- 16 minutes ago
Titanic Sinks Tonight - Season 1 Episode 4 -
Swimming and Sinking
Swimming and Sinking
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FunTranscript
00:00My husband tried to join me in our lifeboat.
00:07Two men grabbed him.
00:10Officers were there with guns.
00:13He offered no resistance
00:17and backed off back onto the ship.
00:20I began yelling and crying
00:24as I wanted to join him on the sinking ship.
00:28Action!
00:50He told me that apparently we'd struck something.
00:54Iceberg!
00:58I didn't become alarmed.
01:04There was no danger, they said.
01:11I told her to come at once. We were sinking.
01:17You can imagine the chaos and the fear
01:19and the terror of finding water in your cabin
01:21and you're in the bowels of the ship.
01:23It makes me panic just thinking about it.
01:27The story of the Titanic is the human condition
01:29spread out, pinned on a board for us to examine.
01:34Then came the terrible cry.
01:37Women and children, women and children.
01:40Cartwright!
01:41Two men lifted me up and put me in a boat.
01:44Move it! Move it!
01:45Move it!
01:46It's these small decisions,
01:47these little butterfly effect moments
01:49that change the outcome.
01:50It really was every man for himself.
01:51My heart stood still.
01:56It really was every man for himself.
02:06My heart stood still.
02:10If we're gonna die,
02:24the best to die gripping something.
02:27It's a split second decision.
02:32What would you do?
02:33What would I do?
02:41It was a terrible son.
02:43Men swimming and sinking.
02:45I'd been brought up to believe in a hell.
02:58After death.
03:06For now, I think I went through a hell that night.
03:15spatial ch któryms the jacket.
03:16I was born in Japan.
03:17I've got to head by now.
03:18Someож были up across the world,
03:19so that I won't be quite.
03:20It's ё behaviours here.
03:22You came here.
03:23A day out now,
03:24we have to wonder why it's been our last met.
03:25So how did you stay?
03:27Storm as we didn't release?
03:28This clue?
03:30This clue never happened.
03:34The one has checked after science.
03:35This clue.
03:36What day?
03:38It was apparently a moment.
03:39It was a matrix.
03:40When populations are affected by analyzing the benchmark,
03:42because what does this 1985 beam turn on?
03:44I was working in the engineering.
04:06We got the order, all hands on deck, put your life preservers on.
04:10The deck was full of male third-class passengers.
04:17The last boat was getting lowered.
04:21About this time, I met all the engineers as they came trooping up from below.
04:28Until that time, they had loyally stuck to their guns.
04:32When the crew come up on deck, these guys who've worked so heroically to try to keep Titanic afloat,
04:45they expect that there will be a place for them in the lifeboats.
04:51And of course, that is not the case.
04:53British Hierarchical Society is always there to shaft the underdog.
05:02Those people who had risked their lives were not going to get any help at all.
05:07It was a bleak and hopeless spectacle that met their eyes.
05:14Empty falls hanging from every dove it had.
05:18Not a hope for any of them.
05:20Titanic has enough people on board that we're really seeing the whole range of reactions to facing death.
05:36From resignation, to fight and flight, to acting out of love and empathy to help other people.
05:43And at this point, some people choose to do things that may look quite strange.
05:50One fellow said, go to the first cabin bar.
05:54There was a steward filling up tumblers on a tray.
05:59He said, go on lads, drink up.
06:03She's going down.
06:04Some people prefer to stay in their cabin and let the waters rise up.
06:13Others go to the bar and just start drinking the place dry.
06:17Everyone has to choose to die in their own way, whatever that is.
06:21I was for going down into one of the first class cabins, but...
06:25..if how Matty wouldn't let me...
06:29..Matty said to me...
06:31..I'll have to jump for it.
06:34It makes me panic just thinking about it, because I can imagine the chaos and the fear.
06:48It's not fair, you know, when passengers embarked on this ship.
06:54They were told it was unsinkable.
06:55They probably didn't pay much mind to how many lifeboats there were,
06:58but now that it's of the most crucial importance to them,
07:01they see that they've been failed.
07:04Captain Smith and Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer,
07:13must have been in hell.
07:16This was their unsinkable ship.
07:20Thomas Andrews was trying to do something,
07:23because he is the architect of this disaster.
07:27Andrews was seen throwing steamer chairs into the water with the idea of actually helping those who got into the sea
07:37to have something to support them.
07:39It's very difficult to know what the captain's final moments were.
07:48During the Falklands War, I was a captain of a ship that was bombed, which I had to abandon.
07:53And so I know the pressures he was under, and I personally think that he probably stayed on the bridge and waited to meet his fate.
08:01But I think he would have been feeling to himself that he had failed in this last great appointment of his.
