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00:00I fell into a mass of people.
00:30Everything I touched seemed to be woman's hair.
00:40Children crying, women screaming, their hair in my face.
00:49My God, if only I could forget those hands and faces.
01:00He told me that apparently we'd struck something.
01:21I didn't become alarmed.
01:27There was no danger, they said.
01:30I told her to come at once, we were sinking.
01:36You can imagine the chaos and the fear and the terror of finding water in your cabin and
01:45you're in the bowels of the ship.
01:47It makes me panic just thinking about it.
01:49The story of the Titanic is the human condition spread out, pinned on a board for us to examine.
01:58Then came the terrible cry, women and children, women and children.
02:04Two men lifted me up and put me in a boat.
02:09It's these small decisions, these little butterfly effect moments that change the outcome.
02:28It really was every man for himself.
02:31My heart stood still.
02:35If we're gonna die, best to die gripping something.
02:53It's a split second decision.
02:55What would you do?
02:56What would I do?
03:00It was a terrible sight.
03:06Men swimming and sinking.
03:08I've been brought up to believe in a hell after death.
03:22For now, I think I went through a hell that night.
03:31deen
03:36tune
03:38burn
03:40tune
03:41fan
03:52einfach
03:53helm
03:54tim
03:56Titanic, largest ship the world had ever known.
04:24The last word in luxury.
04:27The ship, palatial. The food, delicious.
04:32The rudder alone weighed 100 tons.
04:37I sailed, first class, from Southampton.
04:41We called at Cherbourg, and from there to Queenstown.
04:46Everyone was counting the days till we'd see the Statue of Liberty.
04:53My father and mother were invited to dinner that night, so I dined alone.
04:59Afterward, I took a few turns around the deck.
05:05Being 17 years old, I was all over the ship.
05:09The Titanic is a ship of dreams, the epitome of modern technology, of luxury and opulence.
05:22It looks like a cross between the Ritz and an English grand country house.
05:28Titanic was the showpiece for the shipping line.
05:34Built by Harlan and Wolfe, the famous shipyard in Belfast.
05:39She is absolutely huge.
05:41Ten decks, 840 cabins.
05:46An absolute masterpiece of human engineering.
05:50I had never been on an ocean voyage.
06:03I was afraid of the sea.
06:05But Harvey, my husband, and our eight-year-old daughter Marjorie and I decided to go to America that way.
06:28First few days, I was a bit seasick and kept to my cabin most of the time.
06:45But on Sunday, April 14th, I was up and about.
06:51After I d eaten, I listened to the orchestra for a little while, then I went back to my cabin.
06:57There was no moon.
07:11A brilliant, starry night.
07:18I'd never seen the sea smoother.
07:23It had become much colder.
07:33It was indeed a night for bed, warmth and cosy thoughts.
07:40How good it was to be in my bunk at last, devouring magazines.
07:46At 23, I was the youngest stewardess on the ship.
07:53I was enjoying the trip tremendously.
07:57The first three days were very calm.
08:02We were another three days before we would reach New York.
08:05It was a pleasure to go to bed.
08:10My pretty little cabin with its electric heater and pink curtains.
08:16I hadn't meant to sail on the Titanic.
08:23Urgent business in New York forced me to take the first available boat.
08:28But everything aboard this lovely ship reassured me.
08:43It's a Sunday.
08:44First-class passengers have probably spent the day enjoying themselves.
08:48They had eaten roast duckling and sirloin of beef and foie gras and truffles and lamb with mint sauce and stuffed zucchini and chocolate eclairs.
09:00Maybe they've gone to the sauna in the Turkish baths or they've played a round of squash or gone to the gym.
09:07Perhaps the men had gone to the smoking room.
09:11They'd had a cigar, a pipe.
09:13They'd played a round of cards.
09:16Maybe the women had gone to the reading and writing room to have a moment of quiet.
09:22They've had a joyful, relaxing day.
09:25They're full of anticipation that they're going to be arriving in New York in two or three days' time.
