- 17 minutes ago
Titanic Sinks Tonight - Season 1 Episode 3 -
The Moment of Mutiny
The Moment of Mutiny
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00:00Things I saw made impressions. I can never forget.
00:20I can't describe it. I can't say how it was.
00:25It was just terrible.
00:34A dream of being trapped on the ship with no means of escape.
00:43But I always wake up before the boat sinks.
00:55He told me that apparently we'd struck something.
01:07Iceberg!
01:08Deadhead!
01:09I didn't become alarmed.
01:17There was no danger, they said.
01:24I told her to come at once. We were sinking.
01:26I can imagine the chaos and the fear and the terror of finding water in your cabin and
01:35you're in the bowels of the ship. It makes me panic just thinking about it.
01:40The story of the Titanic is the human condition spread out, pinned on a board for us to examine.
01:47Then came the terrible cry. Women and children, women and children.
01:55Two men lifted me up and put me in a boat.
01:59It's these small decisions, these little butterfly effect moments that change the outcome.
02:04It really was every man for himself.
02:22My heart stood still.
02:24It's a split-second decision. What would you do? What would I do?
02:45It's a split-second decision. What would you do? What would I do?
02:54It was a terrible sight. Men, swimming and sinking.
03:06I'd been brought up to believe in a hell, after death.
03:18For now, I think I went through a hell that night.
03:24I think I thought we were kind of before.
03:26I think it was crazy but, I think I didn't know.
03:26I think it was a terrible experience.
03:27I think, I don't know.
03:32It was a good experience.
03:49I think, I think, I think the nightmare is just a problem.
03:50I nipped along to have a look down the emergency staircase to gauge the speed the water was
04:14rising that's cold green water crawling its ghostly way the electric lights shone under
04:28the surface with weird effect so light all up knows now things are getting more serious
04:39he thought this thing could not go down and now he knows it could sink this is a terrible shot for him
04:52Captain Smith is at fault here he has not informed his senior officers of what he has known for some
04:59time it's very hard to know why Captain Smith did not give out the information to his most trusted
05:05command maybe it's important to keep this a way to stop them panicking and to keep control
05:26there are just ten standard lifeboats left on the ship along with four collapsibles
05:32there's 2 000 souls and more on board and only around 700 places there's no rescue ship coming
05:40anytime soon so if you don't get in you're gonna die
05:44light hollow is going to continue doing exactly what he's done before but with even more fervor and
06:05rigidity enforcing the plan it's the only thing he can do
06:09it's the only thing he can do
06:11it's the only thing he can do
06:12it's the only thing he can do
06:13it's the only thing he can do
06:14it's the only thing he can do
06:15Charlotte Collier is just about holding herself together in her family unit her husband Harvey and her little daughter Marjorie
06:22Mr. Lowe rushed among the passengers and ordered the women into the boats many of them followed him in a dazed kind of way and others stayed with their men
06:43a sailor caught Marjorie in his arms tore her away from me and threw her into the boat
06:54I was crying for my doll then two men lifted me up and put me in a boat
07:04she was not even given a chance to tell her father goodbye
07:16you too a man yelled you're a woman take a seat in that boat or it will be too late
07:25I heard my husband say go Lottie for God's sake be brave and go
07:40and saw my husband's back as he walked steadily down the deck and disappeared among the men
07:50if they'd not wrenched Marjorie away from me
07:57I wish I had gone with him
08:05the coaches deferential veneer is not there anymore
08:10the officers will pull apart women from their men and make them go into the boats whether they want to or not
08:18this is new in the course of the night and it's frightening
08:30there's a really stark disadvantage facing third-class passengers from the beginning
08:37they are stuck in the bowels of the ship trying to get to where the lifeboats are
08:42I had been seasick the whole trip
08:51all I wanted was to be left alone so I could lie down
08:57Anna Heerblom is a teenager from Finland she's a Swedish speaker
09:10a third of steerage passengers on the Titanic were from Nordic countries
09:15there were so many people who did not speak English
09:17they spoke Spanish, Arabic, Swedish
09:19Swedish
09:20Swedish is the second most spoken language
09:24when the boat struck
09:26the 14th of April
09:28which was my birthday
09:30I was 18
09:32I didn't become alarmed
09:37I just couldn't believe that this wonderful ship could possibly be in trouble