08:11There's something of the stiff upper lip happening here, but inside, there must be inner turmoil,
08:17because survival instinct is really powerful, and the captain is probably suppressing it as much as he can.
08:24The social codes of conduct, fighting against that very ancient part of the brain,
08:28the primitive part that just drives us forward biologically.
08:32People just have that, the will, to survive.
08:37The adrenaline system is working overtime, and they've almost got nothing to lose.
08:43I wanted to jump out and try to catch one of the empty lifeboat falls.
08:51Jack Thayer has been on a dream holiday in Europe with his parents.
08:57They've got separated in the crowds, and now that dream has become a nightmare.
09:02I couldn't just jump.
09:05We might hit wreckage or a steamer chair and be knocked unconscious.
09:09Milton dissuaded me.
09:12Milton Long, 29-year-old American law clerk, and Jack had struck up a conversation many hours earlier in the dining saloon,
09:20and now they find themselves facing this life-or-death moment together.
09:26So many thoughts passed through my mind.
09:30I thought of all the good times I'd had.
09:32Of all the future pleasures I'd never enjoy.
09:40My father.
09:43My mother.
09:46I was watching myself as though from some far-off place.
09:54Sincerely pitied myself.
09:55Back in the wireless room, Jack Phillips has stuck to his post right to the end,
10:17even when Captain Smith has said it's every man for himself, because he believes he's doing something useful.
10:23He's spent the last few hours trying to communicate with other wireless operators,
10:28oblivious to everything going on around him.
10:31And his junior Harold Bride is deeply loyal to Jack Phillips, and his junior Harold Bride is deeply loyal to and respectful of Jack Phillips.
10:38The sea has almost reached the wireless room, and they have just minutes before it's filled with freezing water.
10:46I was back in my room, getting Phillips' money for him, and as I looked out the door,
10:52I saw a stoker or somebody from below decks slipping the life belt off his back.
10:59You know, I remembered in a flash, the way Phillips had clung on, how I'd had to fix that life belt in place because he was too busy to do it.
11:09I felt a passion not to let that man die a decent sailor's death.
11:13I did my duty.
11:29I hope I finished him, I don't know.
11:32We left him on the floor of the wireless cabin.
11:35He wasn't moving.
11:43I climbed on top of the officers' quarters.
11:46Yet I saw the last of Phillips.
11:50Jack Phillips is absolutely overwhelmed by the impossibility of this situation.
11:58He, uh, disappeared, walking aft.
12:03He doesn't say goodbye, he doesn't give any explanation, there's no clap on the back to his junior.
12:08He's done everything, there's nothing more to do.
12:11The man is ready to die.
12:25At this stage, all the lifeboats on the boat deck have been launched,
12:29and of course there's a panic that there are no lifeboats left.
12:33But there is actually two more stashed away on the roof of the officers' quarters.
12:38Collapsible A and B.
12:41I saw the boat and the men trying to push it off.
12:54They couldn't do it.
12:56I went up to them, lend them a hand.
12:59The collapsible lifeboats were very much a secondary option, which would need to be rigged so they could be used.
13:10Now, the crew are trying to launch them in increasingly difficult and desperate conditions.
13:16Just then, the ship took a slight but definite plunge, and the sea came rolling up.
13:28And the large wave washes collapsible A and B overboard.
13:34You've just been given that hope.
13:36But in amongst the chaos, the lifeboats are stolen from you by the elements.
13:40And that is just devastating.
13:44The big wave carried the boat off.
13:48I had hold of an oarlock and went off with it.
13:51Water was washing right across the deck.
13:59And we were in water right to our hips.
14:03Another lurch threw myself off and away from the ship into the water.
14:08I fell into a mass of people.
14:17I was underwater.
14:19I knew I had to fight for it.
14:23The temperature in the water is minus two degrees.
14:27So as soon as that cold water hits the body, there's a shock reaction.
14:31And the mind is reacting in a state of panic.
14:34Everything I touched seemed to be woman's hair.
14:42Children crying.
14:45Women screaming.
14:49Their hair in my face.
14:54If only I could forget those hands and faces that I touched.
15:04The ship was sinking on its head very quickly.
15:13The water was right up to the bridge.
15:16The crowd moved with it.
15:18Pushing towards the stern.
15:22A sight that doesn't bear dwelling on.
15:23To stand there above the wheelhouse.
15:29Watching the frantic struggles to climb up the sloping deck.
15:33Unable to even hold out a helping hand.
15:37We were a mass of hopeless, dazed humanity.
15:45Trying to keep our final breath until the last possible moment.
15:51I knew the futility of following that instinct for self-preservation.
15:55It would only be postponing the plunge and prolonging the agony.
16:04Turning to the bridge, I took a header.
16:13Striking the water was like a thousand knives being driven into one's body.
16:18For a few moments, I completely lost grip of myself.