09:30It's been the perfect day.
09:37A new選bional ship is a native.
09:40A new one for stage.
09:41A new one for the World War, a new one for the World War.
09:43A new one for the World War.
09:44A new one for the World War.
09:46A new one for the World War.
09:54A new one for the World War.
10:00My name is Celine Iasbeck.
10:02My husband and I were on our way to America to make our home.
10:06he'd been to america before where he had a business
10:12it's a misconception that titanic was first and foremost a luxury ship
10:24titanic was primarily an emigrant ship and it was to ferry people working people from europe to
10:33america about three quarters of the titanic's passengers are in second or third class and
10:40it's really not surprising that people do not want to go to bed this might be the first time
10:46they've been away from home and maybe it's the first taste of freedom from very oppressive
10:52environments they are young people embarking on a new life to a new world it would have
11:01been wonderful
11:05i was a bride of 50 days
11:14by collating all of these memories from different parts of the ship memories that could easily have
11:19been lost to history that's the way in that's how we understand the story of the titanic
11:29so
11:33so
11:41so
11:43so
11:47so
11:51so
12:03so
12:05so
12:19so
12:23so
12:29i joined her in belfast
12:43while she was still in the builder's hands
12:47the biggest and finest ship in the world
12:53on that night of april 14th
12:55the first officer took over for me
12:57we both remarked on the ship's steadiness
13:01how comfortably she was slipping along
13:07we knew perfectly well
13:09we were entering the region where ice might be sighted
13:13and had taken precautions
13:15as none of these bergs lay on our course
13:19well
13:21they didn't directly concern us
13:23i passed on course
13:25speed
13:27weather conditions
13:29wished him the joy of a few perishing cold hours and went below
13:31doesn't matter whether it's a ship all the way down to a section of marines in my circumstance
13:39there is a system and command structure
13:41everyone had a job to do
13:43and this is the point where the ship just begins to take over
13:47the navigation crew
13:49the navigation crew that are at the top of the ship are settling into their evening routine
13:53the engineers that are down in the boiler room are working on a four-hour shift to just keep the ship moving
14:01the captain is retired to his cabin you know comfortable that his crew that ultimately have been at work since the ship left belfast are very much in control
14:11really it's the beginning of what should be another calm night on the titanic
14:15i joined the marconi staff last july
14:33and was transferred to the titanic at belfast
14:37i didn't have much to do about except to relieve phillips a senior operator
14:45i went to bed
15:03i was conscious of waking up and hearing phillips sending telegrams
15:07from leaving southampton we got through about 250 telegrams
15:11so
15:13and
15:15and
15:17and
15:19and
15:21and
15:23and
15:25and
15:37and
15:39and
15:41and
15:43and
15:57and
15:59and
16:01and
16:03and
16:17and
16:19and
16:35and
16:37and
16:39and
16:41and
16:43and
16:57and
16:59and
17:01and
17:03and
17:21and
17:23and
17:25and
17:45and
17:47and
17:49and
18:09and
18:11and
18:13and
18:27and
18:29and
18:31and
18:33and
18:35and
18:53and
18:55and
18:57and
18:59and
19:21and
19:23and
19:25and
19:27and
19:29and
19:31and
19:33and
19:35and
19:49deck and almost abreast of the captain's quarters when i heard the report of three bells
19:56that signifies something's been seen ahead i struck three bells first then i went straight
20:02to the telephone and rang them up on the bridge
20:11then i heard the first officer give the order
20:14the wheel was put to starboard she started to go to port whilst i was on the telephone
20:26my mate saw it and he told me he could see the bow coming round
20:33they swung the ship's bow away from the object yes
20:40because we were making straight for it
20:44so what do you do if you trained at sea you try to avoid the obstacle it's a split
20:52second decision and there's there's just a cliche isn't there in the way we talk about trying to
20:55turn the titanic you can't turn this giant boat in time
21:14and a red light goes up when the ship is supposed to stop
21:29this red light came up
21:30when i'm the man in charge of the watch so i shouted shut all dampers to shut the wind off the fires
21:44the crash came before we had them all shut
21:58i didn't even feel the shock
22:06i hardly knew it happened there was no jolt whatsoever
22:12i was about to step into bed when i seemed to sway slightly if i'd had a brimful glass of water in my hand
