason are financed by the U.S. Navy
and are being developed by the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution's (WHOI's) Deep
Submergence Laboratory, which is headed by Senior
Scientist Robert D. Ballard (see page 103). The
Navy's interest in the vehicles is prompted by the
fact that the more they know about the deep
seabed, the better their antisubmarine warfare
program will be. Although Ballard's interest in finding
the Titanic goes back at least 10 years, his motivation
in developing Argo and Jason derives from more
recent scientific goals.

Both an engineer and a geologist, Ballard has
probably spent more time on the bottom of the
deep ocean than anyone alive. In 1977, he was in
Alvin — a three-person submersible operated by
WHO! for the Navy and the National Science
Foundation — when it verified the existence of hot
springs in the Galapagos Rift and came upon unusual
life forms for the first time — such as giant tube
worms with no mouth or gut.

As this issue of Oceanus comes off the press
in December, Ballard and other marine scientists are
scheduled to use Argo on the East Pacific Rise. They

ic Titanic ci( Queenstown, Ireland, I'UZ. lujintv hci departure for New York. (Photo courtesy The Cork Examiner) Below,
workmen are dwarfed beneath propellers on the sister ship Olympic, which were exactly like those on the Titanic. (Photo
courtesy Harland and Wolff, Ltd.)

W xf'^ ^.

expect in just 20 days to examine as muc h of the
seatloor as has been covered in 12 years using
manned submersibles. While manned submersibles
are limited to a tew hours on the bottom before they
must surface for air, Argo can stay on the seafloor for
long periods of time.

Documenting A Disaster

The intent of this issue of Ocednus is to review the
history of the Tit.mic disaster, and also to document
the discovery of the wreck. In selecting information
on the history of the great ship, we have been
guided by two members of the Titanic Historical
Society: Edward S. Kamuda, co-founder of the
organization and Editor-in-Chief of The Titanic
Commutator, the official journal of the society; and
lohn Mollis, society spokesman, who opened his
extensive files to us and served as a consultant on
the issue, as he did for the film version of Clive
Cussler's Raise the Titanic.

The story of the Titanic, dubbed "Empress of
the Ocean," is riddled with conflicting eyewitness
accounts. For example, did the band play the
nondenominational hymn "Nearer My God to Thee"
or the Episcopalian hymn "Autumn" in the last

moments before the ship turned her stern to the
star-lit heavens and slowly, almost apologetically
disappeared below the surface. Does it really matter?
A( tually they sound a little alike. Mollis believes it
was prolxibly "Autumn" l)ecause she was a British
shi|) and the band w(njld have been more familiar
with that hymn. Other conflicting testimony deals
with sue h diverse topics as the fate of the officers
and whether the ship broke in half.

After all these years, there is no agreement
even on the number of dead, or, for that matter, on
the number of people on board before the sinking. A
cautious writer fudges a bit, "more than 1,500"
people died: the truth probably lies between 1,517
and 1,521. Such discrepancies make the work of
historians of the Titanic difficult.

There were two official inquiries into the
disaster, one in the United States and the other in
Great Britain. The one in the United States was led
by Senator William Alden Smith of Michigan and
concluded about a month after the disaster; the
British inquiry lasted until July 30th of that year and
took into account the material gathered by the
Senate investigation. We have leaned heavily on
these reports for our account of the tragedy.

The Titanic Tale

In 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic's voyage,
a popular novel written by Morgan Robertson and
called Futility appeared in the United States. It was a
yarn about a great "unsinkable" luxury liner named
the Titan that sank in the North Atlantic after hitting
an iceberg at top speed. Almost all of the passengers
lost their lives because there were not enough
lifeboats aboard. The similarities between the
fictional Titan and the real Titanic are uncanny:

Titan

Titanic

Ship length

800 ft.

882.5 ft.

Tonnage displacement

75,000

66,000

Propellers

3

3

Speed at impact

25 knots

22 knots

Number of passengers

3,000

2,340

Number of lifeboats

24

20

Month of sinking

April

April

The Titanic's keel had been laid in the summer
of 1909 at the Belfast, Ireland, shipyards of Marland &
Wolff. William j. Pirrie, the head of the shipyard, had
risen from boilermaker to baronet. Mis yard held the
reputation of being one of the best in the world. Lord
Pirrie's nephew, Thomas Andrews, who accompanied
the Titanic on her maiden voyage and went down
with the ship, served as one of the principal designers
of the liner. Then, as managing director of the yard,
he supervised the details of her construction.

j. Bruce Ismay was chairman of the White Star
Line of Liverpool, England, operators of the Titanic.

Reportedly having a personal fortune worth $40
million, he too sailed on the maiden voyage, but
survived. In 1902, the International Mercantile Marine
(IMM), a braintrust of J. Pierpont Morgan who sought
to add the North Atlantic steamship trade to his other
enormous financial interests — such as railroads, coal,
and steel — struck a deal with the White Star Line. The
line would be principally American-owned, but would
remain under British management. The agreement
allowed the line to stem a rate war with Cunard and
other lines.

Ismay and Lord Pirrie put their heads together
in 1907 and, with Morgan's blessing, decided they
would build two twin ships to compete with the speed
of the new Cunard liners, the Lusitania and Mauretania.
The White Star ships would be the last word in comfort
and elegance. They would be able to guarantee a
week's crossing on a regular schedule. The two vessels
would be built side by side in twin slips.

The first of the twin sisters, the Olympic, sailed
on her maiden voyage to New York on May 31, 191 1.
On the same day, the Titanic was launched from Slip
3 in Belfast. Although the Olympic had many of the
same appointments as the Titanic, the younger sister
benefitted from correction of design flaws found in
her older sister. Modifications were extensive; 100
more first-class cabins than the Olympic, and a Parisian
boulevard on B-deck to create the illusion of a
sidewalk cafe. Ultimately, the Titanic outweighed her
sister by more than a thousand tons. The cumulative
effect was such that the two ships could no longer be

regarded as twins. The two ships would eventually be
joined by a larger third sister, the BritLmic, which was
converted to a hospital ship at the outset of World
War I and never saw service as a passenger liner.

Morgan came down from London for the
Titanic launching and inspected his own private suite
aboard. He planned to make the maiden voyage, but
would later cancel because of poor health.

The Titanic was built throughout of steel and
had a cellular double bottom. For about half the length
of the vessel the double bottom extended up the
ship's side to a height of 7 feet above the keel. All
decks were steel plated throughout — three million
rivets weighing 1 ,200 tons held her together. Each link
in her anchor chains weighed 175 pounds. The huge
power plant, comprising 29 enormous boilers under
heat from 159 furnaces, produced a registered horse
power of 50,000 and an average speed of 21 knots.
At full speed she could produce 55,000 horsepower
and a speed of 25 knots.

The one thing the Titanic did not have was
ample lifeboats for the approximately 2,340 people
on board, although she exceeded the number
required under British regulations by four. She carried
fourteen 30-foot wooden boats, two 25-foot wooden
boats, and four canvas collapsible craft (see page 37).

One-way passage in the most luxurious first-
class suites, those with private promenades, went for
$4,350, equivalent to about $50,000 today. At the
other extreme, the steerage bunks, the lowest in the
ship and closest to the bow, went for considerably
less than first-class dog kennel passage. The ship— in
addition to her splendid suites, cabins, dining saloons,
ballrooms, and lounges— housed a swimming pool,
squash and tennis courts, sun paHors, a Turkish bath,
a gymnasium, and several libraries.

The Titanic's crew numbered 860. Sixty-five of
these were officers, mates, and deckhands; 320 were
listed as engineers; and 475 stewards, cooks, and
helpers rounded out the crew. Although the ship had
accommodations for about 2,500 passengers, only
about 1,480 booked for the maiden voyage, roughly
a fourth traveling first-class, a fourth second-class, and
half steerage or third-class.

Several of the first-class passengers on board
had fortunes exceeding many millions of dollars.
Among them were John Jacob Astor (estimated worth
$150 million), who was returning from Egypt with his
19-year-old bride; Benjamin Guggenheim ($95
million), the mining and smelting king; Isidor Straus
($50 million), a partner in R.H. Macy & Co.; and
George D. Widener ($50 million), Philadelphia
financier and tractor baron. All perished when the
Titanic went down. Other prominent passengers
included William T. Stead, a leading British evangelist,
editor, and publicist; Jacques Futrelle, a noted
American journalist whose wife would survive and
whom this writer would visit often in her Scituate,
Massachusetts, nursing home; Henry B. Harris, a
Broadway producer; Major Archibald Butt, military
aide to President Taft who was traveling to the White
House with a message from the Pope; Frank D. Millet,
American painter; John B. Thayer, a vice president of
the Pennsylvania Railroad; Arthur Ryerson, steel
executive; and Col. Archibald Gracie of the U.S. Army
(Rtd.). Only Gracie would survive from this group to

Anchor chains of the type used on the Titanic. Each link
weighed 1 75 pounds. (Photo counesy Ken Marschall
collection: from The Largest Ships of the World, 1914)

write a book about his experiences. The Truth About
the Titanic, published in 1913. He died less than 8
months after the loss of the Titanic.

The Voyage and the Iceberg

The Titanic left Southampton, England, on
Wednesday, April 10, and, after calling at
Cherbourg, France, proceeded to Queenstown,
Ireland. She sailed from the Irish port on Thursday,
April 1 1 , shortly after noon, following what was at
that time the accepted outward-bound route for mail
steamers from the Fastnet Light, off the southwest
coast of Ireland, to the Nantucket shoal light vessel
off the East Coast of the United States.

Just before the Titanic sailed from
Southampton, a second-class passenger, Mrs. Albert
F. Caldwell, called to a deckhand loading luggage: "Is
this ship really unsinkable?" "Yes, indeed, lady," the
deckhand replied, "God himself could not sink this
ship."

There were two omens on the day of
departure from Southampton. A coal strike in Britain
had left a number of vessels short of coal. The Titanic
needed 650 tons of coal per day to run her 1 59
furnaces. The White Star Line, operators of the
Titanic, were forced to cancel the trips of their ships
Oceanic and Adriatic, transferring the passengers and

Boilers ol the type installed un the Titanic. Note size of man in relation to the boilers, (from Shipbuilder magazine, 191 1)

coal to the Titanic. On the day she sailed, the Titanic
had a fire in a coal bunker, which continued until the
ship sank. A fireman, J. Dilley, would later testify:
". . . my sole duty, together with 1 1 other men, had
been to fight that fire. We had made no headway
against it . . . The fire started in Bunker No. 6. There
were hundreds of tons of coal stored there . . . The
wet coal on top kept the flames from coming
through, but down in the bottom of the bunkers the
flames were raging . . . The stokers were alarmed
over it, but the officers told us to keep our mouths
shut — they didn't want to alarm the passengers."

The second omen occurred as the Titanic left
the dock. The tremendous force of the ship's suction
snapped the steel hawsers of the steamer New York,
which was moored close by, causing her to drift
toward the Titanic. The Captain, Edward J. Smith,
ordered ahead on the port engine, the wash from
this action gently pushing the New York back. He
then cut his engines and tugs drew alongside to aid
the New York. This is but one of many ifs in the
Titanic tale. If the ship had collided with the smaller
steamer it might have delayed the maiden voyage
long enough for the Titanic to have missed her fate.

After leaving Queenstown, the huge vessel
moved sleekly through the North Atlantic in almost
perfect weather (experiencing only a brief period of
fog). Passengers commented that there was a
minimum of pitching, rolling, and vibration. The first
day, the Titanic made 484 miles, the second 519,

and the third 549. Some of the passengers
participated in betting pools on the daily runs. Ismay
had set the ship's New York arrival time at
Wednesday morning. Junior officers told passengers
that the hours of Tuesday night seemed a better bet.

Other passengers passed the time by dancing
in the main ballroom. The Titanic's eight-member
band was billed as the best on the Atlantic. It
included Wallace Hartley, bandmaster, Theodore
Brailey, pianist, and Jock Hume, cellest and first
violinist. To a man, the entire band played to the
very end in an extraordinary demonstration of
courage.

It was Sunday afternoon on April 14th, the
fateful day, when passengers exercising on deck first
noticed patches of drifting ice. This did not alarm
seasoned travelers who explained to others that
ships on the northern express route often
encountered ice in April. What they did not know —
indeed no one on the Titanic knew — was that the
ice conditions were worse than normal and would
prove to be the worst in 50 years for that month. A
mild winter had caused glaciers on the west coast of
Greenland to give birth to large numbers of icebergs.

The Titanic received six wireless messages
that Sunday warning of the danger of ice. The first
came from the steamship Caronia at 9 a.m. It said:

Captain, Titanic:

West-bound steamers report bergs, growlers.

8

The poop deck of the Titanic (see also stern photo on pullout). Picture was taken while at Queenstown, Ireland. The
baggage jireight handling cranes could each lift a maxinnum of 2Vi tons. Note the two docking telegraphs on aft bridge and
the one spotted in the debris field on page 28 (lower photo). (Photo courtesy The Cork Examiner)

and field ice in 42°
Compliments.

N., from 49° to 51° W., April 12.

Barr.

Captain Smith acknowledged receipt of the message.

The second message came from the
steamship Baltic, arriving at 1:42 p.m. It stated:

Capt. Smith, Titanic:

Have had moderate, variable winds and clear,
fine weather since leaving. Greek steamer Athenia
reports passing icebergs and large quantities of field
ice to-day in latitude 41° 51' N., longitude 49° 52' W.
Last night we spoke German oiltank steamer
Deutschland, Stettin to Philadelphia, not under
control, short of coal, latitude 40° 42' N., longitude
55° 1 1 ' W. Wishes to be reported to New York and
other steamers. Wish you and Titanic all success.

Commander.

Captain Smith acknowledged receipt of this
message, too, passing it along to Ismay, who showed
it to two ladies who in turn may have communicated
its contents to other passengers. It remained in
Ismay's possession until 7:15 p.m. at which point
Captain Smith asked him to return it so that it could
be posted in the chart room.

The third message was perhaps the most
crucial. It was sent from the German steamer
Amerika to the Hydrographic Office in Washington

Ice Terms

An iceberg may be defined as a detached portion
of a polar glacier carried out to sea. The ice of an
iceberg formed from a glacier is of quite fresh
water. Only about an eighth of its mass floats
above the surface of sea water.

A "growler" is a colloquial term applied to
icebergs of small mass, which therefore only
show a small portion above the surface. It is not
infrequently a berg which has turned over, and is
therefore showing what has been termed "black
ice" or, more correctly, dark-blue ice.

Pack ice is the floating ice which covers
wide areas of the polar seas, broken into large
pieces, which are driven ("packed") together by
wind and current, so as to form a practically
continuous sheet. Such ice is generally frozen
from sea water, and not derived from glaciers.

Field ice is a term usually applied to frozen
sea water floating in much looser form than pack
ice.

An icefloe is the term generally applied to
the same ice (i. e., field ice) in a smaller quantity.

A floe berg is a stratified mass of floe ice
(i. e., sea-water ice).

— From the British Inquiry, 1912

Sailing Directions

One of the chiel ddnger^ in cross/ng the Atlantic lies in the probability of encountering masses of ice,
both in the form of bergs and of extensive fields of solid compact ice, released at the breaking up of winter
in the Arctic regions, and drifted down by the Labrador current across their direct route. Ice is more likely to
be encountered in this route between April and August, both months inclusive, than at other times,
although icebergs have been seen at all seasons northward of the parallel of 43° N., but not often so far
south after August.

These icebergs are sometimes over 200 feet in height and of considerable extent. They have been
seen as far south as latitude 39° N., to obtain which position they must have crossed the Culf Stream
impelled by the cold Arctic current underrunning the warm waters of the Culf Stream. That this should
happen is not to be wondered at when it is considered that the specific gravity of fresh-water ice, of which
these bergs are composed, is about seven-eighths that of sea water; so that, however vast the berg may
appear to the eye of the observer, he can in reality see one-eighth of its bulk, the remaining seven-eighths
being submerged and subject to the deep-water currents of the ocean. The track of an iceberg is indeed
directed mainly by current, so small a portion of its surface being exposed to the action of the winds that its
course is but slightly retarded or deflected by moderate breezes. On the Great Bank of Newfoundland
bergs are often observed to be moving south or southeast; those that drift westward of Cape Race usually
pass between Creen and St. Pierre Banks.

The route chart of the North Atlantic, No. 2058, shows the limits within which both field ice and
icebergs may be met with, and where it should be carefully looked out for at all times, but especially
during the spring and summer seasons. From this chart it would appear that whilst the southern and eastern
limits of field ice are about latitude 42° N., and longitude 45° W., icebergs may be met with much farther
from Newfoundland; in April, May, and June they have been seen as far South as latitude 39° N. and as far
east as longitude 38° 30' W.

— From United States Pilot (East Coast), 1909, second edition, published by the British Admiralty and
supplied to the master of the Titanic together with other necessary charts and books.

through the Titanic at 1:45 p.m. because she was the
nearest vessel to Cape Race, Newfoundland, the
relay point to Washington. It said:

Amerika passed two large icebergs in 41° 27' N., 50°
8' W., on April 14.

The message never reached the bridge of the
Titanic. The position given was south of the point of
the disaster and recorded on the same day. In all
likelihood had an officer on the bridge seen the
message, he would have slowed the ship down and
taken other precautions. It has been theorized that
Phillips, the senior wireless operator in the Titanic's
Marconi room, shoved the warning aside when his
set suddenly went dead. After an afternoon of
troubleshooting with his colleague Bride (see page
48), the crucial message lay under a pile of messages
to be sent that passengers had dropped off during
the afternoon.

At 7:30 p.m. a fourth message was
intercepted. It was from the steamship Californian to
the steamship Antillian. It read:

To Captain, Antillian:

Six-thirty p.m., apparent ship's time; latitude
42° 3' N., longitude 49° 9' W. Three large bergs 5
miles to southward of us. Regards.

Lord.

Bride later testified that he delivered this message to

10

an officer on duty, but could not recall which one.

The fifth message arrived in the Marconi room
at 9:40 p.m. from the steamer Mesaba. It read:

From "Mesaba" to ''Titanic^' and all east-bound ships:

Ice report in latitude 42° N. to 41° 25' N.,
longitude 49° to longitude 50° 30' W. Saw much
heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs. Also
field ice. Weather good, clear.

The British inquiry found: "This message clearly
indicated the presence of ice in the immediate
vicinity of the Titanic and if it had reached the bridge
would perhaps have affected the navigation of the
vessel. Unfortunately, it does not appear to have
been delivered to the master or to any of the
officers. The Marconi operator was very busy from 8
o'clock onward transmitting messages via Cape Race
for passengers on board the Titanic, and the
probability is that he failed to grasp the significance
of the message . . ."

The air temperature that Sunday morning had
been about 45 degrees Celsius, but by 10 p.m. had
dropped to 32 degrees. The sea temperature was 31
degrees at 10:30 p.m. and still dropping. There was
no moon, but the sky was cloudless, and full of stars.
Captain Smith and Second Officer Lightoller,
standing on the bridge at 8:55 p.m., remarked that
they had never seen a more brilliant night. The
Titanic was making about 22 knots.

At about 1 1 p.m., the Titanic received a sixth

Artist's rendition of the Titanic's forward grand staircase to promenade deck. Note photo ol glass dome area on page 2b.
(© Mary Evans Picture Library/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

warning message — this time from the Californian
which had stopped in the ice at 10:30 p.m. relatively
nearby and ahead of the Titanic, but Phillips cut it
off, telling the other operator "Shut up! Shut up! I'm
working Cape Race." The operator on the Californian
did just that until 1 1:30 p.m., when, being the only
Marconi operator aboard, he closed down his set
and went to bed.

The watch on the Titanic had changed at 10
p.m., First Officer William Murdock taking over from
Second Officer Lightoller. Both men were old hands
at crossing the Atlantic in "greyhounds," as liners of
the T/tan/'c-class were called. Some of their crossings
had been made in dense fog. The two friends talked
about the falling temperature and the possible
presence of icebergs. Lightoller then advised
Murdock that a message had been sent to the crow's
nest telling the lookouts to keep a sharp watch. With
that, he went below, leaving the bridge to Murdock.

In the crow's nest, seamen Fleet and Lee,
shivering in the freezing air, peered forward — they
had no binoculars — into the night. Usually icebergs
could be spotted by the outline of waves breaking at
their base, but this night the sea was so calm that this
aid was not available. Down below, most passengers
had gone to bed, although a few were still playing
cards. In the main dining hall, stewards were setting
the tables for breakfast with highly polished silver
and china cups.

At a little before 1 1 :40 p.m.. Fleet, acting
almost instinctively on sighting a large, irregular
shaped object ahead, rang the crow's nest warning
bell three times, and, in almost the same motion,
telephoned the bridge, shouting "Iceberg right
ahead."

Almost simultaneously with the three-bell
warning, Murdock gave the order to "Hard-a-
starboard," and immediately pushed the telegraph
levers to "Stop. Full speed astern." The helm was
"hard over," and the ship's bow had fallen off 2
points when she hit the iceberg well forward on her
starboard side.

History's Worst Ship Disaster

The worst single ship disaster in history
occurred on January 30, 1945. The Wilhelm Gustloff,
a German tourist ship carrying wartime refugees, was
sunk by the Soviet submarine S-13 off Gdansk (then
Danzig), Poland. Approximately 7,700 of the 8.700
men, women, and children on board the 25,484-ton
vessel were killed either by explosions caused by
torpedoes or by drowning.

11

Captain Edward /. Smith at Queenstown, Ireland. (Photo
courtesy The Cork Examiner)

Murdock, who would not survive the sinking,
immediately cIos(hI the water-tight doors in the
engine and boiler rooms. The shi[) had been
construe ted to stay afloat with any two
comfwrtments com|)letely flooded.

Captain Smith then rushed onto the bridge
and asked what the ship had struck. Murdock
replied:

An iceberg, sir. I hard-a-starboarded and
reversed the engines, and I was going to hard-a-port
round it, but she was too close. I could not do any
more. I have closed the water-tight doors.

Then Captain Smith summoned Andrews, the
ship's designer, and both went below and surveyed
the damage. It did not take Andrews long to figure
out that there was no hope for his "unsinkable" ship.
The ice had sliced the vessel open about 10 feet
above the level of the keel for a distance of about
300 feet. Water was pouring in the forepeak.
Number 1, 2, and 3 holds, and Number 5 and 6
boiler rooms. A scant 10 minutes after the collision
water was 14 feet above the keel in all
compartments except Number 5 boiler room.

When Andrews confirmed his own
assessment of the damage. Captain Smith assembled
those of his officers then awake and told them the
worst. There was to be no panic; priority in lifeboats
was to be given to women and children.

The Captain then hurried to the wireless room
and ordered Phillips and Bride to send out distress
signals. About 12:15 a.m., Phillips began tapping out
"CQD" — at that time the usual international distress
call — followed by "MGY," the Titanic's call letters,
and her position, 41 degrees, 46 minutes North, 50
degrees, 14 minutes West. About 12:45 a.m. Phillips
switched to "SOS," the new international distress
signal. It marked the second time* the new signal
had been used since an international convention had
approved it.

Captain Smith then ordered the lifeboats
uncovered and instructed stewards and crew
members to go through the ship and get all
passengers on deck with life jackets on. There had
been no emergency drill undertaken since leaving
Southampton. The ship began to list as the bow
settled deeper and deeper into the water.

At about 12:45 a.m., the Fourth Officer,
Joseph C. Boxhall, began sending up distress
rockets, which exploded in the air at regular intervals
and gave off white stars. He continued to do this
until he left the ship at 1:45 a.m.

At approximately 12:25 a.m., the Titanic
wireless operator raised the Cunard liner Carpathia,
which was bound from New York to Liverpool and
only 58 miles away. The Carpathia's Captain, Arthur
H. Rostron, immediately wired back that he was
coming to the rescue. The Cunard liner, which

* The first ship to send an SOS was the American steamer
Arapahoe in August 1909. The first lives saved by a wireless
distress call (CQD) were on the White Star liner Republic in
January 1909. The call, sent by Jack Binns, an English radio
operator, came after the Republic collided with the liner
Florida off Nantucket.

12

I i 4.1 i

«g39v; 1^.— oiQ .^visf

i I^'awmI^

THf lUCKUD

< '\ -■ i^^^i,*.^;^

OQUBU BOTTOM

ICE PEitmATmcn^E

DOUfffjfOtTOM

13

sew

49°W

42''N

50'..

40'-

30'-

B

\

\ c

D-t

'—■►--<-:

Ice Field i

20'

10'

Californian's Course

A Icebergs sighted by the CaWornian
(solid triangle) and Parisian
(dashed triangle). Square shows
position of Calhornian when it
made the sighting.

B Californian's dead reckoning posi-
tion.

^ Titanic's COD position.

D Californian's position if located
northwest of position C.

EThe location where the Titanic's
wreckage and lifeboats were
found.

FCarpathia's course toward the Ti-
tanic's CQD position.

SO^W

50'

t

A ^

-50'

10 miles

42°N

■-40'

■•30'

30

20

49°W

would sink after a torpedo attack in World War I,
carried 740 passengers and 325 crew. At
approximately 12:20 a.m. out on the Titanic's deck,
the order had been given to begin lowering the
boats. Second Officer Lightoller, one of those
directing the lifeboat operations, testified later that
the noise of steam escaping from the 8 exhaust vents
on the stacks was so great that he had to give
directions with his hands. There were few
passengers on deck to climb aboard the first boats.

The story of the passengers' fate and the
loading and events in the lifeboats is described
elsewhere in this issue (see page 81). Suffice to say
that tales of bravery seem to substantially outnumber
those of cowardice on that night. The Titanic
disappeared at 2:20 a.m. The night was left to the
piercing cries and wailing moans of the drowning. In
the lifeboats, rowing was the best defense against
the bitter cold. It would be 73 years before the
Titanic would be located at approximately 1:05 a.m.
on September 1, 1985, by scientists aboard the
research vessel Knorr, operated for the U.S Navy by
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Paul R. Ryan Is Editor o/'Oceanus.

The QE II

The Queen Elizabeth II of the Cunard Line is
the largest luxury liner in service today. She
weighs more than 67,000 tons, stands 13 stories
high, and measures 963 feet.

Titanit liieboals on way to Carpathia. Photograph taken by
passenger aboard the rescue vessel, April 15, 1912. (The
Betlmann Archive)

14

The Rubaiyat

The Worldly Hope men set

their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes — or it prospers:

and anon.
Like Snow upon the

Desert's dusty face
Lighting a little Hour or

two — is gone.

Of the jewels that sank to the bottom of
the Atlantic when the Titanic plunged to her
ocean grave none possessed more general
interest than those used in the bound copy of
the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which was
being brought to America. There were 1,050
precious stones studding the binding.

The book, which later became known as
the Titanic Omar, was to be exhibited by
Henry Sotheran & Co of 45 Piccadilly West in
London, along with a number of other books
in honor of the coronation of King George V.
Sotheran & Co. described themselves as
"booksellers to the King." The bookbinding
took three months to produce and took two
years to complete. It was considered to be the
most elaborate specimen of bookbinding at
that time, representing more time and thought
than had ever been expended on the cover of
a book before. The New York Times of April 7,
1912, described the designs as follows:

Sunk panels of ornamental shapes are introduced
into both covers and doublures, to break up the
monotony of a flat surface, and also to avoid
excessive projection of the jewels that are inset.
The 1 ,050 stones comprise rubies, turquoises,
amethysts, topazes, olivines, garnets, and an
emerald. They are introduced into the decoration
and each stone is in a gold setting, which is firmly
fixed underneath the leather, thus making it
almost an impossibility for it to come out. Close
gold tooling, producing in appearance the
richness and splendor of solid chased gold panels,
is strongly in evidence on the whole work, and
affords a fitting background for the jewels.

On the front cover, in a sunk panel of a shape
suggestive of Persian architecture, appears, as a
central figure, a heart shape, richly jeweled with
rubies, olivines, and garnets, and closely gold
tooled. This is surrounded by a conventional
arrangement of three peacocks, elaborately inlaid
in their many natural lines, and filling, with the
graceful radiating lines of their tails, the
remainder of the panel.

The eyes of the feathers are jeweled with 97
topazes, all of which are specially cut to the
correct shape of the eye. The crests of the birds
are suggested by 18 turquoises, and rubies are
inset to form the eyes. The slight background thus
left is tightly filled with gold dots.

Surrounding this panel is a border and corner
piece, suggestive both in color and design of

characteristic Oriental decoration, and set with
289 garnets, turquoises, and olivines. The design
is completed with a border suggesting a
conventional treatment of the vine inlaid in
brown and green and set with 250 amethysts
arranged so as to form the bunches of grapes.

Come, fill the Cup, and in the
Fire of Spring

The Winter Garment of Re-
pentance fling:

The Bird of Time has but
a little way

To fly— and lo! the Bird is
on the Wing.

The Convergence of the Twain

in a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity.
And the pride of life that planned her,
stilly couches she.

Steel chambers, late the pyres

Of her salamandrine fires.

Cold currents thrid, and turn to rythmic tidal lyres.

Over the mirrors meant
To glass the opulent

The sea worm crawls — grotesque, slimed, dumb,
indifferent.

Jewels in joy designed
To ravish the sensuous mind

Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and
blind.

Dim moon-eyed fishes near
Gaze at the gilded gear

And query: "What does this vaingloriousness down
here?" ....

Well: while was fashioning

This creature of cleaving wing.

The immanent will that stirs and urges everything

Prepared a sinister mate

For her — so gaily great —

A shape of ice, for the time far and dissociate.

And as the smart ship grew.

In stature, grace and hue.

In shadowy silent distance grew the iceberg too.

Alien they seemed to be
No mortal eye could see
The intimate welding of their later history.

Or sign that they were bent

On paths coincident

On being anon twin halves of one august event.

Till the spinner of the years
Said "now" and each one hears.
And consummation comes, and jars two
hemispheres.

— Thomas Hardy

15

The Discovery

The discovery team poses on the R. V. Knorr. (Photo
courtesy Ndtionjl Geographic Society/Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution)

16

of the Titanic

by the U.S.
:.and French
Expedition

r^ by Paul R. Ryan

^ and Anne Rabushka

The Titanic lies in 13,000 feet of water on a gently
sloping alpine-like countryside overlooking a small
canyon below. [Her] bow faces north and the ship
sits upright on the bottom, [two of her] mighty
stacks still pointing upward. There is no light at this
great depth. It is quiet and peaceful, a fitting place
for the remains of this greatest of [peacetime] sea
tragedies to rest. May it forever remain that way.

—Robert D. Ballard, 9 September 1985

I he discovery of the Titanic on 1 September 1985
is a tale of two research centers — Woods Hole,
Massachusetts, and Toulon, France — of two
ships — the Knorr and Le Suroit — and of two new
extrenriely sophisticated underwater vehicles called
Argo and SAR. At this point in the telling, the tale is
not unlike the iceberg that sank the Titanic — an
eighth above the surface and the rest below.*

The finding of the Titanic was the
( ulmination of 10 years of off-and-on planning and
research on the part of Robert D. Ballard, a

* For a first-hand account of the search for the Titanic see
the December issue of National Geographic in which an
article by Ballard and John-Louis Michel appears.

17

The French SAR vehicle with its support ship Le Suroit.
(F'hoto courtesy of IFREMER)

geologist/engineer and Senior Scientist at the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Others aided him in his efforts, including the
National Geographic and the U.S. Navy's Office of
Naval Research (ONR). He located the shipwreck
during a campaign that began from Brest, France,
with two cruises by a team of French engineers led
by John-Louis Michel of the Institut Fran^ais de
Recherche pour I'Exploitation des Mers (IFREMER) at
Toulon. Ballard's close association with the French
extends back to Project FAMOUS, a French-
American expedition in 1973/74 that explored
parts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by submersible.
IFREMER was born in 1982 when the French
government decided to merge the national fisheries
ministry with the national center for exploration of
the oceans (CENEXO).

For Ballard, the Navy, and the French, the
Titanic was essentially a target — a large,
newsworthy target — to test prototype underwater
vehicles that will give man a "telepresence" on the
ocean floor. Telepresence, a word coined by
Ballard, means using video technology to project
one's mind to the seafloor without physically
descending to it. It will allow scientists to see vast
areas of the seafloor — its mountains, canyons, and
deserts — never before explored. It also means that
scientists will not have to go down into the abyss in
cramped three-man submersibles like Alvin, the
workhorse of deep underwater research at the

moment. For the National Ce(ygraphic, the Titanic
represented an opportunity to support an
exfiedition ot historic al interest and to develop new
[)h<)t()gra()hi( tec hni(]ues. The objective was to
exc ite the imagination of the [)ublic with large,
deep water images; the c hoic c was to come back
with ()ic tures of acres of mud or, if luc ky, the
bones of the Titanic as a demonstration of this new
technology.

Before the cruises began two in the French
ship (10 July to 19 July, and 26 July to 6 August)
and one in the Woods Hole vessel (22 August to 9
September) — the scientists did a lot of homework
on the historical and operational aspects of the
wreck as well as the geological and physical
processes at work in the general area where the
Titanic went down, some 360 miles off the Grand
Banks of Newfoundland.

Ballard and his associates had feared that
benthic storms, strong bc:)ttom currents, mud slides,
or a combination of these forces, could have
buried the wreck in the course of 73 years. They
also thought that turbidity (the suspension of
sediments due to currents) might make it too
murky to take photographs or do video work. This
fear had been put aside a few years before by
Emory Kristof and Al Chandler, both photography
engineers at National Geographic. They had gone
out on the International Ice Patrol's cutter
Evergreen on one of that organization's annual April
15 voyages to lay a wreath at the approximate site
of the Titanic sinking. A camera was lowered and
began taking pictures of the bottom on contact.
From this simple test, they determined that
turbidity was not a problem.

The Navy's contribution to the search —
besides millions of dollars to develop the Argo
vehicle — was in providing Ballard with detailed
topographic maps of the terrain in the search area.

The French-American campaign, of course,
was not the first to seek to locate the Titanic. A
Texas millionaire, Jack Grimm, an oilman and
geologist, financed three expeditions to find the
White Star liner in 1980, '81, and '83. Grimm used
the Sea Marc I (from the Lamont-Doherty
Geological Observatory) and Deep Tow (see
Oceanus, Vol 25, No. 1, p. 28) systems, the latter a
towed underwater vehicle of the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.

Grimm produced a film, directed by Michael
Harris and narrated by the late Orson Wells,
entitled "Search for the Titanic" from the 1980 and
'81 search activity. He has plans to recover some
Titanic artifacts (to be placed in museums such as
the Smithsonian) in 1986 or '87, using the eight-
man 52-foot recertified submersible Aluminaut. He
also hopes to produce another film based on these
activities as well as another book. (The first was
Beyond Reach by William Hoffman and Jack
Grimm, Beaufort Press, 1982.) Grimm has been
aided in his searches by scientists from Scripps in
California and Lamont-Doherty at Columbia
University in New York. The 1983 expedition
turned up an interesting anomaly (thought to be
one of the ship's three propellers), but Ballard this
year found the "propeller" to be nothing more than

18

a stone outcrop.

The French-American 1985 plan had called
for the French to find the Titanic and for the Knnrr
to follow up and do the photographic work. But
Murphy's Law works at sea as well as on land.
Once on station, Le Suroit ran almost immediately
into heavy weather — 30 to 40 knot winds with
higher gusts, seas of 12 to 13 feet, and surface
currents of 2 knots. These conditions made it
impossible for the French — who had been studying
every detail of the ship and its history for more
than a year — to complete their survey of the search
area, which had been reduced to 150 square miles
by the French and American calculations as to the
Titanic's true position. Nevertheless, operating in
treacherous conditions that at one point threatened
to part the cable to their underwater vehicle, the
French eliminated 80 percent of the search area as
the resting spot of the Titanic.

The SAR vehicle (5 meters long and 1 meter
wide) towed by Le Suroit and nicknamed Poisson or
"fish" by the French carried two lateral or side-scan
sonar instruments and one vertical sonar unit
capable of penetrating bottom sediments. It also
trailed a magnetometer 50 meters behind, capable
of telling whether any anomalies turned up in the 1
kilometer swath of the SAR were metal or not. SAR
was towed at an altitude of 60 meters above the
bottom and reportedly distinguished objects as
small as 30 by 76 centimeters.

Ballard explains: "An acoustical search is
very different than a visual search. With a side-scan
sonar like SAR, you are searching for the main
wreckage which will show up on the records like a
large radar blip on the screen, with a high shadow
behind it. At the same time, the magnetometer tells
you if the object you are looking at is metallic or,
like most images, is made of non-metallic rock or
sedimentary material."

One problem Le Suroit encountered was that
it could not come about in the heavy seas and
strong currents. The French had hoped to survey
the 1 50 square miles by "mowing the lawn" so to
speak, going across the area and then turning about
and going back again. The heavy weather forced
the ship to retrieve the SAR after a crossing and run
back down to the starting point before lowering the
SAR again, a time-consuming process. Another
time-consuming process (about 30 percent of the
time at the site) was the establishment of
transponder nets used to navigate the "fish." At one
point, the SAR had to be retrieved while Le Suroit
rode out a gale, even though the months of July
and August had been picked as the best weather
window for the search area. Still, Ballard was
impressed by the French technology, later stating
that the U.S. does not have a comparable system:
"Mine complements their's and their's
complements mine."

The second French cruise came to an end
with a frustrated but not disheartened crew. Ballard
later described the situation as "like trying to get
across New York City in a cab with $5 in your
pocket." The American oceanographer and key
members of the French crew, including Michel,
were let off Le Suroit at St. Pierre, a French island

SONARS

SAR

3 800 metres

SYSTEMES
OPTIQUES

SUROIT

MINI RAIE fHicam^a PHOTO

^-

100m2(10)( tO)

- 3 800 mdtres

Sonar and camera used by the French researchers. (Diagram
courtesy of IFREMER)

off Newfoundland, and immediately began a
circuitous trip via Toronto to the Azores to join the
Knorr on the last leg of the search.

When the Knorr arrived on station she
initially had the benefit of 10 good days of good
weather. Ballard's strategy to find the 7;"tan;"c was

19

Bottom image created by the side-scan sonar on the SAR vehicle. The line in the middle is the sh/p's (Le Suroit's) track.
(Image courtesy of IFREMER)

slightly different from the French's. The remaining
search area contained three different types of
terrain: 1) a canyon with many tributaries, 2) a sand
dune area not unlike the Sahara desert, and 3) part
of a large mudslide 1 2 to 1 5 miles long and 3 to 5

miles wide, the possible aftermath of an
earthquake in 1928. The slide broke many
transatlantic cables at the time, and the French SAR
system was used to establish that the Titanic was
not buried in most of that area.

On the surface of the north
Atlantic, the Knorr's computer
processes information passed to
her sonar receiver from
transponders anchored on the
ocean bottom. It is translated
into orders for her towing crane

Sonar
transponder

cycloidal propellers. Whirling
like vertical paddles, the
propellors drive the ship in
any direction, towing the
equipment sleds in precise paths
at the ends of their two and a
half-mile cables.

wmimmmmmfmmmimif

ltV,»ORlP

/ Sonar receiver

Cycloidal propeller
R.V. KNORR

'ARGO/ANGUS .<^

^ Sonar transmitters on the cable

^■^^ send information to the Knorr.

**^S .^ Sound transmissions from Ar go,

.^■•' searching with her low-light

<^ video cameras, are received by

.;:^ the sonar transponders and

o""^ """""•••>»,„, relayed to the ship's computer.
<^ " Argo's position is calculated and

recorded, until she finds her
quarry. Then the recording sled '"in,,,,
Angus, using lights and cameras,
is guided by the computer
through the same deep-sea path.

^

20

Argo vehicle being launched off the Knorr during hunt for the Titanic. (Photo National Geographic/Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution)

The first order of business on the Knorr was
to check the anomaly encountered in Grimm's
1983 expedition and craters found by the French
that could possibly have been caused by the
boilers from a disintegrating Titanic. The craters,
however, turned out to be glacial erratics, a
geologist's term for large boulders caught up in and
released from melting icebergs. After eliminating
these targets — instead of "mowing the lawn" — they
concentrated on looking for a debris plume. In
previous searches for other wrecks, it had been
Ballard's and the Navy's experience that ships
headed for watery graves left a debris plume of
more than a mile behind impact. By establishing a
spaced track pattern of searching for the debris
rather than the wreck itself, more area could be
covered.

"Our data suggested that at least a 1.1 knot
southerly current was running the night the Titanic
sank," Ballard recalled, "dispersing the debris in a
north-south direction. Based on these factors we
concluded our best plan was to run east-west lines
starting in the south and working north in the area
not already covered by the SAR. It was this strategy
that was ultimately responsible for our discovery."

The Knorr, equipped with cycloidal
propellers (see Oceanus, Vol. 25, No. 1, p. 48), can
hold herself in position in heavy winds and seas, an
advantage over Le Suroit. She also carried two
underwater vehicles — Argo, named after the vessel
that carried Jason in mythology on his quest for the
Golden Fleece, and ANGUS (Acoustically

Navigated Geophysical Underwater Survey), an
older 3-camera (35 mm) system often used in
conjunction with Alvin on her dives to the
hydrothermal vents in the Pacific.

The Argo system is described in detail
elsewhere in this issue (see page 99). Suffice to say
that Argo, which eventually will house a little
tethered robot named jason capable of sending
back detailed closeup images of objects on the
bottom, carries three video Silicon Intensified
Target (SIT) cameras that can operate at a light level
equivalent to a film speed of 200,000 ASA.
Operating with either a continuous light source, or
a strobe effect that "bangs out light for Charlie
Chaplin-like snapshot images," the cameras can
take pictures in excess of 100 feet (30 meters) off
the bottom. Ballard described the system as
basically "a lot of commercial equipment that can
be bought off the shelf. Its unique nature comes
from the software that has been developed by the
Deep Submergence Lab from field tests." It was the
Argo system that found the Titanic.

For several days after arriving in the search
area, the drill was to eliminate potential targets and
to explore individually the numerous tributaries
running off the deep canyon in the search area not
covered by the French. "The section we were
headed for was about 1 ,000 meters across and 40
to 50 meters deep," Ballard explained. "The
problem was not the depth of the canyon, but the
complex series of secondary channels or tributaries
that entered the canyon from both sides producing

21

The control room aboard the Knorr. lean-Louis Michel (center standing), lean larry (center sitting), and Robert Ballard (arms
folded) watch television monitors as expedition members maneuver the Argo vehicle 13,000 feet below. (Photo by Emory K.
Kristof. © National Geographic Society jWtlOl)

a complex series of sonar shadows."

The initial excitement of being on station
and looking for the Titanic soon wore off. Ballard's
crew* from the Deep Submergence Laboratory
(DSL) was not nearly as versed in the lore of the
tragedy as the French, who had thoroughly
researched it. Evenings the crew could see one of
two movies aboard— Ra/se (he Titariic, based on
dive Cussler's book, or A Night to Remember,
based on Walter Lord's book. A seven-man round-
the-clock 4-hour watch (each having a Frenchman)
was set up in the small control center that had
been especially erected on the starboard side of
the aft deck. The center was basically a video
studio with switching capabilities that permitted
the scientific party to talk to the Argo cameras
through microprocessors. The ship also could be
navigated from the center.

