Titanic Hits the Iceberg

Titanic's lookout, Frederick Fleet, spotted an iceberg directly ahead of his ship at 11:40 pm on April 14, 1912. Despite the crew's best efforts, a collision could not be avoided and fatal damage was inflicted on the liner. The iceberg opened Titanic's first five watertight compartments and was her death sentence.

Unsung Heroes: Titanic's Engineers

The other night I watched a program on PBS called Saving the Titanic, which focused on the engineers' valiant efforts to keep the lights on and ship afloat for as long as possible. I was particularly interested because little tends to be mentioned of these unsung heroes. Many of them were entombed in Titanic's bowels as she went down.

The above photograph, taken aboard Olympic, shows 14 engineering officers (numbered) who transferred to Titanic and were subsequently lost. They, along with Chief Engineer Joseph Bell (pictured below at right), along with hundreds of firemen and trimmers stayed at their posts until the end.

Stokers kept up the necessary steam in order to provide the electrical plant with power; the lights subsequently stayed on until minutes before Titanic sank. These men did everything in their power to keep the ship afloat, despite the fatal damage to her hull. All the pumps aboard the White Star liner couldn't save her.

Needless to say, there were tremendous casualties in the Engineering Department. All of Titanic's engineers perished in the disaster, including most of her firemen and trimmers. In fact, of the 316 men listed on the roster, only 72 survived the sinking. Memorials to these men were erected in Southampton and Liverpool.

All of their names are listed below, with the survivors' in bold and italicized.

Abrams, Mr. William

Adams, Mr. R.

Allen, Mr. Henry

Allen, Mr. Ernest Frederick

Allsop, Mr. Alfred Samuel

Avery, Mr. James Frank

Bailey, Mr. George W.

Baines, Mr. Richard

Bannon, Mr. John

Barlow, Mr. Charles

Barnes, Mr. Charles

Barnes, Mr. Frederick

Barrett, Mr. Frederick

Barrett, Mr. Frederick William

Beattie, Mr. Joseph

Beauchamp, Mr. George William

Bell, Mr. Joseph

Bendell, Mr. F.

Bennett, Mr. George Alfred

Benville, Mr. E.

Bessant, Mr. William Edward

Bevis, Mr. Joseph Henry

Biddlecombe, Mr. Charles

Biggs, Mr. Edward Charles

Billow, Mr. J.

Binstead, Mr. Walter

Black, Mr. Alexander

Black, Mr. D.

Blackman, Mr. H.

Blake, Mr. Percival Albert

Blake, Mr. Seaton

Blake, Mr. Thomas

Blaney, Mr. James

Blann, Mr. Eustace Horatius

Bott, Mr. W.

Bradley, Mr. Patrick Joseph

Brewer, Mr. Henry "Harry"

Briant, Mr. Albert

Brooks, Mr. J.

Brown, Mr. John

Brown, Mr. Joseph James

Burroughs, Mr. Arthur

Burton, Mr. Edward John

Butt, Mr. William John

Calderwood, Mr. Hugh

Canner, Mr. J.

Carr, Mr. Richard Stephen

Carter, Mr. James

Casey, Mr. T.

Castleman, Mr. Edward

Cavell, Mr. George Henry

Cherrett, Mr. William Victor

Chisnall, Mr. George Alexander

Chorley, Mr. John

Clark, Mr. William

Coe, Mr. Harry

Coleman, Mr. John

Collins, Mr. Samuel

Combes, Mr. George

Cooper, Mr. Harry

Cooper, Mr. James

Copperthwaite, Mr. B.

Corcoran, Mr. Dennis

Cotton, Mr. A.

Couch, Mr. Joseph Henry

Couper, Mr. Robert

Coy, Mr. Francis Ernest George

Crabb, Mr. H.

Creese, Mr. Henry Philip

Crimmins, Mr. James

Cross, Mr. W.

Cunningham, Mr. B.

Curtis, Mr. Arthur

Davies, Mr. Thomas

Dawson, Mr. Jonathan[

Diaper, Mr. J.

Dickson, Mr. W.

Dilley, Mr. John

Dillon, Mr. Thomas Patrick

Dodd, Mr. Edward Charles

Dodds, Mr. Henry Watson

Doel, Mr. Frederick

Dore, Mr. A.

Doyle, Mr. Laurence

Duffy, Mr. William Luke

Dyer, Mr. Henry Ryland

Dymond, Mr. Frank

Eagle, Mr. A.J.

Eastman, Mr. Charles

Elliott, Mr. Everett E.

Ervine, Mr. Albert G.

Evans, Mr. Williams

Farquharson, Mr. William E.

Fay, Mr. Thomas

Ferray, Mr. Anton

Ferris, Mr. William

Fitzpatrick, Mr. Charles W.N.

Flarty, Mr. Edward

Ford. Mr. H.

Ford, Mr. Thomas

Foster, Mr. A.