22:21not a drop would have spilled
22:22i was soon awakened by a long grinding shock
22:34there was a backward jerk followed by a shorter one
22:48and the ship started to back like a train
22:53then uh
23:00a low
23:04crunching ripping sound
23:09as titanic shivered
23:11i was fast asleep
23:21almost threw me off the bed
23:30suddenly i heard a tremendous noise
23:32immediately i knew the ship had been hit hard
23:45when we were alongside her it was
23:59a bit higher than the forecastle heads
24:0350 feet i should say
24:06was there much of a jar to the ship
24:08no
24:13just
24:14a slight grinding noise
24:16did it alarm you when it struck
24:19i thought it was a narrow shave
24:21you thought it was a narrow shave
24:25yes
24:30you know up on the top deck people are thinking to themselves
24:34that was close but we got away with it you know it's just a near miss that
24:38somebody writes down in a log
24:40but they don't know that this iceberg had a very large section jutting out of it
24:45underneath the water
24:55water came pouring in about two feet from where i was standing
25:11the ship's side was torn
25:14from the third stock hold to the forward's end
25:16we got through into the next section
25:37we got through into the next section
25:44and in the watertight compartment closed up
25:46as the iceberg strikes the rivers give way
26:01and the water starts pouring into boiler room number six that's on the starboard side of the ship
26:10but titanic is designed to have watertight compartments in the event of an emergency
26:15the 16 compartments the 16 compartments and the doors do what they're supposed to do
26:21come down seal off the compartments and protect the rest of the ship
26:28fred barrett and his boys escape this wall of water
26:32the sea but at the moment they are safe
26:37but the thing about the titanic is nobody had thought to put in a direct communication system
26:44between the boiler rooms which could flood and the bridge
26:49but equally it's not just a case of sending somebody up quickly
26:57a lowly boiler operator or stoker goes up and tells the captain what's happened there is a chain of command
27:05so there was no way that fred barrett could tell the captain straight away what was happening and that lost time
27:19the captain said what are we struck
27:41mr murdoch the first officer said we have struck an iceberg
27:45i put her heart to starboard but it was too close she hit it
27:51he also said i intended to port around it but she hit before i could do any more
27:59we walked out onto the bridge to take a look at the iceberg
28:03it seemed to be a small black mass not rising very high out of the water the ship was past it then
28:21it couldn't have extended above the ship's rail
28:25captain smith the captain of the titanic was a a very experienced seaman a very highly respected seaman
28:36he'd served in the royal naval reserve as well as in the merchant navy
28:41he was coming to the end of his career and he must have been very very proud that he was taking
28:46titanic this this world-beating ship across the atlantic and that would be a wonderful end to
28:52what was a glittering career and suddenly of course there's a collision it's the last thing you want
29:01he would have been annoyed as well as keen to solve the problem as quickly as he could
29:06the engine stopped the sudden quiet was disturbing
29:29when does that sudden cut of the engines it's going to be really noticeable something's going on
29:35something's not right something's not as it should be i lay still
29:42i waited for ann my cabin mate to speak for i knew she was awake
29:50i looked over the side of my bunk at her and she returned by saying in her calm way
29:57sounds as if something has happened
29:58passengers were really left in the dark there was no tunneling system or announcement of what
30:06was going on of what to do they had to work it out themselves
30:14i could hear the footsteps of people on the deck above my head
30:19there was some stamping and queer noises as though the ship's tackle was being pulled about
30:34my husband said there must have been some slight accident in the engine room
30:40he put on his coat and left me
30:48different people will react to the situation in different ways but a number of passengers have
30:53no qualms at all about going up onto the boat deck and finding someone to inquire what's going on
30:59it was bitterly cold
31:13i moved around the deck trying to discover what had happened
31:19there were quite a few people standing around questioning each other in a dazed kind of way
31:29there were many prominent people on the passenger list because it was for maiden voyage those