16:28We were at the starboard rail.
16:30To keep away from the crowd.
16:33The ship began to shoot down fast.
16:37The water rushing up towards us.
16:39We had no time to think.
16:41Only to act.
16:42We wish each other luck.
16:48Then we jumped up on the rail.
16:53Milton looked up at me and he said,
16:55You're coming, boy, aren't you?
17:07And I said, uh,
17:09Go ahead.
17:12I'll be with you in a minute.
17:15Then he'll let go.
17:18The people who choose to jump
17:26are ultimately the people who take
17:28some form of control
17:30in a situation where you are powerless.
17:32We were about five minutes away from the ship.
17:54But we could still see it as the light stayed on.
17:57The ship stood almost on its snows,
18:04slowly sinking.
18:06The people on the Titanic were
18:09yelling and crying.
18:15I could see some of them as they jumped into the water.
18:17I found myself drawn against the grating,
18:36covering a ventilator.
18:37The pressure of the water glued me there.
18:44The shaft led to a stokehold,
18:47a sheer drop of 100 feet
18:49right to the bottom of the ship.
18:51I struggled and kicked for all I was worth.
18:56It was impossible to get away.
18:57As fast as I pushed myself off,
19:01I was dragged back.
19:04Every instant expecting the wire to go.
19:08To find myself shot down into the bowels of the ship.
19:11The shock of the water took the breath from my lungs.
19:21Down and down I went,
19:24spinning in all directions.
19:26The cold was terrific.
19:29Most people think of drowning in a circumstance like this.
19:33It is that ultimately your body runs out of energy.
19:35But actually you can drown as soon as you first hit freezing water.
19:39There's something called cold water shock.
19:42And part of the reaction is to have a big intake of breath
19:45and that prepares you for action.
19:47In the case of hitting cold water,
19:49it's not in your favor to have a sharp intake of breath.
19:53Some may have cardiac arrest almost immediately
19:56because of the shock.
20:00I was still fighting
20:01when a blast of hot air came up the shaft
20:04and blew me right away from the air shaft
20:06and up to the surface.
20:09Finally, I came up.
20:18My lungs bursting.
20:22The ship was in front of me.
20:25Suddenly, the second funnel seemed to be lifted off.
20:31The funnel started to fall
20:33right amongst the struggling mass of humanity already in the water.
20:41It missed me by only 20 to 30 feet.
20:44The suction of it drew me down.
20:45Those poor people
20:49were sucked down in those funnels
20:52like flies.
20:57As I came to the surface,
21:01my hand came against something.
21:04One of the collapsible lifeboats.
21:06It was floating in the water,
21:08bottom side up.
21:10About four or five men
21:11clinging on to her.
21:13So I asked them to give me a hand up,
21:15which they did.
21:18Sitting on my haunches,
21:19holding on for dear life,
21:21it seemed as though hours had passed
21:23since I left the ship.
21:27People like Jack and Officer Lightover
21:30are swarming onto the collapsible B,
21:32upside down,
21:33using it like a raft
21:34in the freezing water,
21:36just as a way of trying to survive.
21:39The end was very close.
21:56Something in the bowels of the Titanic
21:59exploded and sparks shot up to the sky.
22:04Two other explosions followed,
22:06dull and heavy,
22:08as if below the surface.
22:11The impact was so great,
22:14it shook the waters,
22:16and we thought our lifeboat would sink.
22:19Everyone screamed.
22:23The huge weight of seawater
22:25in the bows and in the stern
22:27meant that the two things
22:28were unable to remain as one part.
22:31The whole superstructure of the ship
22:33seemed to split.
22:35The lights suddenly go out
22:38and then darkness falls.
22:40The Titanic broke in two before my eyes.
22:54The four-part wallowed over
22:56and disappeared instantly.
22:58The ship seemed to right herself
23:03like a hurt animal with a broken back.
23:07The strange hallucinatory moment.
23:14It looks as though everything's going to be fine
23:16because the weird, wonky, distorted angles
23:20of the great ship start to settle.
23:25There's people that think
23:26some sort of safety feature
23:28has kicked in.
23:29You know, at least this half of the ship
23:30is going to somehow survive
23:32and those on board are going to be spared.
23:34But ultimately, that is short-lived.
23:38I saw the Titanic go up in the air.
23:42Ever so big.
23:43A huge ship reared herself on end
23:48rather than propeller clear of the water
23:51until at last she assumed
23:54a perpendicular position.
23:59We saw groups of the 1,500 people still aboard
24:03clinging like swarming bees.
24:06The contents of the Titanic
24:10is now falling through it
24:13and tragically, people as well.
24:16I think it was only at that moment
24:17that many of those poor souls on board
24:20realised their fate.