Fraser, Mr. James

Fraser, Mr. James

Fredricks, Mr. W.

Fryer, Mr. Albert E.

Geer, Mr. Alfred E.

Godley, Mr. George

Godwin, Mr. Frederick W.

Golder, Mr. Martin W.

Gordon, Mr. J.

Goree, Mr. Frank

Gosling, Mr. Bertram J.

Gosling, Mr. S.

Graham, Mr. Thomas G.

Gregory, Mr. David

Grodidge, Mr. Ernest E.

Gumery, Mr. George

Hagan, Mr. John

Hall, Mr. Joseph

Hallett, Mr. George

Hands, Mr. B.

Hannam, Mr. George

Harris, Mr. Edward

Harris, Mr. Frederick

Harrison, Mr. Norman

Harvey, Mr. Herbert G.

Haslin, Mr. James

Head, Mr. Arthur

Hebb, Mr. A.

Hendrickson, Mr. Charles G.

Hesketh, Mr. James (aka John) H.

Hill, Mr. J.

Hinton, Mr. William S.

Hosking, Mr. George Fox

Hunt, Mr. Albert

Hunt, Mr. T.

Hurst, Mr. Charles

Hurst, Mr. Walter

Ingram, Mr. Charles

Instance, T.

Jacobson, Mr. John

Jago, Mr. J.

James, Mr. Thomas

Jarvis, Mr. William

Joas, Mr. N.

Judd, Mr. Charles E.

Jukes, Mr. James

Jupe, Mr. Herbert

Kaspar, Mr. Franz V.

Kearle, Mr. Charles H.

Kearl, Mr. G.

Keegan, Mr. James

Kelly, Mr. James

Kelly, Mr. William

Kemish, Mr. George

Kemp, Mr. Thomas H.

Kenchenten, Mr. Frederick

Kerr, Mr. Thomas

Kinsella, Mr. Leonard

Kirkham, Mr. J.

Knowles, Mr. Thomas

Lahy, Mr. Thomas E.

Lee. Mr. H.

Light, Mr. Charles

Light, Mr. W.

Lindsay, Mr. William C.

Loyd, Mr. W.

Long, Mr. Frank

Long, Mr. W.

Mackie, Mr. William D.

Major, Mr. William

Marrett, Mr. G.

Marsh, Mr. Frederick C.

Maskell, Mr. L.A.

Mason, Mr. Frank A.R.

Mason, Mr. James

May Jr., Mr. Arthur

May Sr., Mr. Arthur W.

Mayo, Mr. William P.

Mayzes, Mr. Thomas

McAndrew, Mr. Thomas

McAndrews, Mr. William

McCastlen, Mr. William

McCubbin, Mr. L.

McGann, Mr. James

McGarvey, Mr. Edward

McGaw, Mr. Errol

McGregor, Mr. J.

McInerney, Mr. Thomas

McInytre, Mr. William

McQuillan, Mr. William

McRae, Mr. William A.

McReynolds, Mr. William

Middleton, Mr. Alfred P.

Milford, Mr. George

Millar, Mr. Robert

Millar, Mr. Thomas

Mintram, Mr. William

Mitchell, Mr. Lawrence

Moore, Mr. John J.

Moore, Mr. R.

Moores, Mr. Robert H.

Morgan, Mr. Arthur H.

Morgan, Mr. Thomas A.

Morrell, Mr. R.

Morris, Mr. A.

Morris, Mr. W.

Moyes, Mr. William Y.

Murdock, Mr. William

Nettleton, Mr. George

Newman, Mr. Charles T.

Noon, Mr. John

Norris, Mr. James

Noss, Mr. Bertram A.

Noss, Mr. Henry

Nutbean, Mr. William

O'Connor, Mr. John

Olive, Mr. Charles

Oliver, Mr. H.

Othen, Mr. Charles

Paice, Mr. Richard C.

Painter, Mr. Charles

Painter, Mr. Frank

Pallas, Mr. T.

Parsons, Mr. Frank A.

Pearce, Mr. John

Pelham, Mr. George

Perry, Mr. Edgar L.

Perry, Mr. Henry

Phillips, Mr. G.

Pitfield, Mr. William J.

Podesta, Mr. John

Pond, Mr. George

Prangnell, Mr. George

Preston, Mr. Thomas C.

Priest, Mr. Arthur J.

Proudfoot, Mr. R.

Pugh, Mr. Percy

Pusey, Mr. Robert W.

Ranger, Mr. Thomas G.

Reed, Mr. Robert

Reeves, Mr. Robert

Rice, Mr. Charles

Richards, Mr. Joseph J.

Rickman, Mr. G.

Roberts, Mr. George

Rous, Mr. Arthur J.

Rudd, Mr. Henry

Rutter, Mr. Sidney

Sangster, Mr. Charles

Saunders, Mr. Thomas

Saunders, Mr. W.