31:38responsible for building the ship tommy andrews designer for harland and wolf
31:47he was respected by everyone a great ship builder and a real gentleman
31:55a perfectionist
32:04thomas andrews was a a highly respected in fact probably the most respected ship designer in the
32:11uk at this time titanic was the pinnacle of andrews career you know he'd been building up to this
32:17moment this amazing liner that was going to win all these different prizes that was the the queen of the
32:23seas really he knew a great deal about ship design he understood buoyancy stability all of these issues
32:35she's got 16 water side compartments that's far more than most liners that were steaming around
32:41and of those 16 four of them could be flooded and the ship was still stable and would stay afloat
32:46and that's why titanic had been built as an unsinkable ship
32:55she was a fabricated steel vessel
32:59of gigantic dimensions we're just stopping precautioner just making a few checks
33:05in answer to many questions mr andrews assured everybody that we were absolutely safe
33:25she would stay afloat indefinitely
33:39this one man had a piece of ice and i took it out of his hands wondering where he got it from
33:45tried to make him understand that there was nothing the matter go down to bed and go to sleep again
33:50i didn't take it very seriously
33:57after what seemed a few moments my husband returned and he was quite excited he exclaimed we have struck an
34:07iceberg a big one but there's no danger an officer just told me so this story reassured me
34:16if these people weren't worried why should i be
34:26at that particular time we know in in england certainly there's a strong very hierarchical class
34:32system getting the message from authority figures that everything's okay even though the ship is
34:39stationary and they're out at sea and it's dark and it's cold for the most people that's enough
34:43there had been an accident a collision and yet there was a sense of complacency rather than a sense of
34:53urgency to discover what exactly has gone wrong thomas andrews was saying to people everything's fine it's
35:01that's all safe when he didn't have any data about what the damage to the ship was and that was not a clever thing to do
35:08there are eight firemen in the number six section the second engineer shouted all hands stand by your stations
35:22that's for the men that stand by the fires for fred barrett and his crew they need to manage the fire in boiler room six
35:42and he's worried that there's going to be a minor explosion because the freezing water is hitting the hot coals
35:56fred barrett is in the boiler room next door and the only way to assess the damage is to climb out of boiler room
36:03five to this overhead gangway that's above boiler room six
36:11he went up and escape and down to the boiler room
36:18but i couldn't get in
36:20there's eight feet of water in it
36:30when he tries to get back down into boiler room six he can't because there's eight feet of water in
36:36there and the whole place is already filled with steam but i think when fred barrett saw the situation
36:45he would have been still feeling that everything could be contained you know this is how the ship was
36:50sold to passengers and crew alike
37:14called
37:31captain smith looked at the inclinometer which is a sort of spirit level type gauge which shows
37:36whether the ship is stable or not and realized there was a five degree list in the ship to starboard
37:44we're taking on water
37:50captain smith knows that probably is water
37:53the problem is where is this water coming from and what the hell is going on
38:00titanic of course was a massive ship with a huge number of compartments
38:05therefore finding out what's happened is a difficult and complex task
38:10because the ability to communicate between parts of the ship was very very poor indeed
38:16therefore you have to send a person a runner to go down and look and then come all the way
38:21back to the bridge to tell you what on earth is going on
38:24i went right down below
38:42into the lowest steerage as far as i could go without going into the cargo portion of the ship
38:46and i inspected all the decks as i came up in the vicinity where i thought she'd struck
38:57i couldn't hear any noise i couldn't see any damage
39:02remember the mindset is this ship is unsinkable if you believe a ship is unsinkable you're not looking
39:14for trouble imagine it wandering about this vast ship looking for water he's not going to find it
39:24because he doesn't go down to the boiler room
39:42i board a titanic in queenstown i'm 21 years old i wanted to come to america to make some money