09:44there are 14 stewardesses in first class to help those passengers leave the ship
09:52in third class there's only one
09:58there was no tunneling system or announcement of what was going on of what to do
10:04they had to work it out themselves
10:05a crash woke me up
10:25nearly jolted me from my bed
10:28I put on my trousers and shoes and got up
10:40Eugene Daly is a 29 year old textile worker from County Westmeath in Ireland
10:45after years of saving he's immigrating to America along with his cousin Maggie
10:51her friend Bertha and his beloved Irish pipes
10:54the stewardess came through and told the passengers that they shouldn't be frightened
11:02there was no danger
11:05they said
11:07everything was all right
11:09and that I might go back
11:19the third class passengers don't know what's going on because they're not being told
11:22and there's nothing worse than having an idea that something's really wrong
11:27but not knowing exactly what it is
11:30above deck the first and second class passengers and the crew
11:35they can all see there aren't enough boats left
11:38and there are hundreds of them on deck
11:45I stood at the bulkhead with the other stewardesses
11:47a ship's officer ordered us into the boat
11:51some live boats are only at half capacity
11:55now there's fear everywhere
11:58so they're filling them up as quickly as they can
12:01looking along the length of the ship
12:06I noticed the forward part of her was lower now
12:11much lower
12:14much lower
12:20my heart stood still
12:21you know in the military this is what we talk about triaging
12:24this is a case of thinking how many people can we save at this point
12:41there's only room for 800 people in the life boats that remain
12:44so that's best case scenario
12:47but in crisis situations
12:49you're not getting the best case scenario
12:51within the panic the confusion
12:53the boat was full now
12:58as the boat was being lowered
13:03the ship's officer called
13:05here Miss Jessop
13:07look after this baby
13:09someone had dumped it on the deck beside his feet
13:19at this stage Violet is handed a baby that has been sort of separated from their family or whoever was caring for them at that point
13:27it's hard to fathom that
13:34that panic beginning to spread
13:37it's making their circumstances worse
13:40it's making everybody's chance of survival worse
13:43but it's such a natural reaction
13:44I could hear the commotion overhead increasing I decided to go up even though I still felt very ill
14:02I was fully clothed and I had a life belt
14:19my railroad ticket to Tacoma and a small amount of money were sewed in a little bag and hung around my neck so that I couldn't lose it
14:28I went down into the room where Maggie Daly and Bertha Mulvill Hill were
14:36the men and women in third class are separated
14:41so for Eugene to find Maggie and Bertha he has to cross from one end of the ship to another
14:47no one is guiding them no one is saying this is the best way to get around the flooding
14:51they have to work it out themselves
14:52come with me
14:59come with me
15:01the ship is sinking
15:02the ship is sinking
15:06there's hundreds of third class passengers trying to navigate the warren of corridors, hallways, staircases
15:12and they're trying to get to a part of the ship, the boat deck, that they've never been allowed onto before
15:18it's difficult to convey the size of a ship like the Titanic
15:24it took me 14 days before I could find my way from one part of that ship to another by the shortest route
15:31Eugene, Maggie and Bertha must navigate up several decks to the boat deck
15:37it's now a very challenging situation and the feeling of a loss of control on the part of the crew is getting stronger and stronger
15:46it was about this time that the chief officer came over from the starboard side and asked did I know where the firearms were
15:53I told the chief officer, yes, come along and I'll get them for you
15:58come along and I'll get them for you
16:02drawing weapons is very unusual
16:07the officers clearly were aware of how panic was setting in
16:11and order and discipline amongst people were falling apart
16:15there are guns on board the Titanic
16:19like the lifeboats nobody expected to ever have to use them
16:24into the first officers cabin we went
16:29the chief, Murdoch, the captain and myself
16:33and myself
16:36I hauled them out
16:38still in all their pristine newness and grease
16:42here you are
16:47I was going out when the chief officer
16:52shoved one of the revolvers into my hands with a handful of ammunition
16:56and said
16:58here you are
17:00you may need it
17:02the fact of the matter is there are far more passengers than crew
17:06British and American society at this time is hierarchical and it's rules based
17:12people will do what they are told
17:14but not when their lives are at stake