Saunders, Mr. W.

Scott, Mr. Archibald

Scott, Mr. Frederick

Self, Mr. Alfred H.

Self, Mr. Edward

Senior, Mr. Henry

Shea, Mr. Thomas

Sheath, Mr. Frederick

Shepherd, Mr. Johnathan

Shiers, Mr. Alfred

Shillaber, Mr. Charles

Skeats, Mr. W.

Sloan, Mr. Peter

Small, Mr. William

Smith, Mr. Ernest G.

Smith, Mr. James M.

Smither, Mr. Harry J.

Snellgrove, Mr. G

Snooks, Mr. W

Snow, Mr. Eustace P.

Sparkman, Mr. Henry

Stafford, Mr. M.

Stanbrook, Mr. Augustus

Steel, Mr. Robert E.

Stocker, Mr. Henry

Street, Mr. Henry A.

Stubbs, Mr. James H.

Sullivan Mr. S.

Taylor, Mr. James

Taylor, Mr. John

Taylor, Mr. T.

Taylor, Mr. William H.

Thomas, Mr. James

Thompson, Mr. John W.

Threlfall, Mr. Thomas

Thresher, Mr. George

Tizard, Mr. Arthur

Tozer, Mr. James

Triggs, Mr. Robert

Turley, Mr. Richard

van der brugge, Mr. Wessel A.

Veal, Mr. Arthur

Vear, Mr. Henry

Vear, Mr. W.

Ward, Mr. Arthur

Ward, Mr. Joseph

Wardner, Mr. Frederick Albert

Wateridge, Mr. Edward L.

Watson, Mr. W.

Webb, Mr. S

Webber, Mr. Francis A.

White, Mr. Alfred

White, Mr. Frank L.

White, Mr. William G.

Williams, Mr. Samuel S.

Wilson, Mr. Bertie

Wilton, Mr. William

Witcher, Mr. Alfred

Witt, Mr. F.

Witt, Mr. Henry D.

Woodford, Mr. Frederick

Woods, Mr. H.

Wyeth, Mr. James

Young, Mr. Francis J

Lest we forget.

"If only some such friendly star had glistened into the eyes of the lookout on the Titanic..."

When Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, the Carpathia - under the command of Captain Arthur Henry Rostron - famously came to the rescue of her 706 survivors.

It took a great feat of seamanship to arrive at Titanic's position. Firstly, Carpathia was three and a half hours away. Chief Engineer Johnston diverted all steam to the engines and squeezed every ounce of power from the boilers. The ship was rated at 14 knots, but according to Rostron she made 17 that night.

Secondly, Carpathia had to sail through the same ice-infested waters that claimed Titanic. As Captain Rostron raced his ship to the stricken liner, "every nerve strained watching for the ice." Everyone kept a sharp eye. The first iceberg was spotted at around 2:35 am by Second Officer James Bisset (who - like Captain Rostron - was a future Commodore of the Cunard Line). Rostron recounts that it "lay two points on the port bow and...was betrayed by [a] star beam." This star, fortunately, reflected off the berg's surface and guided Carpathia safely past.

"If only some such friendly star had glistened into the eyes of the lookout on the Titanic," writes Rostron. "Ah, well, it was not to be."

References: Arthur Rostron, Titanic Hero: The Autobiography of Captain Rostron of the Carpathia (Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing, 2011), 36-40.

Snapshot: A Peculiar Iceberg

This photo was snapped by a steward aboard the SS Prinz Adalbert on the morning of April 15, 1912. What caught his attention was the streak of red paint running along the base of the iceberg, which indicated that it had hit a ship within the past few hours.

The steward could not have known what had happened to the mighty RMS Titanic, which sank just a few miles to the north of Prinz Adalbert's position.

In all likelihood, therefore, this could very well have been the iceberg that sank the "unsinkable" Titanic.

The Sinking of the SS Titan

The SS Titan was one of the grandest ocean liners ever to set sail on the Atlantic. She was 70,000 GRT, 800 feet in length and had the capacity to carry around 3,000 people. Her three propellers could easily make between 24 and 25 knots while being manned by the pick of the Royal Navy Reserve and Merchant Marine. She was considered by many to be one of the safest ship afloat - some even dared to call her "unsinkable." Despite this, however, Titan carried just 24 lifeboats: enough for about half of all the people aboard. But it was highly unlikely that they would be needed in any case. Then fate intervened.

The Titan struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage. The impact was on the starboard side of the ship and took place on a cold April night. Titan sank with a tremendous loss of life.

Sound a bit familiar?

The SS Titan, however, was the pure invention of an American writer named Morgan Robertson. It was featured in his 1898 novella called Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan. Interestingly enough, the White Star Line's ill-fated Titanic shared many of the same characteristics as the fictional ships - including the nearly identical name and reputation for being "unsinkable".

References: Walter Lord, A Night to Remember (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1983), xix-xx.