39:50there were three other boys from the same place sleeping in the same room with me
40:02i jumped on the floor
40:13first thing i knew my feet were getting wet
40:15i told the other fellas to get up that there was something wrong
40:21get back to bed
40:24they only laughed one of them says get back to bed you're not in ireland no
40:32go back to bed daniel i really understand where that that voice is coming from something that i hear
40:38from immigrants nowadays is this belief that you've entered a world of order and
40:45protection and security so you don't have to worry about anything this is the safest ship in the world
40:53that's ever been built but it's so wrong in this context
41:01i turned on the lights
41:02the fact that water was seen on the deck at the level where daniel butney had a cabin was seen to indicate
41:19that a second warsite compartment had actually gone as well as the boiler room and the water was
41:38rising up the bulkhead in that compartment and that of course is extremely worrying but who exactly knew
41:46that is a different issue
41:59i met the carpenter coming up absolutely
42:16it was completely out of breath and he said she is evidently making water fast
42:20number one tarpaulin is ballooning go tell the captain
42:24at last boxel gets himself some concrete information the carpenter he meets is talking
42:36about one of the tarpaulins up on g deck that's covering a cargo hold the air in there is being
42:43pushed out at speed at pressure by the volume of water coming in
42:53in the cargo hold there's all the passengers luggage
42:57there's goods that are being shipped from companies across the atlantic there's a renault car
43:02all boxed up belonging to one of the first class passengers there's cases of feather boas
43:08there's all kinds of crazy things in there but it is the entirety of everyone's possessions
43:21then on his way to investigate boxall gets some more news
43:30i met the mail clerk coming up and he said mr boxall the mail room is filling
43:37i got back to the boat deck and i saw the captain
44:05the mail room is filling sir and i said the mail room is filling sir
44:10what did he say
44:16he walked away and left me
44:21he went off the bridge as far as i remember
44:24he didn't say anything to you no
44:35the captain goes down to inspect accompanied by thomas andrews
44:39here they can see with their own eyes the mail room has been flooded and that means another
44:45compartment is gone
44:55the titanic was a ship designed to carry mail from great britain and there are about three and a half
45:00thousand sacks of mail on board already these mail bags are beginning to float away the mail clerks
45:07have tried to salvage some of them but they can't because the water is everywhere this doesn't look good
45:14for real britannia
45:18seeing the speed with which the water levels were rising must have been quite a sobering moment for
45:23both of them and of course this was not what the captain had hoped would be his final crowning glory
45:31in command of this splendid ship this was going to be the ultimate test for him
45:37he was going to have to prove himself as the sort of captain that he thought he was and other people
45:43thought he was
45:47but then the situation gets worse the captain learns that a third compartment is flooded
46:00the captain knows that this is a terrible circumstance but equally titanic was built to endure that
46:07the 16 compartments four of them could be fully flooded and the ship was still stable and wouldn't
46:13sink if another one a fifth compartment started to be flooded then that changed the equation completely
46:23the captain is sitting right at the moment of what is known as event horizon you know once you tip over
46:29that precipice the ship is going to sink any captain worth their salt is ultimately going to
46:36prepare for the worst and actually not even expect the best you have to be preparing for things to
46:43continue to worsen
46:44then came the order to clear the lifeboats
46:54that was the frightful noise of escaping steam
47:06many first-class passengers report this unearthly scream that comes out of the funnels
47:23it's the steam which has been diverted from the engines now emerging from the funnels
47:36of the funnels for those who have their rooms closest to the boat deck
47:45suddenly this is very alarming indeed
47:48it's a moment where they realize that things are not as they should be and maybe they should be worrying
47:55i was uneasy
47:59i rushed to the husband
48:02go up on deck and see what has happened he got out of his bed rather unwillingly
48:15so