17:17this is what the officers fear
17:19but you know, Chekhov said you can't put a gun in the room and not use it
17:23third-class passengers naturally gravitated towards the afterwell deck
17:39which is the outdoor space they've had use of
17:41but it is still three decks below the boat deck where the lifeboats are
17:46but it is still three decks below the boat deck where the lifeboats are
17:50there was a lot of confusion with people running around crying, swearing and praying
18:07since I couldn't speak English I hardly knew what was happening
18:14I had to push people apart to find a place to walk
18:21she doesn't speak English
18:25there's no one experienced to advise her
18:27so she's working this all out with so much against her
18:32there's a sea of passengers already gathered there
18:35so Eugene and Anna are joining this throng of people
18:38I went up on deck, people were running around
18:48the Titanic being an immigrant ship must conform to American and British immigration laws
18:56and one of those laws is around quarantine
18:59maintaining steerage class passengers in areas separate from the first and second class passengers
19:05to stop the spread of disease
19:09before the third class passengers have even boarded Titanic
19:12they've had to be subjected to medical examinations
19:15they're hemmed in by locked gates
19:18and these same gates that were meant to prevent ill health
19:21are now blocking their access to the lifeboats
19:24Eugene's cousin Maggie tries to go back to her cabin
19:27but that corridor is under five foot of water
19:30there's no chance she can make it
19:33and she turns back
19:35all this time we knew that the water was coming up
19:38and up rapidly
19:42to know that safety is on the other side of that locked gate
19:46it must make them despair
19:47the boat was practically full and there were no other women anywhere near it
19:58when 5th officer Lowe jumped in and ordered it lowered
20:03lower the boat
20:17a young lad, hardly more than a schoolboy, was standing close to the rail
20:18now
20:22realising he was to be left behind
20:25he leapt down into the boat
20:28and crawled under a seat
20:30but the officer dragged him to his feet and ordered him back onto the ship
20:43we begged for his life
20:48please give him a chance
20:52the officer drew his revolver and thrust it into his face
20:58I give you ten seconds
21:01I give you ten seconds
21:04to get back onto that ship
21:06before I blow your brains out
21:09please, please
21:12the lad only begged harder
21:14please, please, please don't
21:16my mother said I called out
21:19don't shoot
21:27the officer suddenly changed his tone
21:32he lowered his revolver
21:35and looked the boy squarely in the eyes
21:41for God's sake be a man
21:43we have got women and children
21:46for God's sake
21:48we have women and children here
21:50the little lad turned round and
21:52climbed back without a word
21:59he was not saved
22:03allow the boats
22:07to avoid another occurrence of that sort
22:10I fired my revolver
22:11as I was going down each deck
22:14because the boat wouldn't stand a sudden jerk
22:17she was loaded already with people
22:20and would not stand anymore
22:26actually drawing the gun shows that the ship's officers
22:29realized that things were very very desperate indeed
22:33and of course we did not have enough lifeboats
22:36for everybody on board
22:38there are ten lifeboats left
22:40on deck now
22:42and one thousand nine hundred and sixty people
22:44still to save
22:46Titanic now was so low in the water
22:48that iconic areas like the grand staircase
22:51and some of the luxury steak rooms
22:53were flooding
22:55there's no doubt at all
22:57that this was unstoppable
22:59it was merely a question of time
23:00in the water
23:10or any other operation
23:12you can see in the water
23:14he was looking at the water
23:16and he was blowing up and wants to go to the water
23:19Jack Phillips has spent the last few hours
23:22trying to communicate with other wireless operators.
23:26Carpathia is sailing at full speed towards Titanic,
23:30but she's still two hours away.
23:33On the nearest ship, the Californian,
23:36nobody recognised or responded to the distress flares,
23:41but Phillips still believes that as long as he can get signals out,
23:45he may be of some use.
23:48But now the electricity is starting to fail.
23:53Then he does get a message from his sister ship, Olympic.
24:04But she seems not to understand at all what is happening to Titanic
24:09and thinks Titanic must be limping along, sailing towards them.
24:14The frustration here is now clear
24:17because the messages are not getting through.
24:20For this young man in his mid-twenties,
24:23I think this is the place of utmost distress.
24:27Right now, it's clear on board ship that no rescue vessel
24:31is going to reach Titanic before she sings.