As the days went by, hope for finding the
wreck waned. Transponder nets were set and
retrieved. A routine of keeping eyes glued to the
video monitors settled in. Ears listened to rock and

* The scientific party: Robert Ballard, chief scientist; Jean-
Louis Michel, co-chief scientist; lean Jarry, French project
manager; Emile Bergeron; Martin Bowen; Sharon
Callahan; Tom Crook; Tom Dettweiler; Steve Gegg; Stew
Harris; Cathy Scheer; Bob Squires; Dana Yoerger; Earl
Young; Billy Lange; James Saint; Georgina Baker; Lisa
Schwartz; George Rey; Emory Kristof; Ralph White;
Bernard Pillaud; and Terrence Snyder.

country music, and mouths bulged with buttered
popcorn.

On 31 August, Ballard left the control center
with the rest of his 8 to 12 p.m. watch crew after
turning over the watch to Michel. The weather was
building after 10 days of pond-like conditions. Had
something in his calculations been wrong? He had
pinned his hopes of finding the Titanic on believing
the course data given by the rescue ship Carpathia,
discounting dead-reckoning fixes given by the
Californian (for a complete discussion of this
controversy, see pages 61, 64, and 74). After
researching all the data, he was convinced that the
Titanic had gone down somewhere on the east side
of the iceflow (see map, page 14) and not on the
west side as her official last sent position indicated.

But it was time to take a shower, relax, and
read some of (General "Chuck") Veager, the
autobiography of a test pilot with "the right stuff"
(the first to break the sound barrier) that he
admired and related to. In Ballard, there is
something of the astronaut, Jules Verne's Captain
Nemo, and Lewis and Clark wrapped into one. he
is the natural successor to Jacques Cousteau, who,
faulted at times by some for his science,
nevertheless made the world appreciate the
wonders in shallow coastal waters and the
necessity to protect them. Indeed, one of the
French SAR instrument's prime purposes is to
monitor pollution in deep areas of the world's
oceans.

22

About an hour had elapsed since Ballard had
left the control center, when a knock came at his
door. It was the cook, John Bartolomei, who had
visited the center for the first time some moments
before. He stuck his head in the door, and
excitedly exclaimed, "the guys in the van think you
should come down."

Ballard pulled on his DSL jump suit over his
pajamas and hurried to the control center, stepping
into the soothing red light of the farm kitchen-sized
room to see the first video image of the boilers on
the monitors. "That's it," he blurted out, the
excitement in him rising. His pilot's instincts

vehicle was retrieved. No spare part was available.
The Knorr's Chief Engineer, Harold Oakes, and First
Engineer, Richard Dudeck, fashioned a small
miracle. They took an old bushing out of a spare
(yc loidal propeller and, working for nearly 14
straight hours on a lathe in the engine room, made
a jerry-rig gear for the winch.

Meanwhile, an ancient fathometer at work
on the Knorr, similar to a fishing boat's fish-finder
or echo-sounder, returned the first clue as to the
exact whereabouts of the Titanic's massive hull.
From that point, it was relatively simple to lock in
the Titanic's coordinates using a special

//

That's it

//

immediately went to work. He called for Argo to be
raised, realizing that the vehicle must be flying
below the deck level of the Titanic. They would
have to pinpoint the ship, bracket her with
transponders, locate the stacks, find out what
rigging remained.

But, at the moment, the control room was
filling with excited crew members and scientists as
word of the discovery spread throughout the ship.
Some 30 people crowded into the center.
Someone remarked that it was 1:40 a.m. The
Titanic had gone down at 2:20. Ballard led the
group out on the fantail, where they observed a
brief, silent, memorial service for the more than
1,500 people who perished in the disaster. They
also raised the flag of the Titanic's builders, Harland
and Wolff.

Ballard's decision to raise Argo, while the
right one, brought trouble on his head. The winch
holding the Argo coaxial cable broke after the

transponder navigation system installed on the
Knorr for the expedition. Next, a transponder net
was deployed.

By then, it was time to lower Argo again and
begin the photographic mission. The weather and
the world were about to close in. Winds and seas
in the next couple of days would build to 40 knots
and 13 to 14 feet; the London Observer would run
a tentative story based on rumors stating that the
Titanic had been found. Ballard, working almost
round-the-clock, meanwhile flew Argo gingerly
around the wreck.

"I have never taken a pill in my life," he
would later recall, "but I was tempted to take a
Valium during this period." He did not want to
have to go back to the Navy and report the loss of
the expensive Argo vehicle in the Titanic's guy
wires, saying "sorry about that." At the same time,
pressure was beginning to build from the press,

(continued on page 33)

23

The Discovery
in Pictures

Peak of Titanic's bow with emergency anchor and handling boom

Anchor chains, capstan heads, and open ventilator shalt on bow
All photos this series courtesy of WHOI, Dr. Robert Ballard, and IFREMER

24

Entrance to fo'c'sle

Starboard railing with rattail fish (about 3 feet long) and mooring bitts

25

CQD . . . CQD . . . SOS . . . CQD . . . SOS
. . . MGY (Titanic) . . . come at once . .
We have struck a berg . . . CQD OM ,
position41°a6'N, 50°ia'W. . . require
immediate assistance ... We have
collided with an iceberg . . . Sinking .

Whcit once was glass dome above grand staircase

Hole u/icre number 1 stack broki' oil

26

Litebocit davit at upper right

27

CQD . . . CQD . . . SOS . . . CQD . . . SOS
. . . MGY (Titanic) . . . come at once . .
We have struck a berg . . . CQD OM ,
position 41°46'N, 50°14'W. . . require
immediate assistance ... We have
collided with an iceberg . . . Sinking .

Silver platter and coal in debris field

bhip's i(cm docking tclcgrjph in debris jl lower right

28

Base ol stern cargo crane

Part of stern section with rollers

29

CQD . . . CQD . . . SOS . . . CQD . . . SOS
. . . MGY (Titanic) . . . come at once . .
We have struck a berg . . . CQD OM ,
position ai°46'N, 50°14'W. . . require
immediate assistance ... We have
collided with an iceberg . . . Sinking .

Collapsed bulkhead Irom Captdin s quarters and davil

One oi Titanic's lead cut-glass windows Irom lounge door al lower left

30

Starboard wing bridge, badly damaged

Section ot steel hull plating

31

CQD . . . CQD . . . SOS . . . CQD . . . SOS
. . . MGY (Titanic) . . . come at once . . .
We have struck a berg . . . CQD OM ,
position ai°a6'N, 50°ia'W. . . require
immediate assistance . . . We have
collided with an iceberg . . . Sinking .

Clumber pot, upper right (circled)

bed 'springs in c/c/ufs /k'/cj

32

Titanic

Lost and Found (1912-1985)

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
together with scientists from France recently discovered the
broken hull of the Titanic in the North Atlantic.

These exciting photographs were taken by cameras mounted on
Angus, a towed sled maneuvered by operators on the research
vessel, Knorr.

t

The Stern of the Titanic broke off and is in pieces in
a long debris field behind the main body of the
wreck. The exact point of separation has not yet
been determined.

wine, possibly French Bordeaux, champaiii
and Madeiras, litter the bottom of the Atlun
ir the remains of the luxury liner Titanic.

IHH

nA^VV

qH

[^r^ Sbje Netty g^rk ^iwcii. ^^^'i^

mAmc SINKS TO^'',«o^«f,,f I^obS'^^^S^^^^Sw;,

^^;;risr^c Be,.. ^^^;:;::y^,;^^_^

aboard the litanir, April 12. 1912.

Front page of The New York Times April 16, 1912 — The Bettmann Archive, Inc.
Copyright^ 1912 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.

Correction

In the caption of the pullout under the painting "Women and children loaded onto
ifeboats aboard the Titanic," the date should read April 15, 1912-not April 12.

nome. ai this point an aircraii appeareo overneaa Anne KaousnKa is ruoiic iniormaiion uiiicer at whui.

The Homecoming

^wt

H

44

The Knorr returning home to Woods Ho/e after Titanic
discovery. (Photo by Amy Rader)

33

WHOI, the Navy, and the National Geographic tor
more intormation about the discovery and the
pictures being taken.

In the heaving seas at the surface, Ballard
and Michel directed the navigation of Argo some
13,000 feet (4,000 meters) belov^. First surveying
around the hull and then flying over it, Ballard
determined that the wreck was sitting upright, that
number 1 and 4 stacks were gone, and that the
forward mast had toppled over, taking some of the
guy wires with it. Argo flew so close to the Titanic
that at one point it bounced off one of the stacks,
picking up a small amount of paint on its steel
frame.

At this point, Ballard decided to approach
the ship from the stern, but, to his surprise, could
not find it. Had it broken off somewhere beyond
number 3 stack? Cruise time was running out.
Ballard decided to lower ANGUS to get closeup
high-quality 35 mm color pictures of the bow
section covered with "a thin dusting of sediments,
like a gentle snowstorm." Etched indelibly into the
mind were images of wine bottles, silver plates,
cut-glass windows, a mattress frame, twisted
cranes, the ship's telegraph, and the crow's nest — a
treasure trove of pictures from the deep.

Argo and ANGUS were finally secured on
the aft deck. The transponders were retrieved. And
the Knorr, which had been aided in her positioning
on station by SatNav, a satellite system that
provides position accuracy on the order of 35
meters even in the heavy seas, prepared to head
home. At this point an aircraft appeared overhead

and circk'd tor more than an hour. It had no
identification markmgs. Ballard believes it was
taking a navigational fix on the Titanic'^, position,
the exact coordinates of which he has kept secret.

On the trip back to Woods Hole, Ballard
discovered that he had actually seen the stern after
all— in pieces. A review of the film images
disclosed that the stern was contained in a debris
field extending more than a mile behind the wreck.

The Knorr reached port on 9 September
1985, giving a 360-degree demonstration of her
cyclodial maneuverability on the way in. Families,
crewmembers, and wellwishers celebrated with
champagne. Meanwhile hundreds of reporters and
18 film crews recorded the event for posterity.
Ballard (for profile see page 103) would comment
at a later talk to WHOI Associates on a message he
had received from his mother: "You've done a lot
of great science; hope you survive the Titanic."

Argo will be transferred to the Knorr's sister
ship, Scripps's R/V Melville in December for a
survey of nearly 200 kilometers along the East
Pacific Rise in hydrothermal vent country (see
Oceanus, Vol. 27, No. 3). The Rise is part of the
64,000-kilometer Mid-Ocean Ridge system. Since
Project FAMOUS 12 years ago, scientists have
explored only 192 kilometers of the ridge. In just
20 days, if all goes well, Ballard and a team of
international scientists hope to double this mark.

Paul R. Ryan is Editor of Oceanus magazine at WlHOi.
Anne Rabushka is Public Information Officer at Wi-lOI.

The Homecoming

1 r?

■IMl«iMfl.rT5M?\

The Knorr returning home to Woods Hole after Titanic
discovery. (Pho(f) bv Amv Rader)

33

fc(JNGRATULATieR5 ^ "■

Photo by Amy Rader

At left, Ballard welcomes invited guests aboard the Knorr
after docking. (Photo by N. C. Pascoe). Below, WHOI
Director John Steele climbing up rope ladder from launch
that met Knorr outside Woods Hole harbor. (Photo by Amy
Rader) Lower left, Ballard shakes hands with his French co-
chief scientist lohn-Louis Michel. At right, is lean larn/, the
French Titanic Project Director. (WHOI photo)

34

Above and below, WHOI Deep Submergence Lab
crewmembers greet sweethearts and {amily nnembers.
(WHOI photos)

The Titanic discovery merited world press coverage. Above,
some of the "gentle persons" of the media at work. (Photo
by Amy Rader) Below, Ballard shares a moment with Doug,
one of his proud sons. (WHOI photo)

35

The Titanicfs
Role in History

by Frank Lowenstein

Looking up at the Titanic s bridge cjb in Quccnsbnd,
Ireland. Captain E. I. Smith can be seen leaning out of cab
with lifeboat on davits below. This is believed to be the last
photo taken of the captain before departing for New York.
(Courtesy Paul Popper Photo, taken by Rev. f . M. Brown)

The whole civilized world was stirred to its depths
when the full extent of loss of life was learned,
and it has not yet recovered from the shock. And
that is without a doubt a good thing. It should
not recover from it until the possibility of such a
disaster occurring again has been utterly removed
from human society . . .

— from The Loss of the SS Titanic
by Lawrence Beesley

lew disasters have had such far-reaching effects on
the fabric of society as the sinking of the Titanic.
Besides altering the way the North Atlantic
passenger trade was conducted, the loss also
affected basic attitudes about social justice. In some
cases the effects of the changes were immediate; the
routes followed by passenger liners were shifted to
the south four days after the disaster and an ice
patrol was instituted during that same year. Other
changes exerted subtle influences over the
development of our culture that still echo today.

Alterations in Steamship Routes

On 17 April 1912, just two days after the sinking, the
liner Carmania sailed from New York on a route 1 10
miles south of the route it would have followed
before the Titanic sank. The United States and Great
Britain had negotiated this change by telegraph. On
April 19th, the U.S. Hydrographic Office announced
an even more drastic change — liners were to follow
courses 270 miles south of that followed by the
Titanic, increasing the length of the New York to
England trip by 9 to 14 hours. This swift shift of the
sea lanes was but one symptom of an overall change
in attitudes about technology. If the "unsinkable"
Titanic could go down so easily, no ship was safe.

The practices followed by Captain E. j. Smith
of the Titanic were, according to the British inquiry
into th(^ sinking, not unusual:

for many years past, indeed, for a quarter of a century or
more, the practice of liners using this track when in the
vicinity of ice at night had been in clear weather to keep
the course, to maintain the speed, and to trust to a sharp
lookout to enable them to avoid danger.

36

Newsboy hctwks
papers to a public
hungry for
information. (Photo
courtesy Radio Tirves
Hulton
Picture Library)

In fact, according to The New York Times,
many ships played chicken with the ice in pursuit of
ever faster crossings:

'Co to the north and save as much time as possible.'
This has been looked upon as the unofficial order to
many skippers, and it has been obeyed in many cases.
. . . the passengers are not aware of the risk that is being
taken to bring them across in good time. The skipper is
often congratulated for the feat.

Lifeboats for All

Another transformation in the weeks following the
Titanic disaster concerned the number of lifeboats
carried on passenger ships. The British Board of
Trade regulated the number of lifeboats carried
aboard British passenger vessels, and its simple rule
was that any vessel weighing more than 10,000 tons
must carry 16 lifeboats. The Titanic exceeded this
requirement, carrying 16 wooden lifeboats plus 4
collapsible boats; all the lifeboats combined could
carry just under 1 ,200 people, or about half those on
board. Had the ship been full, these boats would
have sufficed for only a third of those on board. The
regulations of the United States and Germany were
tougher, requiring sufficient lifeboats for about two-
thirds of the total capacity on a ship the size of the
Titanic.

Since few expected the Titanic to sink, little
thought had been given to use of the lifeboats. Two
of the collapsible boats were strapped to the roof of
the officers quarters and proved difficult to remove
during the disaster.

Before the Titanic sank, E. K. Roden, a naval
engineer, had written in The Navy that "boats
enough are needed to accommodate every person
on board. . . . Notwithstanding the many watertight
compartments ... no one can guarantee to build an

Artist's depiction of the loading o/Titanic's lifeboats with
women and children. (The Bettmann Archive)

unsinkable ship. . . . Unsinkable ships like fireproof
buildings are still dreams which we hope some day
to realize."

37

Such mils notwithstanding, ships regularly
sailed without suttic ient lifeboats in the early 1900s,
and until the Titanic sank there was little [)ul5lic
outcry to c hange the situation. Although Alexander
Carlisle, one of the c hief designers of the Titanic,
originally proposed putting 50 boats on the ship, the
White Star Line considered this unnecessary. The
attitude of most of those in the trans-Atlantic
passenger trade was summed up by Captain E. J.
Smith (later captain of the Titanic), in an interview
with The New York Times six years before the
sinking:

/ connnt imagine any condition vv/i/c/j would cause a
modem sltip to founder. . . . Modern shipbuilding has
gone beyond that.

When the unimaginable occurred, the
Titanic's officers did not fill the lifeboats to capacity,
for fear the boats would collapse from the weight of
the passengers as they were lowered, in fact, the
shipyard where the Titanic was built had tested the
boats for exactly this parameter, but the officers did
not know it. Hence many lifeboats were lowered
half full, or less. There had been no boat drill while
at sea, and only a perfunctory one in port before
leaving, so the crew of the ship was unfamiliar with
their stations; many did not even know how to row.
All lifeboats carried sails, but in only one boat was
there sufficient knowledge among the crew to use
them.

In 1914, the International Conference on
Safety Of Life At Sea agreed on a treaty that called
for every ship to carry sufficient lifeboats for all
persons on board. It also mandated lifeboat drills,
and that sufficient crew members be trained in
manning the boats. Never again would so many die
for lack of proper equipment. Other important
provisions of the treaty included at least intermittent
monitoring of the wireless around the clock for
passenger vessels, and construction of watertight
compartments and double bottoms on ships.
Perhaps the most important outcome of the
conference, however, was the formation of the
International Ice Patrol.

The International Ice Patrol*

Immediately after the sinking of the Titanic, a British
ship began patrolling the sea lanes to ensure that the
location of ice was known to all ships crossing the
Atlantic. On the Titanic, such knowledge had been
haphazard, depending on reports from other ships.
Two critical ice messages received by the Titanic on
the day of the disaster were not seen by the officers
on the bridge.

The British patrol was soon replaced by two
U.S. Navy cruisers, which finished out the rest of the

* This history of the International Ice Patrol is based largely
on conversations with Robert Dinsmore, former
Commander of the patrol and currently Consultant on
Marine Operations and Planning at WHOI.

1912 iceberg season (March through August). In
1913, two Ll.S. Revenue Cutters monitored the ice
and a British vessel conducted some preliminary
researc h on the movements of ice.

By January of 1914, the International
Conference on Safety Of Life At Sea had suggested
an international patrol to keep watch for icebergs
and to do research on ice conditions in the sea lanes.
The United States was asked to manage the patrol.
On 17 February 1914, President Wilson authorized
the Revenue Cutter Service to undertake the
responsibility. (The Revenue Cutter Service and the
Lifesaving Service were merged in the following year
to form the Coast Guard.) Funding of the Ice Patrol
was an international effort, with the bulk provided
by Great Britain, the United States, France, and
Germany.

In April of 1914, two U.S. Coast Guard cutters
undertook the first official ice patrol. The area
covered by the patrol extends from 40 degrees
North to 52 degrees North, and from 39 degrees
West to 57 degrees West. Thus it includes a portion
of the island of Newfoundland.

After the iceberg season of 1914 was over,
researchers from the Marine Biological Laboratory in
Woods FHole and Harvard University went north to
study ice distribution and to map the Labrador
Current, which carries ice south from the Arctic to
the sea lanes.

Lacking such conveniences as portable
salinometers and modern current meters, the
researchers depended on biological criteria —
particularly the presence of an Arctic copepod — to
identify waters of the Labrador flow, which carries
ice south from the Arctic. The patrol asked ships
traversing the Atlantic to radio in their position and
the temperature of the surrounding sea, data also
used to map currents.

From 1915 until the present, the International
Ice Patrol has continued its mission. The only gaps
occurred during the two world wars. Although there
is no way to tell how many lives would have been
lost without the patrol, in the decade prior to the
formation of the Ice Patrol, approximately 2,000 lives
were lost in shipwrecks involving ice. Since its
inception, no lives have been lost in patrolled areas,
although some interesting incidents have occurred.

On one cruise the patrol found a mother
polar bear and cubs marooned on a berg far out to
sea. After some thought, they rigged up a cage on
the deck, and transferred the bears into it, but the
outraged mother broke loose and started chasing the
crew across the deck. Eventually, to the relief of
those aboard, she jumped ship and swam away. Two
cubs were brought back to the United States; one
was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

In the late 1920s another unusual incident
occurred. In miserable weather, the Ice Patrol's ship
stopped in the lee of a large berg near the edge of
the ice. One commercial vessel kept on a course
right into the ice, despite the warnings of the patrol.
Finally, the ship reported that it had run aground on
a berg, and it could not get free. When the Ice Patrol
ship came out from behind their shelter to rescue
the other ship, they found it aground on the
opposite side of the same berg. Eventually the Ice

38

Top, an iceberg in the North Atlantic. At right, nnembers of
the International Ice Patrol prepare to drop annual wreath
in waters near where the Titanic went down. (Photos
courtesy of International Ice Patrol, USCC)

Patrol was able to pull the grounded ship free, and
she proceeded with greater caution.

In areas not covered by the patrol, the loss of
life continued, despite radar and other modern
technologies. During World War II, when the patrol
was temporarily suspended, a Canadian convoy ran
into an ice field, losing several ships and many lives.
In 1958, in Greenland waters (not covered by the
patrol), the Danish liner Hans Hedtoft sank on her
maiden voyage; about 200 lives were lost. Denmark
and Canada have since instituted patrols in their
northern waters.

For many years the patrol was based at the
Coast Guard base in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Most of the researchers with the patrol came from
Harvard University or Woods Hole's Marine
Biological Laboratory. In particular, Henry Bigelow, a
Harvard professor and later the first director of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic institution, served as a
consultant to the patrol from Its inception. He
convinced a young Coast Guardsman named
Edward Smith to pursue a doctorate in physical
oceanography to aid in the Ice Patrol's work. When
Smith received his Ph.D. from the University of
Bergen, Norway, in 1922, he was the first American
to receive a doctorate in physical oceanography, and
only the second to receive a doctorate In any branch
of oceanography.

For most of the remainder of that decade.
Smith served as commander of the International Ice
Patrol, living and working In Woods Hole. When, in
1930, Henry Bigelow convinced the National
Academy of Sciences that there was a need for an
oceanographic institution on the East Coast, the
work pursued by Smith and others connected with
the International Ice Patrol Influenced the decision
to locate It In Woods Hole.

In the early 1930s, Floyd Soule came to
Woods Hole to help with the scientific side of the
patrol's work. Together Smith and Soule developed
scientific Instruments that had wide applications In
oceanographic work and also Improved the Ice
Patrol's efficiency. One of these was an electrical
sallnometer to determine the salinity of water
samples while still aboard ship. This greatly
facilitated the mapping of currents, which, in turn,
helped In charting the flow of Ice.

A more important outgrowth of the patrol's
work was the development of sonar. In the early
1920s researchers were looking for a device to
detect Icebergs in fog or at night. One method tried
bounced sound waves off of Icebergs ahead of a
ship. Because of the physical properties of water, the
method had limited range, and consequently, limited
usefulness. But these experiments with reflected
sound led to the development of both sonar and the
fathometer. Without these two devices, which were
developed as an Indirect result of the sinking of the
Titanic, the Titanic might never have been found and
many other oceanograplilc discoveries also might
never have occurred.

39

52°N

44°-

42°

40°

57°W 55° 53° 51° 49° 47° 45° 43° 41° 39°

Area of International Ice Patrol operations. Star marks
approximate location ot the Titanic.

Ice Patrol researchers surveying icebergs and glaciers off
Greenland in the 1960s. (Photo courtesy of International
Ice Patrol, U5CC)

Today planes are the primary means ot localmg and
tracking icebergs. (Photo courtesy of International Ice
Patrol, USCC)

During World W.ir II, the k e Pdtrol
suspcncicd operations. Smith was sent to ( ommand
U.S. tor( es in Greenland, largely because he knew
more about thearea than anyone else of appropriate
rank. German submarines were a( tive in Greenland
waters. After the war. Admiral Smith, who had
a( quired the nic kname "Iceberg," left the Coast
Guard to become dircn tor of the Woods Hole
Oc t'anographic Institution. Meanwhile, major
transformations took place within the patrol.

Most significant of these was the use of
aircraft for Icxating ice. The days when ships were
stationed at the southern edge of the ice fields were
C3ver; although ships are still used to study ice
conditions. In 1983, the patrol began using side-
looking airborne radar (SLAR) to detect icebergs. This
technology can detect icebergs as small as 10 meters
long, and covers a swath 27 nautical miles wide.
Once an iceberg has been spotted, the patrol uses
computer models to predict its drift and break-up.
As with oceanography itself, the tools of the Ice
Patrol are changing, but its function remains
thoroughly necessary.

All commercial ships crossing the North
Atlantic still radio in their positions and ice sitings,
without regard to nationality. This makes the patrol
one of the longest running and most successful
international efforts in existence.

Each year the patrol lays a wreath at sea to
commemorate the Titanic. Through this ceremony,
the connection between the patrol and the ship is'
kept alive.

The Role of Radio

Another enterprise affected by the sinking of the
7/(an/c was the fledgling woHd of radio. Marchese
Guglielmo Marconi had sent the first trans-Atlantic
radio message in 1901, and in the succeeding 11
years the use of this new technology exploded.
Almost all passenger liners carried a radio transmitter
and operator. These operators were not employed
by the steamship companies but by various wireless
companies, the most successful of which was the
Marconi Company, owned by Marconi himself.
Since a means of transmitting voice signals was not
yet available, all messages were sent in Morse code.
Hence, these early radio sets were known as the
wireless telegraphs.

The first lives saved by the use of radio
occurred about 50 miles south of Nantucket,
Massachusetts. There, in 1909, the White Star liner
Republic collided with the Italian liner Florida in a
dense fog, and, after some hours, sank. Another
White Star liner, the Baltic, responded to the
Republic's wireless call for help, and succeeded in
finding the Republic in time to rescue almost all of
the passengers and crew. This dramatic event
brought wireless to the forefront of the public's
imagination, and by the time the Titanic sank
numerous amateur radio operators, as well as a
much smaller number of professional operators,
were listening.

Once again, the new technology proved its
worth. The Titanic was able to summon many ships

40

to its location. The situation was not perfect,
however. The Californian, which was only half as far
from the Titanic as any other ship, had turned off her
wireless set for the night (see page 61). Her only
Marconi operator was sound asleep, and the captain
would not learn of the Titanic's distress until
morning. Had the Californian learned of the disaster
earlier, she might have been able to save many of
those lost. But without wireless, all those aboard the
Titanic probably would have been lost.
Consequently, criticism of the rules under which
wireless operated tended to be muted.

The last coherent word from the Titanic
reported the engine room flooding; then a few weak
signals were heard. After that the great ship was
silent, and the world waited for word from the
rescue vessels. The airwaves rang with messages
between ships and calls from both amateur and
professional stations ashore, as all sought to learn if
the pride of the age had indeed sunk. The volume of
traffic was too much for the few frequencies and
weak receivers of the day; only fragmentary,
contradictory, and incomplete messages reached
New York.

Among those listening was a young Russian
immigrant named David Sarnoff. He was employed
by the Marconi Company to work at Wanamaker's
Department Store in New York City, in theory
facilitating communication between the New York
and Philadelphia branches of Wanamaker's. Actually,
his main purpose probably was to draw curious
customers into the store. In any case, at 4:35 p.m.
(New York time) on April 15, 1912, Sarnoff picked
up the first definite confirmation that the Titanic had
sunk from her sister ship, the Olympic. Sarnoff
remained at his post for the next 72 hours, taking
down information as it arrived, including the list of
survivors and dead. President William Howard Taft
ordered all other professional wireless stations on
the East Coast shut down in an effort to improve
reception. There was, however, no way to regulate
amateur wireless operators, and their transmissions
made the airwaves all but unintelligible.

As a result of the prominence he achieved in
the wake of the Titanic's sinking, Sarnoff was rapidly
promoted within the Marconi Company, becoming
Assistant Traffic Manager in 1915. One year later he
sent a historic memo to Edward J. Nally, then
General Manager of the Marconi Company:

/ have in mind a plan of development which vi/ould
make radio a household utility in the same sense as a
piano or phonograph. The idea is to bring music into the
home by wireless.

Sarnoff's idea would not be realized until 1920,
when radio station KDKA began broadcasting in
Pittsburgh. By this time Sarnoff had advanced to
become Commercial Manager of the Marconi
Company, and when the American branch of this
company was bought by the newly formed Radio
Corporation of American (RCA) in 1919, Sarnoff
continued in the same capacity for RCA. By 1922, he
was vice-president of RCA. Eventually he would play
a vital role in the development of television and
would become Chairman of the Board.

Wl

CXuCc7T"Ti«trvro VIA rAlt'llH /*

Marchese Cuglielmo Marconi (1874-1937).

Marconi lived long enough to see his
invention become one of the dominant means of
world communication, vital in both war and peace.
He died in 1937 and was buried in his native Italy.

A Sign of the Times

Today, there is little question as to the dominant
newspaper in the United States. The New York Times
is read on both coasts and is widely available
overseas. It has an unmatched reputation for
accuracy and an extensive news gathering network,
but its predominance was not always so great.

In the early 1900s, The Times was only one of
many New York papers, including The New York
Herald, the New York American, the New York
Tribune, and The World. The sinking of the Titanic
was one factor that helped put The New York Times
a cut above the rest.

At 1:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the first
edition of the paper was about to be printed, when
the following bulletin arrived:

CAPE RACE, [Newfoundland] Sunday Night, April 14
(AP)— At 10:25 o'clock tonight the White Star Line
steamship TITANIC called CQD to the Marconi station
here, and reported having struck an iceberg. The
steamer said that immediate assistance was required.

Carr Van Anda, managing editor of The Times
shook the newsroom to action, stopping the presses
to make room for a new lead story that reported the
. Titanic sinking in mid-ocean after striking an iceberg.
One further report came in that night, which
reported the Titanic down by the head and putting
the women and children off in boats. Based on this
report and the total silence that followed it, Carr Van
Anda took a chance. The final edition of The New
York Times reported the great liner sunk.

All newspapers had access to the same
information at this point. As Elmer Davis explained in

41

his book. History of The New York Times, in dealing
with this news "an individual newspaper could
distinguish itself only by specially competent
treatment." The Times accurately deduced from the
AP bulletins that the ship had sunk. But most other
newspapers relied on her watertight compartments,
and ran timid reports of her distress call, many with
assurances of her invulnerability. The last edition of
The New York Times reported the Titanic sunk, even
as the last edition of The Evening Sun (a Baltimore
paper) reported that all of the passengers were safe
and the liner was being towed to Halifax.

Even when the truth was out, The New York
Times still kept its lead. The Times was the first paper
to report the shortage of lifeboats, and when the
Carpathia arrived in port, The Times had the best
coverage of the arrival, including an exclusive
interview with the Titanic's surviving wireless
operator (see page 46).

Its superior handling of the Titanic story gave
The Times an edge over the competition that it was
never to lose. During World War I, this edge was
honed until, according to Barnett Fine's biography of
Carr Van Anda, A Giant of the Press, "at the end it
had achieved an international reputation that ranked
it as the foremost newspaper in the world."

Social Effects?

Many people have postulated that the sinking of the
Titanic was responsible for a number of social
changes that took place in the first third of the 20th
century. Everything from the decline of feminism, to
the growth of black consciousness, to the declining
idolization of the upper classes has been attributed
to the Titanic. Although the Titanic doubtless had
relevance for all these issues and many others
besides, it is difficult to look back from 73 years'
distance and say this event was responsible for any
one particular change in attitudes. Thus the following
section is intended merely to point out some of the
changes in social attitudes following the Titanic
disaster, and to indicate how the sinking may have
influenced these developments.

Steerage Ignored

When the Titanic sank, public attention focused on
the noted celebrities on its upper decks; the more
numerous third-class passengers, many of whom
were immigrants or foreigners and held in low regard
by the class-conscious American society of the time,
were all but forgotten. These passengers also had
been largely ignored during the evacuation of the
ship. Many were grouped together by the crew on E
deck, 5 decks below the lifeboats. From there, they
were largely on their own. Two groups of women
and children were shepherded to the surface by
Third Class Steward John Edward Hart, but most
who escaped reached the boats only by dogged
persistence.

Some steerage passengers reported that when
they tried to cross into first- or second-class areas,
they were blocked or threatened by crew members
or officers of the Titanic, even though there was no
way to the lifeboats without passing through these
areas. Some actually climbed up and along the

The Plight of the Crew

Dnce ashore, there was a class that fared even
worse than the steerage passengers, and that was
the crew. Many individuals and organizations
contributed funds for the aid of the rescued
steerage passengers. Vincent Astor contributed
$10,000; Andrew Carnegie $5,000; others
contributed smaller amounts; and the New York
Giants played a benefit exhibition game. Charles
Steinway, of the Steinway Piano Company
sponsored a $2-a-plate benefit dinner and
cabaret performance. (Remember, this was when
The New York Times cost a penny.)

The crew, however, was by and large
penniless, and White Star Line refused to issue
them any pay until their return to England.
Moreover, they would be paid for their work only
until the moment the Titanic sank, after which
they were no longer considered on the job. /.
Bruce Ismay later donated £10,000 out of his
own pocket to a fund for seamen; this money
was used to help the surviving crew members of
the Titanic and the widows of the men who
perished. — FL

Titanic's cranes to escape the doomed steerage
compartments.

The troubles that faced these third-class
passengers stemmed from a number of sources.
Most were immigrants and did not speak English;
thus they may not have been aware of the problem
or may have had difficulty communicating with the
crew. Many had all their worldly possessions with
them and were reluctant to part with them. Steerage
passengers were ordinarily locked out of first- and
second-class areas, partially because of U.S.
immigration law requirements, and no explicit orders
were given to drop these barriers. Most importantly,
the steerage passengers simply were not considered
as valuable as the first- and second-class passengers.

When the survivors reached port, the biased
treatment accorded the third-class passengers did
not receive much attention from the press, public,
and government. The heroism of those who
managed through luck and perseverance to escape
was ignored; the focus, instead, was on the chivalry
of those first-class men who gave their lives to allow
women to live. Any reports of unchivalrous behavior
were ascribed to third-class men or, as by the
Titanic's fifth officer, Harold Lowe, to one particular
nationality. In fact, Lowe's continual reference to the
cowardly men he had encountered as Italians,
brought a request for an apology from the Italian
ambassador to the United States. Lowe's correction
for the record is fascinating:

/ do hereby cancel the word "Italian" and substitute the
words "immigrants belonging to Latin races." In fact, I
did not mean to infer that they were especially Italians,
because I could only judge from their general
appearance and complexion, and therefore I only meant

42

to imply that they were of the types of the Latin races. In
any case, I did not intend to cast any reflection on the
Italian nation.

This is the real truth, and therefore I feel honored to
give out the present statement.

H. G. Lowe

Although some may still believe in superiority based
on appearance or national origin as Lowe evidently
did, few would be willing to state it so plainly. Any
such public statement today would provoke a storm
of outrage. In 1912, it passed with little public
comment; Lowe was only echoing the assumptions
of most Americans. Perhaps this is why the terrible
loss of life in the steerage compartments evoked far
fewer eulogies than the many fewer losses in first
class.

This not-so-subtle racism and the
accompanying fascination with the upper classes was
one of the casualties of the decades following the
Titanic's sinking. It seems likely, however, that this
change had more to do with the heroism of the poor
and rich alike in World War I, and with the
development of new idols in the form of movie stars
in the years following the war, than it does with the
sinking of the Titanic.

Suffrage But No More

In the years immediately prior to the sinking of the
Titanic, the women's suffrage movement was quite
strong, and like today's feminists, the suffragettes
were demanding equality on many levels. The
Titanic dealt a blow to this move toward equality. If
women were men's equals, then no distinction
should have been made in filling the lifeboats. Many
suffragettes argued that this was the way things
should be ordered, but it was not a popular view.
Harriet Stanton Blatch, president of the American
Political Woman's Union, argued that since men
were responsible for the lack of lifeboats on the ship,
it was proper that they were the ones who went
down with it. If women received the vote, she
stated, "Then we would have laws requiring plenty
of lifeboats."

A backwash of conservatism on women's
issues swept the nation following the sinking. Led by
First Lady Nellie Taft, antisuffragettes raised $25,000
for a women's memorial to the chivalry of the men
on the Titanic. The resulting 18-foot-tall statue of a
half-clad man pays tribute to the men "who gave
their lives that women and children might be saved."

What the ultimate effect of the Titanic disaster
on the women's movement would have been is
impossible to say. Two years later, World War I
drowned out the sacrifice on board the Titanic in a
massive wave of death. Although women received
the vote in 1920, the issues of equality that were
being discussed before the sinking were not raised
so vigorously again until the carnage of World War II
had begun to be forgotten.

Standing Black and Tall

While stifling the women's movement, the Titanic
disaster raised the consciousness of blacks in the
United States. That such a disaster could overcome

An Educational Legacy

y_Jne of the more unusual legacies of the
sinking of the Titanic is Widener Library at
Harvard University. This enormous building, the
main library at Harvard, houses some 3 million
volumes. It was donated to the university by
Mrs. Eleanor Hkins Widener, a survivor of the
Titanic, in memory of her son Harry Elkins
Widener, who died in the wreck. Construction
of the library was begun in 1912, and it was
formally presented to the university on 24 June,
1915.

Mrs. Widener was convinced that if her
son had known how to swim, he would have
survived, and she donated the money for the
library's construction on the condition that
every person graduating Harvard College be
required to pass a swimming test (50 yards of
any stroke but backstroke) before receiving their
diploma. The test is still given, although it has
not been required for graduation since the late
1 950s. Whether being able to swim 50 yards
would have helped Harry Widener is a matter of
conjecture. — '^^

the epitome of white culture gave blacks new hope
and confidence in themselves.

John and Alan Lomax, in their Negro Folk
Songs as Sung by Lead Belly note that the sinking was
"the most widely celebrated tragedy of that era, the
event that seems to have caught the imagination of
the Negro." A number of ballads appeared about the
sinking, most of which either relished the fact that no
blacks were lost in the sinking or made fun of white
incompetence. Typical was a Lead Belly ballad called
"De Titanic," collected and analyzed by the
Lomaxes:

Lead Belly's ballad is 'worldly and sinful' and it places
the responsibility for the tragedy on 'Captain Smith,'
who drew the color line too sharply in refusing passage
to lack Johnson: 7 ain't haulin' no coal.' But the song
ends tnumphantly, 'Black man oughta shout for joy,
never lost a girl or either a boy.'

Such ballads represent one step in a mental
transformation to equality, a gradual transition from
emulating white people to standing up for their own
values. Once again, the importance of the Titanic in
this process is hard to pin down.

Although the total number of lives lost was
tiny compared to the number of lives lost in the two
world wars that followed, the fact that the 7;(an/c
captured people's imagination has given it great
weight in public consciousness. Its significance is
perhaps best estimated by the tremendous interest
that has been evoked by the discovery of the ship.
Its ultimate effects on society may not be complete
even today.

Frank Lowenstein is Assistant Editor o/'Oceanus.

43

EDITOR'S NOTE: On 6 November 1985, the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries unanimously approved the
tollowinf> bill, with several amendments. The amendments emphasize that guidelines and agreements regarding the Titanic
are intended to be cooperative and international in nature. Semi-annual reports to Congress on the progress of negotiations
are required. Additionally, a provision was included stating it is the sense of Congress that only limited research and
exploration should proceed (the site should not be altered or disturbed) pending an international agreement on the maritime
memorial.

99th congress LJ Q ^070

1st Session II* IV» <J Am i Jm

To designnlt' the shipwreck ot the Til.inic ^is a ni.irilinii' mcniori.il .ind to [)rovi(lo for rcison.iblo roscnrc h, cxplor.ition, .ind, if appropriate,
salvage activities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Septembfr 11, 1985

Mr. )oNES of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Lent, Mr. Biacci, Mr. Studds, Mr. Lowry of Washington, Mr. Carper, and Mr, Huc;hes) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To designate the shipwreck of the Titanic as a maritime memorial and to provide for reasonable research,
exploration, and, if appropriate, salvage activities.

Be /f enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as "The Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1985".

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings. — The Congress finds that —

(1) the Titanic, the ocean liner which sank on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg on April 14,
1912, is a maritime memorial to the men, women, and children who perished aboard her;

(2) the recent discovery of the shipwreck Titanic, lying more than twelve thousand feet beneath the ocean
surface, demonstrates the practical applications of ocean science and engineering;

(3) the shipwreck Titanic, well preserved in the cold, oxygen-poor waters of the deep North Atlantic
Ocean, is of major national and international historical significance;

(4) the shipwreck Titanic represents a special opportunity for deep ocean scientific researc h and
exploration; and

(5) the shipwreck Titanic is a cultural and historical memorial which merits reasonable international
protection.

(b) Purposes. — The Congress declares that the purposes of this Act are —

(1) to establish the shipwreck Titanic as an international maritime memorial to those who lost their lives
aboard her in 1912;

(2) to require the establishment of national guidelines for conducting research on and exploration and, if
appropriate, salvage of the shipwreck Titanic;

(3) to express the sense of the United States Congress that all nations conduct their activities relating to
the shipwreck Titanic in accordance with these guidelines; and

(4) to direct the United States to enter into negotiations with other interested nations, including Great
Britain, France, and Canada, to establish an international agreement which will protect the scientific,
historical, and cultural significance of the shipwreck Titanic.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

(a) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA):

(b) "Secretary" means the Secretary of State;

(c) "Shipwreck" means the vessel. Titanic, her cargo, and other contents;

(d) "United States" means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

44

American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or
possession of the United States.

SEC 4. COMMENDATION.

The Congress of the United States highly commends the members of the joint international expedition
which discovered the shipwreck Titanic, and urges that this cooperative effort serve as a model for further
international activities related to this memorial.

SEC 5. NATIONAL GUIDELINES.

(a) The Administrator shall develop guidelines to govern research, exploration, and, if appropriate, salvage
of the shipwreck Titanic, which: (1) are consistent with its historical and cultural significance, as well as the
purposes and policies of this Act; (2) promote the safety of individuals involved in such operations; and (3)
recognize the sanctity of the shipwreck Titanic as a maritime memorial.

(b) In developing these guidelines, the Administrator shall consult with other interested Federal agencies,
academic and research institutions, and members of the public.

SEC 6. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT.

(a) The Secretary is directed to enter into negotiations to develop an international agreement which
provides for international research, exploration, and, if appropriate, salvage of the shipwreck Titanic consistent
with guidelines developed pursuant to section 5 and the purposes and policies of this Act.

(b) The Secretary shall consult with the Administrator when fulfilling section 6(a) above. The Administrator
shall provide research and technical assistance to the Secretary.

(c) Upon adoption of an international agreement under section 6, the Secretary shall provide notification of
the agreement to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the House of Representatives and to
the appropriate committee in the Senate, including recommendations for legislation to implement the
agreement.

SEC 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that pending adoption of an international agreement under section 6, no nations
should undertake any activities in regard to the shipwreck Titanic which are not in compliance with the
guidelines developed under section 5.

SEC. 8. DISCLAIMER OF EXTRATERRITORIAL SOVEREIGNTY.

By enactment of this Act, the United States does not assert sovereignty or jurisdiction over, or the ownership
of, any marine areas, the vessel or any of its cargo, unless otherwise subject to its jurisdiction.

U.S. Position on Titanic Memorial Site

I he Department of State supports the purpose of
this legislation to designate the Titanic as an
international maritime memorial. The Titanic
represents a unique maritime event because of the
circumstances of the disaster and the tremendous
number of lives lost. This supposedly unsinkable
vessel's loss became a turning point in international
maritime safety law.

The bill announces the Sense of Congress that
the 7/(an;c be protected. The bill is an important step
forward, in that it recognizes the international
character of this subject. The United States cannot
achieve the objective of this legislation unilaterally.
The United States must consult, discuss, and
negotiate with others to achieve the end which we
all seek.