48:20on board the titanic in first class are american millionaires there are people like colonel john
48:27jacob astor the fourth who is an american business magnate he's one of the richest men in the world
48:33and sir cosmo duff gordon sees astor stride over to captain smith and have a private little word with him
48:41i'm exactly how i say foreman i would advise you to go and get your family into the light bulb
48:46so the first class passengers know captain smith they are able to mix with the senior crew
48:53they have exclusive access it means that they're part of the inner circle and other people are not
48:58from the get-go first class passengers are in a kind of chumocracy with the senior crew and that
49:05means that they get the information immediately when others don't they have a distinct advantage
49:11from the word go
49:24my husband was back looking rather grave
49:29i've been up to the bridge and i've seen colonel astor he said
49:33he told me that he was going to ask his wife to dress and i think you better do the same
49:40i hurriedly put on the warmest clothes i could find
49:45as i was dressing my secretary miss francatelli came into the room very agitated
50:03i woke up of my own accord i promised to relieve philips early than usual
50:24i asked him how he was getting on i think we struck something he told me that he felt the ship tremble and stop
50:37he thought she'd got damaged in some way
50:42suddenly the captain put his head in the cabin
50:45and i'm having an inspection made to tell what he's done
50:56he better get ready to send a call for assistance
51:01but don't send it until i tell you
51:06the captain went away philips resumed the phones
51:10so
51:24so
51:32so
51:36Because there's no instant communications between large parts of the ship,
51:45Captain Smith and others still did not know fully what the damage was to the ship.
51:52During his inspection, Andrews must have learned that a fourth compartment had flooded.
52:00But problems in the boiler room, he was still completely unaware of.
52:06When Andrews went down into the boiler room, he was horrified, horror-struck.
52:20Water was rising, and it was rising in spaces that they had not realized it would be in.
52:28Earlier on, Andrews had said about Titanic that she was nearly as perfect as human brains could achieve.
52:37He'd put all of his knowledge into Titanic to make her as safe as she could be.
52:45But unfortunately, the ship was doomed.
52:49You're now at a point where it is mathematically certain that this ship is going to sink.
52:59Now that the front five compartments are flooded, the water will start pouring over the top of the bulkheads.
53:05Picture an ice tray.
53:11You start filling it at one end, and eventually it will, you know, rise up over the line in the next compartment,
53:17in the next compartment, and it just continues to fill and fill.
53:20And that is ultimately what is going to draw this ship to the bottom of the ocean.
53:24My husband and I jumped up and ran out to see what had happened.
53:45We were still wearing our night clothes.
53:46We were still wearing our night clothes.
53:52I can imagine them in my mind.
53:53Middle of the night, they wake up, and then suddenly there's the terror of finding water, and you're in the bowels of the ship.
54:09You are not being told anything. There's no announcements. You're left to work out what's going on and how that impacts on your own safety.
54:22It's such a jarring break from this very beautiful experience I think they must have been having up until this point.
54:33We walked around to the port side.
54:39And the ship had then a fair list.
54:45We stayed there looking over the side for about five minutes.
54:51The list seemed very slowly to be increasing.
55:00Thomas Andrews was seen by another passenger running up the bridge with a look of terror on his face.
55:06No doubt he realized the first time, my God, we can't save the ship.
55:13His unsinkable ship was going to sink.
55:21I saw the captain.
55:25It was then I realized it was serious.
55:29Captain looked over.
55:30He said, we are sinking.
55:33Captain looked over and he said, we are sinking.
56:03Suddenly orders came down. Everybody to the boats.
56:20We sent an urgent distress call and said we were sinking by the head.
56:24If you are a family, you will be separated.
56:30Nobody's telling anybody what's going on.
56:34Husband stepped over to an officer and asked him a question.
56:40I heard him shout back, keep calm, there's no danger.
57:00I heard him shout back, keep calm, there's no danger.
57:12I heard him shout back, keep calm, there's no danger.
57:18I heard him shout back, keep calm, there's no danger.
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