24:43The third-class passengers are at most risk at this moment.
24:46There's the language difficulties.
24:48There's probably a bit of aggression, I think,
24:50that's setting in annoyance, frustration.
24:55We had quite a number of hot-headed Italians
25:00and other people who got crazy and made for the stairs.
25:04These men tried to rush the stairway, pushing and crowding and pulling the women down.
25:13At this moment, we would expect the adrenaline to kick in.
25:18The body wants to survive and it gives us some sort of innate choices.
25:22You might fight your way to the front physically.
25:24People might freeze where they're just stuck.
25:27They're in terror, they don't know what to do.
25:29We also see people who are turning inward
25:32and that would be turning to God as well, making the sign of the cross and so on.
25:36The first-class deck was higher up than the steerage deck
25:40and there were some steps leading up to it and a gate at the top of the steps.
25:45They tried to keep us down at first on our steerage deck at the back of the ship.
25:51They're trying to keep order, but by doing so in such a chaotic way,
25:57they probably contribute to a greater loss of life than they realised.
26:01I can't say who they were. I think they were sailors.
26:08They didn't want us going up to the first-class place at all.
26:17Even though there's no direct policy preventing third-class passengers
26:20from accessing lifeboats, it's clear from their testimony after the sinking
26:24that there was not a level playing field.
26:27The third-class were left marginalised and endangered by cruise actions.
26:37There was no help of any kind to reach safety.
26:42So, time is ticking down, the water's rising, they're sandwiched in between the sea and the locked gate.
26:56They're having to make life or death decisions in moments with very little information.
27:02I got talking to a young Swedish girl returning to the United States.
27:12She knew about an emergency stairway to where the lifeboats were.
27:20Anna's interesting because she's come from a different environment.
27:27She's come from Finland, where the social strata isn't quite as defined as it is in England at the time.
27:34Perhaps she has a little bit more leeway to not rely on following the authority figure's orders.
27:40We climbed the ladder up to the first-class deck and then an officer saw me and dragged me up to the next deck.
27:54We passed a window and we looked into a beautiful room where the tables were so beautifully set.
28:09The silver and all the furniture.
28:16The other girl, she wanted to kick the window out and walk in and help ourselves.
28:26I told her that they might make us pay for the broken window, so we didn't.
28:35There's some evidence that growing up in adverse situations
28:38actually gives you a kind of cognitive toolkit to be able to get through those situations.
28:43All kinds of skills where you've needed to survive and depend on yourself.
28:47And that translates really quite well to an emergency scenario.
28:51The third-class passengers have survived so many different challenges already.
28:55They must have felt their confidence and trust in the crew and officers had gone.
29:09I think these are people who are not taking no for an answer.
29:12They couldn't keep them down.
29:13The gate was broken.
29:22All the storage passengers went up onto the first-class deck.
29:28They're going to take fate into their own hands and they will get to those boats.
29:32In the same way that I think when Officer Lowe fired his gun, he changed the terms.
29:37By breaking the gate, they changed the terms.
29:44I rushed to the lifeboats.
29:49There seemed hundreds of people around me.
29:52Half the lifeboats have already gone. They're in the water.
29:57There's only four lifeboats at this end of the ship.
29:59And the others are hundreds of yards ahead.
30:04Seeing only four lifeboats available and nearly 2,000 people trying to get into them.
30:09There is such panic in that crowd.
30:15Everywhere, everybody was confused.
30:18I saw a lot of people, Catholics, make the sign of the cross.
30:29I had to step on many of these people to reach the side of the deck.
30:40The crying of children and the screaming of a woman.
30:43You know, these are terrifying sounds that we are programmed to have a sort of visceral reaction to.
30:51I remember from living through my trauma, my wounding in Afghanistan,
30:55sounds stay with you far more than sights.
30:58That is a powerful thing for the senses to take on board
31:02and for ultimately you to then have to live with.
31:05I tried to get into a lifeboat.
31:09And I was pushed back.
31:11It seemed as though I would go down with the ship.
31:21But the things that I always gave me.
31:39Ideas about self-control and stoicism and self-sacrifice are celebrated as forms of gentlemanliness, as well as manliness.
31:46as forms of gentlemanliness, as well as manliness.