There are many complicated issues to be
addressed. First, there is the vessel's location. It is
located on the ocean floor in 12,000 feet of water

beyond the jurisdiction of any country. Ownership
issues must also be sorted out. It is only with the
assistance of the United Kingdom that we can hope
to uncover the nature and character of the rights of
its nationals in this vessel. Finally, discovery itself
may afford certain rights under maritime law and so
cooperation with the French government is vital. For
these and other reasons we endorse an international
approach to protect the Titanic.

Acknowledging this need for a cooperative
approach, the Department of State endorses the
concept that the guidelines for protection of the
Titanic be developed internationally, rather than by
the United States alone. A provision in the bill which
recognizes the need for a cooperative approach
would encourage other countries' support for the
creation of a maritime memorial. We could also
benefit from their advice in defining this concept so
that it is used in a narrow, rather than a broad sense.

45

In proposing to c reate a maritime memorial
Ijeyond national jurisdiction the Uniti'd States must
l)e careful not to interfere unreasonalily with the
legitimate activities ot other c ountries anci their
nationals. Although the United States does not have
the right to prohibit the nationals of other countries
from ciefacing or salvaging the 7;Mn;c , we may
[prohibit our own nationals and other persons subject
to the jurisdiction of the U.S. from doing this. It is on
this basis that we should proceed.

You may also hear calls for a moratorium. I
would urge that language to this effect be avoided in
this bill. The Department would support such an
approach if it becomes necessary or desirable in the
future. There may come a point in negotiating such
an Agreement where it would be helpful. If that time
comes we may need to return to the Congress for
additional legislation.

Since introduction of the legislation, the
United States has solicited the views of the three
governments mentioned in the bill. Preliminary
indications are positive, as long as the U.S. acts in a
cooperative fashion. I know the Committee is
interested, as we are, in how negotiations to obtain
an Agreement to protect the Titanic would be
conducted. This will be decided after further
consultation with our allies and others, taking into
account the approach most likely to be successful.

We are exploring the question of what role, if
any, the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
should play in the proposed negotiations. Tentative
indications suggest that IMO officials would support
the concept of that Organization providing the
forum for negotiations. At the same time, because an
Agreement through IMO may require two or more
years to achieve, an Interim Agreement among the
most concerned States may be necessary.

The Committee has asked for information
regarding potential claims to the vessel. The rights to
the vessel and its contents are indeed quite murky
after 73 years. But potential claims could be made
by Commercial Union, the company that insured the
Titanic; a citizen to whom the company may have
subrogated its rights; Cunard, the company which
owns the vessel; and survivors or heirs of passengers
who could prove ownership of recovered property,
among others.

Salvage law is complicated and involves
distinctions between proprietary or ownership and
possessory rights. These issues must all be examined,
in consultation with involved governments, if the
Titanic is to be protected (See article page 94).

The United States will take the lead in
encouraging an international agreement to protect
the Titanic, to insure that it remains a lasting
memorial to those who died in the tragedy. While
we support the intent of H.R. 3272, we recommend
that the legislation be amended as described in the
addendum to my statement. I would also note that
the costs to implement this legislation would include
sums for personnel and overhead involved in
assigning one or two persons to engage in
multilateral talks, and appropriate sums for travel.
This is based on the assumption that other states are
interested in entering into a multilateral forum, to
discuss coordination of activities pertaining to the
Titanic. No additional appropriations will be
requested by the Administration.

In concluding my testimony, I would like to
emphasize that customary international law supports
cooperation among States to protect objects of an
archaeological and historical nature found at sea.
The United States will work toward this end.

Addendum

The Department of State recommends that the
legislation be amended in the following manner:

Section 2: Purposes — in order to promote a
cooperative spirit among nations which would be the
foundation of any agreement to protect the Titanic, this
Section should encourage the establishment of an
international maritime memorial and the establishment of
international guidelines.

Section 5: National Guidelines — The word
"International" should be substituted for the word
"National" title of this Section. In Section 5 (b), language
should be added to reflect that interested foreign
governments are to be involved in the drafting of
guidelines.

Section 6; International Guidelines — The
Department recommends that language be added to
Section 6 (a) in order to assure the proper cross referencing
of the purpose of the bill which is to create a maritime
memorial.

Letter Writers

The editor welcomes letters that comment on arti-
( les in this issue or that discuss other matters of
importance to the marine community.

Early responses to articles have the best chance of
being published. Please be concise and have your
letter double-spaced for cMsier reading and editing.

Statement of

Brian J. Hoyle, Director,

Office of Ocean Law and

Policy,

U.S. Department of State

Before the

House Merchant Marine and

Fisheries Committee

29 October 1985

46

Robert D. Ballard's Statement Before the House Merchant Marine

and Fisheries Committee
29 October 1985

^Dince man has built ships, nature and man himself
have sent many of those crafts of commerce and of
war back to the bottom of the sea. Those that sank
in the deep sea were felt lost forever while those
sinkings which occurred in shallow water have, at
times, been the focus of intense search and recovery
operations. Since Alexander the Great descended to
the bottom of the sea in the first crude diving bell,
salvaging the treasures of the sea has become a part
of our folklore. To many Americans, underwater
treasure hunters and salvagers are marine cowboys
with the wind blowing in their faces and the wild
seas to ride.

We have followed their exploits in the news
and seen little harm in their actions except when
they have clearly destroyed wrecks of historical
value. This conflict of interest between salvagers and
marine historians and archaeologists is at the center
of public attention. Resting in 1 3,000 feet of water
off the North American coast is the greatest
shipwreck in man's history, the RMS Titanic and,
unlike most shallow water wrecks, it is in excellent
condition.

The chances that a ship sinking in shallow
water will end up like the Titanic are small. Many
ships which sink in shallow water have struck a reef
and are severely damaged or went aground in a
storm and were violently pounded against a reef or a
rocky coastline. Once the remains of these ships
came to rest, their wooden planks are food for the
worm boring organisms that live in the shallow
waters of the world's oceans. The metallic objects
began to rust in the oxygen-rich waters and
encrusting organisms flourished in the sun-bathed
surface layers slowly turning man-made outlines into
mounds of coral or current swept sand dunes. In
many cases, all that remains is the cargo itself and
the treasure hunters see no conflict in the salvage
efforts.

I am neither an archaeologist nor treasure
hunter; I am a marine scientist and explorer. I am not
here to enter the debate as much as I am here to
point out that the technological genius most
Americans are so proud of has entered the deep sea
in full force and placed before us a new reality. In
short, the great pyramids of the deep are now
accessible to man. He can either plunder them like
the grave robbers of Egypt or protect them for the
countless generations which will follow ours.

Unlike the shallow reefs off Florida which
reduce a wreck to an unrecognizable mound of
encrusted coral, the deep sea is a preserving
environment. Ships in the deep were, in many cases,
sent to the bottom without having sustained any
major structural damage. They either took on water
during a storm and sank, or like the Titanic, had a
hole punched in their hull. In the deep sea.

shipwrecks enter a world of total darkness which
makes the growth of plants impossible. Without
plants, few animals can be found, creating a desert-
like world with an organism here and another one
there. The freezing temperatures of the deep sea
further inhibit biological activity as does the extreme
pressure. The pressure at the Titanic site is more than
6,000 pounds per square inch. Far from land, the
rate of sedimentation in the deep sea is measured at
an inch or so per thousand years. And in some deep
sea environments like the historically travelled
Mediterranean Sea, the bottom waters are poor in
oxygen further making the deep sea a giant
preserving refrigerator.

Some would say, so what. If the deep sea is a
great preserver of man's history, what good does it
do us if it is left in total darkness beyond the reach of
man's inquiring mind. My answer is it isn't and each
day we are moving at a faster and faster pace to
make it easily accessible to the general public. The
technology we used to find the Titanic is the
vanguard of the very technology man will use to
find, document, and revisit historic pieces of
preserved history in the deep sea. Known as
"telepresence," this technology in cruder form has
been with us for many years. Going to the movies or
turning on the television or picking up the phone are
all forms of telepresence. The ability to project your
thoughts, your eyes, and eventually your hands, is
each day becoming an increasing reality. Exploration
in the deep sea is not driving this technology, but it
is beginning to benefit from it. The space program
with its robots on Mars and Venus, the military with
its desire to remove humans from the risks of
combat, and the commercial world with their
evolving television coverage and the proliferation of
multiple cinemas, are the driving forces of
telepresence technology. Cinemas are becoming
smaller and eventually more personalized.
Commercial companies are beginning to build small
cinemas inside flight simulators for a life-like trip
through the Universe.

I strongly believe that if the Titanic is left alone
that within the next few years, beginning as early as
next year, robotic vehicles will be able to enter its
beautifully designed rooms and document in color
its preserved splendor. No salvage operation in the
world could duplicate this feat.

The Titanic is just one such example. Literally
thousands of ships lie in the deep sea awaiting
mankind. The question is, will he come to plunder or
to appreciate? This is a debate which grows louder,
not quieter. Technologists, like myself, can only
cause this problem and suggest its possible impact,
but Congress must take the necessary actions and, in
my case, hopefully before the Titanic is destroyed.

47

Bride 's
Story

EDITOR'S NOTE: This statement was dictated by
Harold Bride to a reporter for The New York Times,
who visited him with Marchese Marconi in the
wireless cabin of the Carpathia a few minutes after
the rescue ship docked.
{©Copyright, 1912, by The New York Times
Company. Reprinted here by permission.)

\A/hen I was dragged aboard the Carpathia I went to
the hospital at first. I stayed there for 10 hours. Then
somebody brought word that the Carpathia's
wireless operator was "getting queer" from the work.

They asked me if I could go up and help. I
could not walk. Both my feet were broken or
something, I don't know what. I went up on crutches
with somebody helping me.

I took the key and I never left the wireless
cabin after that. Our meals were brought to us. We
kept the wireless working all the time. The Navy
operators were a great nuisance. I advise them all to
learn the Continental Morse and learn to speed up in
It if they ever expect to be worth their salt. The
Chester's man thought he knew it, but he was as
slow as Christmas coming.

We worked all the time. Nothing went wrong.
Sometimes the Carpathia man sent and sometimes I
sent. There was a bed in the wireless cabin. I could
sit on it and rest my feet while sending sometimes.

To begin at the beginning, I joined the Titanic
at Belfast. I was born at Nunhead, England, 22 years
ago, and joined the Marconi forces last July. I first
worked on the / loverhrd, and then on the Lusitania.

Asleep When Crash Came

I didn't have much to do aboard the Titanic except
to relieve Phillips from midnight until some time in
the morning, when he should be through sleeping.
On the night of the accident, I was not sending, but
was asleep. I was due to be up and relieve Phillips

48

/. C. (Ijck) Phillips, senior radio operator on the Titanic,
who lost his life when the vessel went down. (Photo
courtesy The Marconi Company, Ltd.)

earlier than usual. And that reminds me — if it hadn't
been for a lucky thing, we never could have sent any
call for help.

The lucky thing was that the wireless broke
down early enough for us to fix it before the
accident. We noticed something wrong on Sunday
and Phillips and I worked seven hours to find it. We
found a "secretary" burned out, at last, and repaired
it just a few hours before the iceberg was struck.

Phillips said to me as he took the night-shift,
"You turn in, boy, and get some sleep, and go up as
soon as you can and give me a chance. I'm all done
for with this work of making repairs."

There were three rooms in the wireless cabin.
One was a sleeping room, one a dynamo room, and
one an operating room. I took off my clothes and
went to sleep in bed. Then I was conscious of
waking up and hearing Phillips sending to Cape
Race. I read what he was sending. It was traffic
matter.

I remembered how tired he was and I got out
of bed without my clothes on to relieve him. I didn't
even feel the shock. I hardly knew it had happened
after the Captain had come to us. There was no jolt
whatever.

I was standing by Phillips telling him to go to
bed when the Captain put his head in the cabin.

"We've struck an iceberg," the Captain said,
"and I'm having an inspection made to tell what it
has done for us. You better get ready to send out a
call for assistance. But don't send it until I tell you."

The Captain went away and in 10 minutes, I
should estimate the time, he came back. We could

Marconi Marine 1912 installation, as fitted in the wireless room of the Titanic. At left is a valved receiver with headphones;
fitted to the wall is the magnetic detector and, beneath this, the Marconi/Franklin multiple tuner; partly obscured by the
head of the operator is the 10 inch induction coil spark transmitter. On wall at right are the controls of the power generator,
housed in the adjoining cabin. (Photo courtesy The Marconi Company, Ltd.)

hear a terrible confusion outside, but there was not
the least thing to indicate that there was any trouble.
The wireless was working perfectly.

"Send the call for assistance," ordered the
Captain, barely putting his head in the door.

"What call should I send?" Phillips asked.

"The regulation international call for help. Just

that."
send

Then the Captain was gone. Phillips began to
"C.Q.D." He flashed away at it and we joked
while he did so. All of us made light of the disaster.

Joked at Distress Call

We joked that way while he flashed signals for about
five minutes. Then the Captain came back.

"What are you sending?" he asked.

"C.Q.D.," Phillips replied.

The humor of the situation appealed to me. I
cut in with a little remark that made us all laugh,
including the Captain.

"Send 'S.O.S.,' I said. "It's the new call, and it
may be your last chance to send it."

Phillips with a laugh changed the signal to
"S.O.S." The Captain told us we had been struck
amidships, or just back of amidships. It was 10

minutes, Phillips told me, after he had noticed the
iceberg, that the slight jolt that was the collision's
only signal to us occurred. We thought we were a
good distance away.

We said lots of funny things to each other in
the next few minutes. We picked up first the
steamship Frankfurt. We gave her our position and
said we had struck an iceberg and needed
assistance. The Frankfurt operator went away to tell
his Captain.

He came back and we told him we were
sinking by the head. By that time we could observe a
distinct list forward.

The Carpathia answered our signal. We told
her our position and said we were sinking by the
head. The operator went to tell the Captain, and in
five minutes returned and told us that the Captain of
the Carpathia was putting about and heading for us.

Great Scramble on Deck

Our Captain had left us at this time and Phillips told
me to run and tell him what the Carpathia had
answered. I did so, and I went through an awful
mass of people to his cabin. The decks were full of

49

scrambling men and women. I saw no fighting, but I
heard tell of it.

I came back and heard Phillips giving the
CarpMhici fuller directions. Phillips told me to put on
my clothes. Until that moment I forgot that I was not
dressed.

I went to my cabin and dressed. I brought an
overcoat to Phillips, it was very cold. I slipped the
overcoat upon him while he worked.

Every few minutes Phillips would send me to
the Captain with little messages. They were merely
telling how the Carpathia was coming our way and
gave her speed.

I noticed as I came back from one trip that
they were putting off women and children in
lifeboats. I noticed that the list forward was
increasing.

Phillips told me the wireless was growing
weaker. The Captain came and told us our engine
rooms were taking water and that the dynamos
might not last much longer. We sent that word to
the Carpathia.

I went out on deck and looked around. The
water was pretty close up to the boat deck. There
was a great scramble aft, and how poor Phillips
worked through it I don't know.

He was a brave man. I learned to love him
that night and I suddenly felt for him a great
reverence to see him standing there sticking to his
work while everybody else was raging about. I will
never live to forget the work of Phillips for the last
awful 15 minutes.

I thought it was about time to look about and
see if there was anything detached that would float. I
remembered that every member of the crew had a
special life belt and ought to know where it was. I
remembered mine was under my bunk. I went and
got it. Then I thought how cold the water was.

I remembered I had some boots and I put
those on, and an extra jacket and I put that on. I saw
Phillips standing out there still sending away, giving
the Carpathia details of just how we were doing.

We picked up the Olympic and told her we
were sinking by the head and were about all down.
As Phillips was sending the message I strapped his
life belt to his back. I had already put on his
overcoat.

I wondered if I could get him into his boots.
He suggested with a sort of laugh that I look out and
see if all the people were off in the boats, or if any
boats were left, or how things were.

The Last Boat Left

I saw a collapsible boat near a funnel and went over
to it. Twelve men were trying to boost it down to the
boat deck. They were having an awful time. It was
the last boat left. I looked at it longingly a few
minutes. Then I gave them a hand, and over she
went. They all started to scramble in on the boat
deck, and I walked back to Phillips. I said the last raft
had gone.

Then came the Captain's voice: "Men, you
have done your full duty. You can do no more.
Abandon your cabin. Now it's every man for himself.

You look out for yourselves. ! release you. That's the
way of it at this kind of a time. Every man for
himself."

I looked out. The boat deck was awash.
Phillips clung on sending and sending. He clung on
for about 1 0 minutes or maybe 1 5 minutes after the
Captain had released him. The water was then
coming into our cabin.

While he worked something happened I hate
to tell about. I was back in my room getting Phillips's
money for him, and as I looked out the door I saw a
stoker, or somebody from below decks, leaning over
Phillips from behind. He was too busy to notice
what the man was doing. The man was slipping the
life belt off Phillips's back.

He was a big man, too. As you can see, I am
very small. I don't know what it was I got hold of. I
remembered in a flash the way Phillips had clung
on — how I had to fix that life belt in place because
he was too busy to do it.

I knew that man from below decks had his
own life belt and should have known where to get it.

I suddenly felt a passion not to let that man
die a decent sailor's death. I wished he might have
stretched rope or walked a plank. I did my duty. I
hope I finished him. I don't know. We left him on
the cabin floor of the wireless room and he was not
moving.

Band Plays in Ragtime

From aft came the tunes of the band. It was a rag-
time tune, I don't know what. Then there was
"Autumn." Phillips ran aft and that was the last I ever
saw of him alive.

I went to the place I had seen the collapsible
boat on the boat deck, and to my surprise I saw the
boat and the men still trying to push it off. I guess
there wasn't a sailor in the crowd. They couldn't do
it. I went up to them and was just lending a hand
when a large wave came awash of the deck.

The big wave carried the boat off. I had hold
of an oarlock and I went off with it. The next I knew I
was in the boat.

But that was not all. I was in the boat and the
boat was upside down and I was under it. And I
remember realizing I was wet through, and that
whatever happened I must not breathe, for I was
under water.

I knew I had to fight for it and I did. How I got
out from under the boat I do not know, but I felt a
breath of air at last.

There were men all around me — hundreds of
them. The sea was dotted with them, all depending
on the life belts. I felt I simply had to get away from
the ship. She was a beautiful sight then.

Smoke and sparks were rushing out of her
funnel. There must have been an explosion, but we
had heard none. We only saw the big stream of
sparks. The ship was gradually turning on her nose —
just like a duck does that goes down for a dive. I had
only one thing on my mind — to get away from the
suction. The band was still playing. I guess all of the
band went down.

They were playing "Autumn" then. I swam
with all my might. I suppose I was 150 feet away

50

when the Titanic, on her nose with her after-quarter
sticking straight up in the air, began to settle —
slowly.

Pulled Into a Boat

When at last the waves washed over her rudder
there wasn't the least bit of suction I could feel. She
must have kept going just so slowly as she had been.

I forgot to mention that, besides the Olympic
and Carpathia we spoke to some German boat, I
don't know which, and told them how we were. We
also spoke to the Baltic. I remembered those things
as I began to figure what ships would be coming
toward us.

I felt, after a little while, like sinking. I was
very cold. I saw a boat of some kind near me and
put all my strength into an effort to swim to it. It was
hard work. I was all done when a hand reached out
from the boat and pulled me aboard. It was our
same collapsible. The same crowd was on it.

There was just room for me to roll on the
edge. I lay there not caring what happened.
Somebody sat on my legs. They were wedged in
between slats and were being wrenched. I had not
the heart left to ask the man to move. It was a
terrible sight all around — men swimming and
sinking.

I lay where ! was, letting the man wrench my
feet out of shape. Others came near. Nobody gave
them a hand. The bottom-up boat already had more
men than it would hold and it was sinking.

At first the larger waves splashed over my
clothing. Then they began to splash over my head
and I had to breathe when I could.

As we floated around on our capsized boat
and I kept straining my eyes for a ship's lights,
somebody said, "Don't the rest of you think we
ought to pray?" The man who made the suggestion
asked what the religion of the others was. Each man
called out his religion. One was a Catholic, one a
Methodist, one a Presbyterian.

It was decided the most appropriate prayer
for all was the Lord's Prayer. We spoke it over in
chorus with the man who first suggested that we
pray as the leader.

Some splendid people saved us. They had a
right-side-up boat, and it was full to its capacity. Yet
they came to us and loaded us all into it. I saw some
lights off in the distance and knew a steamship was
coming to our aid.

I didn't care what happened. I just lay and
gasped when I could and felt the pain in my feet. At
last the Carpathia was alongside and the people were
being taken up a rope ladder. Our boat drew near
and one by one the men were taken off of it.

One Dead on the Raft

One man was dead. I passed him and went to the
ladder, although my feet pained terribly. The dead
man was Phillips. He had died on the raft from
exposure and cold, I guess. He had been all in from
work before the wreck came. He stood his ground
until the crisis had passed, and then he had
collapsed, I guess.

But I hardly thought that then. I didn't think
much of anything. I tried the rope ladder. My feet

pained terribly, but I got to the top and felt hands
reaching out to me. The next I knew a woman was
leaning over me in a cabin and I felt her hand waving
back my hair and rubbing my face.

I felt somebody at my feet and felt the
warmth of a jolt of liquor. Somebody got me under
the arms. Then I was hustled down below to the
hospital. That was early in the day I guess. I lay in the
hospital until near night and they told me the
Carpathia's wireless man was getting "queer" and
would I help.

After that I never was out of the wireless
room, so I don't know what happened among the
passengers. I saw nothing of Mrs. Astor or any of
them. I just worked wireless. The splutter never died
down. I knew it soothed the hurt and felt like a tie to
the world of friends and home.

How could I then take news queries?
Sometimes I let a newspaper ask a question and get
a long string of stuff asking for full particulars about
everything. Whenever I started to take such a
message I thought of the poor people waiting for
their messages to go — hoping for answers to them.

I shut off the inquirers, and sent my personal
messages. And I feel I did the right thing.

If the Chester had had a decent operator I
could have worked with him longer but he got
terribly on my nerves with his insufferable
incompetence. I was still sending my personal
messages when Mr. Marconi and The Times reporter
arrived to ask that I prepare this statement.

There were, maybe, 100 left. I would like to
send them all, because I could rest easier if I knew
all those messages had gone to the friends waiting
for them. But an ambulance man is waiting with a
stretcher, and I guess I have got to go with him. I
hope my legs get better soon.

The way the band kept playing was a noble
thing. I heard it first while still we were working
wireless, when there was a ragtime tune for us, and
the last I saw of the band, when I was floating out in
the sea with my life belt on, it was still on deck
playing "Autumn." How they ever did it I cannot
imagine.

That and the way Phillips kept sending after
the Captain told him his life was his own, and to look
out for himself, are two things that stand out in my
mind overall the rest.

Iceberg Carriers

British scientists in World War II planned to sculpt
aircraft carriers out ot polar icebergs and tow them to
the English Channel, where they would be clad in
metal. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that
Project Habbakut be given top priority.

The plan was never implemented, but would
have been had the war lasted longer. The British
Association for the Advancement of Science
commented: "Had not the atomic bomb been dropped
on Japan and the war come to an end, ice ships would
have almost certainly appeared on the oceans of the
world. "

51

Titanic Survivor Statistics

FirsliLiss:
Adult null".
Adult temales
Male children (all saved)
Female children (all saved)

Second class:
Adult males
Adult females
Male children (all saved)
Female children (all saved)

Third class:
Adult males
Adult females
Male children
Female children

Total

Crew saved:

Deck department

Engine-room department

Food department (including 20 women out of 23)

Total

Total on board saved
Passengers and crew:

Adult males

Adult females

Children

Total

57 out of lys, or 32.57 percent.
140 out of 144, or 97.22 percent.
S

I

203 out of 32.5, or 62.46 percent.

14 out of 168, or 8.33 percent.
80 out of 93, or 86.02 percent.
11
13
118 out of 285, or 41.40 percent.

75 out of 462, or 16.23 percent.

76 out of 165, or 46.06 percent.

13 out of 48, or 27.08 percent.

14 out of 3 1 , or 45. 1 6 percent.
178 out of 706, or 25.21 percent.
499 out of 1,316, or 37.94 percent.

43 out of 66, or 65.15 percent.

72 out of 325, or 22.15 percent.

97 out of 494, or 19.63 percent.
212 out of 885, or 23.95 percent.
tTT out of 2,201, or 32.30 percent.

338 out of 1,667, or 20.27 percent.

316 out of 425, or 74.35 percent.

57 out of 109, or 52.29 percent.

71 1 out of 2,201 or 32.30 percent.

Source: British government report "Loss of the Steamship Titanic." Editor's note: The total number of people aboard the Titanic at the time of
the disaster has varied considerably over the years from one published account to another, the discrepancies mostly involving the number of
crew aboard. The figure 2,201 represents the lowest figure in circulation.

Wireless Revisited: The Radio Room of the R/V Knorr

by Ernest "Butch" Smith

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ernest "Butch " Smith is the Radio
Officer aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution's research vessel Knorr. Like most of the
people on board at the time of the discovery, he
believes that the Titanic should be left undisturbed.
He also has received many cards and letters
expressing similar sentiments from HAM radio
operators around the country.

W.

e arrived on the Titanic search site at
approximately 2200 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT),
24 August 1985. The first thing I did from the radio
room was to verify via the International Ice Patrol
data how far we were from the ice. The closest
icebergs were more than 200 miles to our north. We
were in the clear. The weather was overcast with a
slight drizzle and the temperature was around 67
degrees Fahrenheit. Seas were running between 5

and 7 feet and seemed to calm somewhat after our
arrival.

There was a feeling of excitement, and at the
same time a feeling of sadness among crew and
scientists alike, realizing that this was the location of
the great Titanic disaster. From a Radio Officer's
point of view, I tried to visualize what the Chief
Marconi Operator of the Titanic, Jack Phillips, and his
able assistant, Harold Bride, had gone through so
many years ago on this exact location. (In those days,
in contrast to today, wireless operators were not
considered nor treated as Officers, but were
employees of Marconi Marine.) FHow tremendously
busy they must have been even before^ disast(>r
struck.

In that day, wireless had brought the world a
new dimension in living. It was being used
extensively on the larger ocean going vessels to
provide communications, entertainment, and, in
case of an emergency, infinite help. It also was still

52

Radio Officer Ernest
"Butcli" Smith at work
in the radio room
alMard the Knorr.
(Photo courtesy of the
author)

somewhat of a novelty among the passengers to be
able to send messages to just about any place in the
civilized world. Phillips and Bride were both
outstanding wireless operators. Phillips had
graduated at the top of his class from the Marconi
School. A wireless operator did not get assigned to a
great ship like the Titanic unless he had proven
himself over the years. Both Phillips and Bride had
spent some time as Postal Telegraphers before they
took to the sea, both were Marconi School
graduates, and both had served on four or five other
ships before their appointment to the Titanic. It was
an assignment, I am sure, that they were both very
proud of.

On that tragic night, they had received
reports of icebergs from other ships to their west and
had relayed the information to the bridge of the
Titanic. (With the exception of the message received
from the Mesaba, which reportedly never reached
the bridge.) Following that, they once again resumed
trying to clear the ever growing pile of official and
personal messages from the passengers, sending to
the wireless coast station on Cape Race,
Newfoundland, which in turn would relay the
messages via "land line" to various final destinations.

Once disaster had struck, Phillips and Bride
courageously stayed on duty in the wireless room
sending out reports on the Titanic's condition and
position to all within hearing range. Even after
Captain Smith had released them from duty, they
continued on. The last signals heard from the Titanic
were likely heard by Harold Cottam, Marconi
Operator on board the Carpathia, which eventually
rescued more than 700 of the 2,224 people on
board the Titanic. These last signals were heard at
approximately 12:28 a.m. (New York time) shortly
before the great ship descended toward the bottom

of the sea. Both Phillips and Bride were washed
overboard as the ship disappeared from the surface.
Bride managed to survive by clinging to one of the
two (upside-down) collapsible life boats that were
washed off the Titanic at the same time. Phillips was
among the many who perished from exposure to the
frigid waters. Cottam, who so gallantly stayed on his
key from the time they first heard the Titanic's
"CDQ/SOS" until they reached New York, died in
1984 at the age of 93.

The resting place of the Titanic was located at
0405 GMT on September 1, 1985, 73 years and
some months after she was last seen on the surface.
About half of the people on board the Knorr were off
duty when this occurred. I was one of them, soundly
asleep in my stateroom adjacent to the radio room.
It was only a matter of minutes before I was called
on the ship's telephone by Captain Richard Bowen,
who told me the news of the discovery. Among
those awake, which was now just about everyone,
there was much excitement. The 12 to 4 watch on
the Knorr's bridge, commanded by Dave Megathlin
(2nd Mate) who was assisted by Peter Flaherty and
Roger Hunt (both Able Bodied Seamen) could hardly
contain their excitement. In the control van, the
scientists and technicians were wild with excitement.
A few minutes after the discovery, Robert Ballard
(co-Chief Scientist) assembled those who were free
on the fantail of the R/V Knorr where he raised the
Titanic's builders' flag and then held a brief memorial
service, remembering those who had perished on
that tragic night. It was a very touching moment, one
that I will always remember.

From that moment forward, the "traffic"
through the radio room increased tremendously.
Something on the order of 100 commercial radio
telephone calls, 40 radio telegraph messages, 81

53

HAM radio phone patches (calls) via Mr. Gil Geitner
(W4LLA), and numerous calls from coast stations
with "traffic" for the R/V Knorr passed through the
radio room. On a normal trip I only handle about '/20
of this amount during a 30-day leg — and this all took
place in just 8 or 9 days!

One memorable experience occurred just
after I cleared with Ocean Gate Radio in New York. I
received a call from Potishead Radio in England who
said they were holding hundreds of calls for the
Knorr and wanted to know to whom they could refer
the calls since I was not handling traffic via their
station. I asked them to kindly refer the calls to
Ocean Gate Radio in New York. They in turn replied
they would cooperate and then immediately called
the Queen Elizabeth II to continue traffic with that
vessel. It struck me as ironic that we were sitting over
the resting place of the R.M.S. Titanic and were in a
way linked yet to another great British passenger
vessel, the QE II.

Interviews with Robert Ballard were
conducted via radio with David Hartman of "Good
Morning America," Peter Jennings of "The ABC
Evening News," Tom Brokaw of NBC, Maria Schriver
of "The CBS Morning News," Terry Drinkwater of
CBS, and Walter Sullivan, science writer for The New
York Times. To handle the list of calls continuously
coming in for the Knorr, I would simply get the
party's name and phone number from the marine
operator and add it to my fast growing list. Ballard
would then return calls when he was able to take
some time from the control van to do so. Between
these calls, the French scientists on board were quite
often on the radio to France. When time permitted, I
would attempt to catch up on my radiotelegraph
traffic. (These messages were sometimes in French.)
Also helicopter operations had to be coordinated via
the radio room between Captain Bowen and the
helicopter operations center in St. Johns,
Newfoundland. All of this together took a good
portion out of a 24-hour communications day.

It is ironic that the radiotelegraph (a radio
signal sent in Morse code) is still used extensively in
this day and age, some 73 years after it played such
an important role in saving lives during the Titanic
disaster. On a routine day, the Knorr sends in
weather observations and ice reports (when
appropriate) to the United States Coast Guard (three
to four times a day), as well as messages to our ship's
agents in various ports of call, via radiotelegraph.
Since the days of the sinking of the Titanic it has
been mandatory that vessels of 1,600 gross tons and
larger carry at least one licensed Radio Officer on
the vessel, primarily for safety purposes. These
vessels are also equipped with an auto alarm device
that alerts the Radio Officer of an "SOS" while he is
off duty. The Radio Officer is required to monitor
500 kilohertz (KHZ), one of the international distress
and calling frequencies, for an aggregate of eight
hours a day. This is totally radiotelegraph work. Two
other distress and calling channels are monitored
continuously on the bridge of the Knorr — very-high
frequency (VHF) voice Channel 16 and single side-
band (SSB) voice Channel 2182 KHZ. The vessel is

equipped with devices for sending out automatic
alarms (required by international law) on both 500
KHZ and 2182 Kf 1Z. The International Ice Patrol
transmits information on iceberg location and ice
conditions several times daily. The ice patrol was
established as a direct result of the Titanic sinking
(see page 38). These measures have saved many
lives on the high seas over the years. Sea travel today
is as safe as our technology can make it, due directly
to the saga of the Titanic. It truly can be said that
those who perished on that night did not die in vain.

Ernest "Butch" Smith is Radio Officer on the R(V Knorr,
operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for
the U.S. Navy.

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y^ \J\Ja5 ^^boaird the J I

t

uamc

bu (Ldiih KuAdeli

It was not really my idea to sail on the Titanic. I had
booked passage on the George Washington, to sail
April 7, 1912, but my editor cabled me from New
York to postpone my sailing in order to report the
fashions at the Paris Easter Sunday races. By taking
the Titanic, a faster ship on the Wednesday following
Easter Sunday, I could still arrive in America at about
the same time. In any event, the opportunity of
crossing on this much-publicized, and above all
unsinkable, floating palace, delighted me.

I was a fashion writer, buyer, and stylist. This
trip was one of the first of my career, as I had just
started in business, and I was taking with me not
only my own wardrobe, but many orders executed
for business firms and private clients. They were
uninsured, as when I applied for insurance on this
merchandise, I was told that it was ridiculous to
spend money for insurance when travelling on an
unsinkable vessel. So, misled like the rest of the
world, I placed full confidence in the world's greatest
ship: "46,328 tons . . . 882 feet long ... 3 propellers
... 4 smoke stacks rising 1 75 feet above the
water. . . ." She was truly almost a skyscraper. We
were not used to ships of such dimensions and
grandeur in those days. The Olympic and Titanic
were sister ships, the first of their kind.

The train-run from Paris to Cherbourg was
quite pleasant. I chatted with some Swedish and
American ladies in the compartment and with a
Mexican gentleman who informed us he was a
Member of Parliament in Mexico. We formed a very
merry little party. The fact that we were all sailing on
this exceptional vessel on her maiden voyage,
seemed to draw us together. Everybody was looking
forward to seeing the monster ship.

We sat about on the huge tender, which had
been especially built the year before for these new
White Star ships, and for three hours shivered and
waited. It was cold. It had been raining. I remember
sitting next to Colonel and Mrs. John Jacob Astor,
who were on their wedding trip and playing with
their big dog. The Colonel told me the Titanic had
cost $10 million to build, and emphasized that she
was unsinkable, "a miracle of modern ship-building."

Finally a murmur went around the tender:
"The Titanic is in sight." I saw what seemed like a
huge building, 1 1 stories high with tier upon tier of
glittering electric lights, dressed over-all. Truly a
beautiful and impressive spectacle.

* Originally published in the Ladies Home Companion, May,
1964. Reprinted by permission.

rrsmsf-ame^sseit^lgH

Edilii Russell and toy pig. (Photo courtesy Titanic Historical
Society)

The Titanic had had an accident coming out
of Southampton, when she went too close to the
New York and caused the latter to break loose from
her moorings. I did not know this at the time, of
course, and if I had, I should probably have been
imagining all kinds of ominous things. As it was, I
could not help being strangely impressed by the way
the tender rolled and heaved, in this calm sea,
alongside the great ship. The gangway over which
we climbed aboard seemed in danger of being
pulled loose from its fastening.

I hated the idea of crossing that gangplank,
and no sooner had I got on board than I sought out
Nicholas Martin, the General Manager of the White
Star Line, Paris bureau, to see if it would not be
possible to collect my luggage and book by a later
steamer, as I was frankly afraid. Martin said he would
gladly release me from the sailing, if I felt that way.

55

bill ht' could not get my luggage oft. "Vou .ire |ust
nervous. You are [)ertectly sate. This shi[) is
unsinkable. You c an get oil it you want to, but your
luggage will have to go on to New York."

Beginning Hours

The tirst d.n s ot the trip were uneventful, marked by
the usual making of ac quaintances, promenades on
dec k, tea in the Winter Garden, and so forth. It was
only by looking out to sea that one realized one was
t)n the ocean.

On Sunday, April 14, it was brilliantly sunny,
l)ut so intensely cold that it seemed the only sensible
thing to do was to stay in bed to keep warm, which I
did until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I then went out
on deck, and noticed a large crowd of men
passengers looking down at the water being thrown
u|i from the blades of the propellers. The foam
whirled in a great cascade, made blood-red by the
rays of a glorious setting sun. It looked like a crimson
carpet stretching from the ship to the horizon. I
remember commenting to a group of people
standing there about this beautiful and awesome
waterfall, and then I walked forward in the ship. I
was never to see any of these people again.

There was much commenting on the intense
cold, and some of the men said they had heard
notices were posted that we were in ice-fields.
However, that did not seem to make very much
difference. We were going full speed ahead and
would arrive positively in New York on the following
Tuesday as it was intended the ship should make a
record trip. And with this calm sea and perfect
weather, there was no reason why we should not do
so.

On Sunday night I dressed in a white satin
evening gown, as there was a gala dinner. The men
were all in their evening clothes and the ladies in full
dress. But I wish to say there was no dancing. British
ships do not, or did not at that time, permit dancing
on the Sabbath night. Nor was there excessive
drinking on the part of the captain or anyone else, as
has been frequently stated. It was a calm, well-
behaved crowd of people. I distinctly remember the
lounge, a very beautiful spectacle, everyone sitting
about in evening clothes, the orchestra playing.

About 9:30 p.m., having some letters to write,
I went up to the drawing room and, incidentally
chatted with a little lady from Los Angeles. Her
husband came alcjng and said he was going to the
smoking room to play bridge. "Play all the bridge you
want to," she said, "but uncier no circumstances do I
want you to come down and wake me. I want to
have a good night's sleep." Both perished.

I had been writing for some time when the
library steward called "Lights out, please, it's 11:30."
I hancJed him a number of letters telling him that I
did not have my purse with me but wcjuld pay for
the stam[)s the next morning, and I took a couple of
books from the library to read.

The Collision

I walked from the stern of the ship to my room,
which was way forward on the same deck. I was just
turning on the electric light when I felt a very slight

jar, then a second, a little stronger, ,^\^d a third,
accom|)anied by a heavy shock, strong enough to
make me c ling to my bedpost. I noticed immediately
that the door of my room had a decided list. The
shi[) seemed to have come to a dead sto[); but as I
thrust my head out of the stateroom window, I
notic cci a huge white mass, like a mountain, slowly
drifting by. I [)uf on my fur coat and ran round to a
frienci's room and said, "Come along, let's go out
<\nd see what has happened."

We were quickly joined by several others in
various stages of undress. We all looked at this white
mass, and someone said, "It's an iceberg!" I must say
I was overjoyed, because I had always wanted to see
an iceberg from the time of my school days.
Someone said icebergs showed only one-ninth
above water, and another remarked that this one
must be a "corker" under the surface. It towered
well above the smoke stacks of the ship. I found out
afterwards that an iceberg has a light side and a dark
side. Unfortunately destiny decreed that the dark
side shc:)uld be toward the ship.

Looking down towards the Cabin Class deck, I
noticed a number of stokers walking across it and
going down below, the ice crunching beneath their
boots. Someone said: "Why, they are walking on a
solid ground of ice." Nobody had any fear or
thought of danger. The calm sea and brilliant, starry
sky, completely reassured us. The only disagreeable
factor was the intense cold, enough to numb one's
face and hands.

We walked about the deck, and I spoke to
several officers and asked them what it was all about.
They said: "We have struck an iceberg. There is
nothing to worry about. The best thing to do is to go
back to bed." After about three-quarters of an hour, I
decided I would do so, to get warm. I returned to
my room, started to undress, and was ready for bed,
when a young man I met earlier in the day called
through the door: "An order has been given that we
are to put on lifebelts." I called back: "What for?"
"Well," he said, "that's the order."

I went to the lounge on A Deck where I saw
my bedroom steward, Wareham. He was fully
dressed, with black coat and bowler hat. "Miss," he
said, "I am glad indeed to see that you are up and
dressed."

"Wareham, do you think there is any danger,
or is this just one of those English rules that requires
us to put on lifebelts?"

He replied: "It is a rule of the Board of Trade
that in time of danger lifebelts must be worn by the
passengers. But please don't be alarmed."

"Wareham, what about my dresses and other
things . . . Do you think they will transfer the
luggage?"

To this he replied: "Now, if I were you, I think
I would go back to my room and kiss them good-
bye."

"In that case, do you think the ship is going to
sink?"

"No, Miss. She certainly ought to be able to
hold out a good 48 hours anyway."

"Wareham, I think it would be a good idea if I
had my mascot with me. i left it on the dressing

56

Above, the Titanic's Parisian cafe. Below, the gymnasium. (Harland and Woltl photos courtesy of Charles Ira Sachs/ONRS)

57

table. Would you mind going to the stateroom to get
it tor me?"

My mother, having heard that the pig was
considered a symbol of good luck in France, and
feeling that good luck was just what I needed, had
presented me with a toy pig, the size of a big kitten
and covered with white fur and black spots. I
cherished it, the more so as it was really a music-
box, and by twisting its tail one produced the then
popular air "La Maxixe." I promised my mother that I
would keep this mascot with me at all times. This
little pig later saved my life.

And as I saw him going back down the
corridor to fetch it, I noticed that there was an
incline from the drawing room down the passage. As
I learned afterwards, it was beneath my stateroom
that the iceberg had torn into the ship's side, directly
under the swimming pool, and then come up against
the water-tight bulkheads, which were holding the
ship up for the time being.

Wareham brought me back my toy pig, and
the people all around me smiled. 1 felt a little more
reassured. I never saw Wareham again, but
remember his wistful remark "I hope we get out of
this alright. I have a wife and five little kiddies at
home."* The stewards, in fact all the employees of
the Titanic were an exceptionally fine lot of men and
women, glad that they had been transferred from
the Olympic where nearly all of them had served.
They undoubtedly knew there was danger, but at no
time did they portray their fear to the passengers. No
words can adequately praise these magnificent
officers and crewmen.

I went up to the Boat Deck and remember
seeing a lot of men standing about. We waited and
stood around aimlessly and then another order was
shouted: "All women and children will immediately
return to A Deck." Again I stood quite a long time
wondering what it all meant. Then yet another order:
"Women and children back again up to the Boat
Deck."

I thought this just a farce, a sort of boat drill,
for frankly I did not know what it could mean. So I
disregarded these instructions, went back to the
lounge, found a nice comfortable armchair, and sat
down where it was warm and cozy. There were four
or five men passengers seated about the lounge, and
one of them said he had heard they had launched
five lifeboats.

"Surely there is no danger," I said. And he
answered: "No, but you know these English. They
are the greatest people for rules and regulations and
the greatest sticklers for this sort of thing."

"Well if it is only a question of rules and
regulations, I for one do not propose to go out on
that deck and freeze to death," I retorted.

Just then I saw an officer and called out to
him: "Mister officer, should I leave in a lifeboat? Is
there any danger?" To this he replied: "No, I do not
know that there is any immediate danger, but this
ship is damaged and she certainly cannot proceed to
New York. She may be towed into the nearest

* Wareham's body was picked up by the Mackay-Bennett
and buried in Halifax.