24:24If we're going to die, I said,
24:27it would be best to die gripping something.
24:31We gripped the rail.
24:36A sharp exclamation from my husband.
24:47My God.
24:49She is going now.
24:52The steamer without a sound,
24:57except for the shrieks
24:59of the people still on board,
25:03stood right on end.
25:06It stood there several moments
25:10and slid straight down into the water.
25:17As easily as a pebble in a pond.
25:22Our proud ship.
25:25Our beautiful Titanic.
25:28Everyone round me on the upturned boat
25:58and breathed the two words.
26:01She's gone.
26:10I did not wish to see her go down.
26:14I'm glad that I did not.
26:19My back was turned to her.
26:20We were pulling away.
26:27This is his ship.
26:28This is his company.
26:30And there is intense professional
26:32and personal shame here.
26:35I think that was just too overwhelming
26:38for him to be able to look.
26:39Probably a minute passed
26:45with almost dead silence and quiet.
26:53Then an unforgettable cry went up
26:56from 1,500 despairing throats.
27:00Bedlam of shrieks and cries.
27:08A nightmare
27:10of both sight and sound.
27:15Hearing desperate, disembodied voices
27:18in the darkness of the ocean.
27:20A cacophony of tears and shouts
27:26and despair.
27:29It's almost like a soundscape of hell.
27:32Potentially it's your husband,
27:34your brother, your father,
27:36your loved one's voices.
27:37I don't know how you recover from that.
27:39I've never heard such screams
27:46from the hundreds of people
27:50floating about us.
27:59They were piercing.
28:09It was horrible, Rao.
28:24One young man near me shouting,
28:28Mother.
28:32The man, alongside me,
28:35clutched me round the neck.
28:39I choked him off.
28:45Nobody knows how they'll react
28:46in that circumstance.
28:48You're surrounded by others
28:49in a panic with you.
28:51You begin to lose
28:53the function of your arms,
28:54the function of your legs,
28:55the thing that you need
28:56to keep afloat.
28:57And that can happen
28:58extremely quickly
28:59because that body's reaction
29:01to keep your vital organs warm
29:03is so powerful.
29:05And it's painful.
29:06Like, you are being tortured,
29:08essentially.
29:09The people in the lifeboats
29:14are sitting
29:15and listening
29:16to others die.
29:19And everyone's response
29:20to that trauma situation
29:22will be different.
29:26We chatted of little
29:27unimportant things,
29:29as people do
29:30when they've been
29:31through great mental strain.
29:34Try to make feeble jokes.
29:36I remember I teased
29:39Miss Frankatelli.
29:41Just fancy,
29:43you left your beautiful
29:44nightdress behind you.
29:48And we all laughed.
29:53Though in our hearts
29:54we felt very far from laughter.
29:55never you mind, madam.
30:01You were lucky
30:02to come away
30:03with your lives,
30:04said one of the sailors.
30:06Don't you bother
30:07about anything
30:08you had to leave
30:09behind you.
30:10Lucy's comments
30:14sound tone-deaf
30:16to us,
30:17but I think
30:17they're a trauma response.
30:19It is far easier
30:21to comprehend
30:22the loss
30:24of a beautiful piece
30:26of clothing,
30:27she's a fashion designer,
30:28of course,
30:29than it is
30:30to wrap their heads
30:32around
30:32the extraordinary
30:34horror
30:35of the loss
30:37of human life
30:37that they're seeing
30:38before them.
30:41For those in the water,
30:44a fatal countdown
30:44has begun.
30:46Once severe hypothermia
30:48sets in,
30:49you've got about
30:4915 minutes
30:50until
30:51you'll become unconscious.
30:54When I was wounded
30:55in Afghanistan,
30:56I knew
30:57that that helicopter
30:58was coming.
31:00But if you don't know
31:02that a rescue
31:03is imminent,
31:04how long
31:05are you capable
31:05of holding on for?
31:07A large number
31:08of people
31:08gave up the struggle
31:10and were content
31:11to die
31:11for the water
31:13was so cold
31:15and there seemed
31:18no help for rescue.
31:20When the darkness
31:21starts to creep in
31:22on you,
31:22that's when you have
31:23to have a real word
31:24with yourself
31:24and remind yourself
31:26that you still
31:26have some fight
31:27in you.
31:27I swam
31:34as always
31:35in a race.
31:37I got myself
31:38away
31:39from the crowd.
31:41Behind me,
31:41there was the
31:42horrible volume
31:43of groans
31:44which I can hear
31:49them now.
31:53I came up
31:54to me chum,
31:55John Bannon,
31:56and I said,
31:58cheerio,
31:59Johnny.
32:00And he said,
32:02am I right?
32:04Then he told me
32:08he had seen
32:08a flashlight
32:10some distance away
32:12and pointed out
32:13the direction.