31:50These are the values that they've been told to hold to.
31:54And it means putting yourself second.
31:58That is the ideal as far as Edwardian society is concerned.
32:06Bruce Ismay, who is the managing director of the White Star Line,
32:09his father had founded the White Star Line.
32:11And the Titanic is basically his idea.
32:14This is the crowning achievement of his career,
32:17the creation of this amazing, opulent ship.
32:22And now he can see that it is all going to the bottom of the sea.
32:38Did you think it was in a very serious condition?
32:41As time got on, I did.
32:44And that the ship was sinking?
32:46I did.
32:50I helped for nearly two hours, as far as I can judge,
32:53at the starboard boats,
32:55helping women and children enter the boats
32:57and blurring them over the side.
32:59I think the sense of responsibility for Bruce Ismay must have been huge.
33:06And we see this in the fact that he spends time patrolling the boat deck,
33:12putting people into boats, instructing crew how to behave.
33:17But he knows that there aren't enough lifeboats on board.
33:21He knows by this point that there's no rescue ship coming anytime soon.
33:26These lives are on his conscience.
33:30The ship was listing heavily in the bow.
33:46Somebody gave me a push towards the boat.
33:50When I got in, that girl and I went together.
33:57The lifeboat was so crowded.
34:03When I got to the deck, a lifeboat was hanging from the Davids.
34:22Number 13 boat.
34:24It was pretty well filled when I got there.
34:28Fred!
34:31The boatswainer knew me,
34:33as I'd sailed with them and other ships before.
34:36Said to me, you get on this boat and pull an oar.
34:42Fred is in the lifeboat,
34:44because, you know, he's one of those strong enough to be able to row it.
34:48And at this stage, the crew is now starting to really fill the lifeboats.
34:54So I took his orders and I got on and she swung from the Davids.
34:59We had women, men and two little babies.
35:04One two months old and the other ten months old.
35:10There is no real order.
35:12People are sitting on top of one another and, you know,
35:14you're sort of being crushed underneath this mass of people.
35:18It's suspended by Davids off the side of the ship at this point.
35:22It's about 18 metres above the water.
35:25But every person that gets in adds that weight, adds that movement, adds that risk.
35:31And so there has to be a point at which you say, that's enough.
35:35About three more people get in after I did.
35:38And then the orders were given, let no more on that boat or the falls will break.
35:45That means looking into the whites of people's eyes and saying, there's no more space.
35:49Son of a boat!
35:52The boat was being filled with women.
36:06Maggie and Bertha got in.
36:15And I got in.
36:17The officer called me to go back, but I got in.
36:21Life was sweet to me and I wanted to save myself.
36:34It was the early hours of the morning.
36:36The lifeboats are being filled to the brim now, overfilled.
36:39Naturally, some male passengers want to get in.
36:42They want to be with their loved ones and they just want to save their lives as any of us would.
36:48They told me to get out, but I didn't stir.
36:55Then they got a hold of me and pulled me out.
36:58Eugene's testimony makes me like him.
37:03I think he's honest.
37:04He's frank.
37:05He's not trying to put a spin on his own behavior or anyone else's.
37:10I get the feeling of a real historical account in its Watson or attitude.
37:16What's sad about this story is that most of those officers knew the people that they were turning away
37:22in the sense that they were from the same class, the same kind.
37:25Well, if I didn't save myself, at least I saved the two girls.
37:55Captain Smith had severe doubts about whether a fully laden lifeboat could be lowered properly.
38:04He knew there were a lot of people waiting down at the gangway doors to get into boats.
38:09And therefore he thought, how can I manage to get these boats full?
38:13How can I save as many of the people whose lives I am responsible for as is possible?
38:18The captain came and said, Mr. Boxall, you go away in that boat, pointing to boat number two.
38:27I tumbled into this lifeboat and started to lower her.
38:32And the captain looked over and told me, go round to the starboard side.
38:38For the gangway doors!
38:40Which was practically on the opposite side to where I was lowered.
38:45Pull!
38:46So Boxall's lifeboat was only about 45% full, was meant to go round to the starboard side of the ship to take on more passengers.
38:56Pull!
38:57I had great difficulty in getting that boat around there.
39:03There was suction.
39:06Pull!