Captain £. /. Smith on the Titanic 's promenade decl<.
(Photo courtesy Paul Popper Photo)

harbor. We expect the Olympic along in the next
two or three hours. They will take the passengers off.
However, there is no immediate danger. Madam.
You can use your own judgement in this matter."
1 then went to the Boat Deck and found

58

myself standing next to Bruce Ismay, the Managing
Director of the White Star Line, who was wearing his
black evening trousers and a nightshirt with frills
down the front. He was shouting orders. A number
of men on the other side of him were banked up
almost in a solid mass near the cabin bulkhead. He
spied me and called out: "What are you doing on
this ship? I thought all women and children had left.
If there are any more women and children on this
ship, let them step forward and come over to this
stairway immediately."

Ismay practically threw me down a narrow
iron stairway to the deck below. There has been
much criticism of Ismay, but he certainly saved my
life. I passed between lines of sailors to the rail. Two
burly sailors got hold of me and attempted to throw
me head foremost into the lifeboat which was
suspended alongside. But when I noticed how far
from the rail the lifeboat was, swinging off its davits
from above, I became terrified — so much so that my
legs and feet went rigid and my slippers fell off. I
screamed to the two men: "Don't push me!" One
replied, "If you don't want to go, stay!"

I then looked about in the gutter of the deck
for my slippers, which I found minus a diamond
buckle that had fallen off. I never found the buckle.

Then I looked up at the rail and at the lifeboat
which was swinging so perilously far from it, about
seven stories above the sea.

The boat was very full and slightly tilted to
one side. The thought of getting up on that rail and
jumping petrified me; it seemed to me a feat that
only an acrobat could perform, especially as I had on
a narrow skirt and a coat which reached right down
to the ankles. So there I stood with my little pig
under my arm. One of the sailors reached forward
and exclaimed: "If you don't want to go, we'll save
your baby anyway," and he grabbed my little pig
which, perhaps in the excitement he mistook for a
baby, and threw it into the lifeboat. I stood looking
towards the lifeboat thinking: "There is my mascot. I
promised my mother it would be with me, always."

Just then I heard a very quiet voice next to me
saying: "Madam, if you will put your foot on my
knee and put your arm around my neck, I will lift
you to the rail and from there you will be able to
jump into the boat with less danger, and you will not
be so frightened."

"Would you really go?" I asked the man, "if
you were me?"

He answered: "Yes, without a doubt."

He then made a chair of hands with one of
the sailors (such as we do in playing games), each
one holding the other's wrist, and lifted me. I
jumped and fell into the lifeboat, landing on my
head at the bottom of the boat, where I groped
about for my mascot and found it almost
immediately with its little forelegs broken. I struggled
into an upright position. The man who had helped
me leapt in immediately afterwards and then came
the order: "Lower away!"

We were lowered toward the water very
slowly, with a decided tilt, and someone in the boat
cut the fall ropes before we actually touched the
water. One of the men near me said: "Shove her off

Titanic Dimensions

A

long with some 1,500 lives, a considerable
volume of steel was lost when the Titanic went
down. The ship was 882.5 feet long and 93 feet
wide. Her boat deck and bridge were some 70
feet above the water and about 92 feet above the
keel. The ship weighed 46,328 gross tons
(103,774,720 pounds), and at the time of her
construction she was the largest moving object in
the world. When floating, she displaced 66,000
tons of water. To move this bulk she carried 2
four-cylinder reciprocating engines. These drove
the port and starboard propellers. The center
propeller was driven by a turbine that ran off the
exhaust from the engines and steam from the
boilers. Together these engines could generate at
least 55,000 horsepower — equivalent to more
than 500 automobiles straining at her propellers.
The Titanic's top speed was in the neighborhood
of 24 to 25 knots (a speed she never reached).

Although the Titanic could accommodate
3,502 passengers and crew members, on her
maiden voyage she carried only 2,201* people.
Nonetheless she seemed a floating city to those
aboard, and even crew members became lost in
her labyrinthian passageways. She carried a
swimming pool, a gymnasium, a squash court,
palm-decorated verandas, a Turkish bath, and a
special compartment for storing automobiles.
There was even a darkroom available for the use
of any amateur photographers aboard. — FL

* This figure comes from the 1912 report of the British
Titanic Wreck Commission. Other estimates from the
time ranged up to 2,340, and estimates by modem
historians also differ, with estimates ranging from 2,207
to 2,235. Naturally, these discrepancies result in
significant disagreement as to how many people died.

quickly, or we are going to be sucked under." I did
not understand what he meant.

In the Lifeboat

Looking up from the lifeboat, the Titanic seemed the
biggest thing in the woHd. I saw many people
hanging over the rail. I distinctly heard music, but I
do not remember hearing "Nearer My God To
Thee." As we drew away, everything was calm and
still, with the reflection of the lights on the water,
passengers leaning over the rails . . . nothing to
predict the horror of the next few minutes.

Despite the many stars in the sky, it was the
blackest night I have ever seen. The mate, who was
in some sort of command, had found a piece of
rope. He would light it and let it flare for a few
minutes, swinging it around as a signal, and then
extinguish it. His idea was that by flourishing this
light he could warn other lifeboats in the vicinity and
so prevent our being rammed.

59

I now looked toward the starboard light ot the
7/Mn;t , shining bright green. I noticed that this light
seemed to be getting lower, nearer to the water. We
had lelt the liner at about 1:45 a.m. At 2:00 a.m. I
looked at my wrist-watch. One of the stewards
rowing made the remark: "She won't hold out much
longer."

I did not realize even then what he meant,
but I htMrd him say to the other steward "Let's lean
into it and get away or she may still suck us under."

Gradually the green starboard light dropped
closer to the water. At about two o'clock green
rockets were tired from the upper deck ot the ship,
her very last call tor help. At 2:20 I saw the starboard
light disappear into the water. The stern of the ship,
fully lighted, stood up to the sky — suggesting a
skyscraper by night, so high and straight did it rise
into the air. Then it seemed to shoot down into the
water, every light blazing. There was a heavy
explosion beneath the water, then a second and a
third. Contrary to what the men in our boat had
feared, these explosions actually thrust us farther
away, as by an invisible hand.

Just before the ship went down, there came a
huge roar from her, as though from one's throat. The
men in our boat asked us all to cheer, saying that
what we heard were shouts of joy indicating that all
aboard had cleared the ship and were saved. And
everyone in our boat did actually cheer three times.
This, of course, was merely a device to distract us
from the awful sound as the ship went down, and it
did at least serve that purpose. Somehow or other
we were still quite incapable of realizing the full
extent of the tragedy in which we were participants.

The sea was absolutely calm and there were
stars out, but the night was so black that we could
see the silent icefloes around us only when our boat
came close up on them, and it was bitterly cold.
Against this background of cold "tranquility" a
number of women in the boat had become half
hysterical with apprehension over absent husbands
and children. The babies fretted and cried all night
and I played "La Maxixe" to calm them, twirling the
pig's tail around and around to produce the music.
Next day the pig could hardly play, so many times
had he been called upon. Finally, that intense cold
which precedes dawn settled on the water. Only
those who have stood a night watch of any kind can
realize the peculiarly penetrating chillness of the
half-hour that divides night from morning. In
searching for extra clothing for one of the stewards,
we suddenly came upon a passenger in the bottom
of the boat whom we had not noticed before,
although he had been lying practically at my feet. By
now there was enough light to recognize him as a
stoker. The poor fellow was dead. I suppose he may
have jumped head first into the boat, knocked
himself unconscious and had frozen to death
without being noticed.

Rescue

Presently I saw another light on the horizon, and told
the young man rowing next to me about it. He was
too depressed to believe me. "Madame, don't get

imaginative. There is no light, and there will not be
any light. It's no use looking tor good things when
none are coming." Another seaman echoed this
pessimism. "This is my third shi[)wreck," he said. "If I
g{>t out of this one, I'm going bac k home to be a
milkman."

But before long, we all saw the white light and
then a red one beneath it, which signified the arrival
of the Carpjthici. As the sun rose, beautiful and clear,
we rowed as best we could toward the rescue ship,
amid ice peaks which made me think of the
mountains rising out of the Italian lakes. Brilliantly
lighted, she seemed so big that we thought she
might be the Olympic, and we feared her suction.

As we drew closer to the rescue ship, we
noticed other lifeboats also making for her, together
with the collapsible raft, with Bruce Ismay and other
passengers aboard. About 8 a.m. my lifeboat,
number 1 1, drew alongside the Cdrpcithi,}. Up to that
time the sea had remained absolutely calm, but now
a great many whitecaps appeared. We were tossing
and rolling. Having left the Titanic at about 1:45 a.m.
this made about bVi hours that I had spent in the
lifeboat, but it seemed only an hour.

The first person to leave our boat was a baby
boy, who was hoisted up in a canvas sack and the
other babies were hoisted aboard in the same way.
One little baby struggled madly and did not want to
leave at all.

After this, a "boatswain's chair," very much
like an old-fashioned swing, was lowered for the
grown-ups. The women were told to sit on the little
wooden seat, close their eyes, and hold on tightly to
the ropes. Thus we were hoisted with great speed
up into the Carpathia. Welcoming hands were
stretched out to receive us. After we had been
underway for about three quarters of an hour the
ship slowed down and the bodies of six sailors who
had been taken on board, but who had died of
exposure, were buried in the sea. A priest aboard
delivered a prayer.

I was indeed lucky to be saved. My losses
were only material, while there were so many who
lost those whom they loved. I have crossed the
Atlantic often since — nearly a hundred times— but
still I will not travel by airplane. Steamships and
automobiles are my favorite modes of transport.

Edith Russell had travelled on the Titanic in first class
passage, using her professional name "Miss Rosenbaum."
When the premiere of the 20th Centun/-Fox movie Titanic
took place in /95J, Life magazine presented an article
entitled "Movie Re-Enactment Awakens Dramatic
Memories. " Edith was pictured with her toy pig and the dress
she wore on the Titanic in 1912. A few years after the article
was written, her luggage was lost during one of her Atlantic
crossings, and most o/^ her Titanic memorabilia with it —
except her toy pig. Edith L. Russell died in a London hospital
on April 4, 1975. In her obituary, a reporter quoted her as
once saying, "I'm accident prone. I've been in shipwrecks,
car crashes, fires, floods and tornadoes. I've had every disaster
but bubonic plague and a husband." She was 98 years old
when she died.

60

The

Steamship
Californian
Controversy

We had to assume that the data from the Californian
had either been altered, collected poorly, or some-
thing— we could not believe it.

—Robert D. Ballard, September 11, 1985

CjplJin Stjniey Lord aller the British Inquiry and alter
being dismissed Irom the Leyland Line.

The following is from the "report of a formal investigation into the circumstances attending the foundering on
April 15, 1912, of the British steamship 'Titanic,' of Liverpool, after striking ice in or near latitude 41° 46' N.,
longitude 50° 14' W., North Atlantic Ocean, as conducted by the British government" and presented by
Senator William Alden Smith of Michigan to the U.S. Senate, August 12, 1912.

On the 14th of April the steamship Californian, of the Leyland Line, Mr. Stanley Lord, master, was on
her passage from London, which port she left on April 5, to Boston, LJnited States, where she subsequently
arrived on April 19. She was a vessel of 6,223 tons gross and 4,038 net. Her full speed was MVi to 13 knots.
She had a passenger certificate, but was not carrying any passengers at the time. She belonged to the
International Mercantile Marine Co., the owners of the Titanic.

At 7:30 p.m., ship's time, on April 14, a wireless message was sent from this ship to the Antillian:

To Captain, Antillian:

Six thirty p.m., apparent ship's time, latitude 42° 3' N., longitude 49° 9' W. Three large bergs, 5 miles to
southward of us. Regards.

Lord.

The message was intercepted by the Titanic, and when the Marconi operator (Evans) of the Californian
offered this ice report to the Marconi operator of the 7;(an/c, shortly after 7:30 p.m., the latter replied:

It is all right. I heard you sending it to the Antillian, and I have got it.

The Californian proceeded on her course S. 89° W. true until 10:20 p.m., ship's time, when she was
obliged to stop and reverse engines because she was running into field ice, which stretched as tar as could
then be seen to the northward and southward.

The master told the court that he made her position at that time to be 42° 5' N., 57° 7' W. This
position is recorded in the log book, which was written up from the scrap log book by the chief officer. The

61

scrap log is destroyed. It is a position about 19 miles N. by E. of the position of the Titanic when she
foundered, and is said to have been fixed by dead reckoning and verified by observations. I am satisfied that
this position is not accurate. The master "twisted her head" to E.N.E. by the compass and she remained
approximately stationary until 5:15 a.m. on the following morning. The ship was slowly swinging around to
starboard during the night.

At about 1 1 p.m. a steamer's light was seen approaching from the eastward. The master went to Evans's
room and asked what ships he had. The latter replied: "I think the Titanic is near us. I have got her." The
master said; "You had better advise the Titanic we are stopped and surrounded with ice." This Evans did,
calling up the Titanic and sending: "We are stopped and surrounded by ice." The Titanic replied: "Keep out."
The Titanic was in communication with Cape Race, which station was then sending messages to her. The
reason why the Titanic answered "keep out" was that her Marconi operator could not hear what Cape Race
was saying, as from her proximity the message from the Californian was much stronger than any message being
taken in by the Titanic from Cape Race, which was much farther off. Evans heard the Titanic continuing to
communicate with Cape Race [Newfoundland] up to the time he turned in at 1 1 :30 p.m.

The master of the Californian states that when observing the approaching steamer as she got nearer he
saw more lights, a few deck lights, and also her green side light. He considered that at 1 1 o'clock she was
approximately 6 or 7 miles away, and at some time between 1 1 and 1 1 :30 he first saw her green light; she was
then about 5 miles off. He noticed that about 1 1 :30 she stopped. In his opinion this steamer was of about the
same size as the Californian — a medium-sized steamer, "something like ourselves."

From the evidence of Mr. Groves, third officer of the Californian, who was the officer of the first watch,
it would appear that the master was not actually on the bridge when the steamer was sighted.

Mr. Groves made out two masthead lights; the steamer was changing her bearing slowly as she got
closer, and as she approached he went to the chart room and reported this to the master; he added, "She is
evidently a passenger steamer." In fact, Mr. Groves never appears to have had any doubt on this subject. In
answer to a question during his examination, "Had she much light?" he said, "Yes, a lot of light. There was
absolutely no doubt of her being a passenger steamer, at least in my mind."

Gill, the assistant donkeyman of the Californian, who was on deck at midnight, said, referring to this
steamer: "It could not have been anything but a passenger boat, she was too large."

By the evidence of Mr. Groves, the master, in reply to his report, said: "Call her up on the Morse lamp,
and see if you can get any answer." This he proceeded to do. The master came up and joined him on the
bridge and remarked: "That does not look like a passenger steamer." Mr. Groves replied: "It is, sir. When she
stopped her lights seemed to go out, and I suppose they have been put out for the night." Mr. Groves states
that these lights went out at 1 1 :40, and remembers that time because "one bell was struck to call the middle
watch." The master did not join him on the bridge until shortly afterwards, and consequently after the steamer
had stopped.

In his examination Mr. Groves admitted that if this steamer's head was turning to port after she stopped,
it might account for the diminution of lights, by many of them being shut out. Her steaming lights were still
visible and also her port side light.

The captain only remained upon the bridge for a few minutes. In his evidence he stated that Mr. Groves
had made no observations to him about the steamer's deck lights going out. Mr. Groves's Morse signaling
appears to have been ineffectual (although at one moment he thought he was being answered), and he gave it
up. He remained on the bridge until relieved by Mr. Stone, the second officer, just after midnight. In turning
the Californian over to him, he pointed out the steamer and said: "she has been stopped since 1 1:40; she is a
passenger steamer. At about the moment she stopped she put her lights out." When Mr. Groves was in the
witness box the following questions were put to him by me [the Chief Justice, Lord Mersey]:

Speaking as an experienced seaman and knowing what you do know now, do you think that steamer that
you know was throwing up rockets, and that you say was a passenger steamer, was the Titanic^ — Do I think
it? Yes. from what I have heard subsequently? Yes. Most decidedly I do, but I do not put myself as being an
experienced man. — But that is your opinion as far as your experience goes? — Yes, it is, my lord.

Mr. Stone states that the master, who was also up (but apparently not on the bridge), pointed out the
steamer to him with instructions to tell him if her bearings altered or if she got any closer; he also stated that
Mr. Groves had called her up on the Morse lamp and had received no reply.

Mr. Stone had with him during the middle watch an apprentice named Gibson, whose attention was
first drawn to the steamer's lights at about 12:20 a.m. He could see a masthead light, her red light (with
glasses), and a "glare of white lights on her afterdeck." He first thought her masthead light was flickering and
next thought it was a Morse light, "calling us up." He replied, but could not get into communication, and
finally came to the conclusion that it was, as he had first supposed, the masthead light flickering. Sometime
after 12:30 a.m.. Gill, the donkeyman, states that he saw two rockets fired from the ship which he had been
observing, and about 1:10a.m., Mr. Stone reported to the captain by voice pipe, that he had seen five white
rockets from the direction of the steamer. He states that the master answered, "Are they company's signals?"
and that he replied, "I do not know, but they appear to me to be white rockets." The master told him to "go
on Morsing," and, when he received any information, to send the apprentice down to him with it. Gibson
states that Mr. Stone informed him that he had reported to the master, and that the master had said the

62

steamer was to be called up by Morse light. This witness thinks the time was 12:55; he at once proceeded
again to call the steamer up by Morse. He got no reply, but the vessel fired three more white rockets; these
rockets were also seen by Mr. Stone.

Both Mr. Stone and the apprentice kept the steamer under observation, looking at her from time to
time with their glasses. Between 1 o'clock and 1:40 some conversation passed between them. Mr. Stone
remarked to Gibson: "Look at her now, she looks very queer out of water, her lights look queer." He also is
said by Gibson to have remarked, "A ship is not going to fire rockets at sea for nothing;" and admits himself
that he may possibly have used that expression.

Mr. Stone states that he saw the last of the rockets fired at about 1 :40, and after watching the steamer
for some 20 minutes more he sent Gibson down to the master.

/ told Gibson to go down to the master, and be sure and wake him, and tell him that altogether we had seen
eight of these white lights like white rockets in the direction of this other steamer; that this steamer was
disappearing in the southwest, that we had called her up repeatedly on the Morse lamp and received no
information whatsoever.

Gibson states that he went down to the chart room and told the master; that the master asked him if all
the rockets were white, and also asked him the time. Gibson stated that at this time the master was awake. It
was five minutes past two, and Gibson returned to the bridge to Mr. Stone and reported. They both continued
to keep the ship under observation until she disappeared. Mr. Stone describes this as "A gradual disappearing
of all her lights, which would be perfectly natural with a ship steaming away from us."

At about 2:40 a.m. Mr. Stone again called up the master by voice pipe and told him that the ship from
which he had seen the rockets come had disappeared bearing SW. ViW., the last he had seen of the light; and
the master again asked him if he was certain there was no color in the lights. "I again assured him they were all
white, just white rockets." There is considerable discrepancy between the evidence of Mr. Stone and that of
the master. The latter states that he went to the voice pipe at about 1:15, but was told then of a white rocket
(not five white rockets). Moreover, between 1:30 and 4:30, when he was called by the chief officer (Mr.
Stewart), he had no recollection of anything being reported to him at all, although he remembered Gibson
opening and closing the chart-room door.

Mr. Stewart relieved Mr. Stone at 4 a.m. The latter told him he had seen a ship 4 or 5 miles off when he
went on deck at 12 o'clock, and at 1 o'clock he had seen some white rockets, and that the moment the ship
started firing them she started to steam away. Just at this time (about 4 a.m.) a steamer came in sight with two
white masthead lights and a few lights amidships. He asked Mr. Stone whether he thought this was the
steamer which had fired rockets, and Mr. Stone said he did not think it was. At 4:30 he called the master and
informed him that Mr. Stone had told him he had seen rockets in the middle watch. The master said, "Yes, I
know; he has been telling me." The master came at once on to the bridge, and apparently took the fresh
steamer for the one which had fired rockets, and said, "She looks all right; she is not making any signals now."
This mistake was not corrected. He, however, had the wireless operator called.

At about 6 a.m. Capt. Lord heard from the Virginian that the "Titanic had struck a berg, passengers in
boats, ship sinking;" and he at once started through the field ice at full speed for the position given.

Capt. Lord stated that about 7:30 a.m. he passed the Mount Temple, stopped, and that she was in the
vicinity of the position given him as where the Titanic had collided (lat 41 ° 46' N.; long. 50° 14' W.). He saw
no wreckage there, but did later on near the Carpathia, which ship he closed soon afterwards, and he stated
that the position where he subsequently left this wreckage was 41 ° 33' N.; 50° 1 ' W. It is said in the evidence
of Mr. Stewart that the position of the Californian was verified by stellar observations at 7:30 p.m. on the
Sunday evening, and that he verified the captain's position given when the ship stopped (42° 5' N.; 50° 7' W.)
as accurate on the next day. The position in which the wreckage was said to have been seen on the Monday
morning was verified by sights taken on that morning.

All the officers are stated to have taken sights, and Mr. Stewart in his evidence remarks that they all
agreed, if it is admitted that these positions were correct, then it follows that the Titanic's position as given by
that ship when making the CQD signal was approximately S. 16° W. (true), 19 miles from the Californian; and
further that the position in which the Californian was stopped during the night, was 30 miles away from where
the wreckage was seen by her in the morning, or that the wreckage had drifted 1 1 miles in a little more than
five hours.

There are contradictions and inconsistencies in the story as told by the different witnesses. But the truth
of the matter is plain. The 7/fan/c collided with the berg at 1 1 :40. The vessel seen by the Californian stopped at
this time. The rockets sent up from the 7/(an/c were distress signals. The Californian saw distress signals. The
number sent up by the Titanic was about eight. The Californian saw eight. The time over which the rockets
from the Titanic were sent up was from about 12:45 to 1:45 o'clock. It was about this time that the Californian
saw the rockets. At 2:40 Mr. Stone called to the master that the ship from which he had seen the rockets had
disappeared. At 2:20 a.m. the Titanic had foundered. It was suggested that the rockets seen by the Californian
were from some other ship, not the 7/(an;c. But no other ship to fit this theory has ever been heard of.

These circumstances convince me that the ship seen by the Californian was the Titanic, and if so,
according to Capt. Lord, the two vessels were about 5 miles apart at the time of the disaster. The evidence
from the 7;(an;c corroborates this estimate, but I am advised that the distance was probably greater, though

63

not more than 8 to 10 miles. The ice by whic h the Ci//7om/jn was surroLinclccI was loose ice extending for a
distance of not more than 2 or 3 miles in the direction of the 7;fan/c. The night was clear and the sea was
smooth. When she first saw the rockets, the Ca/;7orn;an could have pushed through the ice to the open water
without any serious risk and so have come to the assistance of the TiLmic. Had she done so she might have
saved man\ if not all of the lives that were lost.

The Third Ship Mystery

The Californi.Mi, whose captain according to the Inquiry commited gross neglect by ignoring the distress
calls, did not arrive until after the Carpathi.} had picked up all the survivors. After sending the rebuffed warning
to the TiLmic, the Californian's wireless operator had switched off his set and turned in for the night — seconds
before the S.O.S. was sent out. On deck the Second Officer definitely did see flares but failed to deal with the
matter with any sense of urgency believing them to be a signal to another ship, or, it has been suggested, a
firework display not uncommon on transatlantic liners. According to him, the vessel turned away and
vanished. Captain Lord, asleep in his cabin, slept through two calls from the officer on watch. He was unused
to Atlantic emergencies and it was the first time he had been caught in ice, but whether he was 10 or 20 miles
away not enough effort was made to find out the true nature of the signals. The radio operator was not
wakened until much later in the morning.

Charles Lightoller, Second Officer on the Titanic, believed that the ship close to was the Californian and
at the Inquiries Captain Lord was made a scapegoat for the disaster. Since then several other boats have been
named as a third ship seen by both the Californian and the Titanic. A Canadian ship, the Mount Royal, was
suspected, but the Board of Trade refused to take further action unless Mount Royal crew members came
forward. None did. Others have suggested it to be an American fishing vessel. In 1962, the Secretary of the
Mercantile Marine Service Association, who took up the campaign to clear Captain Lord's name, named a
Norwegian ship, the Samson, which he claimed had deliberately steamed away. Its chief officer, Henrik Naess,
said that he had seen the rocket signals at a distance of about 10 miles. They steamed away, he claimed,
because the ship was on an illegal seal-hunting operation.

From Great Newspapers Reprinted special issue on Titanic, 1972, published by Peter Way, Ltd., London.

Lord of the Californian

by John C. Carrothers

EDITOR'S NOTE: The April, 1962, issue of the U.S.
Naval Institute's Proceedings marked the 50th
anniversary of the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic with
the publication of an article titled The Titanic
Disaster by )ohn C. Carrothers. In 1967, Carrothers,
convinced that he had done a grave injustice to
Captain Stanley Lord, wrote the following article,
which also appeared in Proceedings. It is reprinted
here by permission of the U.S. Naval Institute.

I he first of the two official inquiries into the Titanic
disaster was a U.S. Congressional investigation
conducted under the chairmanship of Senator
William A. Smith of Michigan, commencing on 1 9
April 1912. The second, was the official British Court
of Inquiry conducted under the jurisdiction of Lord

Mersey, in London, England. The Congressional
investigation began just four days after the disaster;
the British inquiry started on 3 May 1912.

The findings of both these investigations can
be summarized by quoting from the British Court of
Inquiry:

7/iere are contradictions and inconsistencies in
the story as told by the different witnesses. But
the truth of the matter is plain. The Titanic
collided with the berg at 1 1:40. The vessel seen
by the Californian stopped at this time. The
rockets sent up from the Titanic were distress
signals. The Californian saw distress signals. The
number sent up by the Titanic was about eight.
The Californian saw eight. The time over which
the rockets from the Titanic were sent up was
from about 12:45 to 1:45 o'clock. It was about

64

this time that the Californian saw the rockets. At
2:40 the Second Officer called to the Master that
the ship from which he had seen the rockets had
disappeared. At 2:20 a.m. the Titanic had
foundered. It was suggested that the rockets seen
by the Californian were from some other ship not
the Titanic. But no other ship to fit this theon/ has
ever been heard of.

These circumstances convince me (the President
of the Court) that the ship seen by the Californian
was the Titanic and if so, according to Captain
Lord, the two vessels were about five miles apart
at the time of the disaster. The evidence from the
Titanic corroborates this estimate, but I am
advised that the distance was probably greater,
though not more than eight to ten miles. The ice
by which the Californian was surrounded was
loose ice extending for a distance of not more
than two or three miles in the direction of the
Titanic. The night was clear and the sea was
smooth. When she first saw the rockets the
Californian could have pushed through the ice to
the open water without serious risk and so have
come to the assistance of the Titanic. Had she
done so, she might have saved many if not all of
the lives that were lost.

The foregoing statements had long been
accepted by me as being a valid judgment of what
happened at the time of the Titanic disaster.

Among the many letters received at the Naval
Institute commenting on my previous article
(Proceedings, April 1962) was one from Leslie
Harrison, General Secretary of the Mercantile Marine
Service Association, in Liverpool, England. Harrison
was extremely critical and he stated emphatically
that from the evidence presented at both
investigations, the light (or lights) seen from the
Titanic during the sinking could not possibly have
been those of the Californian. Furthermore, Harrison
continued:

Captain Lord, of the Californian, was condemned
by a Court of Inquiry at which he appeared only
relatively briefly as a witness; was never formally
charged with the offense, (of) which he was later
found guilty; was not effectively represented, and
subsequently was refused any right of appeal. The
circumstances are such that the Council of the
Mercantile Marine Sen/ice Association (all of
whom are serving or retired British shipmasters)
and their advisors are convinced that the findings
of the British Court of Inquiry insofar as they
relate to Captain Lord and the Californian cannot
be sustained, and constitute the grossest
miscarriage of justice in the history of British
Inquiries.

To say the least, Harrison's letter came as a
complete surprise, especially 50 years after the
disaster. In my reply, I reiterated certain facts and
circumstances which still convinced me beyond
doubt that Lord Mersey's and Senator Smith's

conclusions and evaluations of the evidence relative
to Captain Lord were correct; that every statement
of fact quoted in extract from the findings of the
British Court of Inquiry I had read myself in the
transcripts of the witnesses' testimonies.

In recent years, there has been a growing
agitation for a complete review of the part played by
Captain Stanley Lord and the Californian in the
Titanic disaster. On 5 February 1965, the Mercantile
Marine Service Association presented a strong
petition, on behalf of the late Captain Lord,
addressed to the President of the British Board of
Trade. The petition's introductory paragraph read:

The Council of the Mercantile Marine Service
Association present this their petition to the
President of the Board of Trade and ask him to
exercise his powers under Section 475 of the
Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and order the
rehearing of that part of the 1912 inquiry into the
loss of the White Star liner Titanic which found
that the British ship Californian, of the Leyland
Line, could have come to the liner's assistance
and saved many, if not all, of the 1,500 lives
which were lost.

The petition then went on to present, in
Captain Lord's defense, a powerful case which
would be difficult, if not impossible, to deny.
Nevertheless, in September 1965, the Board of
Trade rejected this petition. The Board informed the
Mercantile Marine Association that:

Your petition does not suggest that there is any
new and important evidence which could not
have been produced at the formal investigation
into the loss of the Titanic; and the president has
asked me to tell you that, having carefully
considered your petition, he is satisfied that there
is no reason to believe that a miscarriage of
justice has occurred.

The Board of Trade's letter concluded with
". . .the President does not consider that the Board
should exercise their discretionary power to order a
rehearing."

Other Investigations

Concurrent with the presentation of this petition to
the Board of Trade, a book entitled. The Titanic and
the Californian was published. The book, written by
Peter Padfield, contains a complete and unbiased
analysis of the sworn testimony given by the various
witnesses from the Titanic and Californian at the U.S.
and British inquiries. The book, written, ". . .in the
cold light of 50 years afterwards," is a revelation and
should leave no doubt in any reader's mind that
Captain Lord has been unjustly charged with being
responsible for the loss of more than 1,500 persons
in the sinking of the Titanic.

This article deals with only a few of the most
relevant points brought out in Padfield's book. These
substantiate the contention that the Californian was

65

never in a position to render assistance to the
Titjnic's passengers before the ship sank.

Every statement cjuoted herein is taken from
the extracts of the findings of \he offic iai British
Inquiry and can be found in the testimony of the
witnesses. After a careful study of the full testimony,
however, it appears obvious that Lord Mersey lifted
these statements out of context. Consequently, he
presented an erroneous vc>rsion of the facts. In
context, these extract statements present a picture
which is foreign to the one shown by Lord Mersey. It
should lie noted also that this testimony was given
before there was any inkling of what charges, if any,
might arise at a later date against any of the
witnesses.

As far as the TiUmic was concerned, it has
been established that on Sunday night, 14 April
1912, the ship was traveling west-bound at about 23
knots. At 1 1 :40 p.m. the ship collided with an
iceberg. Two hours and 40 minutes later the ship
sank and with her about 1,500 persons went to their
deaths. The 712 survivors were picked up by the
CirpMhia which arrived at the scene a couple of
hours after the Titanic had sunk. About an hour after
the collision the lights of a ship appeared from over
the horizon. It was then that the Titanic started
sending up distress rockets in an effort to gain the
ship's, or any ship's, attention. In addition, the
Titanic's powerful blinker light (known in those days
as a Morse Lamp) was put into action. Every effort to
gain attention failed. The ship eventually approached
close enough to the Titanic for her port and
starboard sidelights to be seen with the naked eye.
The stranger then gradually closed out her sidelights,
showing only her stern lights as she slowly sailed
away and disappeared into the night.

The Californian, under the command of 35-
year-old Captain Lord, was also west-bound on that
April night. Cruising at 1 1 .6 knots she began to
encounter ice late in the evening. At 10:21 p.m., the
ice conditions became so severe that Captain Lord
decided to stop and heave to for the night.

At about 1 1 :00 p.m.. Captain Lord pointed
out to Charles V. Groves, his Third Officer, what
appeared to be a ship's light at a considerable
distance on the Californian's starboard quarter. The
night was so clear, however, that they both agreed
that perhaps the light might just be a star very low on
the horizon. The Captain then left the upper bridge.
At about 1 1 :30 p.m., the Third Officer reported to
Captain Lord that the light was actually a ship and
that she was approaching the Californian. Captain
Lord instructed the Third Officer to call by Morse
code with the blinker light. This Groves did for
several minutes. The strange ship, however, did not
respond to these repeated calls. Shortly after 1 1 :40
p.m.. Captain Lord returned to the upper bridge
where he rejoined his Third Officer. Together they
sized up the situation and concluded that, like
themselves, the ship had now stopped on account of
the ice conditions. After instructing Groves to
continue calling the other ship with the blinker light.
Captain Lord returned to the chartroom one deck
below the upper bridge. Here he stretched out, fully
dressed, on the settee.

Shortly after midnight, Herbert Stone, the

Californian's Second Officer, started for the bridge to
relieve the watc h. On his way he encountered
Captain Lord who advised him of the ic e conditions
and of the other ship. Stone then continued on to
the up|)('r bridge where he relieved the watch after
disc ussing the c onditions with Groves. Stone
immediately began c ailing the other ship by (blinker
light. But like Groves, he received no
ac knowledgmefit of his signals. Shortly thereafter the
A[)prentice Officer, James Gibson, a[)peared on the
bridge with coffee for Stone. Stone disc ussed the
other ship with the Apprentice, who then tried his
hand at calling the ship by blinker light but without
success.*

At about 12:45 a.m.. Stone observed a flash in
the sky in the direction of the other ship. Shortly
thereafter he observed another flash which he made
out to be a rocket. Between then and about 1:15
a.m., three more rockets were observed in the same
general direction. Neither Stone nor the Apprentice
noticed any flash from the other shift's decks nor did
they hear any sound of detonations which usually
accompany distress rockets. The rockets, they said,
did not appear to rise above the horizon any higher
than the other ship's masts. This caused the men on
the Californian's bridge to believe that the rockets
were rising from some point beyond the other ship.

At this point. Stone called Captain Lord by
voice tube and informed him of what he had seen.
In reply to a question by Captain Lord, Stone said
the rockets had all been white in color. The Captain
then instructed the Second Officer to continue
calling the other ship by blinker light and to let him
know when he received an answer. The other ship
never did reply. During this interval three more
rockets were observed. Also, the c:)ther ship was now
slowly closing out her red sidelight, and showing
only her stern light, as she slowly got under way in
the opposite direction. By 2:00 a.m., Stone noted
that the ship was now steaming away fast in a
southwesterly direction. This was the same direction
from which the ship had initially appeared. At the
British inquiry. Stone commented that he was
somewhat puzzled by the fact that the rockets
appeared to change their bearings as the ship moved
away.

At 2:05 a.m.. Stone sent the Apprentice to call
the Captain and inform him of the additional rockets
and the actions of the other ship. In reply to a
question concerning any color in the rc:)ckets, Gibson
replied that they all had been white. Captain Lord
then asked for the time, to which Gibson replied,
"2:05." With no further word from the Captain,
Gibson returned to the bridge.**

* Many of the smaller ships were not equipped with
electricity and still used oil lamps. Without electrical power,
a ship would not have the means to communicate with a
blinker light. Also, very few ships had wireless sets as a
means of communications.

** Different companies usc>d different colored flares to
identify themselves to other passing steamers. Apparently
this is what C!apt<iin lord was trying to cJetermine.

66

At 2:45 a.m., the Second Officer again
contacted Captain Lord by voice tube. He informed
the Captain that there had been no more rockets
and that the other ship had now completely
disappeared in a southwesterly direction.

At the inquiries, Captain Lord disclaimed any
knowledge of conversation with anyone between
1:15 a.m., when Stone spoke to him through the
voice tube, and some time after 4:00 a.m., when the
Chief Officer, George F. Stewart, awakened him. He
said, however, that he did have some recollection of
someone being in the chart room with him during
this period. Evidently, Captain Lord was in deep
slumber and had not been sufficiently aroused to
understand clearly what was being said. Vital as
Captain Lord's actions may appear at this juncture,
they have no bearing upon what is being proved in
this article. The point is that the Californian could not
possibly have reached the Titanic's side to offer
assistance before the ship sank.

Returning to the light that Captain Lord
pointed out to Groves at 1 1 :00 p.m., five men on the
Californian testified that they saw the ship's lights.
They all agreed that the Californian had been
stopped for a considerable length of time when they
had first observed the ship. There is, however, a vast
discrepancy in their opinions as to what they actually
saw. Three men — Captain Lord, Second Officer
Stone, and Apprentice Gibson — said that the ship
was moderate in size or comparable to the
Californian and that she was showing about half a
dozen lights from her masts and decks. At the same
time. Groves and Ernest Gill, the Californian's
donkeyman, claimed that the ship was a large
passenger liner illuminated with many lights about
her decks.*

Let us now consider the testimony of Groves,
the Californian's Third Officer, and Donkeyman Gill.
These are the men who claimed that the ship seen
by them was the Titanic.

It will be recalled that at 1 1 :30 a.m.. Groves
reported to Captain Lord that a ship was coming up
on the Californian's starboard quarter. Following is
Groves' testimony concerning his conversation with
Captain Lord by voice tube, that, "Captain Lord said
to me, 'Can you make anything out of her lights?' I
said, 'Yes, she is evidently a passenger steamer
coming up on us'."

Groves continued that Captain Lord
instructed him to call the ship by blinker light. This
he did but received no answer to his repeated calls.
At 1 1 :40 p.m., Groves noted that the ship had
stopped and, at the samt lime. Captain Lord joined
him on the upper bridge. Again I quote from Groves'
testimony.

Groves said, "When he came on the bridge
he said to me, 'That does not look like a passenger
steamer.' I said, 'It is, sir. When she stopped her
lights seemed to go out, and I suppose they have put
them out for the night.'"**

* In my original article, I was under the mistaken impression
that all but Captain Lord had identified this ship as a large
passenger liner.

Groves resumed his testimony by saying that,
in his opinion, the other ship's lights would appear
to go out if she altered her course and presented
more or less of a head-on exposure to the
C<i//7f)rn;an.

Groves concluded his testimony by saying
that he remained on the upper bridge for another
half-hour, when he was relieved of the watch by
Stont> shortly after midnight. During this period, he
said, the other ship continued to remain in her
darkened condition with only a few lights showing
around her open decks. Thus we have the picture of
the situation as given by Groves himself.

Yet, in the face of his own testimony and the
known facts of the case. Groves answered a
question put to him by Lord Mersey as follows:
"Speaking as an experienced seaman and knowing
what you do now, do you think that the steamer that
you know as throwing up rockets, and you say was a
passenger steamer, was the Titanid"

Groves replied: "Most decidedly I do, but I do
not put myself as being an experienced man."

For several reasons it is difficult, if not
impossible, to go along with Groves' testimony and
contentions. In the first place, the Tilanic was ablaze
with hundreds upon hundreds of lights both inside
and outside. These lights did not fail until a few
minutes before the ship sank, which was after 2:00
a.m., and more than two hours after Groves had left
the Californian's bridge to retire for the night. And,
even if viewed head on, these lights would have cast
off a glare of sufficient magnitude, from both sides of
the ship, to make her identity as a tremendous
passenger liner unmistakable. Yet, according to
Groves, this ship which he identified only as a
"passenger steamer" remained in her darkened
condition after 1 1 :40 p.m. He said he was able to
pinpoint the time at 1 1 :40 p.m. when the ship
stopped and put the majority of her lights out,
because this happened just as the quartermaster
struck one bell for the lookout to rouse out the men
to relieve the watch at midnight. Stone, the Second
Officer, and Gibson the Apprentice, testified that the
ship remained in this darkened condition and close
enough for her sidelight to be seen with the naked
eye until she finally sailed away sometime after 2:00
a.m., which was more than two hours after Groves
had left the bridge. Under these circumstances how
can anyone accept Groves' contention that this ship
was the Titanic^

Gill's Story

The following narrative has been produced from the
pertinent facts in the sworn statement of

" At this juncture. Lord Mersey exposed a marked
ignorance in naval and maritime operations. He argued at
considerable length with various counsels that the lights,
except tor emergency lighting, must go out when a ship's
main engines are stopped. The discussion became quite
heated even between Lord Mersey and his nautical advisors
sitting at his side. He was adamant and said, "At some time
the light which was produced by the main engines did go
out!" There the matter apparently stood and the
questioning of the witness continued.

67

Donkeyman Gill of the Calihrnian. The affidavit was
read to him at the U.S. Congressional Investigation,
and Gill agreed that this was his statement.

Gill stated that he was working on a piece of
machinery in the engine room when he checked the
clock and noted that the time was 1 1:56 p.m. He
immediately left the engine room to rouse out the
man who was to relieve him at midnight. The
Calitornian, he said, had then been stopped for
about an hour and a half. During the moment that
he was on the open deck en route to the quarters,
he looked over the Callfornian's starboard rail and
saw the lights of a very large steamer at a distance of
about 10 miles.

At the British Inquiry, Gill elaborated on this
remark by saying, "I could see two rows of lights and
several groups of lights which I took to be saloon or
deck lights."

Continuing with Gill's affidavit, the steamer,
he said, was traveling at full speed. After waking his
relief. Gill went to bed but could not sleep. At about
12:30 a.m., he decided to smoke a cigarette.
Because of the ship's cargo, he continued, the crew
was not permitted to smoke below deck. Therefore,
he went out on the open deck to smoke. When he
had been on deck for about 10 minutes, he claimed
he saw a white rocket at a considerable distance
away on the starboard side. Although the very large
steamer was no longer in sight, the rocket did come
from the same general direction relative to the
Calitornian's heading, in which he had seen the ship
some 40 minutes earlier. Seven or eight minutes
later, he said that he distinctly saw a second rocket
in the same area. He then disposed of his cigarette
and went back to bed.

In his affidavit. Gill was extremely critical of
Captain Lord before he concluded his statement
concerning the night's events with, "I am quite sure
that the Calihrnian was less than 20 miles from the
Titanic, which the officers report to have been our
position. I could not have seen her if she had been
more than 10 miles distant, and I saw her very
plainly."

All one has to do is to compare Gill's story
with the irrefutable facts of the case to realize that
his story will not stand up under examination.

It has been established that, at the time of the
collision, the Titanic's clocks were operating 12
minutes ahead of the Californian's clocks. Therefore,
when Gill said he saw "... a very large steamer going
at full speed after 1 1 :56 p.m.," it was actually 1 2:08
a.m. on the Titanic. The Titanic had collided with the
iceberg at 1 1 :40 p.m. and did not move again.

Another weak point in Gill's story is that
nobody could have determined with a glance over
the rail, whether or not a ship about 10 miles away
was actually stopped or moving — let alone running
at full speed. And, even at less than half the distance
he claimed the ship was away from him, the
hundreds of lights glaring from the Titanic's decks
and portholes would have fused into one
tremendous glow and he would never have been
able to distinguish, ". . . two rows of lights and
several groups of lights which I took to be saloon
and deck lights."

Does it not seem strange that Groves, the
Californian's Third Officer in charge of her bridge,
never saw this "very large steamer" lit up with two
rows of porthole lights and going at full speed?
Remember, Groves had firmly established that his
"passenger steamer" had stopped and put out all but
a few of her lights at 1 1:40 p.m. which was 16
minutes before 1 1 :56 p.m. the time which Gill has
firmly established as the time that he left the engine
room.

There are those who believe that Gill had an
ulterior motive in giving these statements. It was
brought out at the Congressional investigation that
Gill had given his story to a Boston newspaper and
had told Cyril F. Evans, the Californian's wireless
operator that, "I think I will make about $500 on
this." In those days, $500 would represent about a
year's wages for a person serving in Gill's capacity as
a donkeyman.