32:15As I went off,
32:16I cried out,
32:18not so long,
32:19Johnny.
32:19Johnny.
32:29Poor chap.
32:30He was drowned.
32:44It was a terrible
32:46sight all around.
32:48Men swimming
32:49and sinking.
32:50I saw a boat
32:51of some kind
32:51and I put all
32:52my strength
32:53into an effort
32:54to swim to it.
32:56It was like
32:56work.
32:58I was all
32:59done.
33:00When I had
33:02reached from the boat,
33:04pulled me aboard.
33:07Collapse will be
33:08that had been stored
33:09on the roof
33:10of the officers'
33:11quarters
33:11was washed
33:12off deck
33:13and is now
33:13the last hope
33:15of the men
33:16who jump
33:17from the Titanic.
33:19Among the 30 men
33:21on Collapse will be
33:22we have
33:23Harold Bride,
33:24Jack Thayer,
33:26Eugene Daly
33:26and Charles Lightover.
33:28others came near.
33:30Nobody gave
33:30them a hand.
33:32The bottom-up boat
33:33already had more men
33:35than it would hold
33:35and was sinking.
33:38We were very low
33:39in the water,
33:41standing,
33:42sitting, kneeling,
33:43lying in all
33:43conceivable positions.
33:44people came up
33:47beside us
33:47and begged us
33:48to get on
33:49this upturned boat.
33:53Saving ourselves,
33:55we were obliged
33:56to push them off.
33:57one man was
34:01alongside us
34:02and asked
34:03if he could
34:03get up
34:04on top of it.
34:06We told him
34:07that if he did
34:08we would all
34:08go down.
34:11His reply was
34:13God bless you,
34:15goodbye.
34:15To look another
34:19human being
34:20in the eye
34:20and say to them
34:21you're going
34:22to have to perish.
34:24Like that is
34:25an impossible thing
34:26not just to live
34:27through in the moment
34:28but then to have
34:28to live with.
34:33There are
34:341,500 people
34:35in ice cold water
34:36in the Atlantic
34:37and there are
34:38some lifeboats
34:39that are
34:40full to capacity
34:41and there's
34:41nothing they can do.
34:42but there are
34:44many others
34:45that are even
34:46less than half full.
34:48There are
34:49less than 700
34:50people in the
34:51lifeboats.
34:52Because the
34:5218 lifeboats
34:53are not a capacity
34:54there's still
34:55space for
34:57over 400 people.
34:58It could save
34:59them from
35:00almost certain
35:01death.
35:04Within the
35:04lifeboats
35:05there's an
35:05intense dilemma.
35:07Do they go
35:07back and save
35:08people or do
35:09they stay
35:09at a safe
35:10distance so
35:11that they don't
35:11get over
35:12crowded and
35:13everyone in
35:14that lifeboat
35:14end up in
35:15the water.
35:17These boats
35:18are fragile.
35:19They're in the
35:20middle of this
35:21vast sea.
35:22There's already
35:22been tragic
35:23and terrible
35:24huge loss
35:25of life.
35:26This is their
35:27one and only
35:28chance to
35:28survive.
35:31Three times
35:32an officer
35:33ordered his
35:34men to
35:34turn about.
35:36But each
35:37time they
35:37were prevented
35:38from doing
35:38so by some
35:39of the
35:40passengers.
35:40they grasped
35:43the oars
35:44so that the
35:45seamen were
35:45forced to
35:47give up
35:47turning back
35:48to rescue
35:48any of the
35:49unfortunates.
35:54In the
35:54Duff Gordon
35:55boat, one
35:56of the crew
35:56members says
35:57it's up to
35:58us to go
35:58back and
35:59see if we
35:59can pick
36:00anyone up.
36:01The Duff
36:02Gordons
36:02object.
36:04They say
36:04they'll be
36:04swamped and
36:05they persuade
36:06the crew
36:06not to go
36:07back.
36:08At the
36:09later inquiry,
36:10Cosmo Duff
36:11Gordon said
36:11it's difficult
36:13to say what
36:13occurred to
36:14me.
36:14I was
36:15minding my
36:15wife and
36:16we were in
36:17a rather
36:17abnormal
36:17condition,
36:18you know.
36:21I find it
36:22chilling that
36:23the Duff
36:23Gordons are
36:24just openly
36:25hostile to
36:25letting anyone
36:26in their
36:26lifeboat.
36:27All along
36:28they have
36:28been given
36:29privileges that
36:31other people
36:31haven't been
36:32given and
36:33to die
36:33slowly in
36:34ice-cold
36:35water within
36:36earshot of
36:37people who
36:38might save
36:38your life.
36:39I think
36:40there's a
36:40particular
36:40cruelty to
36:41that.