39:09I was using the stroke or standing up.
39:12And there was this lady helping.
39:14She was steering around the ship's stern.
39:18When I passed around the boat, to get to the gangway door on the starboard side,
39:23her propellers were out of water.
39:29But when I did eventually reach there,
39:32I found that there was such a mob standing at the gangway doors.
39:37If they jumped, they'd swamp the boat.
39:44I daren't go along the side.
39:49She was only a small boat.
39:51If they jumped, they'd swamp the boat.
39:56I daren't go alongside.
39:58She was only a small boat.
40:00Boxall should have made sure that he filled the lifeboat up and take necessary action to make sure he wasn't swamped.
40:16He was in a position to do that, and he didn't.
40:19Pull!
40:20Pull!
40:22And it's a really tricky one because, yes, crews should follow orders.
40:27And the structure of discipline is how you can try and create some form of order in moments of chaos.
40:33There is a good reason why, you know, in circumstances, we are not to question orders.
40:39Having said that, it's all well and good one of your superiors giving you an order,
40:44but they're not seeing the circumstances that you are witnessing.
40:47Pull!
40:48I pulled off and laid off until I pulled away about a quarter of a mile, I suppose.
41:00So the instinct to row away is very normal, very human.
41:20so the instinct to row away is very normal very human everybody wants to get away from the scene
41:32of an accident or a disaster and this ship is huge people have never seen anything this big
41:40captain smith is out there with his megaphone barking orders
41:49for the lifeboats to come back and pick up other passengers
41:54it's almost instinctive and it's driven into you from the day you join the royal navy or the
42:09merchant navy that you obey your captain and do as he says he is god in a sense and therefore not to do
42:16as you're told is a heinous crime
42:19quartermaster hitchens who is in command of one of the lifeboats said it's our lives now not theirs
42:30i find that quite extraordinary the bottom line should be i want to save as many as i can
42:35it's our lives now not theirs this is the moment of mutiny this is when all order has broken down
42:45we are not going to stand by anymore and drown because you tell us to fair enough
42:53we had gone perhaps half a mile when the officer ordered the men to cease rowing
43:06no other boat was in sight we didn't even have a lantern to signal with
43:16no sound reached us except the music from the band which i was aware of for the first time
43:41those brave musicians
43:48they were playing lively tunes ragtime
43:56i will never forget the terrible beauty of the titanic at that moment
44:05i started to count the rows of lights
44:19one
44:22two
44:25three
44:27four
44:29five
44:31i stopped
44:36surely i i had miscounted
44:41i went over them again more carefully and
44:49i'd made no mistake
44:51there are only five decks now
44:55as if all could read my mind the women in the boat started to
45:02weep
45:03some silently
45:05some
45:05unrestrainedly
45:07just before launching the last lifeboats
45:17i'd made my final hurried visit to the emergency stairway
45:21to gauge how quickly she was going down
45:31it was then
45:31it was then
45:32conclusively evident that
45:33not only was she going but
45:35she was going very soon
45:43even in pants and sweater over pajamas alone i was in a bath of perspiration
45:48if we were to avoid the disgrace of going down with lifeboats still hanging to the davits there
45:55wasn't one moment to lose
46:06the forward well deck was under water
46:11i saw phillips still sending away
46:14i suspect many people on the ship by now are in an altered state
46:19which we know is what happens when people are facing death
46:23jack phillips won't leave his post
46:27it is a clear single focus on what you believe to be right
46:32and he believes the right thing to do is to stay there until it's all over
46:37again phillips called cqd and sos for nearly five minutes and got no reply
46:49we now realized the awful state of affairs the ship listing heavily to port and forward
46:58i thought it was about time to look about and see if there was anything that would float
47:03i remembered that every member of the crew had a life belt
47:07and then i thought how cold the water was
47:09i remembered i had some boots and i put those on and an extra jacket we picked up the olympic and told
47:15that we were sinking by the edinburgh battle down
47:19phillips is leading from the front he's a hero it's easier to understand fear and self-interest
47:31than it is to understand sacrifice and heroism especially now in our world we think that everything
47:39is about greed and me first that generation did not as phillips was sending the message i strapped
47:47the life belt to his back i'd already put on his overcoat wondered if i could get him into his boots
47:53just at that moment the captain came into the cabin
47:56and said men you have done your full duty you can do no more abandon your cabin now is every man for