Some Discrepancies

Before entering into the navigational aspects of this
disaster, there are a couple of points relative to the
physical actions of the tragedy, which simply cannot
be reconciled.

One point is, how could two ships, stopped
close enough to each other so as to be able to
identify each other's sidelights and with experienced
officers on their bridges, flash their powerful blinker
lights, which could be read at a distance of 10 miles,
with the Titanic using her light for the better part of
an hour and the Californian using hers for even a
longer period of time, without these blinker light
signals being seen from or by either ship?

Another point, which I believe cannot be
reconciled, is that at 1 1:40 p.m., when the Titanic
collided with the iceberg, there was no other ship in
sight. About an hour after the collision, the masthead
light of a ship was sighted from the Titanic's bridge.
The ship approached close enough to the Titanic for
her sidelight to be seen with the naked eye. The ship
then gradually reversed her course and sailed away
in the opposite direction. The following testimony
given by Frederick Fleet, one of the Titanic's
lookouts stationed in the crow's nest, serves to
substantiate this contention.

Court: Before you left the Titanic, did you
observe the lights of any ship in your
neighborhood?

Fleet: Well, there was a light on the port bow.

Court: Did you see this light on the port bow
before you left the crow's nest?

Fleet: No, it must have been about one o'clock.

Fleet was on lookout duty in the crow's nest with
another lookout named Lee. It was Fleet who first
sighted and passed the word of the iceberg ahead at
1 1:40 p.m. He remained in the crow's nest until he
was relieved by another lookout at midnight. He
finally left the Titanic at about one o'clock in a
lifeboat.

How can these facts be reconciled to the fact
that the Californian had stopped in the ice field at
least an hour before the Titanic collided with the

68

Movements of
Californian and Titanic.
The triangles at upper
right show positions of
point A reported by the
Californian (solid) and
Parisian. (Chart
reproduced courtesy of
U.S. Naval Institute
Proceed ingsj

50'.

40'

idr

\C{
n-l--
I

'— ♦— f:

Ice Field I

20

10'

49'W

Callfomlan't Course

A Icebergs reported by the Call-
'* lornian and Parisian

D Calhomlan'a dead reckonirtg
position

r^ TItanlc'a CQD position

r) The Californian's position if lo-
"^ cated northwest of position C

EThe location where the Trtan-
te'i

A ^

10 miles

42''N

■ -50'

■■40

■30'

50° W

50'

40'

30'

20'

49" W

iceberg, and she did not move again until a
considerable length of time after the Titanic had
sunk? The Californian's actions in this respect have
been corroborated by every witness appearing from
the ship at the inquiries and by the ship's bridge and
engine room log books.

One final point: If the lights seen by the
Titanic had been the Californian's, then these lights
simply had to be in viev^ of the Titanic at the time of
the collision. Therefore, under these circumstances,
it is more than reasonable to believe that Captain
Edward J. Smith of the Titanic would have moved his
ship over close to the Californian when he found that
his ship was doomed and while he still had ample
power remaining in his engines to make the move.
As it was, when the first lifeboats were launched
more than an hour after the collision, they were
instructed to row over to the strange ship about five
miles away, deliver the passengers, and return to the
Titanic for more survivors.

Navigation and Rescue

In considering Captain Lord's contention that his
ship was never close enough to the Titanic to render
assistance to her passengers before the ship sank, we
must also consider the navigational phases of the
tragedy. These are set forth on the plot depicting the
area in which the Titanic was lost.

Point "B" is the position at which the
Californian had stopped for the night at 10:21 p.m.
because of the ice conditions. This position was
fixed by Captain Lord and his navigators as being 42
degrees, 05 minutes north Latitude and 50 degrees,
07 minutes west Longitude. This was done by
projection from the ship's noon position fix at her
normal rate of speed calculated from the patent log
and engine revolutions. The ship's track of 270
degrees true was verified at 7:30 p.m. by a Pole Star
sight worked out under ideal conditions. This 7:30
star sight proved that the ship was still making due

west in a latitude of 42 degrees, 05 minutes North,
which was the same latitude as in the ship's noon
position fix. The Californian's latitude was further
established by the fact that earlier in the evening.
Captain Lord had sent a general message to all ships
warning them of three large icebergs as illustrated at
point A on the plot. It is ironical that the Titanic was
one of several ships that picked up this warning
message. It is highly significant that the Parisian had
broadcast an earlier warning message about these
same icebergs. And the positions given by the
Californian and Parisian were within a few miles of
each other, with both ships being north of the
icebergs.

The Titanic's second, or corrected, distress
position was 41 degrees, 46 minutes north latitude
and 50 degrees 14 minutes west longitude. This
position is shown at point "C" on the plot. The
straightline distance between points C and B is 19.75
miles.

Point D is the position that the Californian
would have been in according to Lord Mersey's
contention that the ship was no more than eight to
ten miles away from the Titanic while she was
sinking.

The following narrative has been produced
from Captain Lord's testimony:

At about 5:20 a.m., the Californian heard from
the Mount Temple that the Titanic had sunk. The
Mount Temple also gave the Californian the Titanic's
distress position. It was now daylight and Captain
Lord pushed the Californian, in a southerly direction,
through the icefield. At about 6:30 a.m., the
Californian was through the icefield and in clear
water. Captain Lord then set his course and ran the
Californian at top speed to the distress position that
had been given to him. When he arrived at this
position, he found only the Mount Temple, which
was stopped. By now. Captain Lord had heard that
the Carpathia was at the scene of the disaster and

69

A passenger in the Carpathia photographed the Calitornian arriving on the scene with a coal basket visible in which a
lookout searched tor the Titanic 's lifeboats. And, as further mute evidence of Lord's taut ship, his code flag "I" signalled, "I
wish to communicate by semaphore." (Photo courtesy U.S. Naval Institute/Louis M. Ogden)

was taking the survivors on board. Continuing at full
speed in a southerly direction, Captain Lord finally
found the Carpathia on the other, or eastern, side of
the icefield. Eventually he found an opening in the
icefield when he was just about abeam of the
Carpathia. Recrossing the icefield to the Carpathia's
side, he found that all of the survivors were now
safely on board the Carpathia. The Carpathia then set
her course toward New York with the Titanic's
survivors. The Californian remained in the area for
several hours, searching for any additional survivors.

There is substantial evidence to indicate that
the Titanic's distress position was not entirely
accurate. It will be noted, on the plot, that the
Titanic's distress position placed her on the western
side of the icefield. This fact has been confirmed by
five ships, the Californian, Mount Temple, Alrverian,
Birma, and Frankfurt. When these ships arrived at the
distress position, they found nothing of the Titanic
nor any wreckage. Shortly thereafter, the Carpathia
was observed on the eastern side of the icefield. The
ships worked their way through and around the
icefield to the Carpathia where they found the
rescue operations had been completed.

Captain Arthur H. Rostron, of the Carpathia,
said that he felt that the Titanic's distress position
was correct. The only reason to question Captain
Rostron's opinion in this respect is that for the last
hour or so he had been guided to the scene by the

flares being shown from the Titanic's lifeboats.
Consequently, he would have had no reason to
check the accuracy of the Titanic's broadcast distress
position during the final hour.

Captain Rostron also gave the following
testimony at the British Inquiry: "He (a junior officer)
counted 25 large ones (Icebergs), 150 to 200 feet
high, and stopped counting the smaller ones: there
were dozens and dozens all over the place; and
about two or three miles from the position of the
Titanic's wreckage we saw a huge icefield extending
as far as we could see, northwest to southeast."

The Carpathia, which approached the distress
area from the southeast, would have been required
to pass straight through this icefield that Captain
Rostron has described so graphically in order to
reach the Titanic's given distress position.

The westbound Titanic would also have been
required to negotiate this same icefield before the
collision in order to reach her given distress position.
This is highly improbable, because, from the
testimony of the lookouts in the Titanic's crow's nest,
nothing had been seen until they actually sighted the
iceberg with which the Titanic collided.

It will Ix* remembered that the westbound
Californian stopped for the night on the eastern side
of the icefield. After she received the Titanic's
distress position, she crossed to the western side of
the field to approach the position; she found nothing

70

On the voyage immediately
preceding that in which his
ship was involved with the
Titanic, a relaxed Captain Lord
(lower left) and his Chief
Officer, Mr. Stewart, posed
with two young passengers
while, behind them, stood
Second Officer Stone, left, and
Third Officer Groves. (Photo
courtesy U.S. Naval Institute
from Captain Lord's Private
Collection)

and was then required to recross the icefield, from
west to east, in order to reach the Carpathia then in
the process of picking up survivors. This west-to-east
crossing of the icefield by the Californian was verified
by Captain Rostron of the Carpathia.

The Californian continued searching the area
until about 1 1:20 a.m. when she resumed her
voyage toward Boston. In order to lay out the ship's
new course, it was necessary for her navigators to
obtain an accurate position fix. This was done at 12
o'clock noon. From this fix worked out by all of the
bridge officers. Captain Lord placed the Titanic's
wreckage at 41 degrees, 33 minutes north Latitude
and 50 degrees, 01 minutes west Longitude. This
was actually a distance of 33 miles south of the
position that the Californian was in at 10:21 p.m. the
previous night when she stopped because of the ice
conditions.

In their summation of the facts, Senator Smith
and Lord Mersey apparently chose to ignore the fact
that there were any ships in the area other than the
Titanic, the Californian and, slightly further away, the
Carpathia, whereas in reality, there were several
more, two or three of which were seen by the
Californian, Mount Temple, and Carpathia. To this
day these ships have never been identified.

Whether these ships were attracted to the
area by the distress calls or rockets or, like the
Californian, they had stopped for the night because
of the ice will never be known. The Mount Tervple

sighted a schooner very close to the SOS position. It
is also known that at least one poacher, which had
been illegally hunting seals, was in the vicinity.
Naturally, a poacher would not want to be detected.

In view of all the evidence, it does seem
strange that Senator Smith and Lord Mersey chose to
ignore these highly significant and relevant facts in
the summation of their inquiries. The testimonies of
highly qualified and respected men were
disregarded in favor of two witnesses. Groves, the
Californian's Third Officer, and Gill, the donkeyman,
whose accounts of the facts and circumstances so
obviously lacked validity. On the basis of this
testimony, nevertheless, both Courts concluded that
the Californian was at a distance of between five and
eight miles from the Titanic while she sank. They also
concluded that, because of Captain Lord's inaction
during this vital period, 1,500 lives were
unnecessarily lost in the disaster.

There has been considerable controversy
over whether the rockets seen by the Californian
were actually those sent up by the Titanic. Many
contend that it would have been impossible for the
Californian to have seen these rockets because of the
vast distance between the two ships, which to their
satisfaction had been proved. And, although the
Titanic fired about eight rockets and the Calilomian
saw eight rockets, the timing and sequence of the
Titanic's firing as compared to the Califomian's
sighting is so far apart that it is impossible for them to

71

believe that the Califomian actually saw the Titanic's
rockets.

Those who believe the Californian did see the
Titanic's rockets counter with, "It it was not the
Titanic's rockets that the Californian saw, then whose
rockets were they or what were the rockets all
about? After all, the sighting of rockets is rare and
unusual."

In an attempt to clear up this difference in
opinions, let us assume that the rockets seen from
the Californian by her Second Officer, Gibson the
Apprentice, and Donkeyman Gill, were actually the
Titanic's rockets. At the time it was obvious that at
least the Second Officer and Apprentice did not
recognize them as distress signals. The testimony of
the three men, in describing what they saw that
night, is quite similar. Their claims were that the
rockets rose no higher than half a ship's mast height
above the horizon. It was eight miles to the horizon
from the Californian's bridge (elevation 49 feet). The
known capability of the rockets was that they: ". . .
burst from two to three hundred feet up with an
explosion . . ." Calculations show that a rocket fired
from the Titanic's deck (elevation at least 70 feet)
and rising to a possible height of 300 feet above the
deck could have been seen at the horizon on a clear
night, at a distance of better than 22 miles. Thus, it
becomes clear that, under the ideal weather
conditions which prevailed on that night, the
Californian could have observed the Titanic's rockets
at a distance of more than 30 miles. Of much greater
importance is that the sighting of the rockets as
described by these men proves that they were fired
from a distance closer to 30 miles away rather than
the eight-to-ten-mile distance claimed by Lord
Mersey at the British Inquiry.

In further consideration of the rockets seen by
Stone, the Californian's Second Officer, he testified
that after observing a couple of rockets he notified
the Captain about them at "about 1:15 a.m." This
would have been about 1:27 a.m. on the Titanic, or
about 53 minutes before she sank. Assuming that the
Californian had disregarded the dangerous ice
conditions and had gotten under way at her
maximum speed of 13 miles per hour, or one mile
every 4.6 minutes, at the instant that the Captain was
notified or at the instant that the Second Officer
sighted his first rocket at about 12:45 a.m., simple
mathematics prove that it would have been
impossible for the Californian to have reached the
Titanic's side before the ship sank.

The Californian's Second Officer has been
criticized by some because it is felt that if he
believed the circumstances warranted calling the
Captain, he should have been more forceful in his
approach, perhaps going to the chartroom and
rousing him out himself. It is also felt that natural
curiosity should have caused him to awaken the
Marconi operator. Be all this as it may, it did not alter
the outcome of the tragedy in any way and the hard
fact still remains that the Californian could not
possibly have reached the Titanic's side before the
ship foundered.

In his book entitled, The Titanic and the
Californian, Peter Padfield said, in his concluding

remarks concerning the U.S. Congressional
Investigation:

The evidence from this inquiry examined
in the cold light of 50 years afterwards brings out
only the undoubted fact about "the Californian
incident": Captain Lord was "framed."

He was "framed" either consciously or
subconsciously for one of three reasons. Either all
the leading actors in the construction of the
Report were natural idiots, or the edict had gone
out that a scapegoat had to be found and they
were doing the best they could to make it
plausible, or the very magnitude and shock of the
tragedy so unhinged them that they were
incapable of examining the evidence with clear
minds.

Clear and unbiased consideration of the
sworn testimony and the circumstantial evidence
cannot but help to bring agreement with Padfield
when he claimed that Captain Lord had been
"framed," the reason being that most probably it was
felt that a scapegoat was necessary.

Thus, the seed which propagated the Captain
Lord-Ca///orn/an legend was originally planted at the
U.S. Congressional Investigation, which convened
less than a week after the tragedy. A few weeks later,
the British Inquiry, conducted by Lord Mersey, got
underway in London. Obviously, the British Inquiry
had the findings and conclusions of the American
investigation at its disposal and apparently it lost no
time in capitalizing on them.

A Scapegoat?

There are several factors that back up this scapegoat
theory. Shortly after the tragedy, tremendous
adverse public opinion was leveled at the British
Board of Trade, Bruce Ismay, the managing director
of the White Star Line, owners of the Titanic, and Sir
Cosmo Duff Gordon, both of whom were
passengers on the Titanic. These men were saved,
and many unsavory stories concerning their behavior
during the sinking spread like wildfire. The lifeboat in
which Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon left the Titanic with
his wife and a few other lady passengers was
dubbed, "The Millionaire's Special."

Bruce Ismay felt the heat of public opinion
after stories had circulated that he had ordered
Captain Smith of the Titanic to continue at full speed
in spite of the repeated ice warnings. According to
the rumors, Ismay issued the order in the hope that
the Titanic would set a new speed record on this, her
maiden voyage. It was also rumored that he left the
ship with all of his baggage. None of these stories
about Bruce Ismay, however, have ever been
substantiated. In fact, from the evidence given by
some of the responsible survivors, it appears that
Ismay did all that he could to help before leaving the
sinking ship in one of the last lifeboats.

The British Board of Trade, under whose
auspices the British Inquiry was conducted, also felt
the heat of public opinion. It was this body that had
permitted the Titanic to sail with a lifeboat capacity

72

that could only accommodate approximately one-
third of the ship's potential carrying capacity.

Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to
believe that because of all this adverse public
opinion it was felt necessary to find a scapegoat to
drav^ the focal point of this bad publicity away from
the members of the Board. Captain Lord fit the bill.

The wheels of injustice, at both of these
investigations, turned most unfairly against Captain
Lord. He appeared only briefly at them, just long
enough to give his testimony and leave. While at the
inquiries, he never once heard any mention of the
charges that were to be brought against him by
Senator Smith and Lord Mersey.

To be found guilty of such heinous conduct
without being formally charged with the offense and
without recourse to defend himself against the
charges is contrary to the concept of justice both in
the United States and Great Britain. This miscarriage
of justice caused C. R. Dunlop, an attorney at the
British Inquiry to say, "It is manifest that Captain Lord
has been treated in a way which is absolutely
contrary to the principles on which justice is usually
administered." Yet, with irresponsible testimony.
Senator Smith and Lord Mersey held Captain Lord
responsible for the loss of 1,500 lives. This disgrace
of their actions is compounded by the fact that
Captain Lord was refused, time and time again, any
opportunity to defend himself against these
accusations.

As a result of these charges. Captain Lord was
forced to give up his command of the Californian. A
director in his organization threatened to resign if
Captain Lord was retained as an employee of the
company. Many of his contemporaries and
immediate superiors in his own company, however,
knew he had been used as a scapegoat, and they
went to bat for him elsewhere. Consequently, within
a few months. Captain Lord again had a command
with a highly reputable steamship company.

Every subsequent attempt made by Captain
Lord to be heard by the authorities who had
convicted him of gross dereliction of the first law of
the sea was thwarted. After nearly two years of total
frustration, and with the advent of World War I,
Captain Lord ceased his attempts to be heard and
devoted his full energies to the war effort.

During the four-year World War, Captain
Lord lost none of his sense of outrage at the damage
done to his professional and personal reputation.
This injustice, however, did not affect his life
adversely: therefore, he decided not to pursue the
matter further.

In March of 1927, Captain Lord, at the age of
50, retired from the sea. He had given 14 years of
"invaluable service" to the steamship company that
had placed its faith in him.

Forty-six years after the tragedy, in 1958,
Captain Lord's wound was again laid wide open
when he was once more pictured to the world as the
captain who slept while his ship, a few miles away
from and in full sight of the sinking Titanic, did
nothing. As a result of his inactivity. Captain Lord
was again blamed for the more than 1,500 lives lost.
This was done through the publication of Walter

Lord's book entitled A Night to Remember. The book
was rated as one of the best sellers of the decade
and a motion picture was produced from the text.
To this day, the motion picture, also entitled, A Niglit
To Remember, is being shown in theaters throughout
the world, and on television.

Although nearly 80 years of age at the time of
the book's publication. Captain Lord again sought
the legal assistance and guidance of the Mercantile
Marine Service Association, an organization of
shipmasters of which he had been a member in
good standing since 1897. The Association's council
carefully studied the evidence and testimony and
agreed unanimously that Captain Lord had been
crucified at both inquiries.

The Association's latest efforts in Captain
Lord's behalf was the petition presented in February
1965 to the British Board of Trade, requesting a re-
hearing of the evidence against Captain Lord. Among
the opening paragraphs in the "Text of Petition" are
the following statements:

Although since 1958 the M.M.S.A. at
Captain Lord's request has done all that it can to
defend him by publishing the true (acts of the
case, it is now quite clear that so long as the
findings of the British and American inquiries
remain on record there will be writers who will
ignore the evidence in Captain Lord's favour, and
will continue to publish what are often grossly
defamatory attacks upon him. In the opinion of
the council of the M.M.S.A. the findings cannot
be upheld and the failure of the courts to give
him proper legal protection constitutes a mis-
carriage of justice which permits the Board of
Trade to order a rehearing.

As stated earlier, the Board of Trade turned
down this request for a re-hearing on the grounds
that the ". . . petition does not suggest that there is
any new and important evidence which could not
have been produced at the formal investigation . . ."

Granted, the Board of Trade is correct in their
statement. This fact has never been disputed or
challenged by Captain Lord or the Mercantile Marine
Service Association. All that is being asked for now —
and all that Captain Lord asked for in 1912 and
191 3 — is that the existing testimony and
circumstantial evidence be reviewed in the light of
common sense and decency; that all of the facts
remain in context; and from this a fair evaluation of
the facts be produced by qualified and experienced
men. Had this been done in the first place, we who
have found the subject fascinating and have written
about the tragedy could not possibly have produced
the articles and books which for these many years
have spread the defamation of Captain Stanley Lord
of the Californian.

A surveyor in the construction and repair division of the
Matson Navigation Company, San Francisco, during World
War II, John C. Carrothers sailed as a chief engineer with the
Matson Company and as a watch engineer with the United
States Lines. He also was an inspection engineer with the
Vitro Corporation of America and chief engineer of the
Moore-McCormack Line's SS Brasil.

73

Gill,
the Donkeyman 's Tale

by Eugene Seder

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article, originally
entitled "Man of Californian: I saw Titanic's Signals,'
appeared in the Spring 1985 issue of The Titanic
Commutator, the official journal of the Titanic
Historical Society. It is reprinted with permission.

I am actuated by the desire," said Ernest Gill,
second donkeyman aboard the Leyland Liner
Californian, "that no captain who refuses or neglects
to give aid to a vessel in distress should be able to
hush his men up."

The year was 1912— the day, April 25, 10
days after the Titanic sank — the place, Boston — the
words, the finale of a statement of Ernest Gill, page
one of The Boston American — an accusation of guilt
against his ship and her captain for not responding to
the sinking Titanic and the 1,500 who died with her.

Gill sounded the cry against the Californian —
not stilled to this day.

By now everybody who's read Walter Lord's
book, A Night to Remember, (or seen the movie)
must know by heart the case against the Californian.
Chapter after chapter ends like this — the still ship
watching the Titanic sink:

"Ten miles away on the Californian, Second
Officer Stone and apprentice Gibson watched the
strange ship slowly disappear. . . .

"Call the Captain and tell him that the ship is
disappearing in the southwest and had fired
altogether eight rockets.

"Captain Lord (Stanley Lord — no relative of
author Walter Lord) looked up sleepily from his
couch: 'were they all white rockets?'

"Gibson said, yes, and Lord asked the time.
Gibson replied that it was 2:05 by the wheelhouse
clock. Lord rolled over and Gibson went back to the
bridge."

Where did it come from — this notion that the
steamship Californian lay stopped amidst ice floes,
her captain asleep while her officers on the bridge
counted eight rockets and watched the Titanic sink
before their eyes?

It came from the two official inquiries into the
Titanic sinking — the first a U.S. Senatorial
subcommittee hearing which convened four days
after the Titanic sank. The second the British Board
of Trade Inquiry a month later.

The U.S. Senatorial inquiry laid the Californian
out on a board:

"The Committee is forced to the inevitable

conclusion that the Californian, controlled by the
same comfiany, was nearer the Titanic than the 19
miles report(>d by her Captain and c rew and that her
officers and crew saw the distress signals of the
Titanic and failed to respond to them in accordance
with the dictates of humanity, international usage
and the requirement of law. . . . Had assistance been
promptly proffered or had the wireless operator of
the Californian remained a few minutes longer at his
post on Sunday evening, that ship might have had
the proud distinction of rescuing the passengers and
crew of the Titanic."

The British inquiry found nearly the same
negligence. Lord Mersey, who wrote the opinion for
the London inquiry, noted that about eight distress
rockets had been sent up by the Titanic — eight had
been seen from the Californian; and that the ship
which stopped near the Californian had stopped
about the same time the Titanic had stopped and
disappeared at the same times the Titanic sank.

"These circumstances convince me," Lord
Mersey concluded, "that the ship seen by the
Californian was the Titanic, and if so, according to
Captain Lord, the two ships were about five miles
apart at the time of the disaster. The evidence from
the Titanic corroborates this estimate but I am
advised that the distance was probably greater
though not more than 8 or 10 miles. The ice by
which the Californian was surrounded was loose ice
extending for a distance of not more than two or
three miles in the direction of the Titanic. The night
was clear and the sea smooth. When she first saw
the rockets, the Californian could have pushed
through the ice to the open water without any
serious risk and so have come to the rescue of the
Titanic. Had she done so, she might have saved
many if not all of the lives that were lost."

And whence came the seed of these
opinions?

Why, from Ernest Gill, donkeyman, in Boston
on April 25, 1912.

Now, a donkeyman is not a man with long
ears. He is the mechanic who maintains the ship's
donkey engines — small steam engines, in the case of
the Californian, which work the deck winches to
hoist cargo in and out.

Until Gill's story s|)lashed across The Boston
American— the Californian had been only a dark
entity. She hadn't been five or eight or ten miles
away but 17 or 19 — out of sight over the horizon. So
the searchlight for guilt lit her for an instant and then
swept on — until Gill's story hit the streets.

74

who was Ernest Gill''

A young man in his 20s, said The New York
Times reporter who covered Gill's testimony at the
Senatorial hearing in Washington — "a small man
with red hair without a trace of color in his cheeks.
He described himself as a Yorkshire man and his
English accent was noticeable. He was nervous in
manner but answered concisely the few questions
that were put to him."

Gill earned six pounds a month — about $500
a year at the exchange rate then. He bragged to his
shipmates that The Boston American had paid him
$500 for his story. Let no man think that his story
was manufactured from whole cloth for a year's pay.
In full truth, the CaTiiornian lying silent and forgotten
at her East Boston pier, seethed with rumor and
suspicion. Gill was something like the mushroom
which appears overnight from a long-festering
underground organism.

Was Gill's statement true or was it a rotten
fruit — the product of guilt festering in darkness?

judge for yourself.

Gill's Testimony

Gill's story broke in Boston on the evening of April
25, 1912 — the third time the Californian had been
mentioned in print along with the Titanic.

The first time, the day after the sinking, a
paragraph deep down in the Titanic story said that
the Californian was on the scene picking up bodies
and would arrive in Boston on the 18th or 19th.

But the Californian found no bodies. So she
was forgotten and steamed into Boston on the night
of April 18, greeted only by the harbor pilot who
steered her to a grimy steel-girdered freight pier in
East Boston. Earlier that same day spraying fireboats
and shouting crowds had ushered the Carpathia with
the Titanic survivors into New York.

The searchlight next caught the Californian on
April 24. By then the Senatorial inquiry had
discovered that some ship had hoven into sight of
the sinking Titanic, ignored her Morse signals, and
turned away.

By the 23rd, the search rode in full cry for that
ship. The finger of suspicion pointed at the Canadian
Pacific liner Mount Temple. A passenger told a
newsman he had seen rockets. The captain
emphatically denied that. Talk spouted of seating a
Canadian inquiry. But the search swept every ship
nearby.

The New York Times remembered the brief
second day mention of the Californian and
dispatched a reporter. On April 24, The Times
printed single-column top of page one:

April 23, 1912 — from Boston: The Leyland steamer
Californian was less than 20 miles (mm the Titanic
when the latter foundered. Captain Lord of the
Californian said tonight that had he only known ot the
Titanic' s plight, all tfie passengers could have been
saved. That his ship was the steamer reported to have
passed within five miles of the sinking, Captain Lord
denied emphatically.

7 figure that we were from 17 to /9 miles
distant from the Titanic that night.'

'^"•5 » MAN OF CALII()KNlA^
SAYS WAS NEAR

.♦CARPftTHIH
'' ORDERED
^ TD'KEEP

Head of \
, Denlejl?
.Messages
Sell the

Ernest Cill as he appeared in The Boston American of
1912. (Courtesy of Titanic hiistorical Society)

The Times quoted Lord: "the wireless, of
course, was not working."

That was wrong. The Californian lights were
on and the wireless working until the operator went
to bed. Captain Lord would hardly seem responsible
for the error unless he had responded to a
newsman's ignorant speculation with silence. His
quotation: "All the passengers could have been
saved . . ." seems highly questionable, too.

In any case, the story had been printed; the
Californian examined and allowed to slide back into
oblivion. She was not the ship seen five miles from
the Titanic. She had been 19 miles away.

Next day Gill's story hit the Boston streets.
The Californian was not forgotten again.

What made the difference between Gill's
story and that of The New York 7/mes?

Rockets. The Times had not thought to ask
about rockets. Gill said rockets had been seen from
the Californian and she had done nothing.

The Boston American played Gill as a full
banner headline on page one above the masthead.
'FROM CALIFORNIAN I SAW TITANIC SIGNALS'
SAYS GILL
Beneath the masthead, a four-column head:
MAN OF CALIFORNIAN CREW
SAYS WAS NEAR THE TITANIC
And beneath that a picture captioned:

Ernest Cill Who Says He Saw Titanic Rockets

The photograph showed a healthy-looking
young man with a visor cap and handlebar

75

moustcuhe looking obliquely ott to his left, his head
and upper chest tramed in a curlit ued 'C.

Underneath, the cutline said:

"Gill was donkeyman on the Leyland Liner
Californum and says his captain paid no attention to
the doomed vessel."

The major portion of the story, set bold face,
recorded Gill's atfadavit which he attested to the
next day before the Senatorial subcommittee in
Washington. After Gill, the Californian's obscurity
vanished along with any notion of a deep inquiry
into the Mount Temple.

Seven major newspapers competed for
Boston's attention in 1912. No sooner would one
splash a sensational story, than the next would try to
discredit it. So The American took more than a little
trouble to back Gill's words.

Gill's charges, wrote The American, had been
repeated before four other members of the crew
(unnamed) as well as notary public Samuel Putnam,
who certified Gill's affadavit. More to the point. The
American added, the story had been "affirmed" by
an officer of the Californian "whose name The
American is withholding."

The story said that the officer "had affirmed
them (Gill's charges) in a confidential
communication to The Boston American. . . . The
American's informant says he worked out the
position and it was 17 miles (from the Titanic) when
the wireless operator was called at 6 a.m."

The American's reportage rings clear. Before
The American's story, neither public nor officialdom
knew that the Californian had seen rockets. Captain
Lord never mentioned rockets and his story
disappeared. Gill told about rockets, and he and the
captain and the radio operator were called to
Washington the next day.

Instantly, with Gill's story, a fair portion of the
Californian's part in the Titanic affair had been
written in fine hand, more than a little of it accurate.
The next month, in London at the British inquiry, the
Californian's Third Officer, Charles Victor Groves,
would testify he believed the ship he had seen
steam up and stop and "shut off" her lights on the
night of April 14 had been the Titanic.

The rockets converted a story into a scoop
and the story laid on guilt with a trowel. The
Californian's obscurity burned away like morning
mist.

On the surface, it looked like the Californian
could well have been the ship seen five miles from
the Titanic. Some ship had stopped five miles from
the Californian at 1 1:30 p.m. and disappeared about
2:20 a.m.

Guilt shrouded that silent black ship at her
East Boston pier. Who knows but that she might
have steamed back to England still wrapped in her
dark secret had it not been for a donkeyman, paid
six pounds a month, who would not be "hushed
up."

That night every Boston newspaper and
national wire service asked Captain Lord if the
Titanic's rockets had been seen from the Californian
and ignored. Captain Lord said no.

The next morning, Friday, April 26, 1912,

Senator William Alden Smith, the hearing chairman,
set aside his witness schedule and called Gill to
testify.

"I want," said Senator Smith, "to read you the
following statement, and ask you whether it is true.

"'I, the undersigned, Ernest Gill, being
employed as second donkeyman on the steamer
Californian, Captain Lord, give the following
statement of the incidents on the night of Sunday,
April 14th. . . .'"

The statement, clearly, almost punctiliously
written, was exactly the statement which had been
printed in the Boston American the day before. At
first hearing, it might, in its simplicity, seem the
direct work of Ernest Gill. But to the experienced
eye, its simplicity smacks more of disingenuity. Its
dramatic structure is superb and its expression
sometimes elegant.

Smith read on:

"'On the night of April 14, I was on duty from
8 p.m. until 1 2 in the engine room. At 1 1 :56, I came
on deck. The stars were shining brightly. It was very
clear and I could see for a long distance.'"

Some thought that coming from the
illuminated engine room into the moonless dark, it
might take several minutes for his night vision to
adjust — the very reason watch officers avoided
looking into the lit wheelhouse. But it has to be said
that even unaccommodated eyes could see electric
lights.

"'The ship's engines had been stopped since
10:30 and she was drifting amidst floe ice. I looked
over the rail on the starboard side and saw the lights
of a very large steamer about 10 miles away. I could
see the broadside lights. I watched her for fully a
minute. They could not have helped but see her
from the bridge.'"

Note here that the sight line from the bridge
of a ship such as the Californian to the horizon
would be about eight miles. The portholes of a fair-
sized ship might show at the horizon at 10 miles but
the lights would be right at the horizon and look like
an indistinguishable blur. Questioned afterwards by
the Senators, Gill said he distinguished two rows of
lights.

Senator Smith read on:

"'It was now about 12 o'clock and I went to
my cabin. I woke my mate William Thomas. He
heard the ice crunching alongside the ship and
asked, "Are we in ice?" [Thomas remembered this.] I
replied, "Yes, but we must be clear off to the
starboard for I saw a big vessel going along at full
speed. She looked as if she might be a big German."
[Thomas did not remember this.]'"

Thomas' thoughts on Gill are detailed later. As
for the "big vessel going along at full speed," the
Senators examined Gill about that. Gill hedged. "I
did not take particular notice of it with the rushing to
call my mate," said Gill instantly shifting ground to
matters of greater consequence — rockets and such.

The moving ship had significance. Remember
that the Titanic ripped her bottom on the ice at
1 1 :40 by her clock and stopped minutes afterwards.
Now at 1 1 :56, Gill testified, he saw "a big vessel
going along at full speed." And because the Titanic

76

steamed about twice as fast as the Calihmian (both
going west) her clocks probably read 12 minutes
later than the Californian which meant the Titanic
had stopped about 25 minutes before Gill came on
deck.

Smith read on:

'"I turned in but could not sleep. In half an
hour I turned out, thinking to smoke a cigarette.
Because of the cargo, I could not smoke 'tween
decks. So I went on deck again.

'Why the devil didn't they wa/ce the
wireless man up?/ the second
engineer was quoted as having said.

'"I had been on deck about 10 minutes when
I saw a white rocket about 10 miles away on the
starboard side. I thought it must be a shooting star.
In seven or eight minutes I saw a second rocket in
the same place and I said to myself, "that must be a
vessel in distress."

"'It was not my business to notify the bridge
or the lookout but they could not have helped but
see them.'"

Questioned about the color of the rockets.
Gill hedged again.

"They looked to me to be pale blue or white."

"Which, pale blue or white?"

"It would apt to be a very clear blue. But I
could not catch it when it was dying. I did not catch
the exact tint, but I reckon it was white."

"Did it look as if the rocket had been sent up
and the explosion had taken place in the air and the
stars spangled out (all characteristics of distress
rockets)?"

Gill: "Yes sir, the stars spangled out. I could
not say about the stars. I say I caught the tail end of
the rocket."

These answers may seem confusing — perhaps
contradictory, but they're not the essence of Gill's
testimony. Closer to the point lay his exposure of the
guilty secret of the silent ship.

Smith read on, "'I turned in immediately after,
supposing the ship would pay attention to the
rockets.'"

This ends Gill's personal observation upon
which his authority rests, though it hardly ends his
statement. The remainder examines guilt.

"I knew no more until I was awakened at 6:40
by the chief engineer who said, 'Turn out and render
assistance. The Titanic has gone down.'

"I exclaimed and leaped from my bunk. I
went on deck and found the vessel underway and
proceeding at full speed. She was clear of the ice
field but there were plenty of bergs around.

"I went down on watch and heard the second
and the fourth engineers in conversation. Mr. J. C.
Evans is the second and Mr. Wooten is the fourth.

The second was telling the fourth that the Third
Officer had reported rockets going off on his watch.
I knew then it must have been the Titanic I had
seen."

All this shows that The American had done its
reasonable best to document the story. The paper,
after all, had paid a second donkeyman a year's
wages for his story. The paper stood to look a lot
sillier than Gill if it proved a hoax — hence the
substantiation from a responsible officer as well as
other members of the crew. The American seems to
have checked the story every whichway short of the
Captain and spilling it to the other papers.

Although Gill's hearsay could have been
accurate, the statement itself — that the Third Officer
had reported rockets on his watch — was wrong.
Charles Victor Groves had gone off watch shortly
after midnight and never saw any rockets. But he
had seen the "passenger ship" stop near the
Californian and put out or "shut out" her lights about
the time the Titanic struck.

Senator Smith read on:

"'The second engineer added that the captain
has been notified by the apprentice officer, whose
name I think is Gibson, of the rockets. The skipper
had told him to Morse to the vessel in distress. Mr.
Stone, the second navigating officer, was on the
bridge at the time, said Mr. Evans.

"'I overheard Mr. Evans say that Morse lights
had been shown and more rockets went up. Then
according to Mr. Evans, Mr. Gibson went to the
captain again and reported more rockets. The
skipper told him to continue to Morse until he got a
reply, but no reply was received.

"'The next remark I heard the second make
was, "Why the devil didn't they wake the wireless
man up?"'"

/ personally urged several
crewmembers to join me in
protesting against the conduct of
the Captain, but they feared for
their jobs.

Here ends Gill's second and third-hand report
of the events of the night — all of it new material to
the world, thanks to The Boston American. From here
on the statement offers Gill's impression of the
crew's opinion.

"'The entire crew of the steamer have been
talking among themselves about the disregard of the
rockets. I personally urged several to join me in
protesting against the conduct of the captain but
they refused because they feared to lose their jobs.
[Gill's "bunkie" Williams, said he never heard Gill do
this.]

"'A day or two before the ship reached port,
the skipper called the quartermaster who was on
duty at the time the rockets were discharged, into
his cabin. They were in consultation about three-

77

quarters o\ .in hour. The quartermaster declares he
did not see the rockets.'"

That seems possible. The TiUnic's
(]uartermaster testified he could not even see the sea
trom his lit vvheelhouse and her ottic ers said they
a\()ided looking in toward the light lest they spoil
their night vision. It's even a tair guess that with
nothing to do, the quartermaster might have been
asleep or below.

But it was true that Captain Lord had called in
eac h man who had been on the bridge and the
wireless operator during the night and had each
prepare and sign a statement before the ship
reac hed Boston. That makes it plain Captain Lord
perceived his parlous position.

Now Gill's penultimate:

'"I am quite sure that the C^ilifornian was less
than 20 miles from the TiLinic, which the officers
report to be our position. I could not have seen her
if she had been more than 10 miles distance and I
saw her plainly.'"

The test of a piece of writing is-
does it work in the world? This
worked. It wrote history.

Now, the ultimate — the guilty ship exposed at
whatever peril.

"'I have no ill will toward the captain or any
other officer of the ship and I am losing a profitable
berth by making this statement. I am actuated by the
desire that no captain who refuses or neglects to give
aid to a vessel in distress should be able to hush up
the men.'"

That's Gill's statement. The language is
simple, sometimes elegant. It makes the points with
honed precision — with rising drama, starting with
Gill's personal observation — through the gossip of
the ship — to Gill's jeopardy in speaking out — to his
and the ship's crew's finding of guilt.

A smart and experienced newspaper man
could handle this selection and structuring. The test
of a piece of writing is — does it work in the world?
This worked. It wrote history. The British inquiry's
finding seemed to rest upon it as heavily as the
American hearing. Lord Mersey's prejudice which he
freely admitted — "It is in my brain that the vessel
seen from the Californian was the Titanic. Clear it up
if you can" — came from somewhere.

Gill's testimony under cross-examination
might have sunk him but he always twisted smartly
out of grasp with confusing, contradictory
statements. Besides he had provided all new and
surprising material — all but self-accusing to the
Ca//7orn;an.

"1 will ask you witness," concluded Senator
Smith, "whether this statement is true?"

"Yes sir," re[)lied Call, "that is correct."

"The committee," Thv Nvw York T/mes wrote
the next day, "made no effort to go into his
testimony at length or to question the Captain on the
point, [)resumably bee ause of the Captain's anxiety
to return to Boston to sail with his shi[) tomorrow."

The beaten Boston C'Jobe re|)orted the next
day in a heavy-headlined inside story that Gill "was
listened to with the deepest interest by the
committee."

Captain Lord testified that afternoon followed
by wireless man Cyril Evans. Evans said that Gill had
told him in Boston he would get $500 for his story.

The $500 seems in no way to have
depreciated Gill in the Senator's eyes. Smith usually
questioned each British seaman about his pay and
marveled aloud at the low scale. The Titanic's
second wireless operator, Harold Bride one of the
heroes of the day, got £4 a month.

Gill's story instantly smothered any suspicion
of the Mount Temple. Whatever the Mount Temple's
timidity about entering ice, she could not be
accused of negligence. She had responded to the
Titanic's first wireless distress call; had steamed up at
full speed, until she encountered ice. After that,
judgement applied. She had 1,609 passengers, a
crew of 143 and lifeboats for only 1,069. She would
have done no one any good by smashing into ice.
She wasn't even "unsinkable."

Besides her captain, Henry Moore, possessed
much of Gill's talent for obfuscation of possibly
embarrassing matters, although he spoke in limpid
clarity when the facts favored him.

As for Charles Victor Groves, Third Officer of
the Californian — if he were the one who computed
the 17-mile distance — did reason abandon him
when he reached London and testified he thought
the ship lying five miles from the Californian to be
the Titanic^

Could Captain Lord have been brooding in
his own abysm of guilt?

After all, the Californian' s log bore no record
of the ship which stopped near her at 1 1 :30 p.m.
Nor did the ship's "fair log," the neat copy with
addendums usually written the next day, mention
rockets. The fair log was written after the Californian
discovered the Titanic had sunk and after the
Californian had steamed down to the Carpathia.

That two-and-a-half hour steaming, from 6
until 8:30 a.m., was fully recorded. The Californian's
log also showed her noon position that day,
concurred in by all the ship's officers — all clearly
defensive material.

Senator Smith asked Captain Lord at the
Washington hearing: Suppose the Californian had
received the wireless distress call and steamed
directly to the rescue, how long would it have taken?

"At the very least two hours," blurted Lord.

But it took him two-and-a-half hours in the
light of morning because he had to cross and recross
the ice field.

Could Lord have spent that dark time
brooding about the absolute minimum time to get to
the Titanic had he recognized the rockets for what
they were and steamed directly toward them?

78

In the morning, he had only \he Titanic's radio
SOS location to guide him. To reach it he had to
pic k his way from east to west through the ice and
then run south. But the distress signal had placed the
Titanic somewhat west of where she really was. So
when Lord reached the place he found only the
Mount Temple. Lord said he saw the Carpathia on
the east side of the ice and steamed through a break
in the field over to her. But if rockets had been his
guide the night before, he could have stayed east of
the ice run most of the 1 9 miles straight down at 1 3
knots and had a fair chance to make it in two hours.

Distress rockets rose 300 feet and
exploded with a ponderous boom
audible 12 miles away on a still
night — Nobody on the Californian
heard any detonation.

By the British inquiry, Lord had modified his
answer: "I do not think we could have got there
before the Carpathia did, if we would have got there
that soon."

On Captain Lord's side too lay Second Officer
Stone's description of the height of the rocket — less
than mast height over the nearby ship he had been
watching. Distress rockets rose 300 feet and
exploded with a pondrous boom audible 12 miles
away on a still night like this. Nobody aboard the
Californian said he heard any detonation.

The Gill question, though, remains. Did Gill
truly describe what he saw or did he fabricate a
myth for profit in the haze of a Marginal Street
saloon and incarnate it with the rumors and
suspicions of the crew?