36:45Men and
36:46women were
36:46going to
36:46their death
36:47beneath the
36:49icy waters
36:50of the
36:50Atlantic,
36:51but I
36:51noticed in
36:52a hazy,
36:53detached
36:53sort of
36:54way.
36:57I'd gone
36:57through too
36:58much in
36:58those aisles
36:59to think
36:59clearly.
37:03Lucy's
37:03talking about
37:04trauma here.
37:05She's talking
37:05about going
37:05through so
37:06much emotion
37:07that she's
37:07effectively
37:08shutting
37:08down.
37:09She's so
37:10traumatized,
37:11she's not
37:11able to get
37:13out of her
37:13own experience
37:14enough to
37:15engage with
37:16what those
37:17people in
37:17the water
37:18are going
37:18through at
37:19that time.
37:24Partially
37:25filled lifeboats
37:26standing by
37:27only a few
37:29hundred yards
37:29away,
37:30never came
37:31back.
37:33Why on
37:34earth they
37:35did not
37:35come back
37:36is a
37:36mystery.
37:38How could
37:39any human
37:40being fail
37:40to heed
37:41those cries?
37:46I think it
37:47is extremely
37:47unfortunate the
37:48lifeboats didn't
37:49go in and
37:49start to
37:50rescue people.
37:51They were
37:51willing to
37:52sit with
37:52people screaming
37:53and dying
37:54in the water
37:54and I find
37:55that quite
37:56surprising.
37:57We're highly
37:58attuned to
37:59other people's
37:59emotional
38:00expressions.
38:00out on the
38:01lifeboats
38:02it's dark
38:03and they're
38:03quite far
38:04away so
38:05not seeing
38:06those faces
38:06may be one
38:07way of
38:08distancing
38:08themselves
38:09from that
38:09suffering.
38:10I became
38:15so numb
38:15I could
38:16hardly
38:16swim.
38:19My head
38:20was so
38:21queer.
38:27But when
38:27I was almost
38:28at my last
38:28gasp I
38:29shouted
38:29on the
38:34off chance
38:34that one
38:35might be
38:36near.
38:36I had
38:40room for
38:40a dozen
38:41more
38:41people
38:41in my
38:42boat
38:42but it
38:44was dark.
38:49We didn't
38:49pick up
38:50any
38:50swimmers.
38:54We all
38:55like to
38:55think that
38:55we'd be
38:56the noble
38:56one that
38:57does the
38:57right thing
38:58but that's
38:59not how
39:00survival
39:00works.
39:02Ultimately
39:03as human
39:03beings we
39:04are animals
39:04who have
39:05survived.
39:06That's how
39:06we've evolved
39:06to be
39:07what we
39:07are.
39:07So survival
39:08instinct is
39:08absolutely
39:09within our
39:09DNA.
39:10And so you
39:11have no
39:12idea what
39:12you are
39:12capable of
39:13until you
39:14are pushed
39:14to an
39:14extreme.
39:17Disasters
39:17reveal an
39:18aspect of
39:18your personality
39:19that you
39:19might not
39:20know is
39:20there and
39:21you might
39:21not like
39:22being there.
39:23To save
39:24your own
39:24life, to
39:24let hundreds
39:25of people
39:25die, I
39:26think that's
39:26something that
39:27would weigh
39:28heavily on
39:29you for
39:29the rest
39:29of your
39:29life.
39:32Perhaps
39:33a thousand?
39:35Perhaps
39:35more?
39:35gone down
39:39with her.
39:51There's a
39:52cluster of
39:53lifeboats
39:54closer to
39:55where the
39:55Titanic went
39:56down, including
39:57lifeboats 14
39:58and 4.
40:00And this is a
40:00kind of case of
40:01right place,
40:02right time for
40:03some people
40:03in the water.
40:05Fortunately,
40:07my shout
40:07was heard.
40:08Over here!
40:10I was
40:11hauled into
40:11lifeboat number
40:124.
40:14About seven
40:15people are
40:16rescued because
40:17of that boat,
40:18including
40:19Thomas Dillon.
40:20I think I'd
40:22been 20
40:23minutes in
40:24the water.
40:26I was told
40:27afterwards I
40:28was unconscious
40:28for a long
40:29time.
40:31I was not
40:32properly right
40:33when I came
40:34to.
40:36Thomas Dillon
40:37survived because
40:38he's young and
40:39he's fit, but
40:40by the time he's
40:41picked up by
40:42the lifeboat,
40:43he's got early
40:44symptoms of
40:45hypothermia.
40:45I would
40:47rather die
40:48a hundred
40:49times than
40:52go through
40:52such an
40:52experience again.
41:09Mr. Lowe
41:10went in search
41:11of other
41:11lifeboats.
41:12He found
41:13four or five
41:14and took
41:16command of
41:16the little
41:17fleet.