48:05himself i release you
48:10every man for himself now in the conflicts i trained for and it's unimaginable that we would
48:15never find ourselves in a circumstance where it was every man for themselves all of the order has been
48:20lost and actually trying to maintain that order whether it's you know pointing a gun at a crowd or
48:27you know screaming at the top of your voice all you're doing in that circumstance is wasting energy
48:40the last of the hard hulled lifeboats have been dispatched but there is still
48:52two collapsible lifeboats left on the boat deck they're a little bit more flimsy but they still
48:58are a lifeline there was some disturbance loading the last two forward boats
49:05a large crowd of men were pressing to get into them though there were many crew and men lined up
49:13with apparently not a thought at attempting to board the boats without orders
49:23i saw bruce ismay who had been assisting in loading the last boat push his way into it
49:35really was every man for himself bruce ismay decides to save himself he is about the only man on board
49:51who can't be ordered out of that spot by any of the remaining crew
49:55you were one of those as the managing director responsible for determining the number of lifeboats
50:07yes in conjunction with these shipbuilders when you got into the boat you thought that the titanic was
50:14sinking i did did you know that there were some hundreds of people on that ship yes who must go down
50:22with her yes i did
50:29has it occurred to you that you as the responsible managing director deciding the number of boats
50:36owed your life to every other person on that ship it has not
50:43i have searched my mind with the deepest care
50:45i'm sure i did nothing that i shouldn't have done my conscience is clear
50:53i took a chance of escape when it came to me i did not seek it
50:58it is true i'm president of the company but i didn't consider myself any different from the rest of
51:04the passengers i took no other man's place
51:16i took no man's place this is palpably untrue but i think he must believe it
51:24i think that bruce ismay comes from a class of society who believes that they have everything they
51:32have because of grit and character i mean it's like being a billionaire today in a world of hungry
51:40people the only way you can live with yourself is to imagine that you deserve it in some way and so i
51:48think that bruce ismay believes contrary to all rational fact that he hasn't taken someone else's place
51:58even though he really must know internally that he has
52:01there was a terrible crowd standing about
52:24the officer in charge pointed a revolver waved his hand and said that if any man
52:30tried to get in he'd shoot him on the spot if anyone tries to answer i will shoot
52:37two men tried to break through and he shot them both
52:48i saw him shoot them
52:52i saw them lying
52:53one seemed to be dead the other was trying to pull himself up at the side of the deck but he couldn't
53:05i tried to get to the boat myself but was afraid i would be shot and stayed back
53:22the other was trying to get to the side of the deck of the deck of the deck of the deck of the
53:30when we rode away from the titanic my face was towards the sinking steamer
53:37the things i saw
53:45the things i saw i'll never forget
53:49i saw an officer
53:59shoot himself through the temple with a revolver
54:02the story of the officer shooting himself is contested even the name of the officer
54:19is in dispute you're meant to help others not shoot them and you're certainly not meant to shoot
54:24yourself um when you make a mistake
54:29i saw the officer himself lying on the deck
54:32it's not a line of inquiry that is pursued and i think that is because in edwardian society there
54:44is such a taboo around death by suicide it looks like the easy way out though it can hardly have been
54:53so it suggests that the people who did it have failed that test of being an edwardian man which is to
55:03demonstrate heroism and courage and stoicism in the face of disaster
55:23death stares everyone in the face some will escape some won't
55:45jack phillips he's young but he's responsible he's self-reliant
55:50he thinks he's going to die and so he decides to die doing his best for everyone else
56:02phillips clung on for about 10 minutes after the captain had released him
56:06i learned to love him that night
56:18i suddenly felt for him
56:21a great reverence to see him standing there sticking to his work while everybody else was raging about
56:28i will never forget the work of phillips for those last awful minutes
56:41he was a brave man
56:54people find themselves facing this life or death moment together
56:57titanic broken two before my eyes striking water was like a thousand knives being driven into one's body
57:09to die slowly within a shot of people who might save your life there's a particular cruelty to that
57:18of the
57:23that
57:25of
57:27the
57:28the
57:29the
57:30Transcription by CastingWords
58:00CastingWords
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