Captain Lord's denial had to be expected and
discounted according to his interest.

The Boston Herald, beaten by The American,
did what it could the next day to discredit The
American's source. Every paper, of course, covered
Lord, but The Herald dug deeper and turned up the
man who knew him best. Gill's "mate," William
Thomas.

Both Gill and his "bunkie," William Thomas,
The Herald said, proffered their custom to a Marginal
Street bar — sometimes together. The Herald
reported that Thomas said that on the day before
Gill's story broke in The American, the barman from
the Marginal Street saloon had come to him at the
ship "and said I was wanted at the bar." Thomas
went to the saloon, was told he wasn't the one. They
wanted his companion. Gill.

"So I went back and told him," said Thomas,
"He went away without telling me where he was
going, hie came back some time later, didn't say a
word to me but soon went ashore again. He must
have taken all his dunnage with him because there
isn't any here now."

What came of Gill's departure, of course,
appeared the day after he "jumped ship," full-width
banner across the front page of The Boston
American.

What did Thomas think of Gill's statement?:
"It was now 12 o'clock and I went to my cabin. I
woke my mate, William Thomas. He heard the ice
crunching alongside the ship and asked 'are we in
ice?' I replied, 'Yes, but it must be clear off to
starboard for I saw a big vessel going along at full
speed. She looked as if she might be a big German.'"

"William Thomas," wrote The Herald's
reporter, "a donkeyman and Gill's 'bunkie' was
highly indignant yesterday that his name had been
brought into the affadavit."

The Herald quoted Thomas, "'I knew nothing
about this affadavit and I am positive Gill said
nothing to me about the steamer in distress, if he
saw such a thing. . . .

"'Gill woke me up soon after 12 that night
and I asked him why he was late. "It's all right, the
engines aren't running," he answered. Then I heard a
bumping against the side of the ship and I asked if it
was ice. He said it was. . . .

"'I think that Gill would have told me if he
had seen rockets. I can't believe he could see a ship
10 miles off if there was one because the change
from the engine room to the deck partly blinds a
man and besides that night it would have been easy
to take fixed stars for vessel lights and shooting stars
for rockets.'"

The Herald examined Thomas on Gill's
possible motive for fabrication and quoted Thomas:
"'Gill was engaged to a girl in England and I can see
where the offer of a sum as large as reported in the
forecastle would greatly tempt him. He could very
easily set up a small shop in England or get work in
America with a comfortable nest egg in addition.'"

Some third ship had to have
stopped near the Californian while
still another — a fourth ship had to
have moved into sight of the
Titanic.

Gill did go back to England on another ship
and testified briefly with hardly any cross-
examination at the British inquiry. Lord Mersey in
the section of his finding accusing the Californian,
quoted Gill. "She could not have been anything but
a passenger ship. She was too large."

Gill's Motivations

It might have been survival.

In 1912 ship's crews— for their miniscule pay,
were worked almost to extinction. Two men worked
most 24-hour shifts. It was a hard, short life for those
who would not or could not break out of it.

Ship's officers broke out through education or
class. A man like Gill had no chance. Thomas said

79

Gill had a girl back in England. How could he afford
her at six pounds a month? Could you much blame a
man for seizing opportunity? Some might even
admire his perception. Perhaps one or two in First
Class had broken out of penury themselves by
seizing the moment, too.

Captain Lord understood his own jeopardy
perfectly. Hence while his ship shambled on toward
Boston, he called in his officers one by one for
written depositions plus the three-quarter hour
conference with the quartermaster. The great
exculpating statement in New York from Captain
Rostron of the Carpathia — that Rostron, whose ship
had been at the site picking up survivors since 4
a.m., first saw the Californian at 8 the next
morning — stemmed from somewhere. Nothing
comes from nothing. Captain Lord would seem the
circumstantial motivator of that.

Then the hiatus in the Californian log about
the nearby ship — the rockets. Whatever the truth —
the Californian was a ship besmirched with repressed
guilt.

And one last thought:

Remember that the Californian saw a ship
steam up and stop five miles away at 1 1 :30 p.m. The
Titanic struck at 1 1:40 — almost the same time
allowing for the clock differences. But the Titanic
lookouts saw no ships at the time of the collision nor
for the next 20 to 45 minutes when they were
released. Later the officers on the Titanic's bridge
saw a ship move up, show a sidelight. They Morsed
her but she did not flash back and turned away. The
ship near the Californian moved differently. She
stayed put, ignored the Californian' s Morse light,
then started to move off after 1 :30 a.m. to disappear
at 2:20.

All this means that some Third ship had to
have stopped near the Californian while still
another — a Fourth ship — had to have moved into
sight of the Titanic and then turned away.

Does that strain credulity?

Well, The New York Herald Tribune listed 95
"passenger carrying steamships" on the Atlantic on
April 14, 1912 — not counting freighters, sealers,
whalers, cable layers and sailing ships from many
nations — most without wireless. The Titanic was
steaming the great circle course — the shortest way
from Belfast to New York. Besides the regular traffic,
the ice had forced some ships heading for more
northerly ports south to the New York track. Captain
Moore of the Mount Temple said that as he
approached the distress location he encountered
two ships. He had to back to avoid one.

On his deathbed in 1940, the first mate of a
Norwegian arctic sealer signed a statement that his
ship, the Samson, had seen the Titanic rockets, but,
thinking the rockets had been fired by the Coast
Guard to warn him away from American waters, had
turned away. Careful reading of his statement,
though, showed his ship to be off Hatteras (possibly
an error in translation or a lapse in memory) and not
in the mid-Atlantic.

So, the mystery remains. Ernest Gill, after his
brief appearance at the British inquiry, evaporated
from public view and was not seen again.

7/ic s/,if/)(i,ini tvlegraph on a docking bridge of (he Olympic.
A similar telegraph from the Titanic can he seen on page 28.
(Photo courtesy of Blackhawk Films)

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80

Captain E. J. Smith

Captain EJ. was one of the ablest Skippers on
the Atlantic, and accusations of recklessness,
carelessness, not taking due precautions, or driving his
ship at too high a speed, were absolutely, and utterly
unfounded; but the armchair complaint is a very
common disease, and generally accepted as one of
the necessary evils from which the seafarer is
condemned to suffer. A dark night, a blinding squall,
and a man who has been on the mental rack for
perhaps the last forty-eight hours, is called on to make
an instantaneous decision embodying the safety of his
crew and his ship. If he chooses the right course, as
nine times out of ten he does, all well and good, but if
on the tenth time his judgment is, momentarily, in
error, then he may be certain he is coming under the
thumb of the armchair judge, who, a thousand to one,
has never been called on to make a life and death
decision in a sudden emergency.

From Titanic by

Commander Charles H. Lightoller,

Second Officer on April 15, 1912

Captain Smith had at least five different deaths,
from heroic to ignominious. Seaman CA. tHogg said,
"I saw Captain Smith in the water alongside a raft.
'There's the skipper,' I yelled, 'Give him a hand.' They
did, but he shook himself free and shouted to us,
'Good-bye boys, I'm going to follow the ship.' That
was the last we saw of our skipper." Others
remembered f ./• swimming with a child in his arms
whom he managed to deliver to a lifeboat before
being swept away in a wave. Another claimed that
Smith had shouted, "Be British, boys, be British!"
before going under with the ship. G.A. Drayton
claimed that E.j. had simply been swept off the bridge
when it lunged forward: "I saw him swim back onto
the sinking ship. He went down with it in my sight."

Dr. j.F. Kemp, a passenger on the Carpathia,
raised an ominous possibility. Kemp had spoken with
a boy who had been one of the last children to have
left the Titanic. The boy had seen "Captain Smith put
a pistol to his head and then fall down." Others
reported having seen Captain Smith commit suicide;
crewmen, however, vigorously denied the possibility.
Part of the momentum for E.j.'s alleged suicide may
have come from the fact that six years earlier a
climacteric German captain had caused considerable
scandal by killing himself after accidentally beaching
and injuring his ship. The story may also have arisen
from passengers confusing Smith with the ship's first
officer.

From The Titanic: End of a Dream by
Wyn Craig Wade

Captain Snnith was the Commodore of the
White Star Line, having served 38 years in its
employ, and was persuaded not to retire before
taking the Titanic on her maiden voyage. He was
considered "one of the very best" by other officers
and had few "incidents" on his record, although he
had been at the helm of the Titanic's sister ship, the
Olympic, the year before when that liner was
rammed by the British cruiser Hawke.

John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor helped his 19-year-old bride
into a lifeboat, then, according to Walter Lord's A
Night to Remember, asked if he could join her. She
was, as he put it, "in delicate condition." "No, sir,"
Lightoller replied. "No men are allowed in these
boats until the women are loaded first."

Astor asked which boat it was, and Lightoller
replied "Number 4." Colonel Cracie was sure Astor
merely wanted to locate his wife later. Lightoller was
sure he planned to make a complaint.

lohn locob Astor (1864-1912).

Photo circa 1890. (The Bettmann Archive)

81

Col. Astor, the great-grandson ot the first John
Jacob Astor who twice escaped shipwreck, built and
owned many hotels and skyscrapers in New York.

Col. Astor saw combat in the Spanish-
American War and also served in the Philippines. In
the Spanish-American War he lormed a group
known as the Astor Battery — the first such mountain
unit in the U.S Army. He organized the unit at a
personal cost of $100,000. He also was in the first
boat to land at Santiago in Cuba and in the thick of
the fighting on El Paso Hill.

Col. Astor was educated at St. Paul's,
Concord, N.H., and thereafter went to Harvard,
graduating with the Class of 1888. Three years later
he married Miss Ava L. Willing of Philadelphia. They
had two children, William Vincent and Alice.

Mrs. Astor was granted a divorce on Nov. 8,
1909. In September of 191 1, Col. Astor was married
to Miss Madeleine Talmage Force, then 18 years old,
of New York. Astor's wealth at the time of his death
was estimated at between $100 million and $200
million.

The Strauses

The Strauses came on deck with the others, and at
first Mrs. Straus seemed uncertain what to do. At
one point she handed some small jewelry to her
maid Ellen Bird, then took it back again. Later she
crossed the Boat Deck and almost entered No. 8 —
then turned around and rejoined Mr. Straus. Now
her mind was made up: "We have been living
together for many years. Where you go, I go."

Archibald Cracie, Hugh Woolner, other
friends tried in vain to make her go. Then Woolner
turned to Mr. Straus: "I'm sure nobody would object
to an old gentleman like you getting in ..."

"/ vv(7/ not go before the other men," he said,
and that was that. Then he and Mrs. Straus sat down
together on a pair of deck chairs.

From A Night to Remember
by Walter Lord

Mr. and Mrs. isidor Straus.

(Fhoto courtesy Walter Lord Collection)

Straus and his wife were supporters of
almost every philanthropic and charitable
institution in New York.

J. Bruce Ismay

Isidor Straus was born in Bavaria in 1845. His
family came to the United States in 1852, settling in
Talbotton, Georgia. It was Straus's ambition to
enter the Military Academy at West Point, New
York, but the war between the North and South
broke out before he finished his preparatory
schooling.

At the age of 16, he volunteered for the
Confederate Army, but was turned down because
of his age. He became a clerk in his father's store
for 2 years and then moved to England, where he
worked until the close of the war.

The family moved to New York City after
the war and set up the firm of L. Straus & Son,
dealing in earthenware. They soon branched out
into china and porcelain, taking over that
department of R. H. Macy's in 1868. In 1888, they
became partners in the department store.

Joseph Bruce Ismay was the president of
International Mercantile Marine, which owned the
White Star Line, of which Ismay was chairman. The
Titanic and her sister ships, the Olympic and
Britannic, were Ismay's dream ships and he had
guided them through every stage of design and
construction. They were to be the crowning
achievement of the age; in the tradition of the White
Star Line, which had been founded by Ismay's father
in 1869, the ships were to be exceptionally
comfortable and efficiently run. Ismay had been
aboard the Olympic for her maiden voyage, and had
many suggestions for improvements in the Titanic.
He was looking forward to seeing these
improvements in action on the Titanic.

After the collision, Ismay helped with the
loading of five lifeboats on the starboard side,
including collapsible boat "C." When this boat was

82

ready to be lowered, there were no women and
children on the deck, and as the boat was being
lowered Ismay climbed in. Many people looked
askance at the tact the chairman ot the line survived
when so many others died, particularly since by his
own admission he was aware that there were
hundreds more people on board than there was
room in the lifeboats. No less a figure than Rear
Admiral A. T. Mahan (the founder of modern naval
strategy), commented on ismay's conduct in a letter
to the Evening Post:

He is in no sense responsible for the collision; but
when the collision had occurred he confronted a
wholly new condition for which he was
responsible and not the captain, viz., a sinking
vessel without adequate provision for saving
life. . . . I hold that under the conditions, so long
as there was a soul that could he saved, the
obligation lay upon Mr. Ismay that that one
person and not he should have been in the boat.

Ismay's defenders argue that he fulfilled his
responsibilities by helping to lower the boats, and
point out that he did not enter collapsible "C" until it
was actually being lowered. Moreover, they note
that collapsible "C" was one of the last boats to leave
the ship; had a more thorough search been made for
other people to take Ismay's place in the lifeboat,
the Titanic might have sunk in the meantime.

Ismay was subjected to extremely thorough
and at times antagonistic questioning at both the
U.S. Senate hearings on the disaster and the British
Board of Trade's inquiry into it. At both of these
hearings his personal conduct was cleared.

Before the Titanic sank, Ismay had planned to
step down as President of International Mercantile
Marine on 30 June 1913. After the sinking these

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce ismay, right, arriving at British inquiry. At
left is the General Manager of the White Star Line. (The
Bettmann Archive)

plans remained in effect, but Ismay requested that
he be allowed to retain the chairmanship of the
White Star Line. This request was refused, and Ismay
retired from public life. He died on 17 October
1937, from a stroke.

Lightoller and Murdoch

No two men were more intimately familiar with the
Titanic'i movements on the night of her sinking than
these two. Chades H. Lightoller was Second Officer
on board the ship, and held the watch from 6 to 10
p.m. At 10 p.m. he was relieved by First Officer
William M. Murdoch, who held the watch when the
fatal blow was struck.

Originally Murdoch and Lightoller were to be
Chief and First officers on the Titanic, respectively.
But, at the last minute the White Star Line
transferred the Chief Officer of the Olympic, Henry
T. Wilde, to the Titanic for the maiden voyage,
bumping Murdoch back to First Officer, and
Lightoller to Second.

The two men were old chums, and when
Murdoch relieved Lightoller on the bridge that night
they spoke together for a few minutes. Lightoller
advised that he had ordered the crow's nest to keep
a sharp lookout for ice. Then he left, and the Titanic
continued toward a rendezvous with fate.

Some have maintained that Murdoch's
actions in the moments before the crash (ordering
the helm over and the engines full astern) made the
collision more dire; many have noted that had the
Titanic run head on into the iceberg, it probably
would not have sunk. Others have argued that to
avoid the iceberg most speedily Murdoch should
have ordered the helm to port while keeping the
engines full ahead, or perhaps have ordered the
helm to port, astern on the port engine, and kept the
starboard engine full ahead. After the sinking,
Harland and Wolff, the builder of the Titanic, took
the Olympic out for extensive turning trials and gave
the results to the British inquiry into the sinking.
These turning curves were not released with the
inquiry's report.

Once the collision occurred, Murdoch and
Lightoller saw little of one another. They were
working to fill the lifeboats on opposite sides of the
ship, 90 feet apart. Their strategies in filling the boats

83

differed radically as well. Lightoller, a strict and
straightforward officer, allowed only women and
children in the boats under his command. Murdoch
allowed women until no more would go alone, then
couples were permitted to board, then single men if
there was still room.

As the ship finally dove into the sea, and the
water rushed up her decks, Murdoch and Lightoller
both were working to clear the two collapsible boats
tied to the roof of the officer's quarters. Lightoller
dove into the oncoming sea and narrowly avoided
being swept down an airshaft into the hold of the
ship. Half drowned, he came up next to Collapsible
B, overturned in the water. Eventually, Lightoller
look command of the overturned boat, and 30
people were rescued from it.

Murdoch went down with the ship.

Benjamin Guggenheim

As the lifeboats left the ship, Benjamin Guggenheim,
the millionaire president of International Steam
Pump Company, returned to his cabin with his
secretary and dressed in his finest black tie and
dinner jacket. He then reappeared on deck in his
resplendent dress, saying to a steward:

/ think there is grave doubt that the men will get
off. I am willing to remain and play the man's
game if there are not enough boats for more than
the women and children. I won't die here like a
beast.

Tell my wife, Johnson, if it should happen
that my secretary and I both go down and you
are saved, tell her I played the game out straight
and to the end. No woman shall be left aboard
this ship because Ben Guggenheim was a
coward.

When Guggenheim was 20 years old, he was
sent by his father to Leadville, Colorado, to take
charge of the family's mining interests — an interest
that grew to be the largest and most valuable part of
their holdings. In January 1900, Guggenheim owned
seven refining and smelting plants in the United
States and one in England, employing in excess of
10,000 men.

His brother, Simon, was a U.S. Senator at the
time of the disaster. He was married and had three
children.

Molly Brown

Mrs. Margaret Tobin (Molly) Brown, the flamboyant
millionairess of Denver, took charge of Lifeboat No. 6
after a terrified quartermaster lost his nerve. At one
point, when the panic-stricken petty officer began
undermining morale with "his tirade of awful
forebodings" and sought to interfere with Molly's
commands, she shut him up by threatening to throw
him overboard.

So high was her regard for the Carpathia's
rescue mission that she had gold and silver medals
struck and presented to Captain Rostron and his men.
Within recent years, this indomitable lady was
immortalized as the heroine of the Broadway musical,
"The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

— From Foote Prints

I

Henry Widener

According to the Dictionary of American Biography,
the 27-year-old tienry Elkins Widener, an avid
bibliophile, was in London in March 1912 on a book-
hunting expedition. He acquired a 1598 edition of
Bacon's Essaies, of which he said to a friend, "I think
I'll take that little Bacon with me in my pocket, and if
I am shipwrecked it will go with me."

It was an irony of fate that Widener, who went
down with the Titanic, was the grandson of the
Philadelphia mogul, Peter A. B. Widener, who had
helped found and was on the board of directors of the
International Mercantile Marine Company, an
American corporation which owned the International
Navigation Company (Ltd.) of England, which in turn
owned the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company of
England, owner of the White Star steamer Titanic.

— From Foote Prints

Sir Cosmo Gordon & Mr. Ismay

An attack was made in the course of the inquiry on
the moral conduct of two of the passengers, namely,
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and Mr. Bruce Ismay. It is no
part of the business of the court to inquire into such
matters, and I should pass them by in silence if I did
not fear that my silence might be misunderstood.

The very gross charge against Sir Cosmo Duff
Gordon that, having got into No. 1 boat, he bribed
the men in it to row away from drowning people is
unfounded. I have said that the members of the crew
in that boat might have made some attempt to save
the people in the water, and that such an attempt
would probably have been successful; but I do not
believe that the men were deterred from making the
attempt by an act of Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon's.

At the same time I think that if he had
encouraged the men to return to the position where
the Titanic had foundered they would probably have
made an effort to do so and could have saved some
lives.

As to the attack on Mr. Bruce Ismay, it resolved
itself into the suggestion that, occupying the position
of managing director of the steamship company, some
moral duty was imposed upon him to wait on board
until the vessel foundered. I do not agree.

Mr. Ismay, after rendering assistance to many
passengers, found C collapsible, the last boat on the
starboard side, actually being lowered. No other
people were there at the time. There was room for
him and he jumped in. Had he not jumped in he
would merely have added one more life, namely, his
own, to the number of those lost.

— From the British inquiry

84

85

The Dead

'a Strange ^asife Stranger'

by Carole Hyde

/\s the S.S. Carpathia neared the harbor of New
York City with the survivors of the wrecked luxury
liner Titanic on board, another ship steamed out of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, toward the Titanic's grave. Her
mission — the dead.

More than 1,500 people perished in the
murderous waters of the North Atlantic when the
Titanic hurled herseif at 22 knots onto an iceberg on
the night of April 14, 1912. Bodies of her victims
dotted the ocean after the disaster, and the Titanic's
owners — the White Star Line — chartered the little
cable steamer MacKay-Bennett to recover and return
the remains to Halifax for reclamation or burial in the
city's cemeteries.

The search for the dead and their burial in the
cemeteries of Halifax is a little-known aspect of the
Titanic story. Some books published relatively
recently state that only one body or no bodies were
recovered. Overshadowed by the disaster itself, and
by the stories of the Titanic's survivors, the search for

A bocU from the Minia hauling aboard a victim oi the
Titanic tragedy on April 26, 1912. (Photo courtesy Public
Archives of Nova Scotia, Halifax)

the dead barely entered public consciousness.
Perhaps, too, the world of 1912, Victorian in
propriety, did not want to know. As inexorably as
the North Atlantic pulled the Titanic under, a mantle
of nobility enshrouded the disaster and shielded the
public from the magnitude and nature of the loss in
the freezing waters.

The reality of the disaster remained. Some
1,500 were lost in the sea, and on Wednesday, April
1 7 — two days after the sinking— the MacKay-
Bennett, stacked with coffins and packed with ice,
embarked to find them.

Fog and bad weather slowed the trip. The
MacKay-Bennett arrived in the vicinity of the disaster
only on Saturday night, a week after the Titanic hit
the iceberg. The ocean was strewn with wreckage.
Growlers hid dangerously in the swells. During the
middle watch, the first bodies were sighted. It was
agonizing. Many of them were crushed and
disfigured beyond recognition. Some women were

86

The staff of I. H. Snow & Co., Ltd., pose before the funeral home at 90 Argyle Street, Halifax. Snow's was placed in charge of
supervising many other undertaking firms in providing funeral arrangements for JheTitanic's victims. (Photo courtesy Public
Archives of Nova Scotia, Halifax)

found with infants locked in their arms. Other
bodies, faces distorted with terror, clung to objects
they had grasped in their anguish. Still others looked
calm, as if asleep.

The Sea Burials

On Sunday, the first of the bodies were dragged
aboard the MacKay-Berinett. There were 51 of them.
They were numbered and identified where possible,
their property marked and stored. Some were
embalmed and others were placed in ice-filled
holds. That evening, the burial of the dead began.

The tolling of the bell summoned all hands to the
forecastle where thirty bodies are to be
committed to the deep, each carefully weighted
and carefully sewed up in canvas. It is a weird
scene, this gathering. The crescent moon is
shedding a faint light on us, as the ship lays
wallowing in the great rollers . . . For nearly an
hour the words 'For as much as it hath pleased
... we therefore commit his body to the deep'
are repeated and at each interval comes splash!
as the weighted body plunges into the sea, there

to sink to a depth of about two miles. Splash,
splash, splash.

— From the diary of Frederick Hamilton,
engineer, the MacKay-Bennett

For those buried that night — the dead who
could not be identified — interment in the sea was
suitable and touching, for they were thought to be
members of the Titanic's crew. In the words of the
Reverend Canon Hinds, rector of All Saints'
Cathedral, who conducted the service on board the
MacKay-Bennett:

Anyone attending a burial at sea will most surely
lose the common impression of the awfulness of
a grave in the mighty deep. The wild Atlantic may
rage and toss, the shipwrecked mariners cry for
mercy, but far below in the calm untroubled
depth they rest in peace.

for four more days the MacKay-Bennett
drifted through miles and miles of the Titanic's
wreckage, finding amidst the debris and ice some

87

times solitary corpses, at other limes, great clusters
of them, appearing strangely like seagulls as they
lH)bl)ed peacefully in the swells.

When tog made operations impossible,
bodies already on board were searched, tagged, and
stowed away. It was hard on the men ot the MdcKay-
Bennett.

Noon. Another buruil sen/ice held cwd seventy-
^even bodies follow the others. The hoarse tone
of the steam whistle reverberating through the
mist, the dripping rigging, and the ghostly sea,
the heaps of dead, and the hard weather-beaten
faces of the crew, whose harsh voices join in the
hymn tunefully rendered by Canon Hind, all
combine to make a strange task stranger. Cold,
wet, miserable and comfortless, all hands balance
themselves against the heavy rolling of the ship as
she lurches to the Atlantic swell, and even the
most hardened must reflect on the hopes and
fears, the dismay and despair, of those whose
nearest and dearest . . . have been wrenched
from them by this tragedy.

— From the diary of Frederick Hamilton

Holds and decks filling with the dead, the
MacKay-Bennett called for help and was joined by
the cableship Minia, also stocked, with coffins and
ice. On Friday, they searched together. The Minia
transferred bodies collected that day to the MacKay-
Bennett and continued the search.

The MacKay-Bennett, with as many dead on
board as she could accommodate, headed for home.
She carried 190 of the Titanic' s dead and left 116
buried in the sea. Not all bodies badly deteriorated
or without identification were left behind in the
North Atlantic. It was later disclosed that all those
thought to have been first-class passengers, no
matter what their condition, were kept on board. As
the MacKay-Bennett steamed home, the crew could
not help but feel that most of the bodies on board
would be better resting in the deep.

The Unloading

At 9:30 on the morning of April 30, the MacKay-
Bennett approached the dockyards of Halifax. The
city was prepared for her. Flags hung at half-staff,
and coffins and hearses lined the piers as
undertakers, reporters, police, and families of the
victims crowded together in the chilly Canadian
morning. Since daybreak they had awaited the
arrival of the Titanic's dead. Then,

. . . warned by the tolling of the bells up in the
town, a hush fell upon the waiting people. The
gray clouds that had overcast the sky parted and
the sun shone brilliantly on the rippling water of
the harbor as the MacKay-Bennett drew
alongside her pier. Captain Lardner could be seen
upon the bridge. The crew hung over the sides,
joyously alive and glad to be home . . . But in
every part of the ship the dead lay.

— From the Roster of Valor

The first bodies brought ashore were those
identified as the Titanic's crew. Unembalmed and
unshrouded, they were shocking, and as quickly as
they were unloaded, they were taken from the
dockyard. Second-class and steerage victims, sewn
u|5 in canvas, were carried ashore next, followed by
the embalmed and encoffined bodies of those who
had afforded first-class passage on the Titanic.

For hours the unloading and removal
proceeded. The sounds were said to be like the hum
of a small factory. Crowds of onlookers, kept away
from the dockyards, lined the hearses' route and
silently paid their respects as the procession passed
on its way to the Mayflower Curling Rink at the edge
of town.

There, in the makeshift morgue, friends and
relatives of the victims had begun arriving to claim
their dead. The main rink, where the dead would be
displayed, was draped in black. The benches
adjoining the rink were curtained off for the
preparation of the bodies. Undertakers and coffins
from all over the Eastern Provinces of Nova Scotia
had been assembled there by j. H. Snow and Sons,
the prominent Halifax undertaking firm. Snow,
whose son had reportedly enjoyed his work on
board the MacKay-Bennett, was to supervise the
embalming and funeral arrangements on shore, too.
It was the largest operation of his career.

As the first rough coffin was carried into the body
of the rink and deposited on one of the many
white benches waiting to receive them, a hush
fell upon all the onlookers. The first coffin was
succeeded by the second, the second by the
third, and now hearse after hearse was arriving,
coffin after coffin was being carried in and gently
laid in rows.

— From the Halifax Evening Mail

The mass display of death traumatized the
living as they watched and waited while the
undertakers readied the bodies for viewing and
reclamation.

Many of them pacefd] around the room,
impatient of delay yet dreading to see that which
they hoped might reveal the identity of a loved
one. Every once in a while one could be heard to
murmur: 7 need fresh air,' and would go out into
the bright sunshine for a while . . . The scene was
too much for them to stand in the deathly
atmosphere of the sepulchral building.

— From the Halifax Evening Mail

For some, the visit to the rink was mercifully
brief. Those notified in advance of the recovery of
their dead were assisted at once by Provincial
Government and White Star Line officials in the
reclamation and disposition of the bodies. Death
certificates and burial permits were issued as
expeditiously as possible.

The first body claimed and removed from the

NO. 121 MALE,.; ESTIMATED AGE. 50, 1JGH,T HAIR AND MOUSTACHE.

CLOTHmC— Blue serge suit: bin.- Inn.tkcrcliicf witli 'A. V."; helt withgoM
huckle; hrown b'v-'t- ^v'S --,..1 r,,» v -r ..r.'f-' V'-.-.vn rinnnpl shirt; "J T. A."
on back of collar.

EFFECTS — CuAii wilch; cuff links^ jjoM with iliamond ; fliamond ring with
•three stones r £225 in English notes; $2440 In notes; £5 in i.'o)<r 7s in
• - silver; 5 ten franc pieces; gold pencil; pocketbook.

FIRST CLASS.

NAME— J. J. ASTOR.

The final printed listing o/" Titanic victims and their descriptions included this entry for John Jacob Astor. (Courtesy Public
Archives of Nova Scotia, Halifax)

rink was that of John Jacob Astor. The tiny crimson
death certificate, barely adequate to the task,
described his tragedy:

Name of deceased — John Jacob Astor. Sex — M.
Age— 47. Date ofdeath^April 15, 1912.
Residence, street, etc.— 840 Fifth Av., N.Y.C.
Occupation — Gentleman. Married. Cause —
Accidental drowning. S.S. Titanic at sea. Length
of illness — Suddenly. Name of physician in
attendance.

Likewise, the body of Emil Brandeis, the
Omaha department store magnate, was claimed and
taken away. Frank Newell, busy embalming bodies
at the rink, unexpectedly encountered the body of
his uncle and collapsed from the shock. Of the 209
bodies eventually brought to the rink, only 59 were
claimed and shipped away for burial.

For the rest of the bereaved, the ordeal
stretched Into the days that followed, and
desperation surrounded their visits to the rink as
bodies found by the Minia were displayed In
diminishing numbers. Many never found their kin.
And many of the dead lying In the rink were never
claimed. They lay In their caskets, unknown yet
lovingly adorned with flowers. Following services
beginning on May 3, they were buried according to
their presumed religion In the cemeteries of FHallfax.

The Catholic dead were interred In Mt. Olivet
Cemetery, the Jewish dead In Baron von HIrsch
Cemetery, and the many Protestant dead In Falrview
Cemetery, where they were lowered into long
trenches and marked with the numbers given them
when they were pulled from the sea. Falrview
Cemetery received, too, the body of an "unknown
child," commemorated on May 4 and buried in its
tiny coffin by the crew of the MacKay-Bennett.

For another week, the Mayflower Curling Rink
stood open for the reclamation of the Titanic's dead.
On that Friday, May 10, 32 unidentified bodies were
taken from the rink and interred in Falrview
Cemetery. The unclaimed effects were removed to
the Provincial Treasurer's office and arrangements
made for the last four bodies lying In the rink. As the
day came to a close, the government officials, the
White Star Line people and the last of the

undertakers packed their things, turned out the lights
and left for home.

Watch and a Handkerchief

The search at sea for the Titanic's dead stretched
into June, and the burials In FHallfax continued, as
ships crossing the North Atlantic reported wreckage
and bodies floating In their paths. The Montmagny
relieved the Minia. Between them 21 more bodies
were found and three of these were buried at sea.
The Algerine completed the quest with a single
recovery. The body, that of Titanic Saloon Steward
James McGrady, was taken to Nova Scotia for burial
on June 12 and was the last of the Titanic's 150
victims Interred In the cemeteries of FHallfax.

The MacKay-Bennett recovered 306 bodies, of which 190
were brought to Halifax. (Photo courtesy Public Archives of
Nova Scotia, Halifax)

89

The stMrc h was over. It had one ompassod six
weeks, involved four ships, and yielded 328 dead,
1 19 ot th(>m interred at sea. It had taxed the tiinerary
resources of Nova Scotia and the courage of those
who awaited word of loved ones they had lost.

One of the hundreds lost when the TiLinic
foundered was Herbert )upe, whose body was found
and buried at sea by the MdcKay-Bennett. As third
assistant electrician, he was one of the many crew
who labored deep in the Titanic to keep the ship
running to the end. Particularly poignant was his
death, for it allowed many on the decks above to
escape. The loss of Herbert )upe was a micrcxosm of
the loss of the Titanic. As his father wrote in a letter
to the Provincial Government in Nova Scotia:

Dear Sir: I have been informed by Mr. F. Blake
Superintendent Engineer of the White Star Line
Trafalgar Chambers on the 10th that the body of
my Beloved Son Herbert lupe who was Electrical
Engineer No. 3 on the lll-Fated Titanic has been
recovered and Buried at Sea by the
Cable Steamer "MacKay-Bennett" and that his
Silver Watch and Handkerchief marked H.I. is in
your possession. We are extremely obliged for all

your kindness to my Precious Boy. He was not
married and was the love of our I learts and he
loved his home. But Cod gave him and Cod has
taken him. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He
has left an aching void in our I lome which
cannot be filled. Please send along the Watch
and the Handkerchief marked I I.I. Yours, Truly,
C. lupe.

Carnle tiyde was a Fall Intern at Oceanus. .She has since
returned to Stanford University where she is completing her
graduate tr.iining anc/ editing Estes Ticmpos (or the Chicano
CT)mmun/(y.

References

Eaton, John P. and Charles Haas. 1983.

Footsteps in Halifax, footnotes to

history. In The Titanic Cnmmutator.

7(1):3-55.
Padfield, P. 196S. The 7;(.in;c and (he

Caliinrnu)!!. London: Hodder and

Stoughton.
Wade, W. C. 1979. The Titanic: End of a

Dream. New York: Rawson, Wade

Publishers, Inc.
Watson, A., and B. Watson. 1984. Roster of

Valor. Riverside, Ct.: 7C's Press, Inc.

90

Cf)e l^abagcsi of ^Timc

L

he Woods tinle Oceanographic InstHutinn has
received many inquiries concerning the possible
presence of human remains on the Titanic. Although
exceptions might be possible under unusual conditions,
it can generally be assumed that no trace of the
Titanic's victims, even of those entombed in her hull,
will ever be found. Given the immediate effects of
scavengers and the long period of time elapsed since
the ship's sinking, the decomposition of the bodies can
be expected to be complete.

A related question concerns the state of
degradation of food carried by the Titanic. If kept from
scavengers, as might occur in the ship's refrigerators, the
microbial decomposition of vegetables, meats, and
other foodstuffs will proceed at a pace dictated by the
immediate environmental conditions. In all likelihood,
most organic materials are long gone. This prediction is
based on expenments in which solid organic materials
were placed on the seafloor, protected from scavengers,
and their degradation studied.

Some foodstuffs, such as cheese, however, are
protected from decay by the very microbial activity that
starts the degradation process. If kept in boxes, it may
have changed little over the extended time period. The
microbes that turn milk or whey into cheese produce
either highly acidic or highly alkaline conditions, both of
which protect these highly proteinaceous foodstuffs
from further spoiling.

Wine is another product of microorganisms with
alcohol acting as the preservative. Here the interesting
question is: what happened to those wine bottles that
can be seen in some of the Argo photographs'! Glass

can withstand very high pressures, so the corks
probably were pushed in before breaking could occur.
If the air space in the bottle had been large, the cork
will have been pushed all the way in, allowing seawater
to enter and equalize the pressure. If, on the other
hand, the air space had been small, the cork may have
moved just a little bit, still keeping a tight seal between
wine and seawater. This wine may still be drinkable and
possibly of excellent quality, the normal aging process
being slowed down during the 73 years of deep-sea
storage at about ^G'F. A cheap wine (not to be
expected on the Titanicj commonly retains much
microbial activity because of its high sugar content. In
time, the results are vinegar and carbon dioxide, the
latter being dissolved in the wine because of the high
pressure. On retrieval, the corks of such bottles will
blow out as from an unsecured champagne bottle.

Is there any scientific value in looking at the
foodstuffs that might be found on the Titanic;* Hardly.
There are no data points between the time of sinking
and now, and the exact original composition and
condition of the materials are unknown. The cost ot
retrieving and studying such materials from the Titanic
would be much greater than the cost of a well-planned
and scientifically sound experimental study on the
decomposition of various organic matenals under deep-
sea conditions.

Holger W. jannasch,

Senior Scientist,

Biology Department,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,

Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

The Olympic and Britannic

T,

he Titanic was not an only child. She had two sisters,
one older and one younger. The Olympic completed
her maiden voyage exactly W months before the Titanic
went down. She was a great success, as /. Bruce Ismay,
president of International Mercantile Marine wrote:

Everything on board the ship worked most
satisfactorily and the passengers were loud in
their praises of the accommodation and table.

During World War I, she served as a troop
transport, carrying more than 200,000 troops in the
course of the war. She also had the distinction of sinking
a German submarine by ramming it.

After the war she was converted to oil-fired
propulsion, and was able to cross the /Atlantic at better
than 27 knots. She remained quite popular, crisscrossing
the Atlantic uneventfully until May of 1934.

The Nantucket Lightship Incident

The Nantucket lightship, number 117, had an
all steel hull and an immense pilot house forward, f-ier

lamps were 1,000 watt and her beacon was 16,000
candle power. . . . Diesel engines generated her power,
light, refrigeration and heat. Her fog whistle was an
electric aero-oscillator, which carried up to 12 miles.

On the morning of May 15, 1934, while a
heavy blanket of fog shrouded the northeastern
part of the United States, the crewmen on the
Nantucket went about their usual
duties. . . .Eleven men stationed on a ship going
nowhere, sending out a radio beam and heanng
the fog whistle every few minutes. . . .Although not
a ven/ exciting pastime, the lightship's function
was a very important one.

.At 4:30 a.m., ship's time, some 130 miles
away from the Nantucket's position, the R.M.S.
Olympic, en route from England to New York,
steamed ahead — her screws turning over at 70
rev()/ut/(ins or 19-20 knots. The liner had left
Southampton six days prior with Captain /. W.
Binks in command. Captain Binks was serving out
the final year of his career and looked forward to
his retirement in six months. This was the tilth
voyage of the year for the Olympic and Binks had
been with the ship since 1932. At 4:55 a.m., a

91

(. ross bearing was taken on Seal Island and by
'»;5 /, the liner was less than 25 miles from the
Nantucket lightship. Her speed remained the
same.

At ;0:56 a.m.. while the Olympic was still
Uvo miles distant from the Nantucket's position,
things began to happen. The White Star Liner's
speed was cut down to 60 revolutions (lb knots)
and in the distance, the fog signal I'rom the
lightship could he heard. The Olympic's heading
was changed 10° to port. It would he later noted
in a memorandum by a lighthouse superintendent
that ". . . the construction of the 55 Olympic's
bridge with houses, wind breaks, et cetera, is such
that it would appear to be a very poor location
from which to determine the location of sound,
especially if the sound was faint." The ship
steamed onward, with her own fog horn sounding
off with its heavy throaty voice.

Suddenly there was a call to the Olympic's
bridge. "Lightship, dead ahead!", screamed the
lookout in the crow's nest. In a scene that might
cause one to recall a similarity to that which took
place on the Titanic in April of 1912, the liner's
engines were immediately reversed, and water-
tight doors were closed. It was 1 1:04 a.m. and
precious seconds would slip by before the liner's
progress through the water would be arrested. The
distance to the lightship was too close and the
inevitable was about to happen.

Aboard the lightship, action was already
taking place as alarms were sounded, including
the nnging of the large bell on the forepeak and
officers and crew scampered to don life-jackets
and rushed pell-mell to launch the lifeboat — but it
was too late. There was a tremendous crash and
all 46,000 tons of the Olympic smashed the side
of the small lightship, moored helplessly to its
position. The giant liner's bows sliced through the
engine room of the smaller vessel and parted the
ship in two — (he stem sliding below the waves
instantly with its heavy engines, generators, etc.,
weighing it down. At 1 1:06, the Olympic, having
covered nearly two miles since first hearing of the
Nantucket's fog horn, came at last, to a standstill
on the calm, fog-shrouded Atlantic.

The Olympic's crew rescued four survivors
from the Nantucket, Captain Braithwaite, First
Officer Mosher, the radio operator, /. F. Perry and
one oiler, L. V. Roberts. Three bodies of other crew
members of the lightship were also recovered by
the Olympic.

— reprinted from The Titanic
Commutator

After this disaster, the Olympic faced another
trial. Before she had smashed into the Nantucket
lightship, she had developed a crack in her machinery
requinng a new crankshaft. Repairs would have been
prohibitively costly, and on October 1 1, 1935, she set
out on her final voyage, for the scrapyards.

The Britannic

Like her famous sister, the Britannic had a short and
tragic life. Although she incorporated improvements
similar to those of the Olympic fshe could float with
any 6 compartments flooded), the Britannic sank in a
similar manner to the Titanic.

The ship never saw the passenger trade. When
World War I broke out she was still being fitted out, and
she was commandeered in 1915 as a hospital ship, tier
hull was painted white, and large red crosses were
painted on her side. At night a red cross composed of
300 electric lightbulbs was hung between the first and
second funnels. So equipped, her route took her
between the Dardanelles and England, ferrying
wounded from the disastrous campaign at Calipoli. In
her first five voyages, she carried 15,000 wounded men
home.

On 21 November 1916, the Britannic either hit
a mine or was torpedoed off Athens. Struck on the
starboard side near the bow, she went down in 55
minutes. The captain tried unsuccessfully to drive the
ship into shallow water, thus grounding her.
Nonetheless, most passengers and crew survived, the
majority of the casualties occurring when lifeboats were
swept back into the propellers, which rose out of the
water as the bow sank.

In December of 1975, Captain Jacques
Cousteau located the Britannic and visited her by
submarine. — FL

The Titanic (left) and Olympic in the fitting-out basin of the builder, hiarland and Wolff. (Harland and Wolff photo courtesy
Charles Ira Sachs/ONRS)

92

Selected Titles from Cambridge

THE ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR OCEAN

Sir George Deacon, F.R.S.

"This book reflects [Deacon's] fascination with . . . both the scientific issues and the
history of exploration of the Southern Ocean. Deacon's text is very clear: he explains
difficult technical matters simply and authoritatively, and the reader is privileged to
share his enthusiasm and understanding of the subject . . . [A]n excellent first volume in
the new series . . . [and] a fitting memorial to one of Britain's most influential natural

scientists!' — New Scientist

Studies in Polar Research

1985 25410-8 Cloth $24.95

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ECOLOGY OF SEAWEEDS

Christophers. Lobban, PaulJ. Harrison and Mary Jo Duncan

This textbook explores the physical, chem.ical, and biological factors that affect the growth

and distribution of seaweeds; examines how they are influenced by environmental factors;

investigates how they interact with other marine life; and discusses how this knowledge can

be applied to the cultivation of commercially useful species.

1985 '26508-8 Cloth $44.50

THE BACKGROUND OF ECOLOGY

Concept and Theory

Robert P. Mcintosh

A critical and up-to-date review of the origins and development of ecology, with emphasis

on the major concepts and theories shared in the ecological traditions of plant and animal

ecology, limnology, and oceanography.

Cambridge Studies in Ecology

1985 24935-X

HANDBOOK OF PHYCOLOGICAL METHODS

Ecological Field Methods: Macroalgae
Mark S. Littler and Diane S. Littler

The first comprehensive treatment of recently developed methodologies in the rapidly advanc-
ing field of marine benthic algal ecology. The book presents both traditional and modem
methods along with limitations of various project-specific examples.
1985 24915-5 Cloth Forthcoming

MARINE TECHNOLOGY IN THE 1990s

H . Char nock and A.M. Adye , Editors

This collection of eleven papers describes some of the more significant developments in

marine technology and assesses their potential for the exploitation of marine resources and

for improved observation of the ocean.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society

1985 30461-X Cloth $54.50'

At bookstores or from

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

32 East 57th Street. New York. NY 10022
800-431-1580 (outside New York State and Canada)

MasterCard and Visa accepted

93

who Owns the Titanic^.

by Dean E. Cycon

I he first images of the TiLinic in her deep resting
place had hardly faded from the evening news on 2
September 1985, when task forces throughout
Europe and America began mobilizing for an
assault of a different kind on the doomed luxury
liner. Their mission was nearly as daunting as that
of the joint U.S./French expedition that located the
remains of the great ship — to dive deeply into
murky, poorly charted realms of jurisprudence, and
explore old and long forgotten treatises hoping to
unlock yet another mystery — who owns the
TiUnic^

If the site of the world's greatest maritime
disaster is to be protected from incursion and
disarray by private salvage companies, the
international community will have to act quickly
and decisively to declare the site a marine
memorial. Until that time, the United States or
another concerned nation could step in and
provide interim protection within the framework of
the existing international maritime regime. For
under present international law, the wreck of the
Titdnic is fair game on the high seas.

The laws of ownership and control over
objects lost at sea have not changed significantly
since they were first formulated on the Isle of
Rhodes and refined by the legislators of Rome and
Greece centuries ago. There are three general
classes of potential claimants to the remains of the
Titanic: (1) the original owners, (2) the successors-
in-interest, and (3) modern finders and salvors.

The original owner of the ship itself was the
White Star Line, a British steamship company. The
company went out of business (as an independent
entity) in 1934, and was eventually taken over by
the Cunard Line, which still operates. Thus, if the
original owner retained any claim to the Titanic, it
would have passed to the Cunard Line. Some press
reports have stated that Cunard representatives
deny that the company has any claim to the
Titanic.

Under admiralty law, the original owner of a
vessel damaged or lost at sea retains title to the
ship until it is passed to another party (called a
successor-in-interest), unless the vessel is deemed
abandoned. Like all commercial vessels, the Titanic
carried hull and protection and indemnity (P&l)
insurance policies that covered all maritime risks.
Standard contracts of marine insurance from the
time of the catastrophe allow an underwriter to
claim ownership of a sunken vessel on full payment
of the insured value of the hull. Assuming the hull
()olicies were paid and the underwriters executed
this option, title to the vessel most probably passed

to the insurance consortia or "clubs" that held the
policies on the Titanic*

The apparent successor-in-interest to these
insurance consortia is Commercial Union Assur-
ance Society, a British company. The company
claims that soon after the accident its predecessor
paid the White Star Line a million pounds sterling
(almost $4 million at the time) to cover the claim.

The largest unanswered question in this re-
gard is whether the original owner (White Star,
now Cunard Line) or its successor-in-interest (Com-
mercial Union) retains any legal interest in the 7/-
tanic, or whether the ship can be deemed aban-
doned.

Lost and Abandoned?

Abandonment, in law, is a relinquishing of control
over property, without any intention of returning to
the property or without performing any acts that
indicate an intention to reassert control. In this
case, evidence of abandonment would include
failure to attempt to locate the vessel since the
sinking, and lack of advertised requests for salvage
bids. More technical evidence of abandonment by
an insurance company might be the failure to
include the hull as an asset on the company's
balance sheet after payment of the hull policy.
Although there are no formal time requirements for
abandonment (since it is the intention, not the time
that is determinative), it appears reasonable to
assume that a 73-year hiatus would suffice for this
purpose. The insurance company will, in all
likelihood, argue that there was never any intention
to abandon control over the vessel, but that it was
technologically impossible to locate and retrieve it
until recently.

This "technological impossibility" argument
is novel and presents one of the most interesting
legal challenges to salvage law since the Rhodians
codified it 900 years before the Christian era. In
essence, the argument will be that it is unfair to
dictate abandonment (an intentional act) where
there is no known means of recovering possession
and control over the lost property. Neither
Commercial Union nor its predecessors funded
research into new salvage techniques or organized
expeditions to locate and reclaim the Titanic,
however. Thus it will probably be determined that
no original owner or successor-in-interest has a
valid claim.

* A parallel situation exists with regard to the cargo
aboard the vessel.

94

Government Actions

Another potential successor-in-interest could be a
government claiming jurisdiction over the area in
which the Titanic now rests. Many nations claim
ownership of abandoned objects lost at sea, or of
objects of historic or archaeological significance on
the seabed within territorial waters. The Titanic, of
course, was lost in international waters where no
such national ownership claim could exist. The
United States House of Representatives is currently
considering legislation (H. R. 3272 — see page 44)
to designate the Titanic an international maritime
memorial; to develop guidelines to govern
research, exploration, and (if appropriate) salvage
activities on the vessel; and to enter into
international negotiations for the same purposes.
The government explicitly disclaims sovereignty or
jurisdiction over the vessel and its cargo, unless
otherwise subject to its jurisdiction. Although the
legislation could be binding on United States
citizens engaged in exploration or salvage of the
Titanic, or on other persons or organizations that
might choose the federal courts of the United
States to litigate a salvage claim, it would have no
effect on nationals of other countries.

An international memorial would require a
treaty, signed and ratified by a majority (or other
percentage) of nations having an interest in
international maritime activity. Such a treaty would
probably take several years to make the ratification
rounds. Even if a treaty could be signed and ratified
it would not necessarily bind non-signatories, as is
the case with the United States and the current
Law of the Sea treaty.

The Law of the Sea treaty contains a
provision (Article 149) calling for the preservation
or disposal of objects of an archaeological or
historical nature "for the benefit of mankind as a
whole," where those objects are located in
international waters beyond the jurisdiction of any
nation. Thus, the framework for an internationally-
recognized marine memorial is already in place.

Until an internationally protected area is set
up, the Titanic is fair game to whomever has the
ability to locate and salvage her. Under ancient and
undisputed rules of admiralty, the first person to do
so will gain exclusive rights to salvage, provided
that party has the capacity (funding, knowledge,
equipment, and so on) to prudently and effectively
perform salvage operations. A number of salvors
and adventurers have stated their intention to do
this. The most persistent would-be salvor is jack
Grimm, a Texas oil millionaire who has organized
three expeditions in recent years to find the Titanic.
Grimm claims that in 1981, his expedition
"photographed" one of the Titanic's giant
propellers. In this author's opinion, since he neither
took possession of the vessel nor began active
salvage on her, Grimm presently does not have any
claim to the Titanic.

Finders Keepers?

What about the Woods Hole Oceanographic

Institution and the French Institute for Research
and Exploration of the Sea (IFREMER)? These two
institutions, working together, actually located the
Titanic. There is no indication that they intend to
salvage the site or claim ownership. Under salvage
law, the occasional or temporary visitor to a site
has no claim to salvage. On its face, therefore, it
would appear that neither the French nor the
American organization has any claim on the wreck.

However, where a party makes a substantial
contribution to a salvage, that party is entitled to a
percentage of the ultimate salvage award. An
award for salvage is generally a varying percentage
of the total value of the recovery, depending on
such factors as the skill of the salvor, the danger
involved, and the time and energy taken in the
successful effort. The award can be made by any
federal district court in the United States or by
national courts in other jurisdictions (depending on
the nationality of the salvor or the nation in which
the salvaged goods are brought ashore).

If it can be demonstrated that the ultimate
salvor (if any) of the Titanic obtained the location of
the vessel either directly or indirectly from the
American/French expedition, a claim for a salvage
share could be made by WHOI/IFREMER on the
basis of their substantial contribution to the
salvage. Further, under another accepted salvage
principle, the owners of the vessels and equipment
used in a charter operation that inadvertently leads
to a salvage situation are entititled to share in the
salvage award given to the contributor. Therefore,
the U.S. Navy and the French government would
be entitled to participate with WHOI/IFREMER in
any salvage share awarded thereto.

As a practical matter, there is only one way
for the United States or any other concerned body
to protect the Titanic pending the institution of
international measures to declare a marine
memorial. The United States or other concerned
organization must take possession and effective
control over the site by stationing a naval or
research vessel above the vessel, and by
performing some activity that will evidence
ongoing control. As an active "salvor" that
government or organization would be entitled to an
exclusive right to occupy and work the site. When
the international community could effectively
exercise jurisdiction over the Titanic, the guardian
could relinquish its control of the site to the
international regime.

Dean E. Cycon is a Researcii Fellow at the Marine Policy
and Ocean Management Center of the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution. He also is an attorney
specializing in coastal zone and natural resource
management and maritime law.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent those of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

95

Salvaging the Titanic:
An Impossible Dream?

by Eleanore Scavotto

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Titanic should remain an
undisturbed memorial to those who perished when
she sank in 1912. This is the position of )ean-Louis
Michel of France and Robert D. Ballard of the
United States, co-chief scientists on the research
vessel Knorr at the time of the discovery. They
oppose any commercial salvage attempts.
Representative Walter B. Jones (D-NC) has
introduced a bill in Congress (see page 44) to
designate the Titanic site a maritime memorial. Thus
the following discussion of salvage techniques does
not imply that the Titanic should be raised, but
rather serves to inform the reader of various
schemes that have been hatched over the years to
raise her and her artifacts.

Lver since the Titanic disappeared beneath a cold,
starlit April night, people have dreamed of salvaging
her. In fact, shortly after the survivors reached New
York, the Astors, Guggenheims, and Wideners, still
convinced that money could transcend the sea,
contracted the Merritt and Chapman Wrecking
Company to raise the Titanic. The salvage company
quickly calculated that the depth of the ocean and
the limitations of their technology made the task
impossible, but considered raising the bodies with
dynamite before abandoning both salvage ideas.

The depth of the Titanic still discourages most
salvagers, and many have already ruled out raising
her. As Captain Andrew Marshall, an official of the
British Salvage Association, puts it, any salvage
operation below 400-600 feet, the operating
threshold for experienced divers, is "fraught with
extreme technical difficulties."

Nonetheless, many treasure hunters and
salvage experts have talked of finding and raising the
ship. Perhaps feasible only in theory, raising the
Titanic could take years, and the enormous expense
would surpass any previous salvage operation. The
necessary underwater equipment could cost
anywhere from $10 million to $15 million; in
addition, the typical operating expenses of a surface
ship like the one used to locate the Titanic would
range between $1 3,000 and $1 5,000 a day.
Refloating a wrecked ship is rarely simple, usually
difficult, and sometimes impossible. Still, numerous
people, hoping that the impossible might, in fact, be
possible, have devised schemes to salvage the
Titanic. For, as people continue to dream the
impossible, technology continues to achieve it.

Unsuccessful Salvage Attempts

In 1966, Douglas Woolley, founder of the Titanic
Salvage Co., in Hertfordshire, England, developed a
$3 million scheme together with some wealthy
Titanic enthusiasts and two Hungarian scientists,
Ambros Balas and Laszio Szaszkoe. Woolley's plan
would have used a bathysphere with mechanical
arms to wrap hundreds of plastic containers around
the Titanic's hull. Woolley hypothesized that passing
an electric current through water inside the
containers would cause electrolysis to occur thereby
breaking the water up into oxygen and hydrogen.
These gases would then buoy the ship gently to the
surface. Although Woolley never obtained the
necessary funding, if he had (and had succeeded in
raising the ship), he would have towed the Titanic
back to Liverpool. Once there, he planned to refit
the famous luxury liner and dry dock her as a
maritime museum.

Another salvage scheme was Jack Grimm's
three-year, multimillion dollar search for the Titanic.
A geologist and Texas oilman, Grimm collaborated
with Mike Harris, a documentary filmmaker from
Florida; William Ryan, a geophysicist from Columbia
University; Fred Spiess, director of the marine
physical laboratory at the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography in California; and a team of
underwater experts.

Grimm hoped to spend the summer of 1980
locating and photographing the Titanic, and then
return in 1981 to salvage the ship. Grimm did not
locate the ship in 1980; but, after the 1981 search,
he claimed his videotapes revealed the ship's
propeller. Since the pictures were murky, however,
critics were skeptical, and Grimm unsuccessfully
explored the site again in 1983.

If Grimm had located the Titanic, the
expedition planned to make a 4-hour descent in the
Aluminaut, a deep-diving submersible owned by
Reynolds International, Inc. With a supply ship
above, the Aluminaut's crew was to have
maneuvered alongside the Titanic and used
blowtorch-equipped robots to cut through the
starboard side of the hull. Grimm's crew wanted to
retrieve the ship's log, her bell, the jeweled edition
of "The Rubaiyat," any possible jewels and other
artifacts. After Grimm heard that the Titanic had
been found in September 1985, he told the
Washington Post that he planned to try again to
salvage the wreck either next year or in 1987.

96

Treasures or Fantasies

By then, the Titanic may have government
protection that would prevent salvagers from
touching it. Even without protection, experts say that
treasure seekers who want to salvage valuables from
the ship may be disappointed. "The stories of great
wealth are fantasies," said John P. Eaton of the
Titanic Historical Society. "There were no claims for
large amounts of jewelry, just the standard express-
liner cargo: most of them were personal claims, $13
million, both for loss of life as well as property. I
believe the only value of the wreck is scientific.
There's probably little that is salvagable."

Eaton, another advocate for protecting the
Titdnic as a memorial to those who died on her, feels
that her "location should be approximately
designated on maps and charts and the area itself
declared an international zone to be administrated
by some United Nations organization, perhaps by a
U.S., British, and Canadian commission."

Recent Salvage Schemes

And although Ballard states that any attempt to raise
the Titanic would be ridiculous, many unique ideas
for raising her have surfaced since he found her.
Tony Wakefield, a salvage engineer in Stamford,
Connecticut, devised a "Vaseline scheme."
Wakefield claims his plan would bring the Titanic
within 200 feet of the surface where she could be
towed to port while still submerged to prevent
corrosion. Wakefield proposes packing 180,000 tons
of petroleum jelly in polyester bags into the hull of
the Titanic. Assuming Wakefield solved the problem
of stuffing these bags into the ship's cavity, he
maintains that the Vaseline would harden and cause
the Titanic to become buoyant and float to the top.

Another salvage plan, even more elaborate
than the "Vaseline scheme," is the brainchild of John
Pierce, a British salvager who helped recover artifacts
three years ago from the Lusitania. His plan, the
"giant iceberg" scheme, involves freezing the Titanic
within a huge iceberg. Pierce theorizes, somewhat
ironically, that the iceberg would buoy the ship up
near the spot where the great iceberg of 1912 sank
her. To do this. Pierce envisions first wrapping the
wreck in a wire net, and then pumping liquid
nitrogen through the net and around the ship.
Neither Pierce's nor Wakefield's plans have gotten
beyond the "thinking cap" stage.

Clive Cussler, the one man who was
successful in raising the Titanic, at least in his novel.
Raise the Titanic, describes some of the problems of
salvaging her. The book states that hidden structural
cracks may split the hull when it breaks from the
seafloor; or then again, suction from the seafloor
may refuse to release its captive of 73 years. If the
ship does break free of the ocean floor and begins
rising to the surface, any air that has been pumped
into her interior would expand as the pressure of the
sea lessens, and could crack the hull if not carefully
bled. Even if this did not happen, towing the Titanic
back to port presents innumerable difficulties.
Despite such problems, some techniques have been
successful on other ships, though not on any as deep
as the Titanic-

The Titanic as seen in the film version ot Clive Cussler's Raise
the Titanic. (Photo courtesy of John Hollis Collection)

Ideas Successful on Other Ships

One successful salvage technique involves the use of
compressed air. When the interior of the ship is "de-
watered" by pumping air in and thereby forcing
water out, the wreck should begin to rise. Since the
risk of the hull fracturing as a vessel like the Titanic
rises is great, another method, the pontoon plan,
might be more feasible. In this plan, pontoons are
flooded, sunk, and then pinned on both sides of the
wreck. When securely positioned, the pontoons are
blown up with compressed air, and, at least
theoretically, buoy the ship to the surface. However,
the difficulty of tying pontoons onto the Titanic
could seriously hinder this plan.

Another salvage theory, used successfully in
1964 to raise the seagoing barge Lumberjack from
Humboldt Bay in California, is injection of
polyurethane foam. With a surface ship anchored
over the Titanic, salvagers could shoot the two basic
urethane components through a long, long hose into
the ship's superstructure. When pressurized
polyurethane comes out of the hose, the sudden
decrease in pressure creates a froth of millions of
tiny bubbles of urethane which fill the empty hull.
Finally, the urethane foam cures into a rigid, cellular
material, each cubic foot of which weighes 2 pounds
and displaces 64 pounds of seawater. An advantage
of this theory is that the foam seals small openings in
the wreck's structure.

Although the polyurethane foam technique is
feasible for a ship thousands of feet closer to the
surface than the Titanic, the problem of attaching the
hose from a surface ship to a dispensing unit 13,000
feet below on the seafloor, and then aiming it
strategically into the Titanic diminishes its feasibility.
Other traditional salvage ideas, such as tide and
mechanical lifts along with water ballast, are surely
too sedate to raise a ship as arrogant as the Titanic.

The Future of the Titanic

The sinking of the unsinkable Titanic showed that
the impossible is sometimes possible; assuming.

97

then, th.if it might be possible to salvage the T/f.inK ,
either with one ot the mentioned tec hniques or with
a technique not yet conceived, the moral question
ol whether she should be salvaged remains.
Perhaps those people with the most
tec hnically advanced or farfetched salvage ideas, or
those with the most money, will not decide whether
or not the Titanic should or can be salvaged. The
decision may be left to the ocean, with its capricious

storms and infinite power. For as the Titanic taught
us, vvvn the best technology is no match for the
dark depths of the ocean.

Licjnorv StJVDtlo is Lditorial AssisUnt .1/ ()c (mmus, publislit'd
by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

'Cap, They Got Her'

by Captain R. J. Bowen

I o be master of the ship that found the R.M.S.
Titanic was quite a privilege, and I doubt that I will
have such an adventure again. The long days of little
sleep, delicate shiphandling, radio traffic, fog, and
rough seas made Knorr's voyage 1 1 5-3 perhaps the
most difficult and demanding one yet for me. Being
a "shipdriver" was the easy part; it's the other hats I
wore — hotel manager, diplomat, tour guide, and
psychologist — that wore me down. I'm lucky that
the Knorr has the best ship's crew on any research
vessel, and they are the people who really keep the
ship at sea, voyage after voyage.

Finding the Titanic tested the combined
talents of all hands: the deck gang's ability to launch
and recover delicate equipment in rough weather;
the stewards' ability to feed and service 46
personnel; and the engineers' ability to keep the
"lights burning and the gears turning" day after day.

Geology and Titanic Legs of the Trip

Voyage 1 15 began in Woods Hole on 17 |une 1985
with Mike Purdy directing the first two legs for the
Geology and Geophysics (G & G) department. The
first 22-day leg was an expedition working with OBH
buoys, deep explosive sound sources, and the strata
array, from Woods Hole to San |uan, Puerto Rico.
The second leg continued the G & G's work from
San juan to Ponta Delgada, Azores. At Ponta
Delgada, the G & G group disembarked and 23
personnel in Bob Ballard's Deep Submergence
Laboratory (DSL) group joined the ship. The third leg
1 15-3, departed Ponta C)elgada on 17 July 1985 on
the heels of a tropical storm.

The ship proceeded west-northwest to the
site of the R.M.S. Titanic, which foundered
approximately 41.8 degrees North, 50.2 degrees
West. Discussion on the messdecks began to get
more lively, as everyone offered their opinion of the
probability of finding the wreck, and what condition
it would be in. Every deep-sea seaman has at one

time or another read about the disaster, and
speculated on the chances of ever finding the wreck.
Over the 73 years since she went down, the Titanic
has probably become the most famous ship to ever
sink. She was truly a "titanic" ship, 882 feet long,
45,000 tons, with a speed of 25 knots — a vessel any
shipmaster would give his eye teeth to command.
The sinking of the Titanic held all the drama of a
classic sea story, and the mystery of her location
perpetuated her fame. Whether or not her discovery
will diminish the mystery and awe that surrounds her
is uncertain.

The Search Begins

Upon arriving at the search site, a network of
acoustic transponders used to navigate Argo and
ANGUS was dropped in place, and the difficult work
of precisely maneuvering the Knorr began. Weather
conditions were very good the first few days, and did
not really worsen until we actually found the wreck.
Based on previous targets picked up by the French
research vessel Le Suroit, the Argo television/side
scan sonar sled was towed back and forth over
selected parts of the search area. We towed the
Argo camera for several days, "mowing the lawn" of
the search area with little result. A TV monitor was
rigged in the ship's library for the off-duty crew to
watch, and night after night we watched mud, sand,
and an occasional fish. We were still quite fascinated
by the TV images, and, at times, would watch for 3
or 4 hours hoping to see some debris pop up on the
screen.

The Control Operation

During the Argo operations, we maneuvered the
Knorr from the van on the main deck which served
as the main control area. By pushing a button on the
bridge, we transferred actual joystick control of the
ship's cycloidal propulsion to the van. A duplicate
set of joysticks and associated instruments were in

98

the van, and one person could maneuver the ship
there, aided by a science party navigator who
monitored data reception from the bottom
transponders in the navigation net.

After several hours on the controls, a pilot's
concentration can diminish with tedium, and, for this
reason, several of the deck officers and M. Bernard
Pillaud of the French IFREMER group took turns at
the controls. This system of control worked superbly,
with navigation, control, and communications
perfectly integrated throughout the operation. Many
of our old shipmates from past voyages were in the
scientific party, and this made for a very efficient, yet
casual, working relationship. One of WHOI's great
strengths in sea-going operations is the excellent
cooperation of the ship's crew and scientific party in
working toward a specific task.

The Discovery

About the fifth night of towing the Argo, I was off-
duty and had spent around 4 hours watching the
library TV monitor. Around midnight, I made my
rounds of the ship and decided to turn in for the
night. After dabbling with paperwork for a few
minutes, I turned in at 0045 hours. I had just got to
sleep when the ship's cook, John Bartolomei,
banged on my cabin door with the words, "Cap,
they got her!" As I awoke, I thought, "Now it starts,
dammit, shouldn't have sacked in. It's gonna be an
all nighter tonight!" When the camera hovered over
that first piece of debris, one of the Titanic' s boilers,
the work was really just starting.

We worked non-stop for the next several
days. Our weather window was deteriorating,
problems with the traction winch cropped up, and
all hands were getting a bit worn out. However, the
pictures coming up the wire were getting better by
the minute. When Argo passed the scattered debris
on the seabed and flew over the Titanic's hull,
excitement mounted. Tension also increased since a
wrong maneuver of the ship or Argo would mean
disaster. The worst fear was that we would foul the
Argo sled in the tangled mass of rigging and funnels
on the Titanic. If this had happened, the Knorr
would, in effect, have been anchored to the wreck;
and we would have had to decide whether to risk
losing Argo by hauling back on its winch or whether
to slack away in hopes that Argo would disentangle
itself.

Observing the decks, bridge, and empty
lifeboat davits on the television monitor, I tried to
imagine what it was like the night of April 1 4/1 5 —
the disappointment and sorrow that the ship's
Master, Capt. E. j. Smith, must have felt when his
officers reported that the lower holds and firerooms
were flooding. He knew then that the ship would go
down. Such pride in one's ship doesn't exist in the
American merchant marine today. We tend to view
our ships as merely money-making vehicles, highly
automated and impersonal. Perhaps because ships
today aren't quite so "salty" — with woodwork, brass
fittings, masts and booms, signal flags and steam
whistles — American seamen do not have many
emotional ties to their ships. They serve a few
months aboard one and go on to another bare and
sterile seagoing "plant." Few Americans go to sea

nowadays, and only a few of those who do have
much enthusiasm for what seems a dying profession.
Tankers, containerships, and supply boats don't
quite have the aura about them as the old passenger
liners did.

Preparing To Leave the Titanic Site

The weather remained poor during the final Argoj
ANGUS surveys with rough seas, 35 knot winds, and
frequent rain squalls. On the morning of September
5th, we retrieved the last ANGUS deployment, and
the control van group emerged after 8 hours in the
van to a bright and calm dawn. The last day on
station was spent recovering the transponder net,
and preparing to go home.

On the four days transit to Woods Hole, the
radio traffic never ceased (see page 52). Butch Smith,
R/V Knorr's radio officer, was on the air almost
constantly handling calls from various WHOI,
IFREMER, and Navy officers, not to mention the
endless media traffic. The airwaves, which are
normally filled with merchant ship traffic, would
become oddly quiet as other ships held their traffic
and listened to ours. On ships around the world,
officers and seamen must have said, "Somebody
finally found the Titanic; heard 'em on the radio."

Four generations of mariners have grown up
hearing of the Titanic, and now the mystery of her
location is finally solved. The pictures of the wreck
and debris are fascinating, remarkable, amazing,
whatever you want. To me, though, the best pictures
are still of the Titanic steaming out to sea on her
maiden voyage as the biggest, and most majestic
ship of her day. I hope she remains in peace.

Richard I. Bowen is Master of the R/V Knorr.

Argo:

Capabilities
for Deep Ocean
Exploration

by Stewart E. Harris
and Katie Albers

I o satisfy the needs of the oceanographic and
military communities, the Deep Submergence
Laboratory (DSL) of the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution has developed an unmanned search and
survey vehicle named Argo [Figure 1]. Argo is

99

equipped with a complement of superior sensors for
deep-ocean survey and inspection and is capable of
remaining submerged for days, which dramatically
increases our "bottom-staying power" from that
provided by previous manned and unmanned
vehicles.

Argo is a towed sled capable of operating to
6,000 meters depth. Its tether is a steel armorud,
coaxial cable .68 inches in diameter. Designed to
tow in a manner similar to DSL's Acoustically-
Navigated Geophysical Underwater Survey (ANGUS)
vehicle (see Oceanus Vol. 25, No. 1), Argo weighs
more than 4,000 pounds and operates at altitudes of
20 to 40 meters. When Argo is towed at speeds of
approximately 1 knot, it flies about 100 meters astern
of the ship, achieving a nearly vertical wire angle.
When the vehicle is operated from a versatile ship,
such as the R/V Knorr, we are able to position it very
precisely using only the ship's propulsion system to
maneuver the vehicle on the bottom. Argo has no
independent propulsion capabilities.

While providing mechanical support for the
vehicle, Argo's tether also carries power to the
vehicle and a variety of signals from the sensors on
board the vehicle which are modular subsystems.
This modularity provides flexibility for growth and
ease of maintenance and development. A wide area
TV imaging system is integrated with side-looking
sonar using this technique. This provides
simultaneous broad swath acoustic and optical
images that overlap in coverage and resolution.

Cable Design

Argo's tether is the standard for the oceanographic
community. Its armor package and internal structure
represent a compromise among the requirements for
ruggedness, low rotation, maximum strength, and
long flexure lifetime. This cable has a tensile strength
in excess of 36,000 pounds and provides a usable
bandwidth of 5 megahertz over a 6,000-meter
length. In this case, "usable" means that signal
attenuation is less than a factor of 10,000. A
sophisticated telemetry system allows us to multiplex
the video, sonar, and power into this severely limited
bandwidth.

Imaging Systems

Argo presently carries one forward-looking camera,
one down-looking, and a down-looking telephoto.
These are all carried on the forward end of the
vehicle, as shown in Figure 2. The strobes and
incandescent lights which Argo uses to illuminate the
ocean floor are carried in the after end of the
vehicle. This arrangement is intended to maximize
the horizontal separation between the cameras and
the light sources. Computer simulations have shown
that by increasing this separation, the amount of
backscatter can be significantly decreased. This in
turn increases the altitude from which high-quality
pictures can be obtained. Tests have shown that this
geometry makes it possible to get high-quality
images from an altitude of 35 meters in clear water
using the strobe lights for illumination.

The shape of the imaged area achieved by
Argo's cameras is shown in Figure 3. By using low-

light-level Silicon Intensified Target (SIT) cameras,
our swath capability extends 56 meters at 35-meter
altitudes.

The very high quality of video images
obtained using the horizontal separation of cameras
and light sourc es was verified during tests of the
Argo ( onducted in the North Atlantic during
September of 1985. During these tests good quality
images were obtained in very murky water from
altitudes of 15 meters. Figure 4 is an example of one
of these images. This figure is a photographic still of
a video image, so the resolution is lower than that
available with film, and there is some blurring due to
noise. The latter is emphasized when the video is
frozen into a still image.

In addition, a simultaneous side-looking sonar
provides a lower resolution image of the surrounding
terrain for a distance of 350 meters on each side.
The optical and acoustic images complement one
another: the sonar provides the large geographical
picture while the video provides detail which
facilitates the interpretation of the sonar images.

Surface Support

The real-time image processing system developed by
DSL for use in the Argo system takes advantage of
state-of-the-art digital techniques for image
enhancement to provide improved images,
increasing user and operator understanding.

As each image is transmitted up the wire and
displayed, the user describes the terrain he sees
using a 10,000-frame imaging library to assist him in
standardizing his observations. This library is stored
as still frames on video discs which provide random
access and the potential for mosaic production. On
board video editing capabilities allow production of
hourly, daily, and mission summary tapes in an effort
to reduce the amount of TV data to manageable
proportions.

Equipment for real-time processing and
viewing, as well as for recording for post-mission
processing and archiving, is located in the control
center, which is containerized for easy transportation
and installation on oceanographic vessels.

Three operators are responsible for the
operation of Argo, the winch system, and navigation.
Video, sonar and navigation data are available for
use in the guidance of the ship. Eventually, we hope
to integrate dynamic positioning of the ship, and
finally global positioning navigation into the Argo
control system. Operators also will have access to a
wide variety of other information, including three-
dimensional imaging of Seabeam (a commercial,
highly sophisticated topographical mapping system)
data, real-time displays of vehicle orientation, and a
summary of observations along the track of the
vehicle. In the future, other sensing systems and a
small, tethered, remotely-operated vehicle, lason,
will be integrated into Argo, which will increase its
ability to project man's senses to the bottom of the
sea.

Stewart E. Harris is a Research Specialist with DSL. Katie
Albers is a Technical Writing Consultant with DSL.

100

The

Argo

Technology

Figure 1 . Photo of Argo during tests at the WHOI dock. The
vehicle weighs 2 tons and is 15 feet long, 3.5 feet tall, and 3.5
feet wide. (Photo by William Lange, WHOI).

ARGO '85

SIDE SECTION

JUNCTION
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Figure 3. Below, footprint of Argo's three TV cameras
showing the area seen on the bottom from a 20 meter
altitude.

ARGD ^85

Three Canera Footprini;
20 Meter Altitude

33

Forward-Looking Nornol

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Down-

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Figure 2. Schematic of
Argo showing the
placement of the various
components.

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Figure 4. A video still of an Argo TV image taken during the
Titanic survey.

101

INDEX

VOLUME 28(1985)

Number 1, Spring, Marine Archaeology: Peter Throckmortom, Introduction: M.^rine Arc/weo/ogy-- David R.
Walters, The Terminology — Nicholas C. Flemming, Ice Ages dnd Human Occupation of the Continental Shelf —
Patricia M. Masters, California Coastal Evolution and the La lollans — James B. Richardson III, Prehistoric Man on
Martha's Vineyard — James W. Mavor, Atlantis and Catastrophe Theory — Stephen D. Thomas, The Sons of
Palulap: Navigating Without Instruments in Ocean/a— Avner Raban, Marine Archaeology in Israel— Edward M.
Miller, The Monitor National Marine Sanctuan/—D. L. Hamilton and Roger C. Smith, The Institute of Nautical
Archaeology at Texas A&M — Dean E. Cycon, Legal and Regulatory Issues in Marine /Archaeo/ogy— Charles
Mazel, Technology for Marine Archaeo/ogy— Margaret Deacon, Profile: Sir George Deacon, British
Oceanographer — J. M. Broadus, Concerns: 'Poor Fish of Redondo!': Managing the Galapagos Wafers— Nat B.
Frazer, Concerns: WIDECAST: Eielp for Caribbean Sea Turtles— Book Reviews.

Number 2, Summer, The Oceans and National Security: Paul R. Ryan, Comment — Admiral James L. Holloway
III (USN-Ret.), Introduction: The LJ.S. Navy — A Functional Appraisal— Rear Admiral J. B. Mooney, Jr. (USN),
Naval Research and National Security — Peter A. Mitchell, The Navy's Mission in Space — Robert C. Spindel,
Antisubmarine Warfare — J. J. Martin, Trident's Role in U.S. Strategy — View I — Theodore A. Postol, Trident and
Strategic Stability — View II — Jeffrey S. Duncan, The Tomahawk Nuclear Cruise Missile: Arguments For and
Aga/n5f— Melvin A. Conant, Polar Strategic Concerns — Porter Hoagland III, The Role of the U.S. Coast Guard—
U.S. Department of Defense, Soviet Naval Forces — Paul R. Ryan, Profile: John R. Seesholtz: Oceanographer of
the Navy — Michael MccGwire, History: The Sea and Soviet Maritime Policy — Michael A. Morris, Concerns: The
1984 Argentine-Chilean Pact of Peace and Friendship— Book Reviews.

Number 3, Fall, Beaches, Bioluminescence, Pollution, & Reefs: John W. Farrington, Oil Pollution: A Decade of
Research and Monitonng — Kenneth Nealson and Charlie Arneson, Marine Bioluminescence: About to See the
Light — Frank Lowenstein, Beaches or Bedrooms — The Choice as Sea Level Rises — Paul R. Ryan, The Underwater
Bush of Australia: The Great Barrier Reef — Daniel O. Suman, Marine Science in Cuba — Victoria A. Kaharl,
CAMS— A Think Tank for Global Ocean Prob/ems— Elizabeth Miller Collie, Alcyone: Le Navire Merveilleux—
Paul R. Ryan, Profile: Charles Francis Adams: Fionorary Oceanographer — Edward D. Stroup, Expeditions:
Navigating Without Instruments: the Voyages of the Hokule'a — Sara L. Ellis, Concerns: Whaling, Conservation,
and Diplomacy — Letters — Book Reviews.

Number 4, Winter, The Titanic: Lost & Found: Edward S. Kamuda, Preface: An Ocean of Revelations— Robert
D. Ballard, /nfroducf/on— Paul R. Ryan, The Titanic: Lost & Found (191 2-1985)— P. R. Ryan and Anne
Rabushka, The Discover/ of the Titanic by the French and U.S. Expedition— fral^k Lowenstein, The Titanic's Role
in History— The Titanic Maritime Memorial Act of 1985, the position of the U.S. State Department, and Robert
Ballard's Congressional Tesf/mony— Harold Bride, Bride's Sfory— Ernest "Butch" Smith, Wireless Revisited: The
Radio Room of the R/V Knorr— Edith Russell, '/ Was Aboard the Titanic'— The British Inquiry, The Steamship
Californian Controversy— John C. Carrothers, Lord of the Ca//forn/'an— Eugene Seder, Gill, the Donkeyman's
Tale— Personalities— E. I. Smith, Ismay, Astor, Widener, the Strauses, Guggenheim, Lightoller and Murdock, and
Brown— Carole Hyde, The Dead— 'A Strange Task Stranger'- Holger W. Jannasch, The Ravages of Time— The
Olympic and Britannic— Dean E. Cycon, Who Owns the Titanic^ — Eleanore Scavotto, Salvaging the Titanic: An
Impossible Dream?— Captain R. E. Bowen, 'Cap, They Got Her'— Stewart E. Harris, Argo: Capabilities for Deep
Ocean Exploration— Pau\ R. Ryan, Profile: Robert Duane Ballard: Deep Wilderness Man— Bibliography.

102

mmw

Robert D, Ballard

Deep Wilderness Man

T

he Punic Wars. Robert Ballard
is thinking specifically about the
Second Punic War and the great

by Paul R. Ryan

storm that rose up oft Sicily in
255 B.C., in which 400 Roman
ships returning from a victorious

battle with the Carthaginians off
Cape Bon sank in 1,600 meters
of water. Think of the historical

103

value; think of the scientific
Vcilue; what a triumph tor
underwater technology it wouM
be to tind this long lost fleet.
Wouldn't it be spec tac ular to fly
Argo/U^son over that deep
graveyard and film these wrecks,
whic h likely would be largely
intact. These are some of
Ballard's thoughts after his
spectacular discovery of the
Titonic.

Ballard is a distant relative
of "Bat" Masterson, the Wichita
marshal and gunfighter, and like
this famous ancestor he is
something of a loner, and not
afraid of taking risks. When I first
met him in the late 1970s, he
was hurrying to a Falmouth law
office to make out his will, acting
on a premonition of impending
danger. On a dive shortly
afterwards, Ballard and two
others crashed into a mountain
20,000 feet beneath the surface
of the ocean in Trieste II, a U.S.
Navy submersible. "We ruptured
the float assembly and were
leaking aviation gas," Ballard
recalled. "We dropped our
weights and started up, our eyes
fixecj on the digital computer to
see if the numbers were getting
any smaller. All three of us in the
submersible knew what was
going on — and the damn
computer had the jitters with the
numbers jumping around. We
sweated for about a half hour,
not knowing whether we were
going up, or down, just listening
to the humming and pinging
inside our sphere — it was like
being inside a wrist watch where
you've lost the stem and the
instrument is winding down."
Despite this close call and
another in the French
bathyscape Archimede (a fire),
Ballard has continued to take the
plunge into the deep on many
occasions.

These same
characteristics, a willingness to
take risks and to go it alone,
were crucial to Ballard's success
in finding the Titanic. Few
scientists would embark on a
search of limited scientific
interest with unknown odds
against success. Indeed it was
Ballard's personal dream that
motivated the search, and his
exploring spirit — he is much like
an astronaut. Captain Nemo, and

Lewis and Clark rolled into one.
But his exploits in finding the
Titanic were not without
controversy. His detrac tors tault
him for the way in whic h
information and pictures have
been selec ted for public release.

Home and Away

Between time at sea and running
an active, inventive lab ashore,
this deep wilderness explorer is
always in a hurry — except
perhaps when crafting wooden
cabinets for the modest-sized
century old farmhouse he owns
in Hatchville, a quiet, rural area
of Falmouth, Massachusetts, a 25
minute drive from the Deep
Submergence Laboratory at the
Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution (WHOI).

Once inside his house —
with its beamed ceilings, cast
iron stoves, and heavy wooden
tables — a visitor feels as though
he is on a ranch in Montana. But
the pictures on the walls give
Ballard's occupation away. One
might expect gothic landscapes,
or portraits (perhaps of his
grandfather, the last marshal of
Wichita to be wounded in a
gunfight), but not . . .
submarines. But at 43, Ballard
(his colleagues call him Bob) has
descended into the abyss in
more deep-diving submersibles
than any other person in the
world, including the 75-year-old
Jacques Cousteau.

Historical Interlude

"Like a free balloon on a
windless day, indifferent to
the almost 200,000 tons of
water pressing in on the
cabin from all sides . . .
slowly, surely, in the name of
science and humanity, the
Trieste took possession of
the abyss, the last extreme
on our earth that remained
unconquered. " These words
of Swiss scientist Jacques
Piccard followed his dive on
January 30, I960, to the
deepest spot in the ocean —
35,800 feet down in the
Challenger Deep of the
Mariana Trench.

Only the frequent ring of
the telephone^ in the farmhouse
gives any clue as to the

whirlwind activities of this ocean
s( ienJist. Even befcjre the Titanic
find, his commitments included
television appearances, writing
artic les, lectures, and conducting
other major oceanographic
ex[)editions, not to mention work
with M.irjorie, his wife of 19
years, on the house (she stains
the cabinets and other furniture
Bob builds), and keeping tabs on
his two teenage, hockey-playing
sons. He is not unlil^e a c ircus
juggler, and is the first to admit
to being "something of a ham."

How To Catch A Porpoise

The performer in Ballard can be
traced back to his days as a
porpoise trainer at Sealife Park in
Hawaii, where he gave 5 shows a
day, 6 days a week, for
audiences of 5,000 or more. "I
had to do a lot of acting and
improvisation to keep the shows
from being dull." He quickly rose
to being chief porpoise trainer,
an activity he nc:)w finds useful in
raising his children. "Have you
ever tried to catch a porpoise
and spank it? They jump in the
water and run circles around
you. You have to use voice, eye
contact, and love if you want to
work with a porpoise. And love
is the most effective way." He
also feels that it was his Sealife
experience that helped him
develop his writing talents (see
the December, 1985, issue of
National Geographic).

Ballard first went to
Hawaii to do graduate work in
oceanography after getting his
B.S. degree from the University
of California. "A Summer of '42"
baby, ne Robert Duane Ballard
in Wichita, Kansas, the family
(mother, father, older brother
and younger sister) moved while
Bob was still young to the West
Coast. His father soon became
one of the chief engineers in the
Minuteman program.

"It was my father who
taught me to take charge of my
life. I really believe that a person
can be what he wants to be.
Although I was brought up as a
Lutheran, I became an
existentialist. As an
undergraduate, I was very goal
oriented. I still am. You had to
make it on the football and
basketball team; you had to get
that girl to like you; later, you

104

had to get the Ph.D."

To gain the goals was a
matter of discipline, a word that
Ballard likes. "I respect discipline.
It boils down to predictive
behavior. In my business, you
have to rely on the discipline of
others. I got my early
indoctrination to discipline in
sports, later in the military."

Ballard, who went through
the R.O.T.C. program at the
University of California, was first
commissioned as a lieutenant in
the Army, serving in intelligence.
But when the Vietnam war came,
he transferred to the Navy. In the
early sixties, while still an
undergraduate, his father (then a
high official in North American
Aviation) got him a job in the
Ocean Technology Section,
where he worked on designing
submersibles.

From 1967 to 1970, while
still in the Navy, Bob continued
to pursue his graduate
education, but was abruptly
assigned to the Office of Naval
Research in Boston as
Oceanographic Liaison Officer.

"My wife and I drove from
the West Coast with a check for
$1,000 taped under the
dashboard," he recalled. Part of
his duties was to come
periodically to Woods Hole,
where he established a link with
the Alvin group, a tie that soon
exposed him to the twin
pressures of celebrity and the
ocean depths. Bob is the first to
stress, however, that he is just
one representative of many
people involved in the
development of submersibles,
both manned and unmanned.

Early Dives

Although Ballard has traveled
with his family to the far reaches
of Vermont and New Hampshire,
his main acquaintance with the
New England landscape is
uniquely different. Many of his
early dives were in the Gulf of
Maine, and later he explored
extinct volcanoes along the New
England Seamounts, a chain of
ancient submarine mountains
extending 960 miles southeast
from the coast. There are more
than 30 major peaks along the
chain, some of them rising two
and a half miles above the sea
floor — twice the height of Mt.

Washington (the highest peak in
the White Mountains of New
Hampshire) and comparable to
major peaks in the Alps. None of
the seamounts, however, come
within a half-mile of the sea
surface. Bob tells of one warm,
clear and bright New England
afternoon when he and Larry
Shumaker, then head of the
Alvin group, cast off the mooring
lines:

"As we slipped below the
surface, I glimpsed a translucent
jellyfish drifting past the view
port, its stinging tentacles
dangling down several feet. It
was the first living organism in
the column of water we would
descend through to the bottom.
That column, illuminated by the
glow oi Alvin' s lights, holds a
diversity of species, and each
individual creature contributes to
the nutrients that eventually fall
to the bottom. Waste material
and the very tissues of the
animals and plants when they die
all drift downward. It is estimated
that at least 30 percent of the
ooze making up much of the

ocean bottom is skeletal
material — the remains of
creatures that lived at higher
levels. A white tip shark, another
inhabitant of the column of
water, materialized outside the
view port, silently scouting A/v/n
for a few moments before
swimming away."