41:17The whole
41:18of you are
41:18under my
41:19orders.
41:20Lifeboat 14
41:21is very
41:21full, but
41:22Lowe realises
41:24that actually
41:24if this group
41:25works together,
41:26they have a
41:27chance of
41:28being able to
41:28launch a
41:29rescue mission.
41:31He ordered
41:32that the
41:33boat should
41:33be linked
41:34together with
41:35ropes to
41:35prevent any
41:36drifting away.
41:39They were
41:39able to
41:39redistribute
41:40those passengers
41:42and they
41:42actually free
41:43up an
41:43entire
41:43lifeboat
41:44which allows
41:45them to
41:46go in
41:46and search
41:47for survivors.
41:49I went
41:50with just
41:51the boat's
41:52crew,
41:52no passengers.
41:55Of course,
41:56I had to
41:57wait for
41:57the yells
41:58and shrieks
41:59to subside,
42:01for the people
42:02to thin out.
42:05Officer Lowe
42:06is very aware
42:07of the potential
42:09risks.
42:10You can be
42:10capsized when
42:11trying to pull
42:11survivors into
42:13the vessel.
42:13The vessel
42:14can be swamped,
42:15but they choose
42:16to go back.
42:17They're not just
42:18survivors in this
42:19moment,
42:20they continue to
42:20be crewmen.
42:22Their sense of
42:22service,
42:24particularly those
42:24that had a military
42:25background,
42:26ultimately outweighs
42:27their sense of
42:28survival.
42:30Your training just
42:30kicks in and you
42:31have a responsibility
42:32to those around you,
42:34even before yourself.
42:35I searched the wreck
42:37thoroughly and found
42:39four persons.
42:40One was a Mr. Hoyt
42:42from New York.
42:47He was bleeding
42:48from the mouth.
42:50I listened to shirts
42:51as to give him
42:51every chance to breathe.
42:55But unfortunately,
42:56he died.
43:00I suppose he was
43:00too far gone
43:01when we picked him up.
43:05Most of those
43:11who jumped in
43:11the sea died
43:12within a quarter
43:13of an hour.
43:14The awful moaning
43:15ceased after that.
43:18We saw nothing
43:19but ice and dead
43:20bodies.
43:28I remember the
43:28very last cry.
43:30It was a man's voice
43:31calling loudly.
43:33My God.
43:37My God.
43:42My God.
43:45I think it would
43:46have been very
43:46haunting to slowly
43:47hear fewer and fewer
43:49voices.
43:50And that's one of
43:51the most traumatic
43:52memories that people
43:53had, is the sound
43:54of those screams.
44:03the air was leaking
44:11from under the boat,
44:14lowering us further
44:15and further
44:15into the icy water.
44:19Soaking wet,
44:20freezing,
44:21the pack of huddled men
44:22on collapsible beat
44:23have survived
44:24so many odds.
44:26But that's all for nothing
44:28if nobody comes
44:29to your rescue.
44:30And they don't know
44:30if that's coming.
44:32Some lost consciousness
44:35and slipped overboard.
44:42Every wave
44:42threatened to swamp us.
44:45The problem with
44:46trying to stay
44:46on an upside down boat
44:47which you're now using
44:48as a raft
44:49is that it's not stable.
44:50This is a balancing act
44:52literally
44:52to save your life.
44:55Every bit of strength
44:56and spirit
44:57from every one
44:58of those men
44:58on that boat raft
45:00was going to be
45:01about staying alive.
45:04Their class differences
45:05cease to be important.
45:08We've got men
45:09from first class,
45:09men from third,
45:10crew members
45:11united by this will
45:12to survive.
45:14We prayed
45:15and sang hymns.
45:20Harold Bride
45:21helped keep
45:22our hopes up.
45:24He said time
45:25and time again,
45:26the Carpathia
45:27is coming
45:27as fast as she can.
45:28The Carpathia
45:29is coming
45:29as fast as she can.
45:35Lighthuller
45:36found his whistle.
45:40After desperate calling,
45:42we got the attention
45:44of the other lifeboats.
45:47Two of the boats
45:48realized the position
45:50we were in
45:51and drew toward us.
45:55They had a
45:56right-side-up boat
45:57and it was full
45:59to its capacity.
46:03Yet they came to us
46:04and loaded us
46:05all into it.
46:05Officer Boxall took some
46:21green flares from the bridge
46:22and now he's lighting them,
46:25hoping that he will
46:26attract the attention
46:27of the approaching
46:29rescue vessel.
46:30Time will be standing still.
46:36All they can do
46:37is sit in the boats
46:38and wait.
46:39Time will be standing still.
46:39All they can do
46:41is sit in the boats
46:42and wait.
46:43about this time
46:53the edge of the sun
46:55came above the horizon.