Ballard has compared the
view from a submersible to
standing with your toes against a
tree, viewing in detail the nature
of its bark. The observations only
have significance if you have
determined beforehand the type
of tree you are looking at and its
relationship to the rest of the
forest.

"Alvin dropped quickly
through the water, soon reaching
a descent rate of a hundred feet
per minute. The light outside
faded gradually into deeper and
deeper blues; the water pressure
doubled and then doubled
again. Just 15 minutes into the
descent, Shumaker switched on
the glowing red cabin lights
because the darkness had
become absolute.

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105

"As Larry and I descended
deeper through our column ot
water, we began to encounter
more creatures ot the deep sea.
The animals ot the middle
depths and the ocean bottom
often look like monsters, but
many are only a tew inches in
length. Because ot the cold and
lack ot tood, most animals
remain small. Bottom dwellers
generally grow slowly and live to
older ages than do animals in
other parts ot the oceans. Some
flexible corals, for instance, may
take a score or more years to
grow only a couple of inches.

"The echo on our sonar
indicated that we were
approaching bottom, at a little
more than 12,000 feet. Larry
released one of the heavy
weights on the side o\ Alvin, and
our descent slowed. Soon, in the
spray of lights under the
submersible, I could see the
ocean floor slowly coming closer,
seeming to rise toward us, rather
than our sinking to it. Pumping
ballast in final adjustments, Larry
settled us softly down on the

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bottommori' than two miles
l)elow the surlac e. A cloud of
sediment stirred by our landing
swirled [)ast the view port and
slowly dissipated, pushed by a
gentle bottom current running
down the slight slope we were
on. When the silt had finally
settled, I looked out on a typical
panorama of a floor in the ocean
depths.

"In all directions stretched
fine bottom sediment, a loose
mud composed of materials that
have drifted down from the
surface for millions of years.
Most of the seafloor woHdwide is
composed of similar materials,
but its accumulation is slow —
only about an inch every
thousand years. It is far from
being a dead layer, however. In
fact, the upper few feet of
bottom ooze support a surprising
amount of life. As I looked
through the view port, I saw
several purple holothurians, or
sea cucumbers, inching along the
bottom. These primitive
creatures vacuum the ocean
floor, drawing sediment into their
eight-inch-long bodies and
gaining nourishment from the
nutrients there. They leave long
meandering trails in their wake,
redepositing the sediment on the
floor.

"Larry and I then began to
cross the floor of the Atlantic
Ocean on our way to explore the
soaring undersea mountain that
was our goal. As we began to
climb the steep slope of the
mountain, we passed a jumble of
large, round boulders that
seemed completely out of place.
Larry asked me how they had
gotten there and I explained that
during the last Ice Age — some
12,000 years ago— huge glaciers
bulldozed the land, scouring the
earth and picking up rocks and
other debris. The powerful
grinding action of the glaciers
gradually smoothed and rounded
the rocks, and carried them
eventually to the sea. There,
great icebergs broke off from the
glaciers — just as they do now in
Greenland and Antarctia — and
drifted on the surface. Eventually
they melted and dropped their
load of boulders. The rocks we
were viewing might have come
from various parts of North

America that were covered with
ice.

"Larry and I were now
nearing the top of the volcano
we had been c limbing. Its flanks
were composed of lava probably
tens of millions of years old. At
the top of the volcano, Larry
spotted a massive outcrop that
was covered with manganese.
Using A/v/n'.s mechanical arm, he
reached over and rubbed off the
black coating, revealing a light-
colored substance that turned
out to be stony coral. Obviously,
at some point, perhaps 150
million years ago, this volcano
was much closer to the surface,
where coral reefs could flourish.
But the volcano eventually
subsided to a level where
sunlight no longer stimulated the
coral growth, and so it died out.
We had reached the topmost
pinnacle of the mountain, and
decided to return to the surface.
Quickly, the rumpled top of the
volcano receded, and soon we
were surrounded again by black

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106

water. Slowly, imperceptibly,
black yielded to blue as we left
the realm of the deep and,
cramped and cold, I suddenly
longed tor the warmth and
brightness ot that New England
afternoon."

The World Series

That was a "routine" dive for
Ballard, not one of what he calls
his "World Series dives," such as
those made during Project
FAMOUS (French-American
Mid-Ocean Undersea Study) in
1973 and 1974. "Then the whole
world was looking on, and I was
terrified." Not about the dives,
although there is always a risk,
but about the science. "We had
finally convinced the scientific
community that the deep-diving
submersible was a creditable tool
and the National Science
Foundation had subsequently
laid out several million dollars to
explore the antics of the live
earth along the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge rift valley. We had to
prove our contentions. Up to this
point, many scientists thought
that the use of deep
submersibles would never
amount to anything scientifically
in relation to the cost expended.
We were diving on the axis of
the Mid-Ocean Ridge, thought to
be the origin of the seafloor."

What was it like during
those World Series dives? Ballard
reports that he switched "into a
machine mode. All my training
just took over and I reported
what I saw. Not unlike a robot."

The results of those
successful dives are now history.
Ballard, in addition to
participating in many of the dives
(he made the first two) also
gained his Ph.D. from the
University of Rhode Island in
June of 1974. "It was like turning
on a light switch. People who
hardly noticed me before
suddenly began paying attention
to what I had to say." His thesis
(on "The Behavior of the Margin
of North America During
Continental Separation") was
based on information gleaned
from 40 dives in Alvin in the Gulf
of Maine. Dr. Ballard was soon
transferred from the Alvin group
to the Department of Geology
and Geophysics at Woods FHole,

where he came under the wing
of two friends from his California
days. Dr. K. O. Emery and Dr.
Elazar Uchupi.

Soon he was Chief
Scientist on many diving cruises.
"This is the greatest excitement
of all. You are like a symphony
conductor, orchestrating ships,
submarine, some 250 people. All
the machinery and people are
tuned to do something. There's
the brass section, the
woodwinds — they all have to do
it right. And you have to make
them do it."

Another of Ballard's
World Series dives came in the
Spring of 1 977 in the Galapagos
Rift area of the Pacific. The rift,
some 220 miles northeast of the
Galapagos Islands, evokes the
memory of Darwin's The Origin
of Species. There, colonies of
marine animals were found
thriving around warm-water
geysers on what was thought to
be a barren ocean floor. This
significant discovery is still being
investigated by oceanographers
who have determined that
specialized bacteria are probably

performing what in surface
waters would be the function of
green plants, chemically
interacting with elements in the
sea and with hydrogen sulfide
dissolved in the volcanic water.
These bacteria, combined with
the life-encouraging warmth of
the water itself, support a unique
food web.

In 1979, Ballard was part
of the group that discovered the
"black smokers" — spires of
sulfide minerals venting hot (350
degree Centigrade), black fluids,
and has since developed a
theory to predict the location of
such vents (see Oceanus, Vol. 27,
No. 3).

According to the theory
developed by Ballard and Jean
Francheteau, a scientist at the
Institute de Physique du Globe de
Paris, in Paris, France, the Mid-
Ocean Ridge is not a simple
seam in the Earth's surface, with
new seafloor spreading out
evenly along its length. Rather,
the ridge is made up of a
number of "spreading cells,"
each of which has varying
amounts of activity along its

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Flexible & convenient computer interfacing and

Software for acquisition, control, & display.

m

107

length and is set off by faults
running across the axis of the
ridge.

The hydrothermal ancl
volcanic activity that take plac e
at the ridge are believed to be
driven by magma c hambers 2 to
3 kilometers beneath the
sea floor— much nearer the
surface than in other regions.
Ballard and Francheteau
hypothesize that the magma
chamber under a given
spreading cell cools and closes
off as it approaches the faults
that bound the cell. Thus, near
the center of the spreading cell
magma will be nearer the surface
than at the edges.

Consequently, the crust
thins and tends to bow upward
at the center of the spreading
cell, allowing for easier escape of
lava and increasing the flow of
heat that drives the
hydrothermal vents. Thus, the
greatest concentration of
hydrothermal vents and volcanic
activity would be expected
where the ridge bows upward —
that is, at the highest point along
the length of the spreading cell.
Similar theories have been
proposed by other scientists to
explain changes in activity as one
looks across the ridge, but
Ballard's and Francheteau's
emphasis on topographic high
points and spreading cells along
the ridge represents a major
advance in scientific thinking
about Mid-Ocean Ridge geology.
Although many of the
discoveries leading up to this
theory were made with Alvin,
Ballard hopes to test it this winter
by using Argo to examine a
lengthy, continuous portion of
the ridge — a feat not readily
accomplished using /A/v/n.
Whether unmanned
submersibles like Argo/lason
eventually replace Alvin and
other manned submersibles
completely is a matter of
conjecture. At this point Alvin is
still the workhorse of the
scientific community, and Ballard
hopes to use it to explore the
Titanic next summer.

In July of 1985, Ballard
was one of four distinguished
scientists to receive a Secretary
of the Navy Research Chair in
Oceanography, carrying a
stipend of $800,000 for research.

His Titanic discovery
brought Ballard and his wife an
invitation from the President of
the United States to attend a gala
dinner in November of 1985 for
Prince Charles and Princess
Diana.

As we have seen, Ballard
is a man who wears many hats.
He also is something of an
entrepreneur, having established
a business (with the Navy's
blessing) in 1983 to market Argo/
/dson-like vehicles to
government-approved clients.

Historical Interlude

"The only other place
comparable to these nether
regions must surely be naked
space itself, far beyond the
atmosphere, between the
stars, where sunlight has no
grip upon the dust and
rubbish of planetary air. In
the blackness of space, the
shining planets, comets,
suns, and stars must be
closely akin to the world of
life as it appears to the eyes

The University of
Rhode Island

Graduate

Program in

Marine Affairs

M.M.A./M.A.M.A.

Areas of Concentration:

• Marine Policy/Ocean Law

• Coastal Management

• Maritime Transportation

• Fisheries Law/Management

For Information, Contact:

Marine Affairs Program
Washburn Hall
University of Rhode Island
Kingston, R.I 02881
401-792-2596

of an awed human being in
the open ocean half a mile
down." These the words of
William Beebe, a naturalist,
after his record dive in 1934
in a steel bathysphere that
was lowered to a depth of
3,028 feet off Bermuda.

Many people compare
the deep-submersible
expeditions with the space
program. And Ballard does feel
that he hurls himself into another
world. "The Alvin is our space
module, just like Eagle was Neil
Armstrong's, but, in many ways,
the ocean floor is more hostile
and stranger than the moon. You
can walk around and explore the
moon's surface directly. Down in
the ocean it's totally dark. The
temperature is nearly freezing,
and the pressure outside the
Alvin is tremendous. So, in a
way, when we dive into inner
space we travel to another
planet."

In the years ahead, Ballard
does not visualize people
inhabiting the ocean floor: "Who
would want to live in that hostile,
sparse desert?" But he does feel
that one day we will conduct a
Lewis-and-Clark-type expedition
across the deep ocean floor in a
vehicle such as Argo/lason. "\
want to lead that expedition," he
says, his eyes sparkling with a
Captain Nemo intensity. And
then there are all those ancient
wrecks of the Punic Wars to visit.

108

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Ball, Richard, 1968, The Last Voyage of the 'Titanic',

Gazebo Books, Corsham.
Baarslag, Karl, 1935, SOS to the Rescue, Oxford

University Press, NY.
Beesley, Lawrence, 1912, The Loss of the S.S. Titanic,

Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Ma.
Boning, Richard, 1974, Titanic, Dexter & Westbrook,

NY.
Brown, Richard, 1983, Voyage of the Iceberg: The

Story of the Iceberg that Sank the Titanic, Beaufort

Books, NY.
Bullock, Shan F., 1973, A Titanic hiero: Thomas

Andrews Shipbuilder, 7 C's Press, Inc., Riverside,

Ct.
Chapin, Howard Millar, 1913, The Titanic Disaster,

A.E. Johnson & Co., Providence, Rl.
Chippenfield, Joseph, 1959, The Story of a Great

Ship: The Birth and Death of the Steamship Titanic,

Roy Publishers, New York.
Cronin, Anthony, 1981, R.M.S. Titanic, Raen Arts

Press, Dublin, Ireland.
Cussler, Clive, 1976, Raise the Titanic! (fiction). Viking

Press, NY.
Dodge, Washington, 1912, The Loss of the Titanic, 7

C's Press, Riverside, Ct.
Everett, Marshall, ed., 1912, Wreck and Sinking of the

Titanic, L.H. Walter.
Gracie, Archibald, 1973, The Truth About the Titanic,

7 C's Press, Riverside, Ct.
Hoofman, William & Grimm, Jack, 1982, Beyond

Reach: The Search for the Titanic, Beaufort Books,

NY.
Howell, J. A., 1913, The Great Titanic Ship & Its

Disaster, Yew Pine Independent Print, Richwood,

W. Va.
Lightoller, Charles Herbert, 1935, Titanic and Other

Ships, I. Nicholson & Watson, Ltd., London, Eng.
Lord, Walter, 1955, A Night to Remember, Holt,

Rinehart & Winston, NY.
Marcus, Geoffrey Jules, 1976, The Maiden Voyage,

New England Library, London, England.
Marshall, Logan, ed., 1912, Sinking of the Titanic and

Great Sea Disasters, The John C. Winston Co.,

Philadelphia, Pa.
Mauro, Philip, 1912, The Titanic Catastrophe and its

Lessons, Morgan & Scott, London, Eng.
Mowbray, Jay H., 1912, Sinking of the Titanic, The

Minter Co., Harrisburg, Pa.
Neil, Henry, 1912, Wreck and Sinking of the Titanic,

Homewood Press, Chicago, II.
Padfield, Peter, 1965, The Titanic and the Californian,

Hodder & Stoughton, London.
Robertson, Morgan, 1974, The Wreck of the Titan; or.

Futility, 7 C's Press, Riverdale, Ct.
Russell, Thomas Herbert, 1912, Sinking of the Titanic;

World's Greatest Sea Disaster, The Homewood

Press, Chicago, II.

Thayer, John B., 1974, The Sinking of the S.S. Titanic,

7 C's Press, Riverside, Ct.
Tyler, Sidney, 1 981 , /\ Rainbow of Time and Space:

Orphans of the Titanic, Aztek Corp, Tuscon, AR.
Wade, Wyn Craig, 1979, The Titanic: End of a Dream,

Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc., NY.
Walker, John, 1912, An Unsinkable Titanic: Every Ship

Its Own Lifeboat, Dodd, Mead & Co., NY.
Winocour, Jack, ed., 1960, The Story of the Titanic As

Told By Its Survivors, Dover Publications, Inc., NY.

Journal Articles

*, 191 1, Launch of Titanic, International Marine

Engineering 16:281-83.
*, 1911, The Launch of the Titanic. The Engineer

111:575.
*, 191 1, The White Star Liner Titanic. Engineering

91:678-81.
*, 1912, Did the 7/fan;c Sink to the Bottom?. Scientific

American 106:374.
*, 1912, Final Reports of Titanic Inquiries in America

and England. International Marine Engineering

17:372-76.
*, 1912, Foundering of the Titanic. International

Marine Engineering 1 7:198-200.
*, 1912, Loss of the Steamship Titanic. Marine Review

42:156-160.
*, 1912, The British and the American Titanic

Investigations. Engineering News 68:308
*, 1912, The Disaster of the Titanic. Electrical World

59:879-80.
*, 1912, The Lessons of the Titanic Disaster.

Engineering 93:566-67.
*, 1912, The Senate Committee's Report on the

Titanic, and Shortcomings of Wireless at Sea.

Scientific American 106:510.
*, 1912, The Titanic Inquiry. Engineering 93:802-6.
*, 1912, The Titanic Investigation Report. Engineering

Magazine 43:767-69.
*, 1912, The Wreck of the Titanic: Its Effect on

Transatlantic Steamship Routes. Engineering News

67:805-6.
*, 1981, A Titanic Claim: Searching for Titanic

Passenger Ship Wreckage. Oceans 14:59.
Baldwin, Hanson, 1934. R.M.S. Titanic. Harpers: 170-

79.
Bellairs, Carlyon, 1912. The Titanic Disaster.

Contemporary Review: 788-97.
Biles, J. H., 1912, The Loss of the Titanic. The

Engineer ^^3:409-^0.
Carmichael, Colin, 1972, Was Titanic 'Unsafe at Any

Speed'?. Steamboat Bill (Official Journal of the

Steamship Historical Society of America).

Author Unavailable

109

Carrothers, John C, 1962, The TiLinic Disaster.

United Suites Ndval Institute Proceedings 88:57-

69.
, 1967, Lord ol the 'California.' United States

Ncivai Institute.
Culliton, Barbara, J., 1977, Woods Hole Mulls Titanic

Expedition. Science 197:848-49.
Eyman, Scott, 1981, I Took a Voyage on the R.M.S.

7;(an/c Van/cee 45:56-7.
Hart, Eva, 1980. The Titanic Disaster. U.S.A. Today

108:55.
Hohson, Richmond P. 1912, Sea-borne Traffic and

the Titanic Disaster. Engineering Magazine

43:329-40.
Rostron, Arthur H., 1913, The Rescue of the 'Titanic'

Survivors. Scribners Monthly: 354-364.
Smith, Bruce & Slagle, Alton, 1981. The Magnetic

Titanic. Oceans 14:3-4.
Taylor, Andy, 1980. A Texan Named Grimm Hopes

to Find the Titanic, and It's No Fairytale Insists

Ceophysicist William Ryan. People 14:80-2.
Wolfenstein, Martha, 1912. The Lesson of the

Lifeboats. Outlook: 884-86.
Wood, W. J., 1912, Construction of the Titanic. The

Marine Review 42:160-62.

Reports & Documents

U.S. Congress, Senate, 1912, Hearings of a
Subcommitte of the Senate Commerce
Committee pursuant to S.Res. 283, \o Investigate
the Causes leading to the Wreck of the White
Star liner 'Titanic,' 62d Cong., 2d Sess, S. Doc.
726 (#6167), 1163 pp.

U.S. Congress, Senate, 1912, Loss of the Steamship
'Titanic:' Report of a Formal Investigation ... as
conducted by the British Government. Presented
by Mr. Smith, 62d Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. 933
(#6179), 88 pp.

U.S. Congress, Senate, 1912, Report of the Senate
Committee on Commerce pursuant tc:) S. Res.
283, Directing the Committee to Investigate the
Causes of the Sinking of the 'Titanic,' with
speeches by William Alden Smith and Isidor
Rayner, 62d Cong., 2d Sess., S. Rept. 806 (#6127),
92 pp.

Other Sources

Titanic Historical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 53, Indian
Orchard, MA 01 151-0053, publishers of the
quarterly journal The Titanic Commutator.

A look inside the Titanids larder and beverage rooms. Food for passengers and crew for a week.

Fresh meat 75,000 pounds

Poultry 25,000 pounds

Fresh eggs 35,000

Cereals 10,000 pounds

Flour 250 barrels

Tea 1 ,000 pounds

Fresh milk 1,500 gallons

Fresh cream 1,200 quarts

Sugar 5 tons

Potatoes 40 tons

Ale and stout 1 5,000 bottles

Minerals 1,200 bottles

Wines 1,000 bottles

Fresh fish 11 ,000 pounds

Salt and dried fish 4,000 pounds

Bacon and ham 7,500 pounds

Fresh butter 6,000 pounds

Sweetbreads 1 ,000

Ice cream 1,750 quarts

Coffee 2,200 pounds

Jams 1,120 pounds

Apples 180 boxes

Oranges 180 boxes (36,000)

Lemons 50 boxes (16,000)

Hothouse grapes 1,000 pounds

Condensed milk 600 gallons

Grapefruit 50 boxes

Lettuce 7,000 heads

Fresh asparagus 800 bundles

Onions 3,500

Fresh green peas 1 V4 tons

Tomatoes VA tons

Spirits 850 bottles

Sausages- 2,500 pounds

Cigars 8,000

RMS TITANIC

April 14. 1012
LUNOHCON.

CONBOMMt FEBMIER COCKIE LEEKIE

Fillets of Brill

Eoo A lArqenteuil

Chicken A la Maryland

Corned Beef. Vegetables. Dumplings

FROM THE QRILL.

Grilled Mutton Chops

Mashed. Fried a Baked Jacket Potatoes

Custard Pudding

Apple Meringue Pastry

BUFFET.

Salmon Mayonnaise Potted Shrimps

Norwegian Anchovies Soused Herrings

Plain & Smoked Sardines

Roast Sfef

Round of Spaced Beef

Veal a Ham Pie

Virginia & Cumberland Ham

BOLOONA Sausage ' Brawn

Galantine of Chicken

Corned Ox Tongue

Lettuce Beetroot Tomatoes

CHEESE.

Cheshire, Stilton. Gorgonzola. Edam,

Camembert Roquefort. St Ivel.

Cheddar

Ictd draught Munuh Layer Beer Jd. & 6d. a Tankard.

110

The crockery, silver, glasses and cutlery. Electrically-driven machinery on board the Titanic spared
the crew the drudgery of vwashing and drying them all by hand.

Breakfast cups 4,500

Tea cups 3,000

Coffee cups 1 ,500

Beef tea cups 3,000

Cream jugs 1 ,000

Breakfast plates 2,500

Dessert plates 2,000

Soup plates 4,500

Pie dishes 1,200

Beef tea dishes 3,000

Cut tumblers 8,000

Water bottles 2,500

Crystal dishes 1,500

Ice cream plates 5,500

Dinner plates 12,000

Coffeepots 1,200

Tea pots 1,200

Breakfast saucers 4,500

Tea saucers 3,000

Coffee saucers 1,500

Souffle dishes 1,500

Wine glasses 2,000

Champagne glasses 1 ,500

Cocktail glasses 1,500

Liquor glasses 1,200

Salt shakers 2,000

Salad bowls 500

Pudding dishes 1,200

Finger bowls 1,000

Butter dishes 400

Dinner forks 8,000

Fruit forks 1,500

Cargo Manifest R.M.S. Titanic

PORTS OF LOADING: Southampton/Cherbourg/Queenstown.

PORT OF DISCHARGE: New York

SAILING DATE: 10 April 1912. ARRIVAL DATE: 17 April 1912.

cse = case, cs = cases, bis = bales, bgs = bags, bndl = bundle,

bbl = barrel, hhd = hogshead

Tulles = Silk/Nylon netting tor veils or scarfs.

CONSIGNEE

DESCRIPTION OF GOODS

Wakem & McLaughlin.
Thorer & Praetorius.
Carter W. E.
Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co.
Spaulding, A. C. & Bros.
Park & Tillord.

Maltus & Ware.
Spencerian Pen Co.
Sherman Sons & Co.
Claflin & Co.
Muser Bros.
Isler & Cuye.
Hydeman & Lassner.
Retry, P. H. & Co.
Metzger, A. S.
Mills & Gibbs.
Field, Marshall & Co.
N.Y. Motion Picture Co.
Thorburn, ). M„ & Co.
Rawstick & H. Trad. Co.
Dujardin & Ladnuck.
Amer. Exp. Co.
Tiffany Co.

Lustig Bros.
Kuyper P. C. & Co.

Cohen, M. Bros.
Gross, Engel Co.
Wilson, P. K. & Son.
Gallia Textile Co.
Calhoun Robbins & Co.

Victor & Achilles.
Baungarten, Wm. & Co.

1 cse Wine.

3 bis Skins.
1 cse Auto.

4 cs Printers Blankets.

34 cs Athletic Goods (golf clubs)
1 cse toothpaste,

5 cs Drug sundries,
1 cse Brushware.

8 cs Orchids.
4 cs Pens.

7 cs Cottons.

1 2 cs cotton laces.

3 cs Tissues.

4 bis Straw.
1 cse Tulle.

1 cse Tulle.

2 cse Tulle.

29 cs Cottons, 1 cse Gloves.
1 cse Cloves.
1 cse Films.

8 cs Bulbs.
28 bgs Sticks.
10 bxs Melons.
25 cs Mdse.

1 cask China,

1 cse Silver Goods.

4 cs Straw Hats.

1 cse Elastic Cords,
1 cse Leather

5 Pkgs Skins.
1 cse Skins.

61 cs Tulle
1 cse Lace Goods.
1 cse Cotton Laces,
Vi cse Brushware.
1 cse Brushware.

3 cs Furniture.

Speilman Co.
Nottingham Lace Works.
Naday & Fleischer.
Rosenthal, Leo |., Co.
Waken & McLaughlin.

LeemingT., & Co.
Crown Perfume Co.
Meadows, T:, & Co.

Thomas & Pierson.

Amer. Exp. Co.

Sheldon, G. W. & Co.
Maltus & Ware.

Hempstead & Sons.
Brasch & Rothenstein.

Isler & Guye.

Baring Brothers & Co.

Altman, B. & Co.
Stern S.

Arnold, F. R. & Co.
Schieffelin & Co.
American Motor Co.
Strohmeyer & Arpe.
National City Bank N.Y.
Kronfeld, Saunders & Co.
Richard C. B.
Corbel, M. ). & Co.
Snow's Express Co.
Van Ingen, E. H. & Co.
Lippincot, ). B. & Co.
Lazard Freres.
Aero Club of America.

Whitcombe, McGeachim & Co.
Wright & Graham.
Ullmann, |.

3 cs Silk Crape.

2 cs Cottons.
1 cse Laces.

4 cs Cottons.
25 cs Biscuits,
42 cs Wines.

7 cse Biscuits.

3 cs Soap Perfumes.

5 cs Books, 3 bxs Samples,

1 cse Parchments.

2 cs Hardware, 2 cs Books,
2 cs Furniture.

1 cse Elastics,

1 cse Gramaphone,

4 cs Hosiery, 5 cs Books,
1 cse Canvas, 3 cs Prints,
1 cse Rubber Goods,

5 cs Films, 1 cse Tweed,

1 cse Sero Fittings (Syringes),
A quantity of Oak Beams,
1 cse Plants,
1 cse Speedometer,

1 pkg Effects, 2 cs Samples,

8 cs Paste, 4 cs Books,

2 cs Camera and Stand.

1 cse Machinery.

1 5 cs Alarm Apparatus,

4 cs Orchids.
30 cs Plants.

2 cs Lace Collars,
2 cs Books.

53 pkgs Straw.
68 cs Rubber,

10 bags Galls(suspenders?)
1 cse Cottons.

60 cs Salt Powder.

6 cs Soap.

1 7 pkgs Wool Fat.

1 pkg Candles.
75 bis Fish.

1 1 bis Rubber.

5 cs Shells.

1 cse Films.

2 cs Hat Leather, & c.
2 cs Books.

1 cse Woolens.
IOCS Books.

1 bale Skins.

1 crate Machinery,

1 cse Printed Matter.
386 rolls Linoleum.
437 casks Tea.

4 bales Skins.

Ill

1

Arnold & Zeiss.
Brown Brothers & Co.
American Shipping Co.
Adams Express Co.
Lasker & Bernstein.
Oelrichs & Co.
Stacherl, C H. & Co.
Milbank, Leamann & Co.
Vandergrift, F. B. & Co.
Downing, K. F. & Co.

Dublin. Morns & Kornbluth.
Hersog, Simon & Sons.
International Trading Co.

Fitl \ Scoll

Davies Turner & Co.

Sheldon, C. W. & Co.

Ameritan Express Co.
Vandergnlt, F. B. & Co.
Budd S.

Lamke & Buechner.
Nicholas, C. S. & Co.
Walker, C. A.
Adams Express Co.

Wells Fargo & Co.

International News Co.
Vanlngen, E. H. & Co.
Stearns, R. H. & Co.

Downing, R. F. & Co.

Jacobson, lames.

Carbon Machinery Equipment Co.

Sanger, R. & Co.

Fleitmann & Co.

Rusch S. Co. (Rauch?)

New York Merchandise Co.

Blum, I. A.

Tiedeman. T. & Sons.

Costa, F.

Tolson, H. M. & Co.

Matthews, C. T. & Co.

Richards, C. B. & Co.

Tice & Lynch.

U.S. Express Co.

Papa, Chas. & Co.
Bauer, j. P. & Co. (Sauer?)
Rusch & Co.
Mallouk, H.
Bardwill Bros.
Heyliger, A. V.
Peabody, H. W. & Co.
Simon, A. L. & Co.
Wilson, P. K. & Sons.
Manhattan Shirt Co.
Broadway Trust Co.
Prost, C.
Young Bros.
Wimpfhelmer, A. Co.

1 34 cs Rubber.

76 cs Dragons Blood, 2 cs Cum.
3 cs Books.

95 cs Books.
1 1 7 cs Sponges.

2 cs Pictures & c.
12 pkgs Periodicals.

3 cs Woolens.
53 cs Champagne.

1 cs Felt, 1 do Meal,
8 do Tennis balls,

1 do Engine Packing.

2 pkgs Skins.

4 pkgs Skins.

1 cse Surgical Goods,
1 cse Ironware.
4 cs Printed Matter,
1 cse Cloth.

4 cs Printer Matter,

1 cse Machinery, 1 do Picture,
1 cse Books, 1 do Mdse,
1 do Notions, 1 do Photo.
1 cse Elastics, 2 cs Books,

1 box Coll Balls,

5 cs Instruments.

2 parcels Merchandise.
1 case Merchandise.

1 parcel Merchandise.
1 parcel Merchandise.
1 cse Merchandise.
1 cse Merchandise.

4 rolls Linoleum, 1 cse Hats,

3 bales Leather, 5 cs Books,

6 cs Confectionery,

1 cse Tin Tubes, 2 cs Soap,

2 cs Boots.

3 cs Books, 2 cs Furniture,

1 cse Pamphlets, 1 do Paints,
1 cse Eggs, 1 do Whiskey.
10 pkgs Periodicals.
1 Parcel.
1 cse Cretonne (fabric for curtains/

slipcovers) Silk.
1 cse Iron Jacks, 1 do Bulbs.
1 cse Hosiery.
1 cse Clothing.
8 cse Hairnets.
1 cse Silk Goods.
1 cse Tissues.

1 cse Hairnets.

2 cs Silk Goods.

3 cs Silk Goods.

1 cse Silk Goods.

1 cse Cloves.
30 pkgs Tea.

2 cs Books and Lace.

5 cs Books, 1 bag Frames,

1 cse Cotton, 2 cs Stationery.
1 cse Scientific Instruments
1 cse Sundries,

3 cs Test Cords,

1 cse Briar Pipes,

1 cse Sundries,

2 cs Printed Matter.
1196 bags Potatoes.

318 bags Potatoes.
1 cse Velvets.
1 cse Laces.
8 cs Laces.
1 cse Velvet.
18 bales Straw Goods.

1 cse Raw Feathers.

2 cs Linens.

3 cs Tissue.

3 cs Coney Skins, (rabbit)
1 cse Auto Parts.
1 cse Feathers.
3 cs Leather.

Brown Bros. & Co.
Cjoldrier, Morris.
CobI), G. H.

Andallren Ret. Mach. Co.
Sutar, Alfred. (Sufar?)
Amer. Express Co.

Meadows, Thos. & Co.
Urchs & Hegnoer.
Cauvigny Brush Co.
Johnson, j. G. & Co.
ludkins *i McCormick.
Spielman Co.
American Express Co.
Wakem & McLaughlin.
Acker, Merrell & Condit.

Engs, P. W. & Sons

Schall & Co.

N.Y. & Cuba Mail S.S. Co.

DuBois, Geo. C.
Hollander, H.
Van Renssaller, C. A.
Brown Bros. & Co.
Bernard, judas & Co.
American Express Co.
Mouquin Wine Co.
Kanuth, Nachod & Kuhne.

Lazard Freres.

Acker, Merrell & Condit.

DuBois, Ceo. F.

Heidelbach, Ickelheimer & Co.

Brown Bros. & Co.

1st. Natl Bank of Chicago.

Bischoff, H. & Co.

Baumert, F. X. & Co.

Erie Despatch Co.

Calle, B. & Co.

Rathenberger & Co.

Haupt & Burgi.

Sheldon i4 Co.

Percival, C.

Stone, C. D. & Co.

Phoenix Cheese Co.

Petry, P. H. & Co.

Reynolds & Dronig.

Fougera, E.

Munroe, |. & Co.

Austin, Nichols & Co.

1 5 cs Rabbit Hair.
1 1 cs Feathers.

1 cse Tissue

1 1 cs Refrigerating Machinery.
18 cs Machinery.

1 cse Packed Packages,

3 cse Tissue, 2 bbis Mercury,

1 bbl Earth, 2 bbIs Glassware,

3 cs Printed Matter,

1 cse Straw Braids,

1 cse Straw Hats, 1 cse Cheese.

3 cs Hosiery.

3 cs Silk Goods.

1 cse Brushware.

2 cs Ribbons.
2 cs Flowers.

1 cse Gloves.

18 cs Merchandise.
6 bales Cork.

75 cs Anchovies, 1 cse Liquor,
225 cs Mustard.
190 cs Liquor, 25 cs Syrups.

25 cs Preserves,

12 cs Butter, IBcsOil,

2 hhds Vinegar, 6 cs Preserves,

19 cs Vinegar, 8 cs Dry Fruit,
10 bndls of 2 cs Wine.

16 hhds Wine.

185 cs Wine, 1 10 cs Brandy.

10 hhds Wine, 1 5 cs Cognac.
100 cs Shelled Walnuts.

70 bdls Cheese.

20 bdls Cheese, 2 cs Cognac.
1 cse Liquor, 38 cs Oil.

107 cs Mushrooms,
1 cse Pamphlets.
25 cs Sardines, 8 cs Preserves.
50 cs Wine.
6 casks Vermouth, 4 cs Wine.

1 1 cs Shelled Walnuts.
100 bis Shelled Walnuts.
300 cs Shelled Walnuts.

35 bags Rough Wood.
50 bdls Cheese.

5 bdls Cheese.
50 bdls Cheese.
190 bdls Cheese.
50 bdls Cheese.
10 bdls Cheese.
50 bdls Cheese.
30 bdls Cheese.
30 bdls Cheese.
10 bdls Cheese.
15 bdls Cheese.
41 cs Filter Paper.
22 cs Mushrooms, 15 cs Peas,

8 cs Beans, 1 3 cs Peas,
10 cs Mixed Vegetables,
25 cs Olives, 12 bdls Capers,
10 cs Fish, 20 cs Mdse.
25 cs Olive Oil,
14 cs Mushrooms.

Order— 14 cs Factice, 18 do Gum, 14 casks Gum, 225 casks Tea, 3 bis Skins,
4 cs Opium, 3 cs Window Frames, 8 bis Skins, 8 pkgs Skins, 1 cse Skins,

2 cs Horse Hair, 2 cs Silk Goods, 8 bis Raw Silk, 6 pkgs Hair Nets, 200 pkgs Tea,
246 cs Sardines, 30 rolls Jute Bagging, 1961 bags Potatoes, 7 cs Raw Feathers, 10
cs Hatters Fur, 3 cs Tissue, 1 cs Rabbit Hair, 31 pkgs Crude Rubber, 7 cs
Vegetables, 5 cs Fish, 10 cs Syrups, 2 cs Liquors, 150 cs Shelled Walnuts, 15 bdls
Cheese, 8 bis Buchu, 2 cs Grandfathers Clocks, 2 cs Leather.

Holders original Bill of Lading.

19 bis Goat Skins, 15 cs Calabashes, 5 bis Buchu, 4 cs Calabash Bowls,

3 bis Sheep Skins, 2 cs Embroidery, 8 octs(?) Wine, 22 cs Ostrich Feathers,
3 bis Skins, 33 bags Argols, 3 bis Sheep Skins.

This copy of the Tilan/c's manifest was delivered via Registered Mail
on the Cunard Steamship Lines Mauretania in New York on Friday
19Apnl 1912.

112

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• senses t»l me sea, VOI. Zi-.i, l-an I^OU^A iodk m me Lumpit-x ^en^uiy byMtrim wi iiiaiiii<r aiiniiau.

• Summer Issue, Vol. 23:2, Summer, 1980— Plankton distribution. El Niiio and African fisheries, hot springs in the Pacitit,
Georges Bank, and more.

• A Decade of Big Ocean Science, Vol. 23: l, spring 1980— As it has m other maior branches of research, the
team approat h has become a powerful force in oceanography.

• Ocean Energy, Vol. 22:4, winter 1979/8O— how much new energy can the oceans supply?

• Ocean/Continent Boundaries, Vol. 22:3, Fail 1979— Continental margins are being studied for oil and gas

prospects as well as for plate tectonics data.

• The Deep Sea, Vol. 21:1, Wmter 1978-Over the last decade, scientists have become increasingly interested in the
deep waters and sediments of the abyss.

• Sound in the Sea, Vol 20:2, Sprmg 1977— The use of acoustics in navigation and oceanography.

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Papa, Chas. & Co.
Bauer, ). P. & Co. (Sauer?)
Ruich & Co.
Mallouk, H.
Bardwill Bros.
Heyliger, A. V.
Peabody, H. W. & Co.
Simon, A. L. & Co.
Wilson, P. K. & Sons.
Manhattan Shin Co.
Broadway Trust Co.
Prost, C.
Young Bros.
Wimpftielmer, A. Co.

3 cs Test Cords,
1 cse Briar Pipes,

1 cse Sundries,

2 cs Printed Matter.
1196 bags Potatoes.

318 bags Potatoes.
1 cse Velvets.
1 cse Laces.
8 cs Laces.
1 cse Velvet.
1 8 bales Straw Goods.

1 cse Raw Feathers.

2 cs Linens.

3 cs Tissue.

3 cs Coney Skins, (rabbit)
1 cse Auto Paris.
1 cse Feathers.
3 cs Leather.

Austin, Ni( hols & Co.

25 cs Olive Oil,
14 cs Mushrooms.

Order— 14 cs Factice, 18 do Cum, 14 tasks Cum, 225 casks Tea, 3 bis Skins,
4 cs Opium, 3 cs Window Frames, 8 bis Skins, 8 pkgs Skins, 1 cse Skins,

2 cs Horse Hair, 2 cs Silk Goods, 8 bis Raw Silk, 6 pkgs Hair Nets, 200 pkgs Tea,
246 cs Sardines, 30 rolls )ute Bagging, 1961 bags Potatoes, 7 cs Raw Feathers, 10
cs Hatters Fur, 3 cs Tissue, 1 cs Rabbit Hair, 31 pkgs Crude Rubber, 7 cs
Vegetables, 5 cs Fish, 1 0 cs Syrups, 2 cs Liquors, 1 50 cs Shelled Walnuts, 1 5 bdls
Cheese, 8 bis Buchu, 2 cs Grandfathers Clocks, 2 cs Leather.

Holders original Bill of Lading.

19 bis Goat Skins, 15 cs Calabashes, 5 bis Buchu, 4 rs Calabash Bowls,

3 bis Sheep Skins, 2 cs Embroidery, 8 otts(?) Wine, 22 cs Ostrich Feathers,
3 bis Skins, 33 bags Argols, 3 bis Sheep Skins.

This copy of the T;(an/c's manifest was delivered via Registered Mail
on the Cunard Steamship Lines Mauretania in New York on Friday
19 April 1912.

112

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Issues not listed here, including those published prior to Spring 1977, are out of print. They are available on microfilm
through University Microfilm International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106.

• Beaches, BlolumineSCence, Pollution & Reefs, Vol 28:3, Fail 1985— a diverse collection covering marine
s( lence in Cuba, a new v\ind powered (iro|)ulsion system for shifts, and an interdisciplinary oceanographic think tank, as well as
the sub|ects mentioned in the title.

• The Oceans and National Security, Vol. 28:2, summer 1 985— The task of the U.S. Navy, research and national
se( urity, issues surrounding specific weapons and regions, the role of the Coast Guard, and Soviet naval strength.

• Marine Archaeology, Vol. 28:1, Spring 1985— Details of a rapidly expanding discipline, with articles on prehistoric
man on the continental shelf, Atlantis and catastrophe theory, marine archaeology in Israel, and legal and technical issues.

• The Exclusive Economic Zone, Vol. 27:4, winter 1984/85— An assessment of the options open to the United
States in developing its new Exclusive Economic Zone.

• Deep-Sea Hot Springs and Cold Seeps, Vol. 27:3, Fail 1984— The biology, geology, and chemistry of
hvdrothermal vents ,ind sultide seeps. Other artic les on the exploration of vent sites and the funding of oceanographic research.

• El Nino, Vol. 27:2, Summer, 1984 — A comprehensive exploration of the El Nino phenomenon, the oceanic temperature
anomaly blamed for abnormal weather worldwide during 1982 and 1983.

• Industry and the Oceans, Vol. 27:1, Spring, 1984— Positive uses of the oceans, including genetic engineering and
salmon ram hing. Also, an article on marine science in China, and a history of the Naples Zoological Station.

• Oceanography in China, Vol. 26:4, winter 1983/84— comprehensive overview of the history of marine studies in
C hina, including present US -China collaboration, tectonic evolution, aquaculture, pollution studies, seaweed-distribution
analysis, the changing role of the Yangtze River, and the administrative structure of oceanographic programs.

• Offshore Oil & Gas, Vol. 26:3, Fail 1983— Historical accounts of exploration methods and techniques, highlighting
the development of seismic theory, deep-sea capability, and estimation models. Also covers environmental concerns, domestic
energy alternatives, and natural petroleum seeps.

• Summer Issue, Vol. 26:2, Summer 1983 — Articles cover the effects of carbon dioxide buildup on the oceans, the use of
mussels in pollution assessments, a study of warm-core rings, neurobiological research that relies on marine models, the marginal
ice zone experiment, career opportunities in oceanography, and concerns about the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

• Summer Issue, Vol. 25:2, summer 1982 — How Reagan Administration policies will affect coastal resource management,
an acoustic technique for measuring ocean processes, ocean hot springs research, planning aquaculture projects in the Third
World, public response to a plan to bury high-level radioactive waste in the seabed, and a toxic marine organism that could
prcjve useful in medical research.

• Summer Issue, Vol. 24:2, Summer 1981 — The U.S. oceanographic experience In China, ventilation ol aquatic plants,
seabirds at sea, the origin of petroleum, the Panamanian sea-level canal, oil and gas exploration In the Gulf of Mexico, and the
links between oceanography and prehistoric archaeology.

• The Oceans As Waste Space, Vol. 241, Spnng 1981— a debate over the appropriateness of ocean disposal.

• Senses of the Sea, Vol. a. S, Fail 1980— a look at the complex sensory systems of marine animals.

• Summer Issue, Vol. I^-.l, Summer, 1980— Plankton distribution, El Niiio and African fisheries, hcjt springs in the Pacific,
(jcorges Bank, and more.

• A Decade of Big Ocean Science, Vol. 23: 1, spring 1980— As it has m other maior branches of research, the
team approac h has become a powerful force in oceanography.

• Ocean Energy, Vol. 22:4, winter 1979/8O— How much new energy can the oceans supply?

• Ocean/Continent Boundaries, Vol. 22-^, Fail 1979— Continental margins are being studied for oil and gas

prosfU'Cts as well as lor plate tectonics data.

• The Deep Sea, Vol. 21:1, winter 1978 — over the last decade, scientists have become increasingly interested in the
deep w.iters ,ind sediments of the abyss.

• Sound in the Sea, Vol. 20:2, Spnng 1977 — The use of acoustics In navigation and oceanography.