47:01To feel that glowing warmth
47:03which we'd never expected
47:05to see again
47:06that's something
47:08never to be forgotten.
47:09I have no idea
47:19of the passage of time
47:21during that awful night.
47:24We were all very tired
47:26when we saw a big light.
47:33Look.
47:34Look.
47:36The ship.
47:37Suddenly a flicker of hope.
47:41A ship getting closer
47:43every minute.
47:47Coming towards
47:48the site of the wreck
47:49and the lifeboats
47:51bobbing about
47:52in this freezing
47:53empty sea
47:55finally
47:56is the Carpathia.
47:58She's come as fast
47:59as she could
48:00through the ice flows
48:01through the night
48:02responding
48:03to Jack Phillips'
48:05distress calls.
48:07Nothing has ever
48:16looked
48:16so good to me
48:18as the lights
48:20from the Carpathia.
48:23Even through my numbness
48:24I began to realize
48:27I was saved.
48:29I would live.
48:31She stopped
48:39maybe four miles away.
48:44The task of rowing
48:46over to her
48:47was one of the hardest
48:48things we had to face.
48:49at last
49:02the Carpathia
49:04was alongside
49:05and people were being
49:06taken up by rope ladder.
49:10One man was dead.
49:11I passed him
49:15and went up the ladder.
49:24The dead man
49:25was Phillips.
49:28He had died
49:28on the raft
49:29of exposure
49:30and cold,
49:31I guess.
49:35He stood his ground
49:36until the crisis
49:37had passed
49:38and then he
49:38collapsed.
49:44Only I could have
49:45slipped more clothing
49:46on Phillips.
49:53We're just saved.
49:54When I was wounded
50:04three people
50:05lost their lives.
50:06So I know
50:06what it's like
50:07to trawl over
50:08in your head
50:09the what could
50:10I have done
50:10and ultimately
50:12life is unpredictable.
50:17You know,
50:18you live or you die
50:18and you cannot
50:20change that fate
50:21but learning
50:23to live with that
50:24it takes time.
50:32No survivor
50:33knows better
50:36than either.
50:38Cruelty of
50:39disappointment.
50:42I had a husband
50:44to search for.
50:48A husband
50:49whom I believed
50:51would be found
50:52in one of the boats.
50:54He was not there.
51:10I let myself
51:13be saved
51:15because
51:17I believed
51:19he too
51:20would escape.
51:20I sometimes
51:26envy
51:28those
51:29whom
51:31no human
51:32power
51:32could tear
51:34them
51:34from their
51:37husband's arms.
51:37what do you
51:43remember
51:43of the Carpathia?
51:46Uh
51:47consoling
51:50and being
51:54consoled.
51:55my friends
52:01were all among
52:02the missing
52:02when the road
52:03was called.
52:06The loss
52:07affected me
52:09badly.
52:10The big narrative
52:21is always going to be
52:22about heroism
52:23and loss
52:24and sacrifice.
52:26But the Titanic
52:27was a disaster.
52:30These are real
52:31people's lives
52:33that are lost.
52:35Real people
52:36who suffer.
52:37in this
52:38in this
52:41cycle
52:42and
52:42in this
52:45season
52:45and
52:46get
52:46through
52:47the
52:48moment
52:49in this
52:50and
52:51the
52:51age
53:02The engineers were the heroes, I think.
53:15They kept going until minutes before the Titanic went out of sight.
53:20Not a man of them was saved.
53:26In 1912, it was taken for granted that the price of a first-class ticket
53:32included a greater likelihood of surviving.
53:35It was seen as a reflection of the natural order.
53:41What the Titanic teaches us is what happens
53:44when people's lives are given unequal value.
53:49Every element, from your breakfast to how you're treated in an emergency,
53:54all of that is impacted by class and hierarchy and status.
53:59This happened in an age where the British stiff upper lip was stiffer than ever.
54:05But the reality is, it doesn't matter how resilient you think you are,
54:09sometimes we're just not capable of processing that level of horror.
54:14Personal trauma was not recognised.
54:16You just suffered and you carried on.
54:19Those people who survived, they were just now going to have to pick up their lives
54:22as best they could and manage.
54:26These are searing memories that never leave them.
54:29And the grief was huge.
54:32But I like to imagine that there were those who felt that this encounter with death
54:37made them live the rest of their days more fully
54:41and that they owed it to those who died to live.
54:44They were just now going to have to live the rest of their lives.
55:14But the truth of reckons of misogyny,
55:44Transcription by CastingWords
56:14CastingWords
56:44CastingWords
57:14CastingWords
57:44And 98 pounds, which had taken me many years to save.
57:51Here I am, stripped of all I had, but thankful to God they left me my life.
58:14Here I am.
58:44Here I